Michael Jackson - Off the wall

This record fucking rules. Even the couple of tracks that don't totally rule still have redeeming qualities. Usually, when someone thinks of "the good old days when MJ was still awesome and still black", they think of Thriller. And Thriller is great! But this is the first of his great albums. Thriller was tragically the last. He'd done a handful of solo records before, which sucked. This one was his first with Quincy Jones, which made all the difference. Jones brought in all the awesome studio dudes who got busy awesoming out, especially Louis Johnson on the bass. Anyone who knows bass players knows that he's the funk master whose shoulders dudes like Norwood Fisher stand on. He's all over this shit, too, thumping and popping and making you shake your ass. This album is just what disco ought to be: danceable, infectious, and fun. There's a lull toward the end, which is the couple of tracks that don't rule. Still, Stevie Wonder wrote one, and the other one is about getting dumped by Karen Carpenter, so I can appreciate the former and cackle about the latter, because I have a morbid fascination with all things Karen. Then MJ picks shit back up and hits you in the head with it like a big slimy fish on "Burn this disco out".

If you can't enjoy this, you are Jesse Helms.