Ridiculously Awesome Music Videos: “Smooth Criminal”
In Consequence Of Sound’s never-ending quest for greatness and fan interaction, we introduce a brand new segment called ‘ Ridiculously Awesome Music Videos’ which showcase the writers’ opinions and preferences of great music videos that have been made since the beginning.
There’s no question Michael Jackson still reigns as the King Of Pop. With the release of the 25th Anniversary Edition of the legendary, groundbreaking Thriller, there’s no comparison even remotely close to the power of pop music that MJ controlled over thirty years ago. He’s influenced everyone from Corey Feldman (yes this is true) to California rockers Alien Ant Farm. There’s no stone left unturned for the Gary, Indiana native and by that much, the man will forever live as a legend in the music world.
Even if you take away all the negative press, his personal struggles with controversy as well as his plight with his personal demons stemming from an abusive father, it only fuels the fires that a young twenty-four year old Michael Jackson that bred one of the biggest blockbuster albums of all time, 1982’s Thriller.
Just five years later, after notching up gigantic hits such as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” and “Thriller,” MJ released his seventh album Bad, which to date, is his second largest album behind Thriller. Bad represented a much needed darker tone for the King of Pop with song such as the title track, the revved up loner in “Speed Demon,” the big middle finger to the press in “Leave Me Alone” and the clean getaway of a perfect hit on a suspect in “Smooth Criminal.”
With the release of Moonwalker in early 1989, the one portion of the film that stood out was the entire ten minute video scene of the remixed “Smooth Criminal.” Jackson not only introduced his signature moves in a 1930’s nightclub setting, he debuted one of his most famous moves, the anti-gravity lean, which fans all around the world wanted to know, “How the hell did he DO THAT??” Not only is the video awesome for its dancing, cinematography, mood, lighting, costume design and a great segment into MJ in his prime, it truly raised the standards of music and filmmaking, specifically for music videos. Is that a surprise? After all, MJ rose the bar on pretty much everything.
Without further ado, here’s the whole ten minute version of “Smooth Criminal” to enjoy on Father’s Day. Game on!
Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
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