Michael Jackson Career Overview: Six Solo Albums

Michael Jackson released six studio albums during his adult solo career beginning with 1979′s Off the Wall through 2001′s Invincible. This article includes a short synopsis of each of these six albums and how they fit into his discography.

Off the Wall – This album made Michael Jackson a real solo star. He was no longer the “little kid in the Jackson Five.” Admittedly he was always the star of the Jackson Five but he was still mostly known for his work with them and not for his solo stuff until Off the Wall which included two #1 hits “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” & “Rock with You.”

Thriller – Still the biggest selling album ever (both in the US & worldwide.) Beyond it’s incredible success commercial, the album also represents a big step forward for Jackson as a songwriter as he wrote four of the albums nine tracks: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “The Girl Is Mine,” “Beat It,” & “Billy Jean.” Each of these four songs were released as singles and they all reached the top 5 in the US with “Beat It” and “Billy Jean” both reaching #1.

Bad – This album is way too often overlooked in comparison with Thriller just because it didn’t match the ridiculous sales numbers of that monumentally album. But what about the five #1 singles that Bad produced? And how about the fact that Jackson wrote 8 of the 10 songs on Bad himself? In my opinion the Bad album is an essential part of the Jackson discography.

Dangerous – While it didn’t sell as many copies as Thriller (of course no other album has either) or contain as many #1 singles as Bad, it was still an extremely successful album which included many MJ classics including the #1 single “Black or White,” “Heal the World,” “Remember the Time,” “Give in to Me,” & “Will You Be There.”

HIStory – This album includes both a greatest hits collection (15 hits up through his previous album, Dangerous) and a disc of new 15 new songs including “You Are Not Alone,” “Earth Song,” “Stranger in Moscow,” and a cover of The Beatles classic “Come Together.” Although somewhat of a weak seller in comparison to Jackson’s biggest hit albums, it still put up impressive sales numbers all over the world.

Invincible – While I do agree with the critics that Invincible is Michael Jackson’s worst studio album, I disagree with just how lowly many people rate this album. I think it has quite a few redeeming moments that make it worthy of a listen. “Break of Dawn,” “Butterflies,” “Speechless,” & “Threatened” are among my favorites.