Michael Jackson was the biggest star in the 80's, we all know that. If you ask most critics they would say he went down hill in the 90's. But if you ask me, I say he is the most underatted artist of the 90's.

In 1991, he released the Dangerous album. which did get alot of thumbs up from critics. It deserved what it go. It was a great album, it got great reviews from critics. No complaint.

In 1992. He started the Dangerous tour which didn't get alot of deserving reviews from critics. I saw him live in Bucharest, Romania 1992. Brilliant. It was a show like none other. The critics didn't think so.

In 1993 he released more singles from the Dangerous album and completed the Dangerous tour. I can't remember seeing any positive reviews for the singles released in 1993.

In 1995 he released HIStory. In my opinion, his most creative album. In the critics opinion... terrible. They gave in thumbs down, bad reviews. I didn't see what problem they had with it. It is definately better than 'Thriller', but for some reason 'Thriller' got all the positive reviews.

In 1996 Michael made the 45 min long music video, 'Ghosts'. Very creative, very different. Amazing special effects, great dancing. In the critics opinions.... rubbish. Why?

In 1997 Michael released Blood On The Dance Floor. The album was a remix album. It had 10 remixes of classic MJ songs and 5 original songs. Out of the 5 orginal songs, there were 2 very, very good songs on the album that stood out. Is It Scary and Morphine. They were brilliant. Again, the critics thought the album was rubbish.

From 98-99, Michael performed at a few shows and held a few concerts which also got rubbish reviews.

Why do you think this is? Michael peaked at around 95-97 and yet, his work in the time period was frowned on by critics. His record sales went from 60 million (Thriller - in the 80's), down to 18 million (History - in the 90's). Why is this? Where did Michael Jackson go wrong. His music certainly isn't any worse than n the 80's. If you ask me it's alot better.

Why do you think this is? Michael peaked at around 95-97 and yet, his work in the time period was frowned on by critics. His record sales went from 60 million (Thriller - in the 80's), down to 18 million (History - in the 90's). Why is this? Where did Michael Jackson go wrong. His music certainly isn't any worse than n the 80's. If you ask me it's alot better.




I think it's because of his personal life that tarnished this fame.

I think it's because of his personal life that tarnished this fame.


I agree.

I think it was all because of the child accusations and sexual molestations.His record sales slumped because of that. ::)


Howard

I agree! If he would've left those kids alone and acted at least half-normal, he would've been alright.

Tanya

Unfortunately, the 1993 allegations was a thorn on his side all the way to the day of his death!
Did he try to numb his pain with pills? Probably, I'm not a stan so I can't say for sure.
It's also weird, because thanks to the internet, details about the whole 2019 documentary, and the Wade Robson thing, a chunk
of the collective have changed their mind, or at least are now on the fence, about the molestation allegations.

I think his early death might have saved him from going insane, from all the allegations in the future (after 2009), and if he is innocent
of all the allegations, perhaps he's in a more peaceful place now!

MJ was great in the 80s – no doubt.

I bought ALL of his 90s albums, but they didn’t have the longevity or “classic’ness” of his 80s efforts. Off The Wall, Bad and Thriller had that timeless sound to them. Put them on in a club now and people would fill the dancefloor.

His 90s albums were good, but there were a lot of fillers. I also found his sound became too generic. Like a lot of his songs all sounded the same. They also sounded ‘dated’ and seemed to only appeal to fans of his sound.

“Dangerous” started off with good hits… Black or White, Remember The Time, Heal The World… but then “Jam” started off that generic MJ sound. He seemed to stick to that formulaic sound with his future singles… Ghost, They Don’t Care About Us.

His ballads also became a bit too wishy washy. “You Are Not Alone” was like a weak lullaby. It kinda droned on and on.

His worst 90s hit then came – “Earth Song”. All that wailing and screaming just put me off. And using the word “elephant” in a lyric was just corny. His final single of the 90s - "Stranger In Moscow" was just plain weird.

I think with his mega-stardom, he became more reclusive in the 90s and he was out of touch with current sounds and trends. Thus his music reflected this and he basically wrote music with not much outside inspiration.

Moving on to 2001, and I did like his “You Rock My World” single. That was good, but again nothing totally mind-blowing or memorable. His “Invicible” album was the first album of his I didn’t bother buying.