She's Out of My Life: Oh, wait a classic ballad. There are two things I love about this song. One, how simple the groove is. This song is all about Michael's voice and the message he is singing - the instrumental comes second. Two, you can hear the pain in Michael's voice, making what he is singing all the more powerful. Especially at the end, it really sounds like he's crying (voice crack and all) - he really portrays the pain of losing someone you love. Beautiful stuff.
I Can't Help It: I heard this song for the first time last year, and I was so shocked that I was unfamiliar with it being as funkily sweet as it is. I love that it has a little bit of a latin flare to it - makes you wanna samba or something. The production on this one is so good - the groove really holds its own with it's unique feel. It's kinda got a Stevie feel to it - I can dig that. The melody is very sweet, especially in the chorus, and it works great with everything around it. Great build to the end. Really solid track.
It's the Falling In Love: I'm pretty unfamiliar with this song, but I really like it. It's got a laid-back feel to it, while still having a back beat, and then building into a funky chorus. I'm happy we're back to another dance kind of feel, since he is just so good at that. I like that the dance groove builds throughout the tune, it makes for great anticipation. So simple lyrically, and I think it makes the song very relatable and easy to listen to. Oh hey, key change - gotta love a good one of those. Sweet horns at the end. Funny that this groove makes me happy, since it's not the happiest of topics. Short and sweet - great stuff.
Burn This Disco Out: Very smart to come full circle with the dance grooves on this album - it really rounds out the album. Seriously dig the weight of the bass on this one - super funky. It's only 12:15, and I feel the need to be at a disco. Love the background vocals in the chorus, they get you really into the groove of everything. B section is hella funky. Man, the horn lines all around this album are ridiculous!! Too hot to handle! Anybody wanna come dance with me?
More fun facts:
ReplyDelete- Stevie wrote "I Can't Help It."
- "Get on the Floor" is the last track on Side A, so not only did they round out the album with dance tracks, but they rounded out the sides, too!
- Jerry Hey was the horn genius on all of Michael's solo albums with Quincy Jones (arranger and performer).
- The bassist is Louis Johnson of the Brothers Johnson. I believe Quincy worked with him on film soundtrack for The Wiz just prior to working on this album.