Off The Wall

Hearing this album for the first time back to back was quite the experience, so to be able to do that again on vinyl just made the album twice as good as the first time I heard it. The vinyl came in great condition and packaging wasn’t damaged upon arrival and the record itself wasn’t warped at all. Back when I was a younger MJ fan I never cared about the deeper cuts like, for example, the title track, “Burn This Disco Out”, “Workin’ Day and Night” or “She’s out of my Life”, fast forward almost a decade later and here I am with more knowledge and willingness to listen to more than just the hits. Michael truly was a musical genius in my opinion as well as one of the greatest artists of all time, and he remains my primary musical inspiration and influence next to Freddie Mercury and Elton John. With my record player (Crosley Cruiser Plus) I had an amazing listening experience with this album, with pitch control I can turn the pitch up just a hair for my music and I love it that way, so for Off The Wall, it really worked and made the music a million times better in my opinion. Years ago I originally wanted this vinyl for only one song (Rock With You) but after hearing the album back to back, I wanted the vinyl for the entirety of the album and I knew it would go well with the pitch control functionality I have on my record player. Whether you’re a vinyl collector, listener, Michael Jackson fan or just starting out as any of those this album is a great choice (and great choice to start) in my opinion. Make sure to listen to the whole thing!! ;p Though he was just starting out with Quincy Jones, Michael really made a great album and went on to continue making great music, even in death he is still breaking records!! But yes, great album, great sound and some really amazing tracks by Michael. Five Stars

For every artist that finds massive success in the music market (and for this review’s purpose, more “definitive” acts), there’s usually a specific album that propels them into the public eye and an audience with wide-open arms. Nevermind helped make Nirvana huge seemingly overnight, and established them as one of the biggest names in grunge. The hiring of almighty Bruce Dickinson coupled with the release of The Number of the Beast would transform Iron Maiden from a “quite successful” band to the definitive metal juggernaut they are now.* And although rapper Jay-Z made his best album the first time (in 1996), it was five years later when The Blueprint would re-establish him as one of most critically and commercially successful hip-hop artists. After being part of the Jackson Five for more than half a decade (and being recognized as a musical prodigy by Rolling Stone, among others), Michael starred in a musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (“The Wiz”) and formed a relationship with composer Quincy Jones, who agreed to produce Jackon’s solo debut. Off the Wall would be the first album to generate four top 10 singles, and set the stage for Jackson to cement his place in history with the follow-up Thriller. A few listens to Off the Wall should leave no doubt as to why it became such a huge success. Save for one exception, the album consists of bouncy and energetic R & B influenced pop (or quite poppy R & B) with close to no filler. Much like Thriller, it opens in grand fashion. “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” wastes almost no time in grabbing your attention, with horns, strings, and guitar forming a rhythmic foundation for Jackson’s calm falsetto. At the two and a half minute mark, another horn section gives way to a short guitar solo. Although it does get repetitive to a slight degree, “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” nonetheless accomplishes a feat that seems so uncommon in pop music – a high quality song with a running time just over six minutes. None of the nine tracks following it will quite match this opener, but rest assured that several of them come close. Not only does “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” open Off the Wall on a high note, it exhibits all the major strengths of the album. Horns, strings, electric guitar, and real drums are among the various instruments forming the sonic template for nearly the entire album, which means that Off the Wall doesn’t suffer from poor production – it’s quite the opposite. Not only does it sound excellent from a this production standpoint, but there are also enough instrumental hooks to make the music almost work well without a strong vocal performance. However, there’s no reason to worry about that. As good as the music is, it’s Michael’s performance that truly elevates the pop here from good to excellent. There’s an irresistible charm that Jackson exudes almost every second that he’s singing, and a bare minimum of one great hook to be found in each song (save “She’s Out of My Life”). Jackson’s rather natural falsetto is far from annoying, his singing voice is far above average, and his delivery is spot on. Off the Wall sounds like the man is just having fun, and doing one heck of a job in the process Although Michael Jackson the performer is much better than Jackson the songwriter, that doesn’t mean the songs he writes are weak in any form. On the contrary, his two songwriting contributions to Off the Wall, “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” and “Workin’ Day and Night”, are both standout tracks, and “Get on the Floor” (co-written by Louis Johnson) is pretty good as well. Yet another comparison to Thriller is the star power present (or rather, behind) two of the songs. “Girlfriend” and “I Can’t Help It” are written by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder respectively; the former is a lighthearted song that might have fit in on an album like Help!, and “I Can’t Help It” kicks off the final trio of songs after the lone ballad “She’s Out of My Life”. There’s one exception to almost every strength of Off the Wall, and that is “She’s Out of My Life”. Here, Jackson and his songwriting team opt for the ballad route, and the results are pretty average at best. The lyrical theme of a man heartbroken has potential, but instead of being emotional and heartfelt, Jackson sounds whiny, almost like a child who just needs a couple minutes to get over a slight physical injury. Backing synths don’t really help either, and thus “She’s Out of My Life” sticks out like a sore thumb placed in the middle of the album. The last great strength of Off the Wall – consistency – is also the reason it’s bettered by Thriller. As mentioned before, nothing quite matches the opener “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”, but the rest of the album stays at such a high quality you don’t necessarily notice. But even the best song isn’t able to reach the benchmark set by the 15-minute midsection of “Thriller”, “Beat it”, and “Billie Jean”. Superior or not, it should be obvious why the album made Michael Jackson a pop superstar: it’s catchy, fun, and well written, and with a running time shortly over 42 minutes, it’s too short to really get tedious. It’s not his best, but it still comes fairly close, and considering the artist in question, that’s saying a lot.

I loooove this album so much!! Possibly my favorite! Great condition, great music.

Amazing album amazing quality did not get any scratches or nothing just straight perfection and btw does not come with the inner and outer sleeves on the two last photos but perfect quality and I got it protected with inner and outer sleeves so this will last awhile w album go buy it

Great album with no scratches! Purchased new.

Ofc this is one of his best albums but my vinyl is a bit warped I’m thinking of returning it for a better copy… I’m on the fence

This is easily one of the best-sounding records I own. The production is incredibly crisp, and the analog warmth really brings out the groove in a way streaming just can’t touch. It’s a no-skip album from start to finish.

20/20! I love it so much!

Brought for my daughter's birthday - she loved it - a very big Michael Jackson fan.

スリラー以降の彼には全く興味ありません。この作品が彼のピークだったかな。QJの作品と言っても過言ではないのですが。特にside1が絶品です。冒頭のwhisperは要りませんが(笑)。オーディオのリファレンスとしも愛用しています。soulやfunkの要素は少ないけどpop musicの最高峰ですね。

Good quality recording its my dream colection vinyl and shiping very fast tanks for saler

The King of Pop himself - Michael Jackson. The Best Pop Album of all time Period.

Is this a ”hidden gem”? Or is it just I who have focused more on Thriller and Bad and forgotten about this Of the wall record? Now I’ve realized how good this record is. Really glad I bought it!