As I was born in 1960 Michael Jackson inevitably made up much of the sonic background of my formative years. Never a huge fan of the '5' - I went from Rock, to Punk, to New Wave in short order - but looking back you wonder at the sheer talent of what was essentially a primary school child.
But once his solo career took off he became impossible to ignore, culminating in his 'Thriller' Album which must rank, along with Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' as one of the two defining pop albums of the 80's. Though other albums were good that single moment of genius ranks with the truly great pieces of music of any century and deserves it's place as the biggest selling album of all time.

And now he's gone - rather than the loss of a great future talent it marks the end of a steady slide into increasing eccentricty, illness and 'freak show' tabloid headlines, perhaps it marks a point where we can remember just how special he was.

Thanks for the music - Geoff Husband

I've never considered myself a Michael Jackson fan. Indeed, I own just one sigle album from MJ, namely "Bad" (1987), on vinyl. Why? Actually, I don't know. Perhaps I've always considered his Music too "commercial" to suit my tastes but I admit this is just a cliché, nothing more than that.
"Thriller" and "Bad" were two great albums, indeed, and listening to these after more than 20 years puts MJ's talent under a quite different light. He was a genius, there's no doubt about that. And also a "complete" performance artist, gifted songwriter and innovative dancer. While listening to "Bad" 22 years after its release I can see things under a completely different perspective. Perhaps not exactly the kind of Music that makes my heart beat faster but still a masterpiece of the genre.
Micheal Jackson (and the producer Quincy Jones) paid an extra care to sound quality as well. "Bad" is recorded with the Bruce Swedien so-called "Acusonic Recording process D" (see here for a complete description by its inventor). "Bad" was recorded on Mitsubishi digital multitrack stereo master recorders, then transferred into vinyl. The final result isn't irresistible and other digital master recordings of that era do sound better (for example, Fagen's "The Nightfly"), at least on vinyl. Perhaps the original masters were intended to sound better on CD...I don't know as I've never auditioned "Bad" on CD, actually. This notwithstanding, the rhythm and the sheer energy of the 10 tracks hit the listener and force him to stomp his feet, to say the least.

I won't even dare to spend a word commenting how he led his life, judging a so-complicated artist is a very difficult task. And who am I to comment after all?
I just hope he has finally reached a place where his soul can live in happiness. Forever.
Lucio Cadeddu

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change