*Yes, the album’s 36 years old!
Yes, I am often weary of reissues of classic albums, fearing that they’re blatant money grabs.
Yes, this reissue is an absolute must-have.
1979’s Off The Wall was the first of a trilogy of Quincy Jones-helmed masterpieces that will be played long after you and I are gone. This first album put Michael Jackson’s contemporaries and fans on notice: our little Michael wasn’t singing about ABC’s and pet rats any more. Our boy had grown up.
First of all, the reissue’s packaging restores Jackson’s gloriously youthful, pre-surgery face on the cover. He was just 20 years old when the album was originally released, and the cover shot could have almost been his high school prom photo — if not for the glowing socks. For years, reissues of the album have featured only the bottom half of the image, as the eccentric star reshaped his visage.
Read more at EURThisNthat.
