Outside the supernova explosions of the early Jackson 5, Michael Jackson's peak years were '80-'82 of Off The Wall and Thriller. In fact, Thriller and its breakthrough, extended-length video dominated mainstream popular music during its amazing chart run. Those years, also, however, hosted rebellions against that same mainstream, with punk and new wave bands continually storming the staid pavilions. A lot of people were fed up with corporate crap, top-down thinking and the pop band as commodity/tool. Michael Jackson was anything but staid, but he was of them. I mean, Quincy Jones! Industry creation though he was, Jackson synthesized the tension and energy around him to reach his creative zenith, plunging his music into the currency of sexual politics well-beyond the dance floor blatherings that typically decorate even genius killer grooves. He produced the toughest, most sophisticated work of his career in "Billie Jean." That song touched off a widespread national conversation about the dangers and responsibilites of sex. But as big as Thriller was, Michael Jackson never again displayed the confident, at-ease sexuality of Off the Wall and his hits were scarcely more beloved than the best of hitmakers Hall and Oates from that point on. The opening Jackson 5 bombs detonate here as if preparing you, and the big early 80's hits still deliver a huge amount of excitement. This holds well up into "Bad," opening the second CD, then slowly unwinds until midway into the second disc it completely disappears under a showcase of embarassing schlock. And that includes the DOA dance floor misfire "Dangerous," which does nothing to illuminate beat cues cribbed from Prince. The Essential Michael Jackson shows a tantalizing artist on a blazing short run, shaping the best dance grooves in the land into actual cohesive songs. I certainly love him yet its pretty obvious listening to this Essentials package that Jackson's place in the pantheon is cushioned with padding.