There's not much more to be said about the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson. It was sad, strange, and a bit overwhelming, especially in Los Angeles.

So why another Michael Jackson article? Because after nearly two weeks of incessant radio play, video marathons, and bar playlist domination, everybody's probably heard every single Michael Jackson single more times than they ever wanted to again.

What does this all mean? That it's the perfect time once again roll out everybody's favorite type of list: Overrated/Underrated. Namely, The Most Overrated and Underrated Michael Jackson Singles.

As with any such list, just because a song is overrated doesn't mean it's necessarily bad, and just because a song is underrated doesn't mean it's overwhelmingly good. Just that they have been mis-categorized.

Here's an overrated/underrated tribute to the King of Pop:

Overrated

5. "You Are Not Alone"
Michael Jackson's final number one hit was a treacly ballad that actually sounded a bit creepy. Like a lullaby sung by somebody watching you through your window, gently reminding you that no matter what you do they're going to be watching over you with an eye of innocent creepiness. All that, and Jackson's voice is at its honey-drenched highest, testing the hearing of dogs throughout the neighborhood. Strangely, this song is remembered fondly as a stellar love ballad that brought the King of Pop to the top of the charts one last time. Actually, it just sounds like a song R. Kelly ripped off of somebody else. Wait, that's because that's what it is.




4. "Remember the Time"
Off the "Dangerous" album, this song has none of the easygoing pop flair of "Black or White" or technotronic dance beats of "Who Is It". What it does have is a melody and lyric straight out of a cruise ship welcome slideshow and a video with Eddie Murphy. Ah, the video with Eddie Murphy, now we're getting to root of how mediocre Jackson songs become overrated. More on that to come.




3. "Rock With You"
Released in the heart of the disco era, this song is really nothing more than a mediocre disco tune. The studio-manufactured backing track, the repetitive chorus, the dance track that doesn't do anything daring, this is a cookie-cutter disco song if there ever was one. It's like the bizarro version of that albums' classic "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" which did everything "Rock With You" didn't with regards to reinventing the disco sound, yet the latter is more fondly remembered.




2. "Smooth Criminal"
Now we're back on the Michael Jackson overrated truth track: His videos make many songs seem much better than they actually were. "Smooth Criminal" is a stellar example with its clip that formed the centerpiece of Jackson's "Moonwalker" film and featured the eye-popping anti-gravity lean. As for the song, well, not so much. It's got the same two-stanza dance beat repeated to the point of annoyance and essentially nineteen lyrics: "Annie are you okay/Are you okay Annie?" and "You've been hit by/You've been struck by/A smooth criminal." Plus it spawned that ubiquitous Alien Ant Farm cover. Now that's overrated.




1. "Thriller"
What else could be number one? What else could top a list that purports videos as the chief source of overratedness for many of the King of Pop's most treasured hits? This is probably Jackson's most well-known song. Many people consider it their favorite, simply because they have no real opinion of his music, but needed quickly to name a standout in the wake of his death. So this became the default answer.

Here's the real sign of this song's being overrated. It isn't even one of the four best songs on album featuring only nine tracks. "Thriller" can't beat "Billie Jean", "Beat It", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" or "P.Y.T.", meaning it's not even in the top 50% of the album on which it was released. All this, despite many people claiming it to be their favorite Jackson tune of all time.

Hey, at least the video was pretty cool.




Click to page 2 for Michael's underrated songs...