>>113735
The only notable track from his child/adolescent albums is the title track from his second album, "Ben": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts3aB-i5tUw , I'd say, personally. Most likely because it was written for a film. He was basically just a child vocalist for the first four albums and had no real control over the music at this point, if I'm not mistaken.
"Off the Wall" is the first album where it seems he asserts control over the actual composition & arrangement of the music, and it shows. However, personally, the only song I really keep coming back to is "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUDvEcNU2l0
The title track is good but only really notable to me because it would go on to be sampled by Saint Pepsi in a vaporwave track. Speaking of vaporwave, I'd say there's plenty of good material for sampling both in this album and his earlier childhood albums despite being from the 70s.
After this comes his prime material: "Thriller" and "Bad", the quintessential albums. Virtually all the songs from said albums are le good.
Then there's "Dangerous" (early 90s). The first half is not really for me and sounds rather aged (classic hip-hop sound), but the latter half (from "Heal the World" onward) is kino (sounding more like 80s pop rock, generally). The cover art is also captivating, reminds me of Hieronymus Bosch. These three tracks are the highlights of the album for me. "Will You Be There" in particular is very beautiful. It opens with Beethoven. The original portion may sound tacked on at first, but it quickly transforms into a touching piece of music in its own right. "Gone Too Soon" is likewise very touching, especially given the story behind it. The music video managed to jerk a tear or two out of my sensitive ass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-y_IxPcx8U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIuPDFw9dRU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MId7TrChkHA
I'm simply going to call this album "History" like most everyone else. The first half is simply a compilation of tracks from "Off the Wall" onward up to that point. The latter half contains all the original material. Three of the first four songs are the most aggressive, lyrically, in all his discography, I think, being among the few to contains swear words and a few slurs. Most notably, "They Don't Care About Us" contains "kike" and "Jew", which came completely out of left field for me. A lot of people take this to mean that he must've been secretly keyed or something, but I'm pretty sure they were meant to be interpreted as him identifying with the oppression of Jews. Interestingly, though, it seems all streamable versions censor both "kike" and "Jew" but not "nigga" or any other swears which is... uh... intriguing. Another track I've become engrossed by is "Little Susie/Pie Jesu", which he apparently wrote all the way back in 1978, though it's probably best it was shelved for this album, because I cannot see it fitting very well into "Off the Wall". It is an orchestral waltz and pretty dark, making me reflect on the terrible things that happen to innocent people without anyone ever knowing, the tragedies that occur daily. However, it doesn't actually seem to be based on a true story, thankfully.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_OPJ2d86kE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG_MREFDJgc
Then there's "Invincible". Yeah, that shit disappointed me. The most notable thing I can say about it is that it is vaguely nostalgic only because I recall overhearing music like it growing up. It has that dying classic hip-hop sound of the 2000s.
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