MJ is dead but he is still pissing me off.

[jgcable]

Personally, I always thought that Mike Jackson is a musical genius.
Until recently post mortem.
Why you ask?
They have been playing his documentary on that concert tour every day for weeks and weeks now. All you keep hearing about is the level of musicianship his band members have and how demanding Mike is to work with. On and on about how he searched out the best musicians for this tour and would stop at nothing to get the best players on the planet.
I must say, they sounded incredible so that leads me to the burning question?
He has at least 2 guitar players. One is a black guy who appeared to my ears to be a very good player. A little meedley meedley but you could tell the guy has chops. At least I could tell. Probably a very well rounded player.
Then.. he has that Orianthi girl. You know.. that crazy hot blonde who really can't sing and certainly is mediocre at best on guitar. Did you hear her solo's? Amateur at best.
Did you ever hear her rendition of the Beat It solo? I heard her play it on Youtube at a radio station. The DJ was freekkin losing his mind over it. It was just aweful. Not even close. It sounded just like a teenager at the local guitar shop butchering a guitar solo.
So... although I don't care about Orianthi or her pop song or her mediocre chops I was disappointed in the fact that Michael Jackson picked her. I guess its more image than chops. She sure looks good on stage. I'll give her that.

[Fender]

What's your deal lol? Who cares. He was a singer/dancer. He has no concept of what it's like to play guitar or what makes a guitar player good. Demanding meant he was looking for something he thought sounded good and also looked good on stage. Personally , I see why he picked her. Sure there are better musicians out there. I just don't think John 5 would look right on an MJ stage or John Petrucci... he's too steroided now lol. Do you remember starting out... hitting that point where you can play stuff, but looking back it was choppy and just not that good? Good. Now remember that probably some of your friends were freaking out or found you played good. We've all had that happen. You think they are just doing it to make you happy until you realize they are 100% impressed. They listen to music, they have something to compare it. Why do they like you playing it ? Same reason MJ picked her. Mute the music to highly strung and just look at her play. You'll see what i mean.

[Grandturk]

Never actually listened to much MJ or to this Orianthi chickie at all, but I'm willing to give a hottie a pass and a E for Effort.

[Hellbat]

I have to concur that nobody would know what Orianthi sounds like if she was a he and not hot blonde jailbait. She has never struck me as a particularly gifted musician. She's better than me, but my handlers aren't trying to get my face on magazine covers.

I was surprised back in the day when MJ used Jennifer Batten as a touring guitarist. She wasn't exactly knockout hot but at least she could play her ass off. She had the giant 80's hair like nobody else too.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Orianthi looks good on the end of my wang.

OOOOH!

[jgcable]

What's your deal lol? Who cares. He was a singer/dancer. He has no concept of what it's like to play guitar or what makes a guitar player good. Demanding meant he was looking for something he thought sounded good and also looked good on stage. Personally , I see why he picked her. Sure there are better musicians out there. I just don't think John 5 would look right on an MJ stage or John Petrucci... he's too steroided now lol. Do you remember starting out... hitting that point where you can play stuff, but looking back it was choppy and just not that good? Good. Now remember that probably some of your friends were freaking out or found you played good. We've all had that happen. You think they are just doing it to make you happy until you realize they are 100% impressed. They listen to music, they have something to compare it. Why do they like you playing it ? Same reason MJ picked her. Mute the music to highly strung and just look at her play. You'll see what i mean.

My point is that he didn't pick her for her musicianship so when you keep hearing about how Michael demanded the best musicians and that he is a perfectionist you know that he was full of shit. A perfectionist would DEMAND that a guitar player be able to nail every note.
Again, this isn't about Orianthi. I could care less. I am happy for her. She gets to jam with Santana and Steve Vai and she has a hit song on the radio and she got to play with Michael Jackson and thats all good for her. My point is that much of that show about his tour is based on how Michael was a perfectionist and every musician who was interviewed would say how he demands perfection and chops and won't settle for second best.
Thats crap.

[akoch]

Who is Michael Jackson?

[Robert Burns]

The best guitarists MJ ever had, were Jennifer Batten, and Greg Howe...after these 2 it was all downhill...

[Endrik]

His first records were done by Motown house band Funk Brothers (including James Jamerson, the most influential electric bassist in the history). People working on Off The Wall: Larry Carlton, George Duke etc. People working on Thriller: Steve Lukather, Jeff Porcaro, Louis Johnson. There weren't any higher rated session aces in the world than they were.
Just because you don't like one chick doesn't mean Mikey loses his credibility. On the last album he had Santana and Slash playing some leads, not the most technical players but then again most of the tracks on the album were played in by Michael Landau and Michael Thompson.

[Endrik]

The best guitarists MJ ever had, were Jennifer Batten, and Greg Howe...after these 2 it was all downhill...

silly to leave out Steve Stevens

[Twitch]

Who is Michael Jackson?

I think hes that guy who used to play basketball and has that famous shoe line, or maybe hes the guy who broke records in sprint at the olympics a few years ago?

[VitaminG]

I think hes that guy who used to play basketball and has that famous shoe line, or maybe hes the guy who broke records in sprint at the olympics a few years ago?

I thought he was this guy

[jgcable]

I thought he was this guy

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1383[/ATTACH]

Isn't that supposed to be
Puke'n Play??
That guy looks a little like Dr. Smith... oh the pain, the pain!!!

[toejam]

The best guitarists MJ ever had, were Jennifer Batten, and Greg Howe...after these 2 it was all downhill...

silly to leave out Steve Stevens

With dark hair, Jennifer Batten looks like Steve Stevens!

[potatohead]

I noticed this too, but picking people for stage presence or look isn't anything new, I would guess.

Overall I think this girl is just ok in the looks department anyway, although I'm not saying I wouldn't bone her