ON MICHAEL JACKSON
Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 9:00am by Axl RosenbergAt the risk of sounding disrespectful: we cannot look at Michael Jackson through rose-colored glasses just because of his untimely passing. The dude was, to put it mildly, a weirdo, and probably very, very crazy. And the fact that he is now dead does not change that fact.
That being said, back when the guy was slightly less crazy (or, at least, the general public was less aware of his craziness), there’s no denying that he was major talent who had a huge impact on music. Denying this fact because of his later follies is just foolish. And even though I’ve been listening to metal since before I had pubes, I freely admit that I owned a copy of Thriller long before I owned a copy of Reign in Blood.
Jackson apparently had some kind of affinity for hard rock guitarists, or, at least, had someone in his camp who did. Besides employing Jennifer Batten for years, Jackson worked with Eddie Van Halen (”Beat It”), Slash (”Give in to Me”), and Steve Stevens (”Smooth Criminal”).
For the usual dumb reasons, none of the videos for these collaborations are embeddable, but you can easily find them on the net. In the meantime, here’s Jacko and Slash:
On a more cynical note, except at least one, if not more, of these guitarists to start exploiting their relationship with Jackson for publicity any second now.
-AR
Extremely weird doesn’t even to begin to cover it. The man had psychological issues, but there is a big difference between being fucking weird and being a child molester, which I never believed he was.
If you listen to Jacko today, he’s still so much better than every other artists who has tried to be him for the past 25 years. For me, he will truly be missed
at like 1:40 You see some dude run to slash and say like “dude keep going Michael’s nose fell off and we gotta re-attach it”
sorry
RIP that lil rich weird mothafucka
I hope he can rest in peace. I feel bad for all the jokes I’ve cracked on him!
At least the kids are safe now
Now the news stations are reporting that it was not a heart attack that killed Michael Jackson, it was food poisoning…………. 12 year old nuts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also heard that since he was 90% plastic, his dying wish was to melted down into LEGO’s so that young children could still play with him.
HAHAHA damn dude. Spat fuckin tea all over the place.
Yeah, and his last words were “Take me to the childrens hospital”
Thats so wrong but, I can’t help but laugh!
in order to honor MJ, mcdonald’s is offering the MJ burger… 50 year old meat between 10 year old buns.
hahahahahaha that’s great.
That’s terrible, but still funny.
Haha so funny. I dont really feel that bad when child molesters die, lets have a party!
lol, he was acquitted, there is no substantial proof, proves that you are many of the gullible sheep who believe what the media serves
Well, I agree with the fact that he may have been weird, but I was watching the news last night and they said that if Elvis deserved revisionist treatment, then Jacko does too… I think that’s about right. He should be remembered for the things he did (terrifically) right
Very well stated.
Never got into it. Never owned any of his records. Glad he’s dead.
You’re just mad because he touched you and didn’t pay you off.
OWNED
LOL
I wonder if Prince will change his name to King now that Jackson is dead.
i couldn’t possibly care less.
The Thriller video scared the socks off me when I was a kid…actually kick started my obsession with zombies that still lingers today. For that I am very grateful.
I guess you can say in tribute I wore white socks to work today…or I I can guess you can also say I need to do some laundry.
You just wait until the thriller video remake… I hear he’s working on it as we speak
it’s so weird to see everybody “loving” mj now. if you’d ask the very same people two days ago they probably hated him.
oh well, at least young boys can sleep well tonight
Anyone who really listens to the Thriller album and claims not to like at least a little is a fucking LIAR. I credit Quincy Jones for that more than Jackson.
Cant really say im phased to be honest, deaths never fun but at the end of the day the guy was probably a pedophile and if it was anyone else then people would be celebrating his death.
I was a huge fan as a little kid Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad… Those albums were the shit.. But he spent WAY more of his life scaring little kids than making kick ass music. I totally thought the same thing as a few of the posts above about little kids.. I mean.. seriously.. just because someone dies, doesn’t mean that all the jacked up stuff they did goes away. I’ve already said goodbye to the cool, 80’s Michael YEARS ago.. That dude has been gone for a LONG LONG time.
This. Well, mostly…
Corey Taylor has the album cover for Off The Wall tattooed on his back. I thought that was bad-freaking-ass, but, more to the point, it’s just one case in point of however many million available of just how many boundaries Michael Jackson transcended. I still rock to that man’s music and I’m proud to. All the same, I don’t mourn his passing because, as Joel said, for me he “passed” years ago and the things that made him relevant to the soundtrack of my life are already preserved in plastic.
Everybody’s got jokes and they’ll have plenty of material at my funeral, that’s for sure. Laugh it up, fuzzballs. I’m presently polling the people in my office to see which MJ song we should break the office ban on music with. I’m pulling for either Billie Jean or P.Y.T.; or, failing that, I just might pay tribute with my own a capella death metal rendition of Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough. We’ll see what happens….
Billie Jean is not my lover,
Shinaain
Okay, here’s how it happened: The office breakdown was to “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” and “Billie Jean.”
Bad-ass.
The Weird Al parodies alone justified Jacko’s existence… “Eat It”, “Fat.”
“Ding Dong — Ding Dong, yo!”
R.I.P.
Easy as 1-2-3
Now the news stations are reporting that it was not a heart attack that killed Michael Jackson, it was food poisoning…………. 12 year old nuts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also heard that since he was 90% plastic, his dying wish was to melted down into LEGO’s so that young children could still play with him.
When I was a small kid just getting into music, the Thriller thing had just begun to explode. It was one of the first 5 albums I ever owned. And I was introduced to Eddie Van Halen through “Beat It”, which led me to delve more into hard rock which eventually led me to bands like Maiden, Priest, Slayer and Metalica a coupel of years later.
Really strange to think of him being gone.
Who cares if he was a piece of shit, and who really cares that he’s dead. He made some music that is worth listening to. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
grow the fuck up you coward
WTF is that supposed to mean? A coward would be one of these fucks claiming they never liked any of his music for fear they might get flamed by people who don’t have respect for any song with less than two fucking kick drums in it. All I’m saying is that his death doesn’t exonerate him from pederasty, but bending over a few little boys doesn’t make the music any less valid either.
Sad to see him die, his losing his grip on reality doesn’t change his grip on the direction of popular music these past decades.
I have to admit, beat it is still one of my favorite songs. I mean, anything involving Eddie Van Halen and not Sammy Hagar is probably one of my favorite songs. Thriller is a fucking good album, I remember tripping on LSD at a friend’s house once, and she had a whole shitload of vinyls, and rather than picking the usual stereotypical trippy music like Pink Floyd we decided to listen to Thriller whilst tripping sack. It was an excellent choice. That being said, it was definitely his time to die. I also think it’s morbidly funny that he basically upstaged another celebrity who died on the same day. Even in dying, motherfucker was a star.
My honest feelings toward the situation is of sadness. Not necessarily over his death, but of his life.
I believe he lived in an environment where he was never able to experience growing up. Between his unfortunate and well documented childhood of abuse and this fantasy world his talent afforded him, I believe his mentality never matured past that of a young child.
As much as I want to label him a pedophile and throw him in with the rest of the sick-o’s of the world who have committed these acts, I think that’s too convenient. I think MJ’s sickness goes far beyond this.
I don’t think MJ’s actions were something he was fully aware of being wrong. I think the environment he lived in nurtured his sickness enough that he didn’t have the mental capacity to realize what he was doing would be scrutinized by society, let alone lead to legal action.
I am not a Michael Jackson fan. I do remember watching his music videos on major TV networks during prime time hours as a child and being in awe of his talent even then, but his music was never my cup of tea.
I’m not trying to defend his actions in any way, I just think this is a very interesting situation and it should be looked at in a more objective light. He was sick, but was also very much an unfortunate victim of his circumstances.
The world truly was his playground.
My tribute to the King, which ironically I had finished the night before he died: http://twitpic.com/8gskl
I’m more entertained by your handle than anything else. Metal. \m/
As a result of his death, Michael Jackson’s London dates have been cancelled.
There were James (9) and Timothy (11)
hahahahahahah !!!!!!!!
haha fucking great
Not being a fan of someone’s music doesn’t preclude one from recognizing talent. Or iconicism (I think I just made up a word.). I never really got into his music, but that’s just because I’ve never liked pop music. However, if I’d ever been offered tickets to see him live, I’d have gone in an instant. There are few, if any performers, who could touch him. No one sells over 100 million copies of an album without some insane level of talent.
One word: Moonwalk
You’re such an iconicist Sammy.
My father passed away this morning. At least he outlived Micheal Jackson. Rip Dad :(
Hey Dave, I’m very sorry for your loss. Prayers, man.
Thanks I really appreciate it.
I’m so sorry, Dave. It’s seems so paltry to say it, but for whatever it’s worth, best wishes to you and your family.
at least thats one accompolishment. i bet he made a ton more my condolences
I have to say, I didn’t think his death would affect me as much as it did. I was never a huge fan, but I did enjoy his music and nobody can deny that he was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, entertainer of all time. Maybe it was just shock because it was out of nowhere. Either way, it’s a shame that people can’t lay off the jokes for at least one day out of respect for who Michael Jackson once was. I honestly believe he was a victim of circumstance. He never really had a childhood, not to mention he spent his entire life under the scrutiny of the media. It’s no wonder he was mentally unstable. And why is everyone so convinced that he actually did touch little boys? I won’t deny that it’s possible and inexcusable if he did. However, it’s also possible that a tabloid printed the rumor thinking it was strange that he loved children ( which could either be because he never mentally matured into adulthood or maybe he just wanted to give others the chance to experience a childhood he never had) and some money-hungry parents jumped on it. It’s not so uncommon for parents to brainwash their kids. Just look at religion.
What it all comes down to is that a great entertainer and very talented man is dead. His impact on the music world is undeniable. He will be missed.
spot on. Once allegations of that nature are levelled, there is really no way to combat it.
This pretty much echoes all my sentiments
I bet in a few years, those kids he supposedly touched will start coming out of the woodwork to say it was all bullshit.
the real MJ died back in 80-something when Pepsi set his ass on fire. that was the strange, white, doppleganger who replaced him.
nice robot chicken reference.
damn straight. can’t argue with the robot chicken.
Amen.
There will never be another Michael Jackson, for better or worse…he was the one and only and he’s gone now. No doubt about it there wasn’t something exactly right about him, but no one can ever deny the impact he had on popular music. I believe he was the product of his upbringing, and there are many many people, even musicians, whose upbringings have led them to actually commit crimes far worse than anything Michael Jackson was ever alleged to have done. Eccentric? Yes. Unstable? Possibly. Talented? No question. A legend? Yes.
And I do appreciate that MetalSucks handled this story with class when it was so easy to do otherwise, you gave the man credit where credit is due.
Couldn’t agree more…
I work for a mid-market TV station, and it is appauling to see all the promos coming in from tabloid shows showing him in an abulance, etc… These people are vultures waiting around for people to die, and anyone who enjoys that kind of crap is a trult despicable excuse for a human being.
Well done MI
As soon as I heard about his passing, I thought “Hmm, I wonder if MetalSucks is going to have a field day with this too?” Surprisingly, I was wrong. Classy post and I feel bad that his music career had to be overshadowed by psychological issues and lifelong allegations.
Regardless, rest in peace Mr. Jackson. No one will ever make another album as great as Thriller.
I’ll just add that I enjoyed his music and his dancing as a kid and that ANYONE that has never tried to do the “moonwalk” in ther childhood was just born without imagination or a life spark. It’s a shame that he just never had the chance to get the public and artistic redemption he was looking for, and he was working really hard on it. I mean, 50 booked sold out shows in London is quite a feat, regardlessof the musical genere.
One of the biggest upsets in latinamerica was when he cancelled his very first tour here in ‘93 for the “Dangerous” album. I was a little kid but I remember the TV spots and how thrilled everyone was (no pun intended). The whole tour was sold out despite the very expensive tickets and he suddenly cancelled, allegating some kind of muscular fatigue, when it actually was that he went bent on painkillers because of the media scrutiny over him becuase of the child molestation thing.
BTW, in “Beat it”, EVH just did the solo, most of the guitar work was done by Steve Luthaker.
rest in peace king of pop who rules the 80’s with one white glove OF BR00TAL-NESSNESS
Jackson was crazy
at first I was surprised by all the people hurt by the maniacs death, but I guess all of that has to be put aside during such an event because he does disserve recognition as a pretty frickin good musician
good to hear about the writer’s pubes
Damn shame, I was hoping he’d be the new singer for Velvet Revolver!
1 ozzy hasnt died yet?!?
2 did any one else notice slashes guitars not plugged in …TO ANY THING!
BUT !
through all the joking and the sillyness ya hes been “dead” for a while but ya hes a pivitol part of our generation and or a few generations , i put up there with the death of johny cash and the beatles members.
no matter what way you slice it , metal or not its an important thing. some ones gonna miss him, just not most of us.
“Dirty Diana”. Not “smooth criminal.”
It’s typical: now that he’s dead, he has respect from the World Press, who shit on him relentlessly not more than a week ago.
I do think it’s funny that he was reportedly $400 Million in the hole.
(that’s alot of ’shut-up’ payoffs)
Now if only fucking Bono would die….
Well for all the haters that are too “metal(core),” the only thing you knew about MJ is what was in the press. There are not enough truly weird, eccentric people, who live by thier own rules left in this world, which is a sad fact. Oh, and about the supposed child fondling, fuck those kids!!! And fuck their greedy parents too!!!
Steve Stevens played on Dirty Diana, not Smooth Criminal.