The Jackson 5 Album: “Destiny”

When The Jacksons left Motown in 1976 for Epic, the driving force was to gain creative control over their music. Despite getting some songwriting credits, their first two albums for Epic were masterminded and controlled by the production team of Gamble & Huff. After the initial success of their first Epic album, The Jacksons, their second effort, Goin' Places, stiffed. The band decided that they finally would take complete control of their music for their next album. Epic relented and the band entered the studio in control of their own destiny for the first time. The album took its title from that change and Destiny turned out to be major breakthrough. Michael asserted his creative forces and the album's style is precursor for his Off The Wall album. The band updated their sound to mirror the disco trends of the day. The opening track "Blame It On The Boogie" is a magical dance workout that practically begs you to get up and move. "The Things I Do For You" is another high energy track. "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" was the big single on the album peaking at number seven and becoming their first ever to reach platinum status. They slowed things down on the title track and the pretty "Bless His Soul". Not only did Michael step up, but so did youngest brother Randy who displays his multi-instruments skills. The album was the highest charting album in seven years eventually reaching number eleven. Destiny proved that the band was capable of writing and producing their own music and never again would they not be in control of their music

Destiny is the first album written and produced by the Jacksons, and it is an excellent introduction of what lay in store for the jacksons, especially michael's blossoming solo career. The vocals are strong, clear and soulful, the melodies are soothing and catchy, the music is pleasing and exciting to listen to, the perfect harmonies add the icing to the cake, and the live instrumentation is the root of the freshness on this record. Here is a review of each track

Blame It On the Boogie-a simple disco track that isn't so fast, but it gets you moving anyways! It's a big club hit, and you can hear the excitement and energy in michael's voice, and it blends in perfectly with the groove of the music

Push Me Away-A soft ballad with strings and hints of pianos and michael's loneliness in the voice completely wins listeners over

Things I Do For You-a fast dance song that fits in well with the dance music of the late 70's, but in a timeless way. The melody is extremely catchy and michael's vocals are so loose and fit in with the music greatly. The sounds on this song set the blueprint for what was to come with michael's off the wall CD

Shake Your Body Down To The Ground=okay who doesn't know this song? It was very popular and it has been sampled in recent years, by Shaggy for example. It's a little bit long, but nonetheless, very exciting as the song progresses and the layers of instruments keep on building as the song plays.

Destiny=being a 20 year old myself, I can truly relate to the words michael sings on this masterpiece. You can hear the pain and emotion in his voice and feel it so much it makes you cry. And the music equals the emotion too. It really does.

Bless His Soul=the music for this song is so beautiful and so timeless. The chorus is great, and the bridge is awesome as michael's voice gets edgier when he sings "the life you're living is dangerous" hmmmm I wonder if this was the inspiration for the song Dangerous in 91...

All Night Dancing-this is the funkiest and most upbeat song on the album. It's a mixture of funk, blues, soul and disco! Michael is really belting out the rawness in his vocals and totally losing himself in the song. Nothing short of a masterpiece

That's What You Get For Being Polite-A perfect and mellow way to end the album. With it's horns and superb production, michael's smooth honey-butter vocals tells the tale of a man being dismissed of love, because he's too polite. A true masterpiece

So there you have it. A great collection of songs from the Jacksons. This is recommended to ALL, and I mean ALL lovers of great and classic r&b, hip hop and dance music, I mean that from the bottom of my heart. This one's for all the youngin's too, this is real r&b music, forget the mess you hear on the radio these days.

By 1978, things weren't going good for the Jacksons. Their relationship with CBS/Epic Records was in no way as suceesful as they hoped it would be. The Jacksons's last album,Goin Places, had flopped. The Brothers felt that the time had come for them to write and produce a whole album. Epic Records was in fact giong to drop them, but Michael and his Dad, Joe, were able to convince them not to. If Destiny had failed who knows how Michael Jackson's career would have turned out. Well, the brothers proved they could write their own songs. The public seemed to agree since Destiny became the first album by any member of the Jackson family to sell over a million copies. The album is funkier than their last 2 albums( The Jacksons and Goin Places) and it boasted 1 hit single, the hugely popular,"Shake Your Body". "Blame It The Boogie" will put you in such a good mood; its such a happy pop dance song. There are some nice mellow ballad,"Bless His Soul" and "Push Me away". "All Night Dancin'" is a solid funky rocker as is the title track. A Good buy. Get it.

This is the album to get for Jackson fans. Probably the last great album the brothers did together. Everything else after this sounded self-concious, like they knew they had to top this album, or worse..Thriller. It was the first time they were given the freedom to write and produce an entire album. "Blame it on the Boogie" chugs along at nice pace with a chorus that just screams sing along. "Push Me Away" is a lovely ballad, one of their best ever. "Things I Do For You" is another dance floor classic that segues right into "Shake Your Body", 7:59 of pure dance delirium. God that song just made you feel so damn good when you heard it, you just had to dance. It was and still is the most remarkable thing they have ever done. Only "Dancing Machine" comes close. Side 2 is more experimental for them. "Destiny" almost flirts with folk music, with the acoustic guitars..but then the electric guitars come blasting thru..it is reminiscent of the guitars in "I Am Love". Nice song. "Bless His Soul" slows things down to a bit..but the pace picks up with "All Night Dancin"..another nice dance song..but does not top "Shake Your Body". "Thats What You Get For Being Polite" ends the album on a high note. Again, a nice sing along song. Epic really needs to get on board and release a greatest hits and rarities album of the Jacksons. I also remember a Randy Jackson solo single released on Epic around the same time as "Off the Wall" called "How Can I Be Sure" it was backed with a duet with Janet (way before her debut came out) called "Love Song For Kids"..no lie. I no longer have this 45 but rest assured I am kicking myself.

I got this LP as a kid when I asked for the "Shake Your Body" 12" single,so I thought Ok I will check out the whole album. This Lp made such an impression on me, I was only 9...yet Michael's vocals were something I had never heard before.."Blame It On The Boogie" is pure, joyous disco. "Push Me Away" is a gorgeous, paradise..."Things I do For You" gets you movin' and groovin'..this is a classic..."Shake Your Body" was a big radio single, and I loved dancing to this infectious track. (I love the remix version with the almost eerie sound effect - right after the chorus- this was why I wanted the 12" remix). "Destiny" was one of the songs that i just loved hearing Michael sing, his voice is so sincere, aching, fragile yet strong and moving; love the climactic guitar ending. "Bless His Soul" is simply a journey to heaven: you'll never hear the Jacksons in this setting again. "All Night Dancing" blows the doors off. I swear this track gave me the disco/funk injection I carry to this day. Sweaty, urgent, in your face boogie-funk; I dare you to sit still. Michael's insistent vocal carries me through this workout, I was just blown away, I never heard anything like this...I never made it to the final track "That's What You Get" - i was obsessed with the previous 7 tracks...The LP cover art was intense: crashing waves, lightning, tornado looming in the background; yet the J5 are unmoved perched atop the cracking stone which bears the album title. (This was a gatefold Lp, so open up to see some groovy pics.) This was the album that hooked me to Michael, before "Off The Wall" exploded unto the world. Essential MJ.