NXT PGE PLZ

Swift and sudden fall from grace

20. Stranger In Moscow | 7.795 Highest Scores: 11: (Qween), 10: (gog lad84, Nina West, Chapman, dandy, Mullo, Adelita), Lowest Scores: 4: (Jester)


Kicking off the top 20 is Stranger In Moscow, released in November 1996 as the 6th & final single from his 9th studio album History, but wasn't released in the USA until July 1997. The track was written in 1993, while he was on the 'Dangerous World Tour' in Moscow. An early version of the track appeared in the 'Sonic The Hedgehog' video game & according to conflicting accounts, Jackson and his team composed music for the game before leaving the project. Jackson wrote the lyrics as a poem before adapting them for the song. Like many of the songs on the album, this was a response to the recent events in his personal life & in 1993 the relationship between him & the press had soured entirely. Upon release the song performed well in several countries by topping the charts in Czech Republic, Italy & Spain, as well as top 10 peaks in UK, Switzerland, Taiwan, Hungary, Netherlands, New Zealand, Austria & Denmark. However in the US, it was his lowest charting song on the Top 100 with a #91 peak. "Smile" was originally intended to be released as the album's 7th single, but was cancelled for unknown reasons.

This is the type of song that you have to immerse yourself into to fully appreciate, as it transports you into his feelings of anguish & the feelings of isolation & loneliness that are stemmed from the chords & lyrics. I also love the way it constantly builds upon itself with well crafted beats that gives way to sombre rhythm guitars, then the strings begin to slowly rise & the bass booms then suddenly the haunting & sorrowful vibes comes in, with beautiful harmonies. All of which makes this one of the finest recordings & most enduring recordings he's ever done.

Lovely song, although took me years to properly appreciate it.

My immediate fave from History when it was released. I probably prefer They Don't Care About Us these days but Stranger In Moscow is still beautiful.

Whisper three words and I'll come runnin'

19. You Are Not Alone | 8.0 Highest Scores: 10: (Nina West, Feel The Fever, Jester, Mullo, Tafty), Lowest Scores: 5: (popchartfreak, CJK)


At #19 is the beautiful ballad You Are Not Alone, released in August 1995 as the 2nd single from his 9th studio album HIStory & was written by singer R Kelly for Michael in response to the difficult times in his own personal life. Making this one of the only few tracks on the album that wasn't written by MJ himself. R Kelly sent a bare demo to him, who liked the song & decided to produce it with him in his Chicago studio. The music video featured his then wife Lisa Marie Presley & received generally positive critical reviews and was the recipient of Grammy and American Music Award nominations. Upon release the song became a huge commercial success & holds a 'Guinness World Record' as the first song in the then 37 year history of the Billboard top 100 to debut at #1, becoming his 13th & final chart topper during his lifetime. Elsewhere the track also topped the charts in Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland & UK. The song remains one of his best selling singles of all-time. It was also the subject of plagiarism, but I'm not gonna go into all that mess, as this rate is celebration of what Michael Jackson achieved during his career.

Amongst the rage present throughout the album, this marked a nice change of pace as the only love song on the album with its rich, alluring & blissful sounds, but with a somewhat gloomy feel with a sense of longing & desperation, yet with a feeling of hope to come. The instrumentation is stunning & revolves around his yearning vocals, enhanced harmonies & radiant melodies, before delving into a comforting yet emotional chorus. The song's climax manifests into a key change, accompanied by a choir, which really lifts the final part of the track wonderfully & even though he didn't write this track, Michael still makes his mark on it. All of which makes this a triumphant heart-felt ballad & one of the finest of his career.

I didn't know 'You Are Not Alone' was written by R. Kelly and could frankly have lived without ever knowing that... :ph34r: (it's not exactly one of my favourite MJ songs anyway xx)

I like a bit of 'You Are Not Alone' very occasionally but it's very saccharine.

The next to drop will be another chart topper, but which one?

 

Any guesses?

YANA is much better than Earth Song !!

Not a big fan of You Are Not Alone, like Tawdry says it’s just too saccharine

We can change all the world tomorrow

18. I Just Can't Stop Loving You (ft Siedah Garrett) | 8.0 Highest Scores: 11: (Jester), 10: (gavindeejay, Bjork, Mango, HausofArgento), Lowest Scores: 3: (Monzo)


At #18 is the 3rd ballad to drop in a row - I Just Can't Stop Loving You, a duet ballad featuring Siedah Garret, and was released in July 1987 as the lead single from his 7th studio album Bad. The presence of Siedah Garret was a last minute decision, after Michael's first 2 choices for the duet were Barbara Streisand & Whitney Houston, both turned down the offer. Upon release the song became a huge success by topping the charts in the USA, making it the first in a string of 5 #1's from the album. Elsewhere it also managed to top the charts in Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, UK & Zimbabwe. As well as top 5 peaks in Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden & Austria. The song would also be recorded in several other languages including Spanish & French, & all versions would end on the 2012 reissue of the album titled Bad 25.

A grand & sweeping ballad where both artists vocal performances brings a real affecting sensitivity to the track, and the crashing chorus adds a sense of drama to the whole thing. In the context of the album, this is a soft & spare song that often gets overshadowed by the album's more flashy numbers, but this still has a really nice, tender & vulnerability to it & as the lead single it simply gets the job done. Maybe if Michael could get Barbara & Whitney, then this would have been more of an event, but thankfully his name alone made it an instant success. However this is still a very beautiful number where he flutters around the verses delicately, before saving himself for the big chorus & yeah the lyrics are very paint by numbers love song, but Michael's raw emotions really helps lift the whole thing & his duet partner Siedah does fine by matching his quality at several moments, yet she does get somewhat lost in the mix. This hasn't endured the same admiration as some of the album's singles, but its still a really good track.

love IJCSLY but always get the feeling is not much appreciated

I always totally forget that was actually a #1 for him!

Edited July 10, 20214 yr by Tawdry Hepburn

Love IJCSLY too, but I was aware it's not rated as highly as other stuff. Siedah garrett gifted MJ his best track on bad, of course. Pleasantly surprised it beat out the awful R.Kelly track which was a bit of a dirge. It was OK for a while, then it got on my nerves and I still can't stand it.

 

Stranger In Moscow is a goodie, Will You Be There too. Both deserve to be higher, and higher than Blood On The Dancefloor which is OK but not worthy of a top 30 slot.

Share that beat of love

17. Rock With You | 8.022 Highest Scores: 10: (Nina West, dandy, Jester, Tawdry Hepburn, bluemonday), Lowest Scores: 3: (CJK)


At #17 is one of Michael's most iconic hits - Rock With You, released in November 1979 as the 2nd single from his 5th studio album Off The Wall & was written by Rod Temperton & produced by Quincy Jones. Again like the title track this was also first offered to Karen Carpenter for her first solo album, but she turned it down (not a wise decision). Upon release the song received generally positive reviews & became Michael's 3rd solo #1 on the US Billboard charts, for 4 weeks & was the 3rd number-one hit of the 1980's, a decade in which Michael would soon dominate. Elsewhere it also managed success worldwide with top 5 peaks in Canada, New Zealand & Australia, as well as a top 10 peak in the UK.

How can you not love this song, its certainly one of his most well known & finest songs of his career. It's placement on the after the lead single & it immediately expands on that song's sound, pushing it into sleeker & subtler directions & Michael's vocals are more crisp on this track also, making this the perfect follow up single choice. The song almost feels like a ballad, but I would call it a sophisticated dance-ballad with bubbling synths, elegant strings, excellent bass-lines & cool liquid guitar scratches, which on any other song could be a tad too much, but on this, everything hits at exactly the right moments & of course those horn stabs on the bridge are simply perfection. In all the song is just simply great with graceful rhythms & Michael's gentle vulnerability, really makes everything come together beautifully. A top tier MJ song for sure.

'Rock With You' is probably top 3 Jacko for me, love it so much.

Electric eyes are everywhere

16. Human Nature | 8.136 Highest Scores: 11: (Jester), 10: (Nina West, Dexton, Mango), Lowest Scores; 4:(Monzo)


At #16 is the fantastic Human Nature, released in July 1983 as the 5th single from his 6th studio album Thriller & was originally written by Steve Porcaro of the band Toto & produced by Quincy Jones. The song wasn't intended for Michael, but when Quincy Jones heard the demo, he thought it would be a great fit for the album & brought in John Bettis to rewrite the verses, whose lyrics were about a passerby in New York City. Upon release like the previous 4 singles it reached the top 10 in the USA, by peaking at #7 & elsewhere it managed top 20 peaks in Belgium, Canada & Netherlands. The single wasn't given a UK release, but it did manage to chart in 2009 at #62 thanks to digital downloads after his death. The song has been sampled by numerous artists through the years, most famously by SWV for their hit 'Right Here' in 1992.

This doesn't get played as much as 'Thriller's' other singles (especially in the UK) & that's a shame as this is a true gem, a very seductive yet intimate track that constantly reveals its beauty throughout, with the dreamlike introduction of tinkling synths & seductive guitars, then of course Michael's sweet vocal delivery which floats along the beautiful melodies. Even with the use of electronic instrumentations with sweeping & bubbling synth runs resonates a rich organic warmth to the whole thing, & its because of all this, the track still sounds fresh & current to this day, ageing like a fine wine & glad that this has done so well on here as this really deserves more love.

LET'S TRY & GET THIS 2 ANOTHER PAGE

Human Nature is decent... although I must admit that I prefer the SVW track that samples it, one of my favourite mid 90s rnb tracks

A reminder of what's left from each era:

Got To Be There - 4/4
Ben - 1/1
Music & Me - 2/2
Forever Michael - 3/3
Off The Wall - 1/5
Thriller - 4/7
Bad - 5/9
Dangerous - 2/9
History - 3/6
Blood On The Dancefloor - 3/3
Invincible - 3/3
Michael - 2/2
Xscape - 1/1


As we head into the top 15, there's still 5 of his albums still left in the running. 'Bad' has the most singles left with 5, followed swiftly by 'Thriller' which still has 4, but for how long?