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Greatest Michael Jackson moment?
ESSENTIAL MICHAEL
CRITIC DAN DeLUCA PICKS FIVE RELEASES, MUSIC AND VIDEO, THAT ENCAPSULATE THE JACKSON GENIUS.
The Jackson 5: The Ultimate Collection (1996) Any one of the three albums Michael recorded with his brothers Tito, Jermaine, Jackie, and Marlon in 1969-70 - Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, ABC, and Third Album - would give a fair idea of just how fun and funky the J5 were with their preteen prodigy at the helm. But this omnibus has the advantage of not breaking up the hits: "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save," and the breakthrough ballad "I'll Be There" are all here, as is the charmingly innocent 1972 cover of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin," which was Michael's second single as a solo artist.
Off the Wall (1979) Jackson's first collaboration with Quincy Jones was arguably his best. Supple hits like "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" are fully grown and sexy, and there's a seamless blend of funk and pop punctuated by Jackson's maturity as a vocalist. That's particularly evident on ballads like "She's Out of My Life." When he was first truly great, before everything went crazy.
Thriller (1982) An amazing pop triumph that sent seven of its nine tracks into the Top Ten, Thriller is so packed with mega-hits like "Billie Jean," "Beat It," and the spectacularly funky "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' " that it's easy to forget subtle pleasures like the delicate "Human Nature" and the strutting "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)." This would be the one you have to get, but chances are you've got it already.
Bad (1987) Jackson and Jones' Thriller follow-up is spotty. The singles "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Smooth Criminal" are superbly sleek, however, and the paranoid vision that would eventually become all too real for Jackson is still reaping rich musical rewards here, as in the straight-from-
the-heart bonus track "Leave Me Alone." No longer at his zenith, but still a professional par excellence.
Number Ones (2003) This DVD collection, which shares its title with a music-only CD set, makes the cut not because it's brilliant. It's uneven and sometimes hard to watch. But getting the complete picture means looking as well as listening. And this collection of videos puts Jackson's amazingly lithe dance moves on display, from the joyous "Rock With You" and West Side Story-ish dance competition in "Beat It" to "Black or White" with George Wendt and Macaulay Culkin, which calls for colorblindness even as it chronicles Jackson's disturbing physical transformation.
