Earth Song and Don't Stop Till You Get Enough are too low, they are chart-topping classics. Earth Song sold over a million so it obviously appealed widely, though some of those sales would have been from people not buying HIStory due to high price tag for an album that fans already had half the tracks on. I know I was pissed off about it, forcing fans to pay twice for stuff they'd already bought, and it was the last Jackson album I bought due to that. It polarised people due to the ego-issue of setting himself up as a Messiah figure, allegedly, and the Jarvis Cocker incident at the BRITS. As far as I'm concerned, look at the mess the world is in. The song was spot on then, and it's spot on now, and it's going to be even more spot on as things get worse globally. Anything that gets that message over is to be applauded.

 

DSTYGE is brilliant, and it made Jackson a huge solo star.

Don't tell me you agree with me,
When I saw you kicking dirt in my eye

6. Black Or White | 8.954 Highest Scores: 11: (Nina West), 10: (gog lad84, Chapman, gavindeejay, Jester, CJK, bluemonday), Lowest Scores: 4: (Bjork)


At the #6 spot & just missing the top 5 by the skin of its teeth (#5 actually scored the same average, although this is lower due to less high scores) - Black or White, released in November 1991 as the lead single from his 8th studio album Dangerous. This was Michael's first release of the 90's & funnily enough last from that decade to feature here. Michael co-wrote, composed, and produced it with Bill Bottrell. The song is a fusion of pop rock, dance and hip hop. The music video was directed by John Landis & featured several celebrity cameos such as Macaulay Culkin & Tyra Banks & became a worldwide event as it premiered simultaneously in 27 countries, with an audience of 500 million viewers, the most ever for a music video. Upon release of course the song became a massive success by not only topping the US charts, making Michael the first artist to have #1 hits in the 70's, 80's & 90's, but would also top the charts in 20 countries worldwide including the UK, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Turkey, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden & Switzerland, all of which made this the world's best selling single of 1992. The track was not only honoured with the first Billboard No. 1 World Single, but in 2003 Q magazine ranked it at #84 in their list of '1001 Best Songs Ever' .

What a way to kick off a decade with this song that could only be described as an event & like many of his songs this has a powerful message that's matched by catchy melodies & his incredible energy with the merging classic rock n' roll with a soulful call for racial unity. There was a deep message presented in this song fueled by powerful guitars, soulful and hot dance grooves and of course Michael's pitch perfect vocals. An amazing track all-round, one of Michael's very best songs of his career that marked a great turning point artistically for him. Although this has been said by many that this was one of his last great singles, I disagree as he still had some great tunes after this. But this was a great way to sustain his almighty legacy & even by this point he had a lot more to show. This was actually the first MJ song & video I ever heard & well all I have to say is with great material like this, this made made a life long Michael Jackson fan.

Here's a re-cap of the results - 6-10:


6. Black Or White - 8.954
7. The Way You Make Me Feel - 8.931
8. Smooth Criminal - 8.84
9. Scream (ft Janet Jackson) - 8.818
10. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - 8.636

Here is what to feature in the Top 5:

Billie Jean
Beat It
Thriller
Bad
Man In The Mirror



Thoughts? Predictions? Please feel free to share...

Black & White is a great video but it's not as strong as earlier stuff for me. Top 5? Beat It is predictable and over-rated, Bad is a surprise to be that high, borderline top 10 I would have thought, Man In The Mirror is one of his greatest, Thriller one of his perennially popular tracks and bound to be top 3, and Billie Jean is the greatest record he ever made, so any position less than 1 would be an outrage! :lol:

Solid top 5

 

I do wish Earth Song was higher

I like 'Bad' a lot, but what the hell is it doing top 5? :lol:

out of the 5 standing, Billie Jean is the best by miles so I really hope it's #1

 

The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear

5. Beat It | 8.954 Highest Scores: 11: (Dexton, Mango), 10: (Nina West, vibe, gavindeejay, dandy, Jester, CLK, HausofArgento), Lowest Scores: 6: (Monzo)


At the #5 spot is Beat It, released in February 1983 as the 3rd single from his 6th studio album Thriller & was written by Michael Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. The idea for this came from Quincy who wanted to include a rock n' roll song in the vein of the Knack's 'My Sharona', despite Michael never showing interest in the genre & instead, he came up sort of alternate-universe version of the genre, a rock song as written by a great musician who didn’t listen to rock songs. Eddie Van Halen, the lead guitarist from the rock band Van Halen, was asked to add a guitar solo. When initially asked he thought it was a prank call & then the rest was history & during the recording the sound of his guitar caused the monitor speaker to catch fire. Upon release the song, like 'Thriller's' previous singles was a huge commercial success by topping the charts in Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand & USA, as well as top 5 peaks in Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland & UK. The song also received the 1984 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, as well as two American Music Awards. It was inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked "Beat It" number 344 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and the 81st greatest guitar song.

This song is simply amazing & one of the tracks that helped 'Thriller' became the biggest selling album of all-time. This was MJ's first foray into rock music that helped dismantle barriers of the genre and race in popular music. With that iconic opening of echoing synth notes that sounded like gothic-cathedral bell clangs and the measures of drumbeats create a perfect amount of tension, where his vocals are hard & percussive, throwing it against the track & even becomes apart of the beat itself. Then of course there's that brilliant guitar solo which was a crucial part of the song, that may be short, but its vivid, memorable & rips right through the song perfectly. So on the whole this is an explosive track that helped Michael further sustain his almighty legacy & shape him into an all-time superstar.

I hope man in the mirror makes top 3.

Beat it >> Bad >> Man in the Mirror

 

Of course Thriller and Billie Jean now need to be 1 and 2.

If you don't like what I'm sayin',
Then won't you slap my face

4. Bad | 9.0 11; (ready for it), 10: (Nina West, Qween, Jester, Bjork, Adelita, CJK, Mango, Tafty, HausofArgento), Lowest Scores: 6: (gog lad84, Mullo)


At #4 is the iconic Bad, released in September 1987 as the 2nd single from his 7th studio album of the same name & was written and composed by Michael, and produced by Quincy Jones. Michael has stated that the song was influenced by a real-life story he had read about, of a young man who tried to escape poverty by attending private school but ended up being killed when he returned home. Originally he had wrote the track back in 1986 & planned to have it as a duet with musician Prince, who would decline the offer. The reason for this was due to Prince wanting to change the first line of the song, which MJ rejected. The song was supported by an 18 minute short film directed by Martin Scorsese and co-starred Wesley Snipes in one of his first appearances. The music video has been cited by critics as one of the most iconic & greatest videos of all-time. Upon release the song received positive reviews, with some noting that it helped give him an edgier image. In the USA it became the album's 2nd #1 & 8th in total at the time. Elsewhere the song was also commercially successful, charting at the top of the charts in Ireland, Norway, Spain and the Netherlands as well as charting in the top ten in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

This song certainly stands as one of MJ's most essential creations as we see something different by him at this point in his career with a more edgy, aggressive style, addressing racial politics in a way Jackson had yet to do with his music. The sharp & hard beats, a bassline that struts & rolls & an urgent electronic drumbeat clicks all over the track, & then there's those brilliant orchestra synth stabs that really helps Michael convey the message of the song beautifully. This marks a stark contrast to the lead single & that's not a bad thing at all as this kicks off the new era nicely & a fantastic example of Michael evolving his sound, which would continue with each new release.

The TOP 3

 

Billie Jean

Thriller

Man In The Mirror

That is way too high for 'Bad', and "beating" 'Beat It' is a bit errr.

 

Predictable top 3 really, but they're all ace songs.

Bad shouldnt be top 10 wth

I really like Bad, was edgier than anything on Thriller

Yeah 'Bad' definitely feels a little too high. 'Beat It' is iconic and probably my favourite MJ song and it easily should have finished in the top 3.

 

I know I'm way in the minority here but I've always thought 'Man In The Mirror' is grossly overrated. It's not a bad song at all (well it is a 'Bad' song but not a bad song :kink:) but I wouldn't even have it in my MJ top 20. Shoot me.

Edited July 18, 20214 yr by Mangø

Man in the mirror for me is his best single by a mile but it's never a song I thought was hugely popular by him until he died and it was only then I realised how popular it was/is.

Same, it actually flopped when originally released

Man In The Mirror flopped first time round as it came out after a Xmas chart full of ballads and some other big names also under-performed with monster chart-topping US tracks. Topped my chart, huge in the US charts, just got lost in the new year Energy rush in the UK, especially as it had no video to promote it.