Rock with You is his best song, not just one of them.
I'm gonna quote myself from the recent
"What's your fav MJ song" thread:
It can really go either way for me. I think Rock With You is his best composed song. Each section of the song has a slightly different feel rhythmically (Chorus has 16th notes on the Hi-Hat, Verse 8th notes, Pre-Chorus on the up-beats, Bridge 16th's again but with accents on the up-beats again; this adds so much depth to the feel). Harmonically it's interesting. The lyric is very disco, but good nonetheless. His vocal is killer. And the overall arrangement, again while being very disco, is very full and varied. Such a funky, grooving song.
But his best overall Pop tune is definitely Billie Jean. Just how that song came together is pure perfection. I can't think of one thing I would change. That opening is just a standard rock beat. No frills, no riffs. Yet 9 times out of 10 if you hear a drummer play it, you're gonna think of this song. Then you hear the bass line and all doubt is erased. One of the best Pop bass lines of all time. This song just grooves too damn hard. That guitar part, especially during the Bridge/Instrumental is iconic. If you're gonna cover that song, you HAVE to play that guitar riff verbatim. All of his vocal ticks add to this song. Without them, his bravado wouldn't work. It's that attitude that makes the lyrics and the vocal line work. Just such a great, great song.
Billie Jean is just such an iconic song, that it transcends all of his other songs. Rock With You included. While it's not scientific, Billie Jean has over 55 million plays on Spotify, way more than any other song. While this doesn't necessarily go towards quality (though in this case I feel that it does), but it tells you just how much a hold on our collective psyche that song has. 50+ years from now, I bet that Billie Jean will be the song most people associate with him.
Plus, he didn't write Rock With You, but did write Billie Jean. So there's that.
I feel like Off the Wall is the Batman Begins to Thriller's The Dark Knight.
I can get down with this analogy.
Which is better: the posthumously produced versions, or MJ's original demos?
As far as Xscape:
Love Never Felt So Good, I like the new mix more, but that's primarily because the demo is just the vocals and piano (and the new mix just incorporates the demo in its entirety). It just transports you to 80's era MJ in a way we haven't experienced since then.
Chicago, I'm not a fan of either version, but prefer the demo more. Feel like it's a lot closer to how MJ would want it.
Loving You, I like the demo more. I feel like it's more appropriate for the song, but the new mix is a very good, very (very) modern take on it.
A Place With No Name, the demo a lot more. I really do not like the new mix. I don't know what they were thinking on that one.
Slave To The Rhythm, I like both. Feel the new mix is a good approximation of the demo.
Do You Know Where Your Children Are, not a big fan of the song, but feel like the original demo fit the song better.
Blue Gangster, I honestly feel the new mix is more appropriate. Its chorus is more full, less sparse. More busy, but it works for the song. And there is more contrast between the verses and chorus, which adds more variety in the arrangement, which I like.
Xscape, kinda the same deal as Blue Gangster. The demo sounds straight off Dangerous, but it also sounds too much like Dangerous (the song) to me.
