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JennYBlast From The Past Vol. 1 - Part II: Michael Jackson - Ben Album Review
August 4th 2008 21:16
Welcome to the first edition of Blast From The Past. In this monthly column, we'll post three (sometimes four) reviews of albums that came out a long time ago. This month, we'll cover three very different musical genres by revisiting Aerosmith's Rock in a Hard Place, Michael Jackson's Ben, and N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton. For the second post of this month's edition, we'll take a look at the king of pop's second solo album.
Release date: August 4, 1972.
Genre: Bubblegum pop / Soul
Length: 31:23
Label: Motown
Considered a collector's item by many, Ben is a sugar-filled pop album whose lyrics and high notes quickly get irritating for the listener. Musically, it's not one of the best albums I've ever heard, and I applaud anyone (maybe I just feel sorry for them) who is able to listen to the full album without taking a break.
The album starts off with the number-one single Ben, a very Disney-like ballad about a friend named Ben. It's a sweet song and Michael's voice is great, but once I found out that Ben was supposed to be a rat, well... ummm.... yeah.
The Disney parade continues with The Greatest Show On Earth. And just guess what is the greatest show on Earth? No clue? Well, then. Take it away, Michael. “Love is the greatest show on Earth.” With lyrics like that, it's a good thing that Michael's singing is excellent.
In fact, MJ's singing saves many songs from oblivion. Tracks such as People Make The World Go Round (Stylistics cover), a song a bout like in the States during the 70s; In Our Small Way, “Heal The World”'s ancester; and You Can Cry On My Shoulder (Brenda Holloway cover) all benefit from his beautiful voice. Furthermore, his singing gets really perfect on We've Got A Good Thing Going and What Goes Around Comes Around where he hits the notes just right. It's a startling contrast to Aerosmith's Steven Tyler's voice (I know, different strokes for different folks, but I listened to both albums in the same week so I couldn't let the comparison go).
Sadly, as much he sings great on those songs, his high-pitched voice gets quickly annoying on Everybody's Somebody's Fool where he seems to hit high notes just for the sake of it... you know... just like Mariah Carey.
Other tracks include My Girl (The Temptations' classic), and Stevie Wonder's Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day in which Michael introduces us to his trademark grunts.
All in all, this is a great album for kids with sweet songs all over the place. As for me, I wouldn't mind listening to one or two songs every now and then, but the whole album in one go? Forget it. I also find it very unfortunate that there aren't more original songs, half the album's tracks are covers so unless you're a hardcore MJ fan, there's no reason to buy this album. So, with that in mind, I give Ben a 3/5 – great singing, not enough original songs, and too much sugar in the lyrics.
Release date: August 4, 1972.
Genre: Bubblegum pop / Soul
Length: 31:23
Label: Motown
Considered a collector's item by many, Ben is a sugar-filled pop album whose lyrics and high notes quickly get irritating for the listener. Musically, it's not one of the best albums I've ever heard, and I applaud anyone (maybe I just feel sorry for them) who is able to listen to the full album without taking a break.
The album starts off with the number-one single Ben, a very Disney-like ballad about a friend named Ben. It's a sweet song and Michael's voice is great, but once I found out that Ben was supposed to be a rat, well... ummm.... yeah.
Michael Jackson performing Ben
The Disney parade continues with The Greatest Show On Earth. And just guess what is the greatest show on Earth? No clue? Well, then. Take it away, Michael. “Love is the greatest show on Earth.” With lyrics like that, it's a good thing that Michael's singing is excellent.
In fact, MJ's singing saves many songs from oblivion. Tracks such as People Make The World Go Round (Stylistics cover), a song a bout like in the States during the 70s; In Our Small Way, “Heal The World”'s ancester; and You Can Cry On My Shoulder (Brenda Holloway cover) all benefit from his beautiful voice. Furthermore, his singing gets really perfect on We've Got A Good Thing Going and What Goes Around Comes Around where he hits the notes just right. It's a startling contrast to Aerosmith's Steven Tyler's voice (I know, different strokes for different folks, but I listened to both albums in the same week so I couldn't let the comparison go).
Sadly, as much he sings great on those songs, his high-pitched voice gets quickly annoying on Everybody's Somebody's Fool where he seems to hit high notes just for the sake of it... you know... just like Mariah Carey.
Other tracks include My Girl (The Temptations' classic), and Stevie Wonder's Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day in which Michael introduces us to his trademark grunts.
All in all, this is a great album for kids with sweet songs all over the place. As for me, I wouldn't mind listening to one or two songs every now and then, but the whole album in one go? Forget it. I also find it very unfortunate that there aren't more original songs, half the album's tracks are covers so unless you're a hardcore MJ fan, there's no reason to buy this album. So, with that in mind, I give Ben a 3/5 – great singing, not enough original songs, and too much sugar in the lyrics.
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