Michael Jackson: Off the Wall [LEGACY/EPIC]

Why you'll love it

Off the Wall was the best-selling album of 1980 in the US and spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Black albums chart. It was Jackson's first record with Quincy Jones, with songs from Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Rod Temperton.

This edition

• Single LP, 10 tracks
• Legacy/Epic pressing of the 1979 album
• Produced by Quincy Jones

About the album

Before Thriller, there was this. Michael Jackson met Quincy Jones on the set of The Wiz, and when the 21-year-old wanted to make a record that finally sounded like him rather than a Jackson family product, Quincy was the guy he called. Off the Wall arrived in August of 1979 and pretty much reintroduced the world to Michael as a grown-up: disco, funk, soft rock and Broadway balladry rolled into one gloriously confident package.

"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You" are as perfect as dance-floor singles get, Rod Temperton (of Heatwave) wrote the title track and "Rock with You," Stevie Wonder chipped in "I Can't Help It" and Paul McCartney donated "Girlfriend." Plenty of people still swear it's Jackson's best album, and honestly? They make a pretty strong case.

Also at Kops: more Michael Jackson on vinyl · browse Pop

Tracklist

Listen

On Legacy/Epic, a reissue of the 1979 album.