Every Michael Jackson Album Ranked, Worst To Best

In a decades-spanning career of immense success, Michael Jackson was able to craft a discography that has become one of music’s most memorable and legendary. The King of Pop was an innovator in every entertainment area: songwriting, production, choreography, performance, visuals, and more. There isn’t a single part of the music industry that Jackson failed to influence, and at the core of this iconic career were each of his carefully-crafted studio albums.

While Jackson began his career as a member of The Jackson 5, which continued in part as The Jacksons prior to him leaving the band in the ’80s, this list of albums focuses solely on those Jackson released as a solo artist. It’s also important to note that this list only accounts for the studio albums created by Jackson during his lifetime. This means remix albums, even those with new content like Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, and posthumous albums are not included here.

It’s difficult to compare Jackson’s albums, because with each new project, he sought a different sound, challenging himself to branch out and grow while also adhering to his own iconic flair. This resulted in several immensely successful and artistic albums. The criteria for this ranking, however, come down to a healthy mixture of the following factors: critical reception, sales, cultural impact, the chosen singles, and visuals. With that being said, here are all of Jackson’s 10 studio albums, ranked from worst to best.

10

Forever, Michael

Release Date: January 16, 1975

Before Jackson would have a chance to truly take the reins in his solo career with production partner Quincy Jones in 1979’s Off the Wall, Motown Records would push for the young Jackson to release four solo albums during his tenure with The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons. Forever, Michael was the fourth of these albums, released while Jackson was transitioning from being the child star of The Jackson 5 to a more mature figure in his own right, like the rest of his brothers.

Forever, Michael isn’t, by any means, a bad album. It’s simply the case that it’s an average album, and Jackson didn’t typically settle for just “average.” Of course, it should be noted that Forever, Michael and the other four released by Motown saw Jackson having less of a creative say in it all; this alone is what qualifies these albums to rank lower. The singles “We’re Almost There” and “One Day in Your Life” are certainly highlights here, but ultimately, the album’s lackluster chart performance and overall sound isn’t a comparison to Jackson’s other works.

9

Music & Me

Release Date: April 13, 1973

The third of Jackson’s Motown-released albums, Music & Me quickly followed in the footsteps of his first two solo albums. It would, ultimately, perform similarly to Forever, Michael, in that it peaked at #92 on the Billboard 200 and was received with an overall average amount of praise. Again, though, Jackson never wanted to settle for “average.” With Music & Me, there are at least other details that help to elevate it a bit more over Forever, Michael.

For one, there were some absolutely remarkable songwriters on this album. Smokey Robinson lent his talents to “Happy,” which was featured in the 1972 drama Lady Sings the Blues. Meanwhile, the legendary Stephen Schwartz was the sole writer on “Morning Glow,” and his talents certainly show through Jackson’s own performance. Overall, however, Music & Me really cannot compete with his other material, even his first two debut albums.

8

Got To Be There

Release Date: January 24, 1972

Got to Be There was Jackson’s very first solo album, and it certainly offered an impressive showcase of what he could do at such a young age. Jackson was only 13 at the time of its release, yet he was still able to sing both his original and cover songs with just as much soul as any older singer would. This entire album is certainly a huge testament to just how much talent Jackson was harboring and cultivating from the very beginning.

With “Rockin’ Robin” and “I Wanna Be Where You Are” acting as the album’s biggest highlights, Got to Be There was quite a success. It was certified Gold by the RIAA and even managed to climb to the 14th spot on the Billboard 200. There are certainly plenty of hidden gems on Got to Be There, even to this day, but like his other Motown solo albums, it lacks its Jackson-infused charm without him having a chance to add more of his own creative genius in the process.

7

Ben

Release Date: August 4, 1972

Rounding out Jackson’s first four solo albums on this ranking is Ben, which was released less than 8 months after Got to Be There. It certainly piggybacked off the success of its predecessor, as Ben shot up to a peak of #5 on the Billboard 200, and it would ultimately go on to be certified Silver by the RIAA with 2 million copies sold worldwide. What truly makes Ben stand apart, however, is the quality and success of its title track.

“Ben” is indisputably the best of Jackson’s earliest solo songs, filled with a genuine amount of emotion that Jackson manages to ooze with each note he hits. The single was Jackson’s first-ever solo song to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it certainly earned its place. “Ben” is no doubt the highlight on this album, though, as the rest manages to repeat what Jackson did and would continue to do on his other Motown solo albums. Once Jackson was able to be more involved with the process, however, he was utterly impossible.

6

Invincible

Release Date: October 30, 2001

Every Jackson fan will know how painful it is to rank the six studio albums of Jackson’s adult solo career against one another, but when adhering to some of the other parameters for this ranking, Invincible does unfortunately fall short of the others. It’s important to first focus on what Invincible does right, though. This album truly leaned into the emerging sounds of the 2000s music scene while also adapting and evolving them the way Jackson always did, working ahead of his own time.

The single “You Rock My World” undoubtedly stands apart, and for good reason, especially with Jackson’s short film that would become his last greatest hit prior to his 2009 passing. There are, however, some more hidden gems on Invincible, including “Heaven Can Wait,” which has since experienced some TikTok fame, “Butterflies,” “Heartbreaker,” and “Whatever Happens,” just to name a few. Jackson even experimented with his lower register on the track “2000 Watts.”

The biggest problem with Invincible was that it didn’t get the appreciation it truly deserved, and that ultimately hurt its legacy. Like most of Jackson’s albums post-Thriller, it would hit #1 practically everywhere, including the Billboard 200, but its sales were vastly beneath Jackson’s own standard. It’s only gone 2x Platinum in the US, which, compared to Jackson’s next lowest RIAA certification, is 6x Platinum short. Jackson’s own ongoing battle against Sony at the time was a contributing factor, but it ultimately had a hard time standing against Jackson’s other juggernaut albums.

5

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I

Release Date: June 20, 1995

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is the album where Jackson truly began to embrace his own authenticity, using his pen to address personal, political, racial, and more issues that were closest to his heart. This proved to be a powerful thing in HIStory, with songs like “They Don’t Care About Us,” “Money,” “D.S.,” and “Tabloid Junkie” directly calling out people who had either wronged Jackson personally or were doing wrong somewhere in society. It also included “Scream,” Jackson’s long-awaited collaboration with his younger sister, Janet Jackson.

“D.S.” would take aim at Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon, whose name was hardly disguised by Jackson in the song as “Dom Sheldon.”

For as bold as HIStory is, however, it’s also artistic, and deeply personal and profound. Tracks like “Stranger In Moscow” and “Childhood” reflect on the deepest wounds Jackson nursed within himself during some of his most difficult times, namely his chronic sense of loneliness and his longing for the childhood he could never have as a young star. Jackson’s emotion on “Earth Song” is also iconically notorious, as his genuine pain at seeing nature wither away can be heard in every heartbreaking yet powerful note he hits.

Like Invincible, it comes down to the chart performance, sales, and cultural impact of HIStory. In terms of sales, it essentially equally matches its predecessor, Dangerous, with both albums going 8x Platinum in the US, though HIStory would slightly under-perform Dangerous in other countries. It also hit #1 on the Billboard 200 and essentially every other chart, but ultimately, the weaker cultural impact of its singles compared to Jackson’s other four albums places it at a healthy midway point in this ranking.

4

Off The Wall

Release Date: August 10, 1979

Next is Jackson’s first solo album endeavor with Epic Records, and the first of his three albums produced alongside his iconic collaborator, Quincy Jones. Off the Wall was leaps and bounds away from the work Jackson did on his four prior albums with Motown, leaning into the disco sound of the time in an incredibly unique and, overall, Michael Jackson way. Some demos for Off the Wall created by Jackson hear him and his siblings tapping on bottles to create the album’s iconic percussive beats.

Off the Wall certainly proves how much his other solo albums were missing out on by not letting him have such a creative hand in things. While the singles “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock With You” hold their own and stand as strong testimonies of this album’s greatness, a lot of its charm also lies with its other tracks. “Workin’ Day and Night” would go on to be beloved by Jackson, especially in live performances, and hidden gems like “I Can’t Help It” only further pull together a perfectly cohesive sound.

Off the Wall wasn’t just a success for Jackson creatively, however. Though it wouldn’t quite peak at #1 on the Billboard 200, it would go on to be certified 9x Platinum in the US, surpassing the sales of Dangerous, HIStory, and Invincible. Although Jackson hadn’t quite mastered the art of his short films yet, his singles from this album continue to be some of the most revered and well-known songs he ever released. Off the Wall more than earns its place here, set behind only three other iconic Jackson albums.

3

Dangerous

Release Date: November 26, 1991

Dangerous was the first of Jackson’s Epic Records albums to see him parting ways with Quincy Jones, though his partnership with the likes of Teddy Riley and Bill Bottrell, as well as long-time collaborator Bruce Swedien, would prove to be almost just as iconic in its own right. If HIStory was Jackson fully committing to his own authenticity in his writing, then Dangerous was his first major step in that direction. The track “Why You Wanna Trip on Me” especially would set the stage for much of HIStory‘s more direct songwriting.

Where its predecessor, Bad, may have played things safe to replicate Thriller’s success, Dangerous wasn’t afraid to be bold and different.

Dangerous would go on to release a whopping number of nine total singles, with “Black or White” undoubtedly being the most well-known in today’s world. These other singles, however, including “Remember the Time,” “In the Closet,” and “Jam,” would be paired with short films that would make them all profound in their own right, with many of them impacting pop culture in their own ways. Where its predecessor, Bad, may have played things safe to replicate Thriller‘s success, Dangerous wasn’t afraid to be bold and different.

Commercially, Dangerous was definitely a far cry from the absolute mammoth success of both Thriller and Bad, with it having been certified 8x Platinum in the US, but that’s only because the former two albums set such a historically high standard for themselves that anyone would have a hard time reaching. Dangerous definitely left its mark on the world, and even apart from that, it’s artistically a varied yet cohesive array of some of Jackson’s most unique and artistic writing and production.

2

Bad

Release Date: August 31, 1987

Jackson had perhaps one of the most difficult challenges in music history when creating Bad, as he was tasked with somehow following up the immense success of Thriller – and Jackson didn’t just want to replicate that success; Jackson wanted to surpass it. Ultimately, in the end, Bad would come close, but it would prove to be an impossible challenge to conquer. Still, Bad would achieve things even Thriller didn’t, including becoming the first album to ever generate 5 different #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror,” and “Dirty Diana” would be the ones to help Jackson achieve this historic feat, which has only been repeated one other time in history, by Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream. Cover-to-cover, however, Bad would fail to have a single miss, even if some tracks aren’t as well-known in today’s world as others. This was only further enhanced by Jackson’s incredible short films in this era, which could be considered the peak of his visual storytelling – culminating in 1988’s Moonwalker movie.

While “Smooth Criminal” may be the most iconic track off Bad, it was one of the album’s only singles that failed to ever hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, instead only reaching a peak of #7.

Bad would be one of only two albums for Jackson to ever be certified Diamond in the US (11x Platinum) and is, as of the time of writing, the 12th best-selling album of all time. Its critical reception would mostly be concerned with comparisons to Thriller, though it would ultimately be the victim of a massive Grammy Awards snub in 1988, losing all its nominations that night. Bad is still so much more than Thriller‘s follow-up, and Jackson truly worked hard to make that possible. It is, however, still bested by Jackson’s biggest album.

1

Thriller

Release Date: November 29, 1982

There’s a reason why Thriller is the juggernaut album that it is, and Thriller certainly earned its place as perhaps the best music album ever created. This was the prime of Jackson and Jones’ collaboration, with every single track managing to revolutionize 1980s pop’s sound while also continuing to adhere to listeners’ favorite parts of it. In today’s world, “Billie Jean” has surpassed 2 billion streams on Spotify, and tracks like “Beat It” and “Thriller” also continue to stand the test of time over and over again.

Speaking of “Thriller,” the song still gains a resurgence every year around Halloween, as Jackson’s iconic short film for the title track that brings its spooky yet groovy essence to life fully ingrained itself into the very fibers of pop culture. The other short films on Thriller would also help Jackson to build his visual craft, and are still just as iconic in today’s world, including “Beat It.” Even non-singles like “Baby Be Mine” and “The Lady in My Life” are remarkable additions, and can easily be matched to Thriller‘s memorable sound.

Thriller‘s commercial performance is quite literally unmatched. It reigns as the best-selling album of all time, surpassing all others, and has been certified 3x Diamond (34x Platinum) – which is downright unbeatable in a world that now favors streaming above physical and digital sales. The success of Thriller, however, isn’t only what’s seen in our world today. Its influence still has a hold on pop music today, just as many of Jackson’s other solo albums do. Michael Jackson‘s legacy is much more than just Thriller, but it was definitely the most memorable peak of his career.