The 8 Ball: Top 8 MJ Songs (Article by Jeremy Thomas)

Posted by Jeremy Thomas
From “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” to “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Smooth Criminal” and more, 411′s Jeremy Thomas counts down the top 8 Michael Jackson songs!

Welcome, one and all, to the 8 Ball in the Music Zone! I’m your host Jeremy Thomas and as always, I will be tackling a topic and providing you the top eight selections of that particular category. Keep in mind that this list is meant to be my personal opinion and not a definitive list.

Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the Music Zone 8-Ball! This week we continue our look at the greatest songs of Michael Jackson. I don’t have a lot to say beyond that, so let’s get to it!
Caveat: As usual with my single-act top songs list, I was looking specifically at original songs performed by the band/artist as opposed to covers. In addition, I’m looking at Jackson’s discography as a solo artist and not his contributions to the Jackson Five; this means that numbers like “ABC,” “Never Can Say Goodbye” and “I Want You Back” were not included. It is also worth noting that many of these songs are very well-known, and in the past there have been some comments that I focus on singles only. I wanted to note that I truly looked at every song in his discography but Jackson was notorious for releasing many, many singles. By example, seven of the nine songs of Thriller and nine out of the eleven songs on Bad were released as singles and became major hits. This continued throughout most of his career. So it isn’t that I only focused on the big hits; it is just that in Jackson’s case, so few of his songs were NOT hits that it makes the list disproportionally singles-based. Finally, remember that just because as song isn’t on this list doesn’t mean that I didn’t like it; there are many, many Jackson songs I love that I couldn’t fit on.

JUST MISSING THE CUT:

• “In The Closet” (1992)

• ”Bad” (1987)

• “Off The Wall” (1979)

• “Black Or White” (1991)

• “Remember the Time” (1992)

#8 EARTH SONG 1995

We kick off the top 8 with a song which makes up for what it lacks in subtlety with sheer power. Jackson’s “Earth Song” was a divisive piece of music when it was released on HIStory, with some calling it overly saccharine while others noted its epic feel. And there’s absolutely no doubt; this is Jackson’s most overt song in his entire discography. There is no other piece of music in which the icon spelled things out quite so clearly. But you don’t always have to be deeply subtle in order to make a great song; we need anthems as much as we need musical poems. The slow build of this nearly-seven minute epic is fantastic, with Jackson mixing in operatic elements with rock, pop and gospel. The latter is of course most clearly punctuated by the Andrae Crouch Choir who deliver the “What about us?” call as Jackson responds with example after example of the forgotten problems of the world. “Earth Song” wasn’t even released in the United States as a single, and I think it’s kind of sad that the country was (and still is) so jaded that we couldn’t recognize the power of the song and the importance of the message, laid out in neon lights or not. It’s one of those songs where you can’t really listen to at max volume because it’s so powerful it blows you away, both sonically and emotionally. It’s a breathtaking piece of music and one of Jackson’s most unfairly-underrated songs.

#7 The Way You Make Me Feel (1987)

We move on from Jackson’s environmental activism to one of his most well-known romantic tracks. And that’s not to say that “The Way You Make Me Feel” is a love song, necessarily; it’s more of a flirty number, a successor to “P.Y.T.” Jackson wrote this song after his mother Katherine suggested that he write a song with a “shuffling rhythm” and she was certainly right with the idea that he should do it. This song ranks higher than “P.Y.T.” because by the time Bad came about, Jackson was more comfortable in his skin as a potential sex symbol. This song (and the video that accompanied it) were intended to further Bad’s theme of showing audiences a different side of the King of Pop; he wasn’t just the young and innocent kid anymore and it certainly changed a lot of minds. “The Way You Make Me Feel” has a sort of swagger to it and a celebratory nature; it’s not schmaltzy or overblown and the great production work from Quincy Jones and Jackson lets it spring along like the dance number it is. This has been one of the more covered songs from Jackson’s resume and for good reason; it’s bouncy and fun without seeming slight. In terms of Jackson’s purely romantic pop songs, this one ranks as my personal favorite.

#6 Give In To Me (1993)

SEE MORE HERE: http://www.411mania.com/music/columns/303346

Source: 411mania / by Jeremy Thomas / MJ-Upbeat.com