Of course, Thriller wasn't the best Michael Jackson
record -- I think a lot of people would agree that Off
The Wall was his artistic high water mark.  An
interesting career, since so much of his early music
with The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons was singles
oriented.  If you made CD-Rs of all the great music he
did up to 1987, you'd have a number of CDs, for sure. 
But really, Michael can't hold a candle to Stevie
Wonder or Prince, just to name two, as an album artist
from the R & B arena.

Madonna is probably the logical selection, though I'd
say that her artistry is inconsistent.  Some great
songs, but a lot of not-so-great ones.  (BTW - that
Donna Summer/Moroder-esque single off her newest disc
is killer).

Nirvana is an icon -- in that vein, substitute The Sex
Pistols for Ramones on my initial list of those who
didn't make the cut.

Mike Bennett

--- Stewart Mason <craigtorso@verizon.net> wrote:

> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@ameritech.net>
> > As for my generation -- those three work,
> certainly
> > based on their pervasive success.  I guess
> Madonna,
> > Ramones and Prince didn't make the cut.
> 
> With every passing year, it's more obvious that
> THRILLER was more of a 
> socio-cultural phenomenon than it was an Important
> Record.  It's a 
> great album, but it's a fluke on the level of the
> Rubik's Cube. 
> Although I generally prefer Prince myself, I would
> argue that Madonna 
> is the one who belongs on that list:  unlike
> Michael, who flamed out 
> artistically starting with the Jacksons' VICTORY
> album, Madonna 
> remained musically and culturally relevant up
> through 1998's RAY OF 
> LIGHT, and it's only been with the last couple of
> albums that she's 
> turned into an embarrassing has-been trying to
> recapture past glories.
> 
> Nirvana, I have the same qualms some other folks
> have raised, but I'm 
> willing to buy the argument.  U2, I would grant
> simply because they 
> were trying so very hard for the Spokemen Of Their
> Generation mantle.
> 
> S
> 
> 


Chicago Pop Show Report on Yahoo Groups: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagopopshowreport/?yguid=162827291

Music reviews:  http://www.fufkin.com

My Space blog:  http://blog.myspace.com/mrhonorama