Victory (The Jacksons album)

Last updated

Victory
Jacksons-victory.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 2, 1984 (1984-07-02)
RecordedJuly 1983 – May 1984 [1]
Studio
Genre
Length
  • 40:47
  • 96:27 (expanded edition)
Label
Producer
The Jacksons chronology
18 Greatest Hits
(1983)
Victory
(1984)
2300 Jackson Street
(1989)
Singles from Victory
  1. "State of Shock"
    Released: June 1984
  2. "Torture"
    Released: August 1984 [7]
  3. "Body"
    Released: October 1984
  4. "Wait"
    Released: March 1985 [8]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Number One Star full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]

Victory is the fifteenth studio album by the Jacksons, released by Epic Records on July 2, 1984. The only album to include all six Jackson brothers together as an official group, Victory peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. Its most successful single, "State of Shock", peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. [12]

Contents

Victory was supported by the Victory Tour, with Michael, who had recently released the world's all-time best-selling album, Thriller (1982), being prominently featured on the tour's setlist. None of the songs from Victory were performed on the tour. Shortly afterward, Michael and Marlon Jackson quit the group to pursue solo careers. [13] Jermaine, Tito, Randy, and Jackie Jackson continued on as the Jacksons and released one more album, 1989's 2300 Jackson Street (whose title track did feature all six Jackson brothers, along with their sisters Janet and Rebbie), before splitting up.

Victory was certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States in October 1984, [14] and sold 7 million copies worldwide. [15] [16] The album received a digital expanded reissue on April 30, 2021 alongside other Jacksons albums. [17]

Recording

After a successful reunion on the Motown 25 television special in 1983, Jermaine Jackson decided to return to the group, having left Motown after nine years as a full-fledged soloist. His brothers had left Motown for Epic in 1975, but despite the reunion, the brothers rarely worked together on the album; it was mainly composed of solo songs the brothers had each worked on during that time. Each brother had a solo song on the album: Michael on "Be Not Always", Randy on “One More Chance” (not to be confused with their 1970 song of the same name from their ABC album) and “The Hurt", Tito on “We Can Change the World", Jackie on “Wait" and Marlon on “Body.” Jermaine only sings co-lead vocals with Michael on "Torture". He also performs ad-libs on "Wait" and is additionally named as a background vocalist on "One More Chance" and "The Hurt". "Torture" was originally planned to be a duet between Michael and Jackie (the song's writer), but when Jermaine officially re-joined the group, he took over the parts intended for Jackie (who can still be heard during the song's chorus and ad-libs).

The album only had two videos—for the songs "Torture" and "Body"—and neither Jermaine nor Michael appeared in either one. A wax dummy of Michael from Madame Tussauds acted as a stand in for the "Torture" video.

Michael recorded "State of Shock", a duet originally recorded with Queen lead vocalist Freddie Mercury. The duo were unable to finish the track, so Michael ended up recording a second version of the track with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger. [18]

Artwork

Tensions reportedly grew between the brothers during the recording sessions and as a result, minimal publicity photography was done. The official album cover art at the request and demand of the label, instead features a very detailed illustrated painting of the band. The album cover art was commissioned from famed science fiction and fantasy book cover illustrator, Michael Whelan. [19]

The cover art features the Jacksons brothers, in a cartoon adventure theme. The Jackson brothers from left on the cover art are; Jackie, Marlon, Randy, (On the first release of the record there was a white dove on Randy's shoulder. On later issues the bird was removed.), Michael, Jermaine, and Tito. [20]

Singles

The song "State of Shock" peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Torture", reached No. 17, and "Body", the third single, became a moderate hit peaking at No. 47. The album peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 in the week of August 4, 1984. The fourth single, "Wait", was released in 1985 in the US, the UK, Canada and Brazil only [21] – it is not known to have charted anywhere, and was possibly withdrawn. The single version of "Wait" is a remix which features a slap bassline in place of the original synth bass, as well as additional lead synth.

Track listing

Victory track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLead singer(s)Length
1."Torture"Jackie Jackson
  • Jermaine
  • Michael
  • Jackie
4:53
2."Wait"
  • David Paich
  • Jackie Jackson
Jackie5:25
3."One More Chance" Randy Jackson Randy JacksonRandy5:06
4."Be Not Always"Michael JacksonMichael5:36
5."State of Shock" (with Mick Jagger)
  • Michael Jackson
  • Randy Hansen
Michael
  • Michael
  • Mick Jagger
4:30
6."We Can Change the World"
Tito JacksonTito4:45
7."The Hurt"
  • Michael Jackson
  • Randy Jackson
Randy5:26
8."Body"Marlon JacksonMarlon JacksonMarlon5:06
Total length:40:47
2021 re-edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
9."State of Shock" (7" version)4:06
10."State of Shock" (12" version – dance mix)5:40
11."State of Shock" (12" version – instrumental)4:38
12."Torture" (7" version)4:30
13."Torture" (12" version – dance mix)6:14
14."Torture" (12" version – instrumental)5:06
15."Body" (7" version)4:22
16."Body" (12" extended version)5:48
17."Body" (7" version – instrumental)4:15
18."Body" (12" version – instrumental extended)6:45
19."Wait" (7" version)4:19

Personnel

The Jacksons [22]

Additional musicians [22]

Additional arrangements and artwork [22]

Production

Charts

This became the Jacksons' only studio album to top a national chart, and their only top 10 album in the UK.

Chart performance for Victory
Chart (1984)Peak
position
Argentinian Albums (CAPIF) [23] 1
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [24] 9
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [25] 2
Canadian Albums ( RPM ) [26] 1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [27] 2
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [28] 1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [29] 5
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [30] 5
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [31] 19
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [32] 6
Spanish Albums (AFE) [33] 4
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [34] 7
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [35] 4
UK Albums (OCC) [36] 3
US Billboard Top 200 Albums [37] 4
US Hot Black Albums [38] 3
Zimbabwean Albums (ZIMA) [39] 2

Certifications

Certifications for Victory
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [40] Gold35,000^
Belgium (BEA) [40] Gold25,000*
Canada (Music Canada) [41] 2× Platinum200,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [42] Gold34,908 [42]
France (SNEP) [40] Gold100,000*
Japan (RIAJ) [40] Platinum200,000^
Netherlands (NVPI) [40] Gold50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [40] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [43] 2× Platinum2,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Remastered version

A remastered version was released in July 2009 in Japan only, with cardboard sleeve (mini LP) packaging. It was part of a six-album Jacksons cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue series, featuring the albums The Jacksons (1976), Goin' Places (1977), Destiny (1978), Triumph (1980), The Jacksons Live! (1981), and Victory (1984).

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