Thriller: The Musical Life of Michael Jackson
Thriller: The Musical Life of Michael Jackson
Thriller takes us back to a time in 1982 when Michael Jackson was king of the charts, breaking the color barrier on MTV, heralding the age of video, and becoming the ultimate representation of the crossover dreams of Motown’s Berry Gordy, who helped launch Jackson’s career with the Jackson 5. In this incisive and revealing examination of the making and meaning of Thriller, Nelson George illuminates the brilliant creative process (and work ethic) of Jackson and producer Quincy Jones, deftly exploring the larger context of the music, life, and seismic impact of Michael Jackson on three generations. All this from a groundbreaking journalist and cultural critic who was there. George questions whether the phenomenon Jackson became is even po
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A nice read but surprisingly sparse,
The author’s strengths lay in his history as a music critic, and in that vein, he offers some helpful and insightful commentary about Michael Jackson’s history in music. However, for someone who supposedly has a longstanding knowledge of Michael Jackson (given that he wrote about him in the 1980′s) it was really a surprise and disappointing that he got many basic facts wrong – referencing some of the names of Michael’s family members as well as his wives, for example. His reviews of other aspects of Michael’s career are glaringly innacurate as well, for example his review of the Jackson’s TV show from 1976 where the author says that Michael Jackson stood out only for his role as the lead singer among his brothers and he calls the guest stars TV “hacks”, notible names from the time such as Joey Bishop, Sony Bono, and Dom Deluise. For anyone who has actually seen the show, it would be more than clear that Michael’s performace stood out as more than just a lead singer, as “the camera loved him” as they say, and his skill as an actor, his stage presence and dance ability made him seem like a natural in comparison to the rest of the family (and there was also no mention in the author’s comments about the show regarding the now very infamous short scenes with Janet Jackson as a young Mae West). Other editorial flaws are seen in examples such as typos which refer to “A&R” records (rather than the correct “A&M”), referring to “Billie Jean” and “Human Nature” as songs that Michael did not write himself, when in fact he did write “Billie Jean”, and a minor innacurracy in the author’s reference to the famous “scat” transition on the Jackson’s Live album wherein Michael cries out “I think I wanna rock!” Also, although the focus of the book is on the Thriller album, hence the title, the subtitle is “the musical life of Michael Jackson”, yet the author devotes merely a paragraph to the HIStory and Invincible albums combined, which although not nearly as commercially successful as their predecessors surely should yield more attention from a music critic who offers a narrative about Jackson’s “musical life”. All in all, some good musical insights for MJ fans, especially appreciating the perceptive details about individual compositions, but those who know Michael’s work best will wish the gaps had been closed before releasing a book about one of the most accomplished musicians of our time.
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|Interesting but flawed,
I had higher expectations for this book. I was hoping for a deeper examination of Michael’s musical career. The book, indeed, does focus on the music and the context of Michael within the music world in the 70s, 80s and a bit beyond. It also provides an interesting examination of Michael’s race in the context of how he was perceived by the black community. However, the content of the book is rather thin. It almost seems hastily created even though it clearly wasn’t something dashed off to cash in on Michael’s death. The glaring mistakes such as getting the names of both of Michael’s wives wrong (he refers to Michael’s brief marriages to “Priscilla Presley and Debbie Rows”), although not central to the purpose of the book, are inexcusable and seem almost deliberate, either as a publicity stunt or as a snub to these women. If not deliberate, how could such a mistake slip through the editorial process? Such things diminish the author’s efforts to be taken seriously. That said, the content that is there is well-written and provides some insights I have not seen elsewhere. It is also a very quick read. I just wish it delved deeper into more of Michael’s music.
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|A quick read, just scratching the surface of Thriller,
In this book, Nelson George gives a little insight into black music history of the time…50′s, 60′s, 70′s. He sets the stage well for the entrance of Thriller on the world stage…poised between the analog and digital age.
Mr. George touches on the Jackson5/Jacksons timeframe. He gave a little different point of view about Joseph Jackson’s actions which I found to be very reasonable and definitely put it into the historical context of a black man in America at that time.
I did enjoy the song by song descriptions of the Thriller album. It gave more detail on where the inspiration came from for each, who wrote the songs, who played on the songs. It did focus on the creative team that was assembled for this historic endoeavor. I think this could have been taken even further. I did learn a little more about Prince’s early career from parts of this book.
There was a reference to keeping the company of boys which I felt was not needed. Although, later in the book when talking about Chuck Berry as an early black rocker, Nelson George referenced the unfair application of the Mann Act that derailed Chuck Berry’s career. It seemed to be an attempt put events that happened to Michael Jackson in a racial context which many people believe to have been the reasons for the lynch mob mentality for the last 15 years of Michael’s life.
Mr. George obviously had issues with MJ’s skin problems. He discusses it in the book but doesn’t really talk about the reasons for the skin lightening (ie. vitiligo).
The author does discuss the relationship between Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson. Quincy Jones served as a mentor to Michael. When Michael was ready to update his sound and move on to new things, Nelson George suggests that Michael had reached a point in his life where he wanted to be a mentor. Then, the author goes on to discuss the Dangerous album produced by Teddy Riley. I had often thought this myself as all young people outgrow their mentors and want to move on to a different role for themselves.
Overall, it was a quick read and kept my attention. There were many editing mistakes especially getting the names of Michael’s two wives incorrect. I expected the book to be mainly about the Thriller album and it was. The author should have spent more time on this album and not even tried to look at others. It would have been a better book. But, the author clearly admires Michael as a gifted singer, dancer, choreographer, producer, songwriter, and creative genius.
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