I almost completely agree here.cryophonik wrote:This will likely get me flamed but here we go anyway:
Michael Jackson.
I recognize that he was a talented guy, but I never liked anything he did musically (or otherwise, for that matter). I was a teenager when "Thriller" was released and I hated every song on it. Anybody alive during the 80s realizes that you couldn't escape having those songs shoved down your throat at every opportunity, which probably made me despise his songs even more. Then, he turned into a total creep, at which point I lost complete respect for him as both a musician and a human being. I still think he's the most overrated musician that ever lived, but I find it even more disturbing that so many people will look past what a creep he was just because they like his songs and his stupid white gloves.
There. I said it. Feels good to get that off my chest. Now, flame away.
I think up to and including Thriller he did some great stuff for the most part (always thought most of his and the Jackson's attempts at ballads sucked though).
The one thing that is irritating is how people credit him with so much of the songwriting yet he did little songwriting before Thriller and when he did write the results were varied. I seem to remember Quincy Jones relating how Jackson would sing a few melodies and present the lyrics and Quincy Jones would put together the entire arrangement before going back into the studio and directing the sessions.
After Thriller most of his stuff was excruciatingly bad (no pun intended). His best was behind him yet he continued to sell variable quality material by the millions. I think he is a great example of how image is everything and it allows you to polish a turd.
In retrospect he really does seem a very creepy and disturbing character. I find it disturbing that he paid off one accuser of child molestation to the tune of $20 million after the strip search confirmed that his accusers description of his penis was accurate; but then he got accused a second time and it wasn't so much that he was found innocent, but that the jury found that there was not enough evidence. Some of the things that came up during those trials made me shudder, particularly in the light of his fans being dismissive and/or having very short memories.