Where to Start with Michael Jackson: A Listening Guide by Mood

Greatest-hits collections are a good introduction, but they flatten the differences between eras. We suggest picking the album that matches your taste, listening to it all the way through once, and then trying the three deeper tracks we suggest. After that, move to the album next to it in time. The suggestions below are our own picks, based on repeated listening, and we explain why each one is worth hearing.

Beyond the singles, try Working Day and Night for its relentless percussion and breathless vocal; Burn This Disco Out, a Rod Temperton song that shows off the horn section; and I Can't Help It, a gentle, jazzy song written by Stevie Wonder and Susaye Greene that is often sampled. Off the Wall is the warmest of the six albums and the best one to put on with friends.

Thriller is mostly singles, so its deeper tracks are few. Try Baby Be Mine, a Temperton song that bridges Off the Wall and Thriller; The Lady in My Life, a slow, soulful closer that shows off Jackson's lower register; and Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' played loud, paying attention to the layered percussion and the famous chant at the end.

Try Speed Demon, a fast, playful track with car sounds; Liberian Girl, a soft, atmospheric song with a spoken Swahili intro; and Leave Me Alone, a CD bonus track in 1987 that is one of Jackson's most direct songs about the press. Bad sounds sharper and more electronic than Thriller, and Dirty Diana shows how far he was willing to push towards rock.

Try Who Is It, a tense, heartbroken song driven by a beatboxed rhythm; Why You Wanna Trip on Me, Teddy Riley's first track on the album and a statement of its new sound; and Will You Be There, which opens with a Beethoven choral excerpt and builds into a gospel-influenced plea. Dangerous is long, so it is worth listening across two sittings.

The new songs on HIStory are its second disc. Try Stranger in Moscow, a lonely, rain-soaked ballad many fans consider one of his best; Childhood, a short orchestral song about how he saw himself; and Tabloid Junkie, a percussive attack on sensational journalism. Earth Song, the album's centrepiece, is covered in its own article.

Try Butterflies, a slow R&B song that many fans rank among his best late recordings; Heaven Can Wait, a romantic mid-tempo track; and Speechless, which opens and closes a cappella. Invincible's ballads are the softest of his career and a good counterpoint to HIStory.

Once you have listened to one or two albums, take our quiz to see which era matches your answers, and read the era guide for the full history. Our discography page lists every album with release dates and key singles, and the Hot 100 number-one list shows how the singles performed at the time.