Jackson's first solo album in several years mixes disco-rhythm material similar to the Jacksons' "Shake Your Body" with midtempo ballads reminiscent of the singer's early '70s pop and soul hits. But the emphasis is definitely on brassy arrangements: the Seawind Horns appear on all the cuts. Jackson's bell-clear vocal style is the album's most recognizable hook, as he tackles songs by Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Carole Bayer Sager, Tom Bahler and Rod Temperton (Heatwave). Best cuts: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Rock With You," "Get On The Floor," "Off The Wall," "Girlfriend," "It's The Falling In Love."

- Billboard, 1979.

Bonus Reviews!

In which fast-stepping Michael J. and quick-witted Quincy J. fashion the dance groove of the year. Michael's vocabulary of grunts, squeals, hiccups, moans, and asides is a vivid reminder that he's grown up, and the title tune suggests that maybe what makes Stevie Wonder (who contributes a good ballad) such an oddball isn't his genius or even his blindness so much as the fact that since childhood his main contact with the real world has been on stage and in bed. A

- Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981.

This project turned a boy wonder into an adult superstar. Seven years had passed since Michael Jackson had peaked as a solo star with "Ben." He rejuvenated his career with production by Quincy Jones and songs by Rod Temperton.

The soulful Englishman penned the title smash and the US number one "Rock With You." The artist himself wrote "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," a six-minute workout that made number one itself when severely edited. An offbeat top ten hit was provided by "She's Out of My Life," a Tom Bahler ballad that reduced the singer to tears in the studio.

Quincy Jones suggested Jackson sing "Girlfriend" by Paul McCartney without realizing the Wing had thought it perfect for Michael when recording it himself for London Town.

When this album won only one Grammy, that in a Rhythm and Blues category, Jackson was upset. "It bothered me," he was quoted as saying, "I cried a lot. My family thought I was going crazy because I was weeping so much. Quincy told me not to worry about it." Jones reassured his charge by pointing out that with eight million copies sold he must have brought a great deal of happiness into the world, and that this was a reward more important than statuettes.

Mentors had suggested Michael wear a tuxedo on the LP cover to show he had matured; the artist's personal touch was to wear glowing socks to show he hadn't become boring.

In 1987, Off the Wall was chosen by a panel of rock critics and music broadcasters as the #83 rock album of all time.

- Paul Gambaccini, The Top 100 Rock 'n' Roll Albums of All Time, Harmony Books, 1987.

With a cast of thousands Michael Jackson set out to conquer the world record market making Off the Wall the biggest selling disc by a black artist (until 1982's Thriller). Jackson cleverly mixes soul music, disco and ballad forms including songs by Carole Bayer Sager, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder to create an album of the widest appeal.

These complex productions are vividly relayed by CD, bettering the vinyl issue for simple transparency and stereo separation in both depth and width. Dry, reverberant string and brass arrangements verge on brightness but, on a neutral sound system, they come over sharp and clear. The recording heard from Compact Disc has an easy and fluid bass quality and a fair dynamic range.

- David Prakel, Rock 'n' Roll on Compact Disc, 1987.

Why has this record, which sold a mere eight million units, lasted better than Thriller, the most popular album in the history of recorded music? Superficially, it's because of the violation by Michael Jackson of the amazing love nearly all lovers of pop music felt for the former child star in that heady period between his performance of "Billie Jean" on the Motown 25 television special and the Don King-supervised announcement of the Victory tour that started the unfixable rupture in the Gloved One's crown. The rote dates on the Victory tour and, more than that, Jackson's reaction to the ramifications of his megasuccess let us down so much that it resulted in a backlash against the music.

But that's not why Thriller doesn't peak as high or as often as its predecessor, Off the Wall. The truth is in the grooves: The greatness of Thriller is based on a mere three outstanding cuts -- "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Billie Jean," and "Beat It," all forward-looking masterpieces that Jackson will probably never surpass. But much of the rest of the record is lightweight -- "The Girl Is Mine," a duet with the former rocker Paul McCartney, is so flimsy it evaporates before the first of its profoundly annoying choruses. What was brilliant on Thriller was unprecedented stuff; but there wasn't enough of it to sustain the entire LP.

That's not the case with Off the Wall, the 1979 album that served as Jackson's declaration of independence from the Motown production mill that had begun to strangle him, as it had many other gifted performers before him. It also remains -- with the exception of his three breakthrough cuts on Thriller -- the only time he has presented himself believably as an adult. (This was long before his companions were more likely to be animals or child actors who were unlikely to truly challenge him as a human being.) The record is full of phenomenally sensual, even sexual, performances, from the "You make me feel like... You make me feel like... Woo!" explosion that kicks off "Don't Stop Til' You Get Enough" to Jackson's triumph over conventionality in the final "Burn This Disco Out."

In terms of willful taboo violations, Jackson is of course no Prince, whose contemporaneous Dirty Mind expanded funk and rock into territory that would make even Jerry Lee Lewis blush, but Jackson brought to Off the Wall vocal tricks that no pop singer, before or after, could have imagined. His tenor flies all over the place (evne semi-rapping a bit on "Get on the Floor"), but the most expressive vocal moments here are wordless -- cries, shouts, exultations, sighs that speak volumes. There's minimal artifice here, and not merely because Jackson had not begun his tabloid-intensive, self-destructive addiction to plastic surgery. "She's Out of My Life" is a believable ballad about the breakup of a long-term relationship from a man who claims he has never had one, and producer Quincy Jones helps Jackson speak clearly and wildly without resorting to the smooth tricks that clutter Thriller, Bad, and the other ten thousand records Jones has produced since Off the Wall. Jackson's emotions triumph over his image on Off the Wall, and for more than any reason that's why this record is his most essential.

- Jimmy Guterman, The Best Rock 'n' Roll Records of All Time, 1992.

If you were listening to the Jacksons's Destiny from the previous year, maybe you were less surprised than many that Michael Jackson was capable of making an album this accomplished and assured. From the first moments, he seems bursting with the wide range of music included, from the first side's clutch of irresistible dance tracks ("Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Rock with You," "Working Day and Night") to the light pop and ballads ("She's out of My Life," "Off the Wall") of Side 2. Throughout, Jackson's flexible tenor coos and growls by turns, always goosing the songs along. Deservedly a massive hit, this is less dated today than much of the dance music of that era. * * * * *

- William Ruhlmann, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

As the record that first showed Jackson's promise as a solo artist, Off The Wall lets the singer stretch beyond his teenybopper image. "Rock With You" is a slick, sensual piece of R&B-tinged pop, while "Wanna Be Starting Something" seems tailor-made for the kind of adult-oriented dance clubs that would never go near a Jackson 5 single. Best of all, by welding impressive, inventive production with solid songs, the pair showed hints of what a mature Jackson might be capable of. * * * * 1/2

- Eric Deggans, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.

Further reading on Super Seventies RockSite!: Single Review: "Got To Be There" Album Review: Jackson 5 - Anthology Single Review: Jackson 5 - "ABC" Single Review: Jackson 5 - "Never Can Say Goodbye" Michael Jackson Lyrics

Off The Wall is a 10-million-plus-selling, no-holds-barred call to party. Amazingly, it never made the top slot on the charts in the U.K. or America. The breathless yelps that were to become a trademark surface here for the first time as, against a background of irresistibly funky music courtesy of top session musicians assembled by veteran producer Quincy Jones, Jackson storms the disco. The first five tracks burst with brass stabs, Latino percussion and fat disco beats. The hedonism lets up briefly, most notably with the reflective "She's Out Of My Life" -- a vocal aching with emotion, accompanied mostly by solo electric piano. But the celebratory mood is back in the house by the triumphant closer, "Burn This Disco Out." With Off The Wall, Michael Jackson became the first solo artist to have four hit singles from one album. The scene was set for his next release -- Thriller -- which outsold everything. Disco in excelsis.

- Collins Gem Classic Albums, 1999.

MJ makes everybody want to rock with him on the album that started it all. Sweet, soulful singing and emotions delivered over smooth pop beats with disco and R&B grooves drove his ascent into the stratosphere. This is the Michael we loved growing up, before the plastic surgery, the pet monkey, the entourage, when he was just going solo, so there's a "back when" nostalgia to it. * * * * *

- Zagat Survey Music Guide - 1,000 Top Albums of All Time, 2003.

Before plastic surgery, oxygen tanks, Neverland, and constant scandal, Michael Jackson began his solo musical legacy with the glitterific and Quincy Jonesified Off the Wall. This album personified everything that was behind the velvet ropes at Studio 54, reflected off the disco balls and rolling under the wheels of skaters in rinks across the U.S. and beyond. Michael captured a time that was bridged between an era of glamour and the beginning of the "Me Decade" by claiming "So, tonight, gotta leave that nine-to-five upon the shelf, and just enjoy yourself."

Off the Wall was voted the 36th greatest album of all time in a VH1 poll of over 700 musicians, songwriters, disc jockeys, radio programmers, and critics in 2003.

- Raquel Bruno, VH1's 100 Greatest Albums, 2003.

"The ballads were what made Off the Wall a Michael Jackson album," Jackson remembered of his big solo splash. "I'd done ballads with [my] brothers, but they had never been too enthusiastic about them and did them more as a concession to me than anything else." The heartbreaker here is "She's Out of My Life," where Jackson actually broke down and cried at the end of the take, feeling like one of the loneliest people in the world. But the record also features undeniable up-tempo tracks such as "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" -- state-of-the-art dance music in 1979, now a poignant snapshot of a time before Jackson was a national punch line.

Off the Wall was chosen as the 68th greatest album of all time by the editors of Rolling Stone magazine in Dec. 2003.

- Rolling Stone, 12/11/03.

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