History Music / OffTheWall

* SpiritualSuccessor: The first two tracks of ''Music/{{Thriller}}'' ("Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Baby Be Mine") still sound much like songs that wouldn't fall out of tone on "Off The Wall", as does a Thriller outtake, "Got The Hots".

# "Girlfriend" (3:05)

The album was released as a special edition by Creator/SonyRecords in 2001, which was re-issued in 2016.

It became the best-selling album by a black artist, and it wasn't even close. The album went ''eight-times Platinum'' in the United States, six-times Platinum in the United Kingdom, and has sold 20 million copies worldwide.

-->-- The opening to a new chapter for the Jackson 5's lead...

[[caption-width-right:350:''Lovely is the feeling now''\\
''Fever, temperature's risin' now'']]

!!Let the madness and the music trope to you:

* ConceptAlbum: Sort of. All the tracks are about dancing, save for "She's Out Of My Life".

* AngryBlackMan: Subverted; in contrast with Jackson's later albums he sounds happy and cheerful, sometimes sad ("She's Out Of My Life"), but not as angry as he would from ''Music/{{Thriller}}'' on.

* EpicRocking: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Workin' Day And Night", which are over five minutes long.

* {{Disco}}: The track "Burn This Disco Out".

It was listed at #68 in both the original and 2012 versions of ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='=]s [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]], and rose to #36 [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime2020 on the 2020 list]].

[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_jackson_off_the_wall_6868.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:248:''Lovely is the feeling now''\\

* OldShame: Subverted, and only with regard to the cover artwork. Not long after ''Off the Wall'' was released on CD in the mid-80's, the album cover (prominently featuring Jackson's face as it looked in 1979) was modified so that the album's original ''back'' cover, featuring Jackson's glowing white socks, was now also the ''front'' cover. This alteration just '''happened''' to coincide with Jackson's drastically changing physical appearance. The "new" cover artwork was used on all further pressings and reissues of ''Off the Wall'' for the next two decades, including the 2001 remaster, until Jackson's death in 2009. Since then, the original cover has been officially re-embraced, and is again used on new pressings and remasters of the album.

* DysfunctionalFamily: On the 2001 remaster of the album, a home demo version of "Workin' Day and Night" is included as a bonus track. His siblings pitched in during its recording, and the demo provides a fascinating insight into Jackson's home life at the time:

-->'''Janet:''' ''[screaming]'' Well, ''take 'em'' '''''off!'''''

* DysfunctionalFamily: On the 2001 remaster of the album, a home demo version of "Working Day and Night" is included as a bonus track. His siblings pitched in during its recording, and the demo provides a fascinating insight into Jackson's home life at the time:

* DysfunctionalFamily: On the 2001 remaster of the album, a home demo version of "Workin' Day and Night" is included as a bonus track. His siblings pitched in during its recording, and the demo provides a fascinating insight into Jackson's home life at the time:
-->'''Randy Jackson:''' Michael, turn down my ''earphones,'' man! Turn 'em down!

* DysfunctionalFamily: On the 2001 remaster of the album, a home demo version of "Workin' Day and Night" is included as a bonus track. His siblings apparently pitched in during its recording, and the demo provides a fascinating glimpse into Jackson's home life at the time:

-->'''Randy:''' ''[frustrated silence]''