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Got to Be There es el primer álbum de estudio como solista con el que Michael Jackson debutó en 1971, lanzado por la compañía discográfica Motown Records, teniendo tan sólo 13 años. Alcanzó un éxito de ventas a ambos lados del Atlántico, como su siguiente disco Ben.
El género del álbum es Bubblegum pop y soul y alcanzó el top 14 de los más vendidos en los Estados Unidos de la música pop. La canción que da título al disco es una balada, y su primer sencillo en solitario que llegó al número 4 de los Charts de los Billboard Hot 100. Rockin' Robin, sería otro éxito de este disco que llegó al 2. Este LP también fue éxito en Latinoamérica, especialmente en Venezuela.
El álbum vendió 4,1 millones de copias en todo el mundo y 3 millones de ellas en los Estados Unidos.
Tras un total de cuatro discos en solitario, Michael Jackson volvería con The Jackson Five.
User Album Review
Jackson's debut solo album was released in the hope to capitalize on America's love for the pint-sized cute singer from The Jackson Five. In 1972 Jackson was 14 and ready to branch out on his own, however his deal with Motown meant he was not able to release any of his own material so the album is a slick blend of pop covers and R&B songs given the already supremely professional and ridiculously powerful performance by Michael. The album did not sell as well as expected, although the singles kept Jackson's name high in the charts for many months. It was generally well received as an add on to The Jackson 5 material and showed that Jackson was able to complete a solo record without much backing successfully.
'Got To Be There' is a fairly strong, unfairly underrated debut. Most people usually see Off The Wall as Jacko's debut and forget his non-Jackson 5 albums from before the 80s. Many of these songs could easily feature on a Jackson 5 album but without the help of his brothers Michael shows here that he was capable of performing on his own. It would take a few albums before he, and the world, realized that he could only go so far with his family and with other people's songs. This is a short, lightweight album on the surface with a few decent singles, but looking closer we can see that the vocals and performance are what carry the whole. Even at this young age Michael sounded light-years ahead of contemporaries when it came to his voice. There has never been a voice like the Michael of Bad and Thriller, but equally there will never be another voice quite as powerful as a young Michael Jackson.
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