Off the Wall (1979) - Michael Jackson

Few artists get the chance to make a second first impression, but on this album Michael Jackson jumped at the opportunity to reintroduce himself to the pop charts as someone familiar, but far more confident, charming and self-assured. Contrary to popular belief this isn’t Jackson’s solo debut album, it is actually his fifth solo record, but it truly feels like the birth of a generational talent. Jackson had been performing with his brothers for over ten years at that point. And in that decade he had transitioned from early successes with The Jackson 5 like "I Want You Back" and "ABC" dominating the charts when he was a mere 11 years old making ebullient, joyous Motown pop to leaving Motown with his brothers and rebranding as the disco-soul outfit The Jacksons, doing it all with the charm and grace of a seasoned performer. He'd made solo albums before, but they were lacking in a different identity than the babyfaced lead singer of The Jackson 5, mostly relying on well sung, but drippy ballads. His solo career was always a back burner project, preferring to be known as the frontman of one of pop's most successful groups, but in 1979 something changed. Here, MJ lays down some of the greatest work of his career, alongside producing mastermind Quincy Jones, taking charge of his own musical vision for the first time, wiping the slate clean. With Off the Wall (1979), Jackson makes you forget everything that came before, reintroducing himself and appearing before the world as an undeniable superstar.

This record truly was a turning point for Jackson, going from an above average pop star to an absolute musical icon, namely shown by the new vocal style he pioneers on this album, leaning into his stunning falsetto register. He had flexed his skills before, but here he debuts his crystal clear, gorgeous falsetto in full, letting him perform entire songs in a flute-like manner where he almost comes across more like another instrument in the mix rather than a traditional lead vocalist. This is best exemplified in the album’s standout track, the opening salvo “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough”, as explosive an opener as nearly any album has ever had. Michael’s vocals on this song in particular are revelatory in the way he luxuriates in his head voice like he never has before, delivering a confident, charismatic performance across the entire record . He is always the focal point to an extent, especially during his high notes during the verses, but he also blends in brilliantly with the track’s unparalleled instrumental, making himself feel part of a greater ensemble in a way that was unheard of in most disco music. The way in which the sounds are layered together, adding swirling strings atop the stuttering, heavily percussive, elliptical groove laid down by various percussion instruments from clapping to light cymbal work, leaving the groove light and airy, is one of the track’s greatest strengths. This mastery of arrangement and production is due to the album's secret weapon, producer extraordinaire Quincy Jones, who delivers much of his best work behind the boards on this record, particularly in the arrangements across the record, which build and ebb so elegantly. He uses a light touch on this track in particular, making sure that each element gets its moment to shine, from the ecstasy of the first swell of strings to the punchy horns that add just the right funk to the chorus track’s extended outro featuring a greasy funk guitar line that is almost too down and dirty for the track’s elegant mix of devilish disco and pure pop joy, but adds just the right texture. “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” is, if nothing else, a masterpiece of texture, setting the bar high for the rest of the album, and while nothing else quite touches that majestic six minutes, nothing falls too far below the bar.

Much of the rest of the first side follows in the funky footsteps of “Don’t Stop”, with both “Workin’ Day and Night” and “Get On the Floor” boasting undeniable grooves built for the dance floor, both flexing a different strength of the record. The former is a showcase for Jackson’s newfound skill for using his voice as a percussion instrument, with the track’s frenetic intro benefitting from him scatting along to the fast paced drum shuffle, and his breathless delivery becoming the perfect counterpoint to the song’s relentless groove and charmingly funny subject matter. The song is a five minute disco hurricane, as the quick fire production keeps Jackson on his toes, pleading with his lover to save some time for him, but since he works so much he is always too tired when he gets home to give her any affection. Jackson's piercing high notes give the track the sense of urgency and charm is thrives on. The standout track among the album's non-single cuts by far. "Get on the Floor" shows off Jackson exploring his lower register, hitting notes that would have been unheard of in his Jackson 5 days over top of a bass line that would make the likes of Larry Graham and George Clinton blush. The slap bass could truly raze a city, not to mention the manic breakdown spotlighting the album’s unmatched percussion and pointing the way to the chant along sections from future hits like “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”. The song is impossible to sit still to, it makes me get up and dance with every listen.

While the rest of the A side is a brilliant showcase for Jackson’s knack for disco killers, the most representative track of both the rest of the record and the rest of his career is the smooth seductive dance pop of “Rock with You”. The song is an iconic slow groover that lets Jackson deliver the best vocal performance of the album, sonorous and beautifully belted, dripping with confident ease. Jackson’s performances before were always electrifying, but on this album he doesn’t even sound like he’s trying, which is half of its charm. The song is one of the album’s stickiest in terms of pop magic, with the ascending pre chorus hook feeling like it could be the chorus of a lesser tune. Jones comes through with another sparkling, glittery arrangement with the intersection of popping horns and the gorgeous string arrangement in particular making it feel like the most beautiful song on the record, but not too pretty that you can’t get up and dance to it. The song shimmers like the hint of sunshine gleaming through the window of the club that Jackson so passionately sings about. The final chorus is arguably Jackson’s best vocal work on the album, showing off with glee and a truly infectious joy.

The album’s second side also boasts another similarly styled gem, the eerie disco-pop of “Off the Wall” which foreshadows Jackson’s knack for pop songs with a twinge of horror (truly proto “Thriller”). Jackson delivers a truly virtuosic performance over top of the relatively sparse bass and guitar driven groove. He is able to lay down another set of stellar hooks and a performance that explores every corner of his vocal range from breathless falsetto howls to soaring lower register belts. The song might be the best written here, from a pop perspective, with the chorus sparkling with hooks upon hooks as well as showing the way towards “Thriller” in the way it uses the idioms of disco, like the thrumming bass line, call and response horn parts, judicious use of falsetto and slick guitar work without it ever explicitly sounding like disco. That trick is arguably what made Jackson hit so hard in 1982, a year that was profoundly anti-disco. That is why in my opinion, this record has endured where so much of the rest of disco has fallen prey to sounding dated and corny, both because of Jones and Jackson’s careful songwriting and pristine production, but because they never learned so hard into disco that they forgot to write brilliant pop, funk and soul songs first and foremost. The disco tinges were an added bonus, not the main ingredient in any tune here.

Jackson fills out the rest of the album with some infectious slower numbers, the best of which is the Stevie Wonder penned “I Can’t Help It”, a song that shimmers with layers upon layers of beautiful keyboards creating a plush, romantic bed of sound over which Jackson is able to emote and give one of his lightest and most free sounding performances. The song really makes one desire a full on late 70s Stevie Wonder record where he toyed with the idioms of disco, but Jackson’s performance is so consummate that Wonder couldn’t have bettered it if he tried, with the chorus being built for Jackson’s style of easy belting. The song is so glittery and effortless in its melody and arrangement, that it is one of many songs here that would work as well as instrumental pieces, with the plush keys drawing you in every time. Yet, Jackson's smooth, soulful croon always elevates the proceedings. The record also gets an assist from Paul McCartney with Jackson pulling off his disco inflected soft rock trifle “Girlfriend” with charm and humor. It is telling that McCartney recorded this song as well on his 1978 album “London Town” and while Paul can’t pull off the song’s easy groove and cheeky lyrics, Jackson sings it in a way that you can practically hear him smiling, easily flitting back and forth between his chest and head voice. One other pop-adjacent tune features here, the breezy disco ballad “It’s the Falling in Love”, probably the weakest song here from a writing perspective, but Jackson’s embrace of the song’s simple groove as well as his harmonies with his duet partner Patti Austin over the throbbing slap bass make it soar with energy. On this album Jackson can make practically anything sound not just good, but immaculate.

The album’s fourth and final single was the aching orchestral ballad “She’s Out of My Life”, which is the only number here that feels out of place. Its stirring piano heavy arrangement and Jackson’s pained, tearful performance make it feel like it belongs on a different, less danceable record, but it provides a much needed break from uptempo groovers and lets Jackson truly soar on vocals in a way he restrained himself from doing on the uptempo cuts. The track’s instrumentation is so bare that it truly spotlights the vocal performance like nothing else here, and while the lyrics are a bit too wordy for a gentle ballad like this, Jackson sells it like he’s never sold a heartbreak before. He would go on to sing better written ballads, but he never performed quite like this again, with him seeming to burst into tears on the final note. He proves here that he’s a damn good actor as well as a singer. A truly revelatory performance on a record full of brilliant ones.

The record closes off with the throbbing “Burn This Disco Out”, a stellar funk groove with lyrics that crib the exact concept from The Trammps superior “Disco Inferno” from the year before, but Jackson’s interplay between falsetto and deep chest voice matched with the greasy funk guitars and stunning slap bass line make that easy to forgive. This album clocks in at a breezy 42 minutes, but that’s just another instance of Jackson and Jones’ whip smart decision making because adding much more would dilute the brilliance that’s already there, both in terms of balance and track list (the sequencing here is nigh unparalleled). Too much of a good thing can exist, but on this album they give us just enough A+ disco to want to spin this album again and again, never getting tired of the grooves.

While this was just the power duo of Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones gearing up for a decade of utter domination with both 1982’s Thriller and 1987’s Bad spinning off bigger hits in larger quantities, this will forever remain the crown jewel of their collaboration. The combination of Jones’ pristine production and Jackson's utterly captivating vocal performances has never been matched on any of their follow up albums, no matter how wonderful they are. Jackson in particular never matched the energy, charm and sheer joy of his performances here, making this a career high water mark. Thriller might be a better record, but nothing Jackson ever made can come close to the pure joy and fun of this LP. Few records are such a pleasure to listen to. 42 minutes of disco perfection. The genre never got better than this right here.