著名《Q》音樂雜志在最新一期上慶祝其創辦21周年。在這一期雜志上，《Q》評選出了改變音樂界的21張專輯。Michael Jackson的《Thriller》名列13，（包括一篇對該專輯的特別回顧）。此外，該雜志還收錄了當紅新晉藝人John Legend對流行之王的一篇評論，編譯如下：
Michael Jackson，他君臨天下，他月球漫步，他征服四海
文/John Legend
如果你不欣賞邁克爾·傑克遜，那你就不懂欣賞音樂。如果你聽了他童年時的唱片，你會明白他的嗓音真的是令人難以置信。他歌唱可以達到的精準清澈度和可以跨越的音域，真的就是不可思議，而他根本不用改變自己的演唱風格……對一個孩子來說，這已經不能僅僅用“好”字來形容了；而是對任何人來說，他都是好得讓人驚奇！看看傑克遜家族早期的那些綜藝節目，當他唱起《Rockin' Robin》時，你就會發現他的天賦。他的演唱方式是前無古人，甚至後無來者的。
對于任何成長在八十年代的人來說，邁克爾·傑克遜就是我們童年歲月裏最終極的明星。顯然《Thriller》是一部怪獸級別的暢銷作品、也是史上最強音之一。但我覺得，從創造性的角度來說，《Off The Wall》專輯更加先鋒——像《Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough》、《Rock With You》等，以及《Off The Wall》專輯的同名歌曲本身，我都認為是相當美麗的一首歌。《Off The Wall》粉碎了多項記錄（該專輯使傑克遜成為第一個在同張專輯中擁有四首美國Top 10單曲的藝人） ，但當時邁克爾表示他並不滿意。他知道他可以做得更好。這就是眾多伴隨他的新事物中的一個：雄心壯志。他的家庭顯然對此有一定關系，你也從報道中知道他的父親是一個嚴苛的人物。我不知道是不是他的家庭使得他如此辛苦工作。這個留給以後討論吧。首先可以明確的是，他的基因裏的某些東西使他具備了那樣的聲線，而且他的家庭顯然栽培他的天賦。我理解這一點。我瞭解在那樣的氛圍裏長大是什麼樣子，因為我也來自一個音樂世家。在音樂人以及熱愛音樂的人的包圍和薰陶下成長，這會對一個小孩產生巨大影響。
邁克爾改變了音樂的另一方式是他的音樂錄影。在整個八十年代，他的錄影就是一個個盛事。他是第一個使電視網打破正規節目安排來首播MV的藝人。前天晚上，我正和Kanye West吃飯，我們都談到了這一事實：每當邁克爾的音樂錄影播出之時，那便是電視界的大事。而且，當然，這真正成就了MTV電視臺。邁克爾首度開啟了黑人藝人進入主流的大門。你要記住，MTV當時原本只是一個搖滾頻道。他們辦臺的宗旨只是將其當作一個電臺來辦：專注於一種模式，並做到極致。邁克爾用《Thriller》打開了這扇門，然後說唱音樂也開始邁進MTV。然後MTV就變成了年輕一代的多樣電臺。但一段時期以來，邁克爾就是我們在MTV所有的一切。此後，音樂錄影走向衰落。今天，超巨型預算的MV時代已經過去了。
邁克爾也屬於第一批真正明白怎樣把自身打造成一個獨一無二的品牌的流行明星。其實對他來講，能唱出那些歌曲已經足夠，但是接下來，他還把這些歌曲以獨特的方式表達出來：那就是令人驚艷的舞步。邁克爾永遠是流行音樂史上最卓越的舞者之一。當他在Motown電視節目（1983的《Motown 25周年：昨天、今日和永遠》，第一次公開表演“太空步”）上表演《Billie Jean》時，真是精彩絕倫。作為一個從不會跳舞的人來說，我一直非常尊敬並羨慕這一點。作為一個藝人，找到與觀眾溝通的方式是工作的一部分。在這一點上，沒有人比得上邁克爾。
但是，看起來（為我們造就邁克爾神話的）那些情形不會再發生了。我認為如今的媒體已經不會再把全世界的焦點都放在一個藝人身上。另外，邁克爾是一個先鋒，是一個樣板標準。除非你也身處當時，否則沒人能明白那種感覺：從小，就一直是世界最重要最受關注的人物之一。我並不想從精神角度分析邁克爾，——我也確實不是很瞭解邁克爾。但是你可以想像一下在公眾的注視下成長會對你造成什麼樣的影響。
時至今日，我認為他的音樂依然歷久彌新。你可以在派對上播放《Thriller》，人們會因此興奮，你會發現邁克爾影響了很多流行藝人，比如Justin Timberlake、Usher和Ne-Yo。你能在他們寫的歌中和跳的舞中，看出80年代邁克爾·傑克遜的巨大影響。但是邁克爾的私生活令他的傳奇遭到了玷污。很自然地，人們不會分而視之。邁克爾沒有身處積極正面的曝光之中，而且我認為這種情形不會改變。每一個藝人都有他的盛衰起伏。但是我認為被控孌童是有一點過火了，哪怕是對于一個明星來說。
我很期待邁克爾的歸來。你看，“王子”、席琳·迪翁，托妮·布萊克頓、艾爾頓·約翰都在賭城拉斯維加斯駐唱，邁克爾為什麼不可以呢？你永遠不會知道未來怎樣。但是人們真的必須持正常的心態。想要並想要完成所有的工作，以及涉及的宣傳曝光。我不知道邁克爾是否想要再幹這些事了。讓我們拭目以待。
作者簡介：John Legend，歌手、創作人和鋼琴師，已獲五座格萊美獎。
Michael Jackson in Q magazine 2007
Michael Jackson
He came. He moonwalked. He conquered.
By John Legend
You can't appreciate music and not appreciate Michael Jackson. If you listen to the recordings he made as a kid, his pipes were truly incredible. The precision clarity and extent of the range he could sing at, without changing his vocal style, is just incredible. To be able to reach those high notes... He wasn't just good for a kid; he was amazingly good for anybody. Watch those early Jacksons Variety Shows when he sings Rockin' Robin, and you'll see he had a gift. No one had ever sung like that before. And no one has been able to sing like that since.
For anyone who grew up in the '80s, Michael Jackson was the definitive star of our childhoods. Obviously Thriller was a monstruous hit, one of the biggest ever. But I feel, creatively, Off The Wall has the edge - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Rock With You and Off The Wall itself, I think that's such a beautiful song. Off The Wall smashed records [ Jackson became the first artist to score four US Top 10 singles from the same album], but at the time Michael said he wasn't satisfied. He knew he could do better. That was one of the things that was new with him: ambition. His family clearly had something to do with that – you hear reports about his father being a tough guy. I don't know wether his family worked him too hard. We'll leave that up for debate. First off, there was clearly something in his genes that made him have a voice like that, but the family obviously cultivated what was there. I understand that. I understand what it's like to grow up and be surrounded by it: I come from a very musical family, too. To grow up and be surrounded by other musicians and people who love music; that can have a big effect on a child.
The other way Michael changed music was with his videos. Throughout the '80s, his videos were events. He was one of the first artists where network television would break away from regular programming to premiere a video. I was having dinner with Kanye West the other night and we were exactly talking about that fact: it was a television event when his videos came out. And, of course, it really made MTV. Michael was of the first ones that opened up the doors for black performers. You have to remember that MTV was a rock channel up to that point. Their philosophy was to treat it like a radio station, where you focus on one format and you get the best of that format. Michael opened the door with Thriller and then rap started to make its way onto MTV. Then MTV became more of a multi-format station for the whole younger generation. But for a while, Michael was all we had on MTV. Videos have really been in decline ever since. The era of the super-mega-budget video, where people justified spending lots of money, that's pretty much over today.
Michael was one of the first pop stars to really understand how to turn himself into a unique brand. It would have been enough for him to sing those songs, but then he delivered them in such a unique way: with amazing dance routines. Michael will always be known as one of the greatest dancers in pop history. When he did Billie Jean on the Motown TV Show [1983's Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, the first public performance of "the moonwalk"], that was just incredible. Speaking as someone who can't dance himself, I always respected and envied that. It's part of your job as an entertainer to work out how to connect with your audience, and no one connected like Michael.
But it seems like the set of circumstances [that gave us Jackson ] won't ever happen again. The way the media is now, I don't think the world's attention will ever be focused on one artist again. Plus, he was an experiment of one; a sample size of one. Unless you're there yourself, no one can know what it feels like to be, from a child, one of the most important and watched individuals in the world. I don't want to psychoanalyse him - I don't really know him well to do that - but you can only imagine what impact growing up in the public eye like that is going to have on you.
Today I think his music still holds up. You can play Thriller at a party and people get excited. You hear him sampled a lot and he’s influenced quite a few male pop stars - Justin Timberlake, Usher and Ne-Yo, you can see it in their writing and their choreography, that Michael Jackson '80s influence. But his personal life has tarnished his legacy. It's natural that people don't separate them. He's not held in the same positive light and I don't think that will ever change. Every artist has their ups and downs. But I think being accused of molesting children is a little bit extreme, even for a star.
I would love to see him come back. You know, Prince has done [a residency in Las] Vegas, as has Céline Dion and Toni Braxton and Elton John – so why not? You never know. But people really have to be in the right frame of mind for that. To want it and to want to do all the work, the promotion that's involved. And I don't know if he wants to do it anymore. We'll see.
John Legend is a five-times Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and pianist.
© Q Magazine
Source: Q / MJ data bank
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