The Jackson 5 Album: “Triumph”

Sandwiched between the stunning success of "Off the Wall" and what would be his opus, "Thriller," Michael Jackson rejoined his brothers for "Triumph." Jackson really didn't need to; the mammoth success of "Off the Wall" proved that he was a solo star, but working with his brothers on "Triumph" allowed Michael to develop the style and sounds that would eventually be heard on "Thriller."

"Can You Feel It" is a blockbuster single, a brilliant pop/R&B song that ranks with MJ's best solo songs. Strangely, the single was not a top ten hit on either the R&B or pop charts. But it has become an old-school favourite, and its lavish video was an indication of what was to come with Michael's own videos. "Lovely One" and "This Place Hotel (aka Heartbreak Hotel)" did better on the charts and they're still catchy songs, even if like most of the album, they have been eclipsed by Michael's solo success. "Walk Right Now" is also presented here in an album mix and club mix, and it's an underrated club stomper.

"Triumph" is a tight, funky album that is worth hearing, particularly in this re-mastered edition. It is an important album, because it was the precursor to "Thriller," an album that would change Michael, both musically and personally. It was also one of the last occasions Michael worked with his brothers on an album proper, aside from "Victory."

After leaving Motown, the former Jackson 5 moved on to Epic records and released several albums with moderate success. The best of these is "Triumph" which features songs that previewed the rise of Michael to superstardom. Michael either wrote or co-wrote nine of the ten cuts featured with older brother Jackie penning "Your Ways." The songs bear the undeniable signature Michael Jackson-sound of the era. Great tunes are "Can You Feel It," "Lovely One," "Heartbreak Hotel," and "Time Waits for No one.

A good collection from a legendary group.

These days, I've been rediscovering the music of one of my all-time favorite groups, the Jackson 5/The Jacksons. I remember loving these guys SOOOO much and doing the craziest things to try to meet them - ever see that old footage of fans going nuts over them back in the day? Well, that might as well had been me and my girlfriends. I actually chased a limousine down a Manhattan street with a bunch of other screaming, hysterical girls after one of their concerts in 1981, because the guys were leaving the show in it! My kids laugh whenever I tell them that story, but it is a testament just as to HOW big these guys were back then! Michael had OFF THE WALL out the previous year with all those huge hits, and all the publicity from DESTINY was dying down when this album came out.

TRIUMPH, from 1980, is an incredibly solid offering from the Jacksons - the second of their albums where they had full creative control. Taking the best elements from DESTINY and combining them with the best from Michael's OFF THE WALL, this was the result! Yielding four hit singles, TRIUMPH was appropriately named as such because of a near-fatal car accident that youngest brother Randy had, and the degree of his injuries were so extreme that doctors were saying that he would never walk again. Well, as we see, through Randy's determination, he beat those odds and that entire harrowing experience turned out to be an inspirational theme for the group's next album.

Every song on here is tight, no filler at all. Two of the nine tunes are ballads - all the others are driving dance cuts. From beginning to end, it's guaranteed to have you hooked from the pulsating opening song, "Can You Feel It", with Michael and Randy on lead - a little preachy, but it's catchy and makes you want to sing along - to Jackie's "Wondering Who". Jackie is an underrated vocalist and songwriter, so no one should have slept on him! (He co-wrote many of the songs on this.) "Lovely One", the follow-up to the enormously successful "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" was the JAM when I was in high school, and you heard it EVERYWHERE. There is an explosive energy that the brothers are giving off here, and Michael's vocals are ON FIRE! "Your Ways", a haunting but funky tune also written by Jackie, has Mike using his even higher falsetto a lot. "Everybody" sounds like "Get On The Floor" from Michael's OFF THE WALL, but it's good (written by Tito and Michael).

"Heartbreak Hotel", entitled "This Place Hotel" on the CD issue (never knew why the title was altered - you wouldn't confuse it with that Elvis song, not anymore than you would with the Whitney Houston song of the same name) and written by Michael, is definitely a highlight. "Time Waits For No One" is one of the two ballads here and it is gorgeous - think of the gossamer beauty of "She's Out Of My Life" where the subject of taking the one you love for granted comes into play. "Walk Right Now", the tale of a persistent ex-girlfriend, is hot and a definite booty-shaker. "Give It Up", the other ballad here, is an easy, swaying pop groove featuring Michael and Marlon trading off leads and ends with a drumline-like beat. The afore-mentioned "Wondering Who" is disco-funk, an uptempo tune that should have been a single as well. Very addictive!

TRIUMPH was truly a family affair - this is how good it was for the Jacksons as an act, before the phenomenon called THRILLER came along. All of the brothers had their input on this project, and it's obvious that they had a ball in the studio recording it. The energy that Mike puts down seriously rivals any of the stuff he would do on his own. You'll have a ball listening to it, too. This is perfection...the best Jacksons album, hands down.

Nobody here had given this album and bad review and I just

can't disaggre with them.A breathtakingly open-ended embrace of

techno-funk/pop,pop-jazz and irresisably catchy melodies that

were oh so prevelant on Michael's solo "Off the Wall" of roughly

the same vintage.It was in this 1979 through '81 period when

The Jackson's hit musical peak.An above-average impersonation

of a Quincy Jones production lets you know all five brothers in

the group had an independant hand in making this a pretty magical

album.Notable is Jackie's soulfully cold vocals on the album's

closer "Wondering Who",a ruthlessly creative techo-pop project

never before heard on a Jackson record.The opener "Can You Feel It" brings the whole brood together for a soulful march with a

humanitarian message and the forboding "Your Ways" with Randy's

plucky persussive "grab bag" in the mid-section is a dry run for

what brother Michael would achive two years later on "Thriller".

The ballad "Time Waits For No One" is the groups best slow jam

thus far."Give It Up" is a a Jacksonized take on Paul McCartney's

"Let 'Em In" (or it really sounds like it) and "Walk Right Now"

is the most frenetic dance track of the bands career.Listening

to this it's hard to believe Berry Gordy not giving The Jacksons

creative control of their music,since results like this would

be enevitable.If your a fan of Michael's "Thriller" and want some

of his group activities in your collection,pick this up-it's right on the road and getting mightly close (if not better)!

This album didn't get the publicity it deserved in 1980-81 in part because of the disco backlash of the era keeping a lot of good Soul music of the time away from pop stations and audiences, relegating things like this to Black American radio stations and British soul fans.

With that said, TRIUMPH is one of the best unified post J5 Jackson Brothers efforts. CAN YOU FEEL IT was probably the last truly great song the brothers did together as a group, with that brilliant bass line and (as usual) uplifting message (BTW, the spectacular video predates MJ's spectacular THRILLER videos of a few years later). Also, the lovely GIVE IT UP and TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE are stellar examples of MJ balladry. Admittedly THIS PLACE/HEARTBREAK HOTEL is no classic, but it's listenable and not a bad song. WALK RIGHT NOW is also decent. On the whole, not a bad track on this album.

THILLER, unfortunately, has done for this album what SAM COOKE LIVE AT THE HARLEM SQUARE did for SAM COOKE LIVE AT THE COPA. An excellent album leaving a really good one in the historical dust. It shouldn't be that way. If you like THRILLER, rediscover TRIUMPH. You'll be glad you did.