Tuesday, January 06, 2004
"Beat It," Michael Jackson (5/21/83)
It's a tribute to the giantness of Jackson at the time that he even got this on R&B radio; from a lesser artist, this would've been ignored by black stations. [Not surprising, then, that this spent just one week atop the chart as opposed to the 9-week stint of "Billie Jean."] As a pop/rock record, however, it's masterful in its production (take a bow, Q), its songwriting, its musicianship, its vocals, and yes, its guitar solo, which reportedly Eddie Van Halen cut in one take. Sounds just as fresh today as it did 21 years ago. Classics never age, and this hasn't one lick. Stunning, really. A+
It's a tribute to the giantness of Jackson at the time that he even got this on R&B radio; from a lesser artist, this would've been ignored by black stations. [Not surprising, then, that this spent just one week atop the chart as opposed to the 9-week stint of "Billie Jean."] As a pop/rock record, however, it's masterful in its production (take a bow, Q), its songwriting, its musicianship, its vocals, and yes, its guitar solo, which reportedly Eddie Van Halen cut in one take. Sounds just as fresh today as it did 21 years ago. Classics never age, and this hasn't one lick. Stunning, really. A+
Comments:
(0) comments
Post a Comment
