Albums
Off the Wall
is the 5th album studio. It was released on August 10, 1979 by Epic Records following his critically well-received film performance in the The Wiz . While working on that project, Jackson and Quincy Jones became friends, and Jones agreed to work with Jackson on his next album solo. Recording sessions took place between December 1978 and June 1979 at Allen Zentz Recording, Westlake Recording Studios , and Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California .
The record gained critical acclaim and recognition and won the singer his first Grammy Award.
With Off the Wall , Jackson became the first solo artist to have four singles from the same album peak inside the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 .
Thriller
is his sixth album solo. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records , as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall . Thriller explores similar genres to those of Off the Wall , including pop , R&B , rock , funk. Recording sessions took place between April and November 1982, with a production budget of $750,000, assisted by producer Quincy Jones .
Of the album's nine tracks, four were written by Jackson. Seven singles were released from the album, all of them reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 . Three of the singles had videos clips released. " The girl is mine " and "The Lady in My Life" were the only tracks that were not released as singles. In just over a year, Thriller became—and currently remains—the best-selling album of all time , with sales over 65 million copies worldwide according to various sources. The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards in 1984 , including for Album of the Year .
Thriller enabled Jackson to break down racial barriers in pop music via his appearances on MTV and meeting with the President of the United States Ronald Reagan at the White House .
The album was one of the first to use videos clips as successful promotional tools—the videos for " Thriller ", " Billie Jean ", and " Beat It " all received regular rotation on MTV.
The Thriller album was included in the Library of Congress ' National Recording Registry of culturally significant recordings, and the Thriller video was included in the National Film Preservation Board 's National Film Registry of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films".
Bad
was the first album solo released in almost five years since the release of Thriller . Bad was the third and last musical collaboration between Jackson and Quincy Jones . The album was produced by Jones, with co-production credit given to Jackson.
Album development for BAD began in November 1986 and recording took place between January 5, 1987, and July 9, 1987, at Westlake Audio , where a special wooden stage was built to allow Jackson to dance while recording. Jackson wrote a reported sixty songs for the new album and recorded thirty, wanting to use them all on a three-disc set. Jones had suggested that the album be cut down to a ten-track single LP. When the album was released on CD, a bonus 11th track, " Leave Me Alone " was included. It was later released as a single. Later releases of the LP also include this song. Jackson was credited for writing nine out of eleven of the songs on the album. Other writing credits included Terry Britten and Graham Lyle for "Just Good Friends" and Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard for "Man in the Mirror".
Bad is the seventh album solo by Michael Jackson . The album was released on August 31, 1987 by Epic Records , nearly five years after Jackson's previous album solo, Thriller , which went on to become the world's best-selling album . Bad itself has sold between 30-45 million copies worldwide, certified 9 times Platinum in the United States alone, and has been cited as one of the 30 best-selling albums of all time .
Bad was recorded during the first half of 1987. The lyrical themes on the record relate to paranoia , romance and self-improvement . Bad is widely regarded as having cemented Jackson's status as one of the most successful artists of the 1980s, as well as enhancing his solo career and being one of the best musical projects of his career. Nine of the eleven songs on Bad were released as singles; one was a promotional single and another was released outside of the United States and Canada. Five of the singles hit number one in the United States, while a sixth charted within the top-ten, and a seventh charted within the top-twenty on the Hot 100 . The single that was released outside of the United States and Canada was commercially successful, charting within the top ten and top twenty in multiple territories. Bad peaked at number one in seven countries, as well as charting within the top twenty in other territories. The only songs on the album which were not released as a single were "Speed Demon" and "Just Good Friends", the last one being the only song of the album who has no video clip.
Dangerous
The first songs recorded for this album ( Black or White , Heal the World and Who Is It ) were planned for a compilation entitled Decade which finally was cancelled .
Teddy Riley called many of his collaborators about the project of Dangerous like Bernard Belle in the composition of Remember the Time , Why You Wanna Trip On Me and the demonstration If You don't Love Me , Wayne Cobham for the programming , Aqil Davidson for the words of the rap of She Drives Me Wild , Wreckx - N - Effect which carries out the “ rap ” on this same piece that Aqil Davidson, a group member , wrote .
The title Keep the Faith was written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett , the tandem which had written Man in the Mirror on Bad .
Sensual and romantic one In the Closet is sung in duet with a girl , called “ Mystery Girl ” . According to an interview of 1992 with the British journalist Jonathan Ross , Madonna claimed to have had some ideas for the song , but when she presented them to Michael , he judged that they were too aggressive and she decided not to continue the project . As a result , Michael seeking a very particular voice and having had the occasion to hear the one of the princess Stéphanie de Monaco , invited her to come to record the line spoken about the song in the United States . The preliminary draft , according to the declarations of Stéphanie de Monaco , was to open a competition after the release of the album with this question : “ Who is the mystery girl ? ” . That would have made it possible to also promote a project of the princess . The project was abandoned thereafter , but the album and the booklets accompanying already been printed , Stéphanie de Monaco will never be credited for his duet with Michael Jackson .
Will You Be There is the song of the film Save Willy . In the introduction , one can hear the Symphony nº 9 of Beethoven . Gone Too Soon is a homage to Ryan White , a boy dead of AIDS a few months before the release of the album .
During the session of the album , Michael Jackson and Teddy Riley carried out two pieces used later for the album Blood on the Dance Floor : Ghosts and Blood on the Dance Floor .
Michael Jackson also collaborated with Bryan Loren for this album but none song was retained . Only one song resulting from this collaboration called Superfly Sister is present on Blood on the Dance Floor .
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
Is the ninth album solo by Michael Jackson . It was released on June 20, 1995 by Epic Records . It consists of two discs: the first disc ( HIStory Begins ) is a compilation of some of his greatest hits from 1979 forward, while the second disc ( HIStory Continues ) is composed entirely of new material. The majority of the second disc's tracks were written and produced by Jackson, often in conjunction with collaborators.
The album was generally well received by music critics and was also commercially successful, debuting and peaking at number one in many countries, including the United States , Canada , Australia , France and the United Kingdom , as well as charting within the top ten in Spain , India and Mexico . The album was certified six times platinum by the end of 1996 in Europe, making it the best selling album of the year in the combined European market. The album was nominated for five Grammy Awards , winning one for Best Video clip for "Scream".
"Smile" is a resumption of a well-known title of Charlie Chaplin of 1928 , that Michael Jackson decided to sing to conclude the HIStory album . This song was recorded with a whole symphony orchestra in the Hit Factory , in New York. ” Smile “ was to be the last single to leave the HIStory album , in October 1997 , but the release was cancelled by Sony Music , and the pressed discs all were almost destroyed . Some promotional CD and vinyls having escaped of destruction are sold today at amazing prices . These discs having taken an immense value , there exists enormously of counterfeits , sold in conventions of discs or on specialized internet sites. The best way of admitting a counterfeit of maxi vinyl being to note that the central logo is similar to a laser photocopy . Photo session of the single“ Smile ” , realized by photographer Jonathan Exley , and in which Jackson represented the role of Charlie Chaplin ( of which he was an great admiror ) related to modern times and The Kid .
Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix
Blood on the Dance Floor : HIStory in the Mix left on May 20th, 1997 . Michael was not very enthusiastic by this disc , mid - album ( 5 new new titles ) and mid - remixes ( 8 titles ) drawn from HIStory , since he had as an initial idea to only leave an album with 5 titles . It was Epic recording company which insisted to leave an album . Blood one the Dance Floor : HIStory in the Mix left within the framework promotion HIStory turn .
All the titles except Superfly Sister were written two or three years after Dangerous . In Blood on the Dance Floor , the single , Michael Jackson uses the first name Susie for a woman , and it seems that she has common points with Billie Jean of the years 1980 , just like with Diana de Dirty Diana , or the seductresses of the Dangerous song . The guitarist Slash makes his appearance in Morphine .
Ghosts and Is It Scary are two “ twin ” songs starting on very similar words ; only the first seems more to treat tracking of the media whose Jackson was the victim while Is It Scary aims broader : the
indicters are simply those which take him for an animal of fair . Ghosts is the song headlight of the film of the same name .
Blood one the dancefloor remains to date the album of remix more sold of all times with more than 12 million copies run out throughout the world .
Invincible
Invincible is the 10th and last album , released October 30th, 2001 . Sold with more than 13 million specimens in the world , the album start number one with the American Billboard and in thirteen different countries and is certified double disc of platinum in the United States, December 3rd, 2001 . Invincible is a success in half - tone . This failure is due partly to its very weak promotion , stopped three months after its release by Sony ! , with only three singles , which opens a crisis between the artist and his recording company .
Invincible is one of the most expensive albums of the history of music , with a cost estimated by Sony Music at 55 million dollar , including 30 million for recording and 25 million for promotion .
Michael Jackson dedicated this album in memory of Benjamin Hermansen , 15 years mongrel Norwegian assassinated by néo - Nazis in Oslo in January 2001 .