Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW


Big 'ol press release posted:

It was announced today that on May 13th Epic Records, in conjunction with the Estate of Michael Jackson, will release XSCAPE, an album of new music by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. XSCAPE is executive produced by Epic Records Chairman and CEO L.A. Reid. After mining by the Estate of Jackson’s archives, Reid was granted unlimited access to the treasures spanning four decades of material on which Jackson had completed his vocals. Reid then teamed up top producers to “contemporize” the songs while retaining Jackson’s essence and integrity, creating the best music you’ve never heard.

The list of producers include global hitmakers Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, Stargate and John McClain.

The new album will feature eight brand new recordings. A Deluxe Edition of XSCAPE will include a selection of the recordings in their original form. Both the standard and Deluxe Editions are available April 1st for pre-order on iTunes and elsewhere.

The title of this album honors Michael’s album naming process. He always chose a song from the album to name his projects and, beginning with THRILLER, used only one word titles, each with an edgy quality to them. This is true of the new project.

John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of the Estate of Michael Jackson said, “Michael was always on the cutting edge and was constantly reaching out to new producers, looking for new sounds. He was always relevant and current. These tracks, in many ways, capture that spirit. We thank L.A. Reid for his vision.”

Full press release below and more news about Michael Jackson’s upcoming album will be revealed in the coming weeks. Keep visiting https://www.michaeljackson.com for new details.

First single:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NIXlRBWevo



Tracklist:

1. Love Never Felt So Good
2. Chicago
3. Loving You
4. A Place With No Name
5. Slave To The Rhythm
6. Do You Know Where Your Children Are
7. Blue Gangsta
8. Xscape


A deluxe edition of the album will include a second disc containing the original unaltered versions, plus a bonus track and making-of dvd.

MarioTeachesWiping fucked around with this message at 06:03 on May 4, 2014

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Rageaholic
May 31, 2005

Old Town Road to EGOT

And this was announced on April 1st, was it? :v:

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW

Rageaholic Monkey posted:

And this was announced on April 1st, was it? :v:

Yesterday, actually. Sorry to disappoint.

Rageaholic
May 31, 2005

Old Town Road to EGOT

If it's real then gently caress yeah, that'll be awesome. I just get wary about all announcements on or around April 1st.

DominoDancing
Apr 26, 2008

Each morning after Sunblest
Feel the benefit
Mental arithmetic
I'm cautiously looking forward to this. Michael was pretty bad outside of two or three songs (Hold My Hand, Hollywood Tonight, Behind The Mask). I'm still really perplexed how much they hosed up with that one.

cubicle gangster
Jun 26, 2005

magda, make the tea
Production on those clips sounds way over done. it's a mess, there's no space for anything to breathe - the second one especially.

I was hoping it would be good but now i'm pretty much 99% certain it's going to have had too many cooks and end up poo poo.

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW

cubicle gangster posted:

Production on those clips sounds way over done. it's a mess, there's no space for anything to breathe - the second one especially.

I was hoping it would be good but now i'm pretty much 99% certain it's going to have had too many cooks and end up poo poo.

Good news then, the deluxe edition will include all the tracks in their original untouched form.

Confirmed tracks so far:

Xscape
A Place with No Name
Do You Know Where Your Children Are
Slave to the Rythm
Chicago (She Was Lovin' Me)
Blue Gangsta
Love Never Felt So Good


These are all really solid outtakes and should make for a very tight little album. I'm glad they're going to get a proper release. There's two other unconfirmed tracks, totalling eight tracks on the standard edition and an extra ninth on the deluxe edition, plus the unaltered versions of the tracks that comes with it.

MarioTeachesWiping fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Apr 6, 2014

Uniscott
Sep 19, 2013
Sounds like a cash in to me.

Cemetry Gator
Apr 3, 2007

Do you find something comical about my appearance when I'm driving my automobile?

Uniscott posted:

Sounds like a cash in to me.

Well, by that logic, anytime they release any unreleased work from a dead artist's catalog, unless they happened to have an album in the wings and they just died at an inopportune time (like Sublime), record companies are doing a cash-in. But that's the way it goes. This stuff would never have been released otherwise, because nobody would have the time to go through the vaults and sift the poo poo from the gold, and then hire people to complete the recordings. And honestly, they're not going to release a product if nobody cares. And if they were just looking to make money off of this, they'd hire some second-rate producer to push it out for the first Christmas after his death and pack it to the brim.

Of course, there's also the fact that they're waiting five years to do this, and they're offering the original unaltered versions in a deluxe version.

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW
I mean sure, a cash-in is one way of looking at it. They're finishing unreleased material and then making money off of the name attached to it. But at the same time, I really want to hear this stuff.

Think about it. When Prince dies, do you really just not want them to start releasing the stuff from his vault?

Like on the one hand, yeah it's kind of a bullshit move because if the artist didn't want to release it, what right do other people have doing it. On the other hand, it's preserving their legacy and giving joy to the people who want to hear it, which there's something to be said for as well. Record labels are gonna make money off an artist whether they're dead or alive. Whether it's in a respectful way or not is another story. Thus far, I'd say most of the posthomous MJ stuff has been handled with a pretty palpable amount of reverence.

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames

Uniscott posted:

Sounds like a cash in to me.

At least it's nowhere near as bad as what Sublime did after their singer died.

DominoDancing
Apr 26, 2008

Each morning after Sunblest
Feel the benefit
Mental arithmetic

Cyra posted:

Thus far, I'd say most of the posthomous MJ stuff has been handled with a pretty palpable amount of reverence.

Has it though? I agree about Bad 25, that was a lot better than Thriller 25, simply because they didn't feel the need to fill it up with rerecordings with "current artists". But the Michael album, with all the talk about fake singers, was handled really, really badly.

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW
Certainly there was a lot of ill will towards the Michael album, most of which was just false rumors and some fairly vocally upset fans. The project itself I thought was handled quite well, with the producers/collaborators of the various songs or other's from back in MJ's career coming on to finish the work. The results hit more than they miss for my money; I'd certainly rather it exist than it not. In addition to the tracks you mentioned, I thought Monster and Another Day were standouts.

Then there's This Is It, which I don't think anyone would dispute was successful as both a concert documentary and a tribute to the man himself. I was certainly grateful to see what those shows might have been, as well as how MJ as a person worked with his craft and his peers. It was a fascinating piece handled with exactly the right amount of reverence without going into navel gazing territory.

Bad 25 was handled expertly. Long sought after pro-shot footage of the Wembley show, plus a live album of said show? Hell, the whole package was worth it for Al Capone alone. It makes Thriller 25 look embarrassing, which it already was; even more ironic when you consider that MJ was alive and involved for that particular project.

Anyway, I didn't particularly buy in to all the grumblings about Michael. Having followed the project since its earliest whisperings, I was completely satisfied with how it was handled and the end result.

Frankly I'm surprised it took them this long to mine the outtakes for another album. They certainly picked the right ones though.


As an aside: I'm not a fan of what Teddy Riley did with Hollywood Tonight. Listen to the haunting loving bridge in the original demo (2:14)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZc623lidSk

Why would you replace that with Teddy Riley saying some stupid poo poo. Also, the omission of the "she's only 15" line in the Michael version is completely unnecessary and further dilutes the song. Such a shame. I'd trade any song off of Invincible for this song done right. Hell, I can't believe it came from the same sessions as that album and didn't make the cut. Something closer to this would've absolutely killed it:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG2-570D6eM


Behind the Mask, on the other hand, would've been loving dire with its original instrumentation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOFOalCHdb0

Yet on the Michael album it becomes arguably one of his best songs. Ultimately what I'm saying is with posthumous material like this, you take the good with the bad. Case in point, the Michael album. I'm just glad there's something to take in the first place.

MarioTeachesWiping fucked around with this message at 11:20 on Apr 6, 2014

facebook jihad
Dec 18, 2007

by R. Guyovich
Sorry the fact the album has a song called 'Do You Know Where Your Children Are' is kind of an interesting coincidence.

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW

crankdatbatman posted:

Sorry the fact the album has a song called 'Do You Know Where Your Children Are' is kind of an interesting coincidence.

The album art also conveniently covers his hosed up nose!

Cemetry Gator
Apr 3, 2007

Do you find something comical about my appearance when I'm driving my automobile?

Cyra posted:

Behind the Mask, on the other hand, would've been loving dire with its original instrumentation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOFOalCHdb0


Well, Behind the Mask is a song originally by Yellow Magic Orchestra, which I guess you could possibly describe as a Japanese version of Kraftwerk. So the original version sounds pretty similar to their style of backing track. But yeah, it's a style of sound that aged terribly, that wouldn't work on a modern release.

Leinadi
Sep 14, 2009
Was it confirmed either way that some of those 'Michael' tracks were actually his voice or not? I heard something that Teddy Riley eventually said something that he regretted being involved with those particular tracks and that he didn't really know himself if they were Michael's real vocals or not.
Ugh, I guess everything involving MJ, even after his death, have to be involved in some huge drama/scandal type of thing.

I've been kinda discovering his music these last few weeks. Always enjoyed some of his more popular music but I never really dove deep into his catalogue. There's some really good stuff that is not as known, such as 'Morphine'. Much darker than one would expect from him usually, really powerful song.

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW

Leinadi posted:

Was it confirmed either way that some of those 'Michael' tracks were actually his voice or not? I heard something that Teddy Riley eventually said something that he regretted being involved with those particular tracks and that he didn't really know himself if they were Michael's real vocals or not.
Ugh, I guess everything involving MJ, even after his death, have to be involved in some huge drama/scandal type of thing.

I've been kinda discovering his music these last few weeks. Always enjoyed some of his more popular music but I never really dove deep into his catalogue. There's some really good stuff that is not as known, such as 'Morphine'. Much darker than one would expect from him usually, really powerful song.

Especially eerie song given his death.

Fairly certain all the Michael tracks are his vocals. There's substantial proof and testimony to the fact. And I mean come the gently caress on, who else is that supposed to be singing? Fans just got in an uproar about the handling of his material so soon after his death.

Webbeh
Dec 13, 2003

IF THIS IS A 'LOST' THREAD I'M PROBABLY WHINING ABOUT
STABBEY THE MEANY
Track leak: http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/9/5598628/listen-to-the-new-posthumous-michael-jackson-single-xscape

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW

This is the original demo of the song which has been circulating for years, not the updated version for the album.

Great song though. One of my favorites.

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW
The official tracklist is:

1. Love Never Felt So Good
2. Chicago
3. Loving You
4. A Place With No Name
5. Slave To The Rhythm
6. Do You Know Where Your Children Are
7. Blue Gangsta
8. Xscape


Love Never Felt So Good is the first single off of the album, launching tomorrow. Very weak choice in my opinion.


And the bonus track on the deluxe edition is...! a remix of Love Never Felt So Good featuring Justin Timberlake :suicide:

Leinadi
Sep 14, 2009
It's up on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmMk3pAnAI4 You can find the Justin Timberlake version on the same channel as well.

I've never heard the demos but I really like the solo version. The production sounds kinda... weird in a way. Maybe a holdover from the demo where I understand the piano was on the same track as Michael's voice. But I love how disco and old-school it manages. If this is one of the weaker tracks, like many fans say, then it seems we would be in for a treat.

Skeletron
Nov 21, 2005

One day I found out that my urine was acting like a powerful foaming agent.

Leinadi posted:

It's up on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmMk3pAnAI4 You can find the Justin Timberlake version on the same channel as well.

I've never heard the demos but I really like the solo version. The production sounds kinda... weird in a way. Maybe a holdover from the demo where I understand the piano was on the same track as Michael's voice. But I love how disco and old-school it manages. If this is one of the weaker tracks, like many fans say, then it seems we would be in for a treat.
I'm only a casual Michael Jackson fan and just stumbled into this thread, but I gotta say...this is such a wonderful little song! It's great to hear some new MJ. Sitting down and working out the chord progression from the original demo really made my night. The new production is nice as well.

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW
Wow, they did make that into a nice little number. Very pleased. Still, out of all the outtakes they selected for the album, that's definitely one of the weaker ones, hence my excitement about this album. If nothing else, just to have the original demos in CD quality.

I also like how they left in Michael talking at the end. That's a nice touch. Kind of like how they started I Like The Way You Love Me on the Michael album with audio of him beatboxing the components of the song over the telephone. Shows a certain respect towards his craftsmanship of the song, allowing the production to seem more complimentary than overriding.

MarioTeachesWiping fucked around with this message at 18:22 on May 2, 2014

Rageaholic
May 31, 2005

Old Town Road to EGOT

drat, so not only was this not an April Fool's joke but the first song is actually pretty good :stare:

DominoDancing
Apr 26, 2008

Each morning after Sunblest
Feel the benefit
Mental arithmetic
Just saw on Popjustice that Chicago as leaked as well: https://www.facebook.com/mjbeats/posts/756904141021077?stream_ref=10

I'm not gonna pretend that this is a "classic" but it's good in a strong album track kind of way. I can't believe that this is shaping up to be so much better than Michael.

Platypus Farm
Jul 12, 2003

Francis is my name, and breeding is my game. All bow before the fertile smut-god!

DominoDancing posted:

Just saw on Popjustice that Chicago as leaked as well: https://www.facebook.com/mjbeats/posts/756904141021077?stream_ref=10

I'm not gonna pretend that this is a "classic" but it's good in a strong album track kind of way. I can't believe that this is shaping up to be so much better than Michael.

I really loving dig this one. I didn't care for Love Never Felt So Good, but this song is awesome.

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW

DominoDancing posted:

Just saw on Popjustice that Chicago as leaked as well: https://www.facebook.com/mjbeats/posts/756904141021077?stream_ref=10

I'm not gonna pretend that this is a "classic" but it's good in a strong album track kind of way. I can't believe that this is shaping up to be so much better than Michael.

I can, the selection of outtakes really is stellar.

I'm a little disappointed it's not Chicago 1945, but we did get Al Capone with Bad 25 which completely loving owns anyway, so I guess it's nice that it's an entirely new song. Interested to hear the original version of it.

gently caress, it's just awesome to hear MJ's voice in some new material.

MarioTeachesWiping fucked around with this message at 08:55 on May 6, 2014

Kid Gloves
Jul 31, 2013

by XyloJW

Cyra posted:


6. Do You Know Where Your Children Are

this seems like a poor naming decision

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW

Kid Gloves posted:

this seems like a poor naming decision

It was written during the Dangerous sessions, before any of the allegations. And it's actually a pretty badass demo.


Here, have the original (ignore the poorly transcribed lyrics and weird jay-z insert, the real bridge is that sick guitar solo):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TgdZSGD9MM

MarioTeachesWiping fucked around with this message at 09:11 on May 6, 2014

thatfuturekid
Jan 5, 2014
I am really liking the stuff that has been leaking so far, though my fav MJ song right now is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUC272MTOfk

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW
Here's Loving You. Sounds slick as all hell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oKV0Epad1M

The Walking Dad
Dec 31, 2012
Thriller and the 80s era of MJ loomed so large over the entire corpus of modern music and the tabloid frenzy of the 90s and 00s was so outrageous and consuming that it wasn't until this year that I actually sat down and revisited his post Bad catalog.

So good. It is amazing that with everything that was happening and all the attention and drama surrounding him that he managed to be so prolific beginning with History and ending with Invincible. I'm sure others would disagree but there really aren't any bad tracks. He is the only make pop artist that could ever express rage credibly. Songs like Morphine just get lost through the cracks, but to listen to it today it's absolutely haunting, and he took pop music in directions that others would never even dare to touch, and he pulls it off.

I think it's fun because I was born in 1986, so these songs have always been on the edge of my consciousness and I remember watching the debut of the "black or white" music video on tv like it was some sort of event. I guess post Berlin Wall and before the advent of the internet, MJ was the first piece of international culture. Artists like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry might have a high profile, but it's hard to imagine the world having another MJ.

The Walking Dad fucked around with this message at 06:45 on May 7, 2014

Yoshifan823
Feb 19, 2007

by FactsAreUseless

The Walking Dad posted:

Thriller and the 80s era of MJ loomed so large over the entire corpus of modern music and the tabloid frenzy of the 90s and 00s was so outrageous and consuming that it wasn't until this year that I actually sat down and revisited his post Bad catalog.

So good. It is amazing that with everything that was happening and all the attention and drama surrounding him that he managed to be so prolific beginning with History and ending with Invincible. I'm sure others would disagree but there really aren't any bad tracks. He is the only make pop artist that could ever express rage credibly. Songs like Morphine just get lost through the cracks, but to listen to it today it's absolutely haunting, and he took pop music in directions that others would never even dare to touch, and he pulls it off.

I think it's fun because I was born in 1986, so these songs have always been on the edge of my consciousness and I remember watching the debut of the "black or white" music video on tv like it was some sort of event. I guess post Berlin Wall and before the advent of the internet, MJ was the first piece of international culture. Artists like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry might have a high profile, but it's hard to imagine the world having another MJ.

I think it's also because he's one of the most talented loving people to ever make music. His voice is amazing, he can write a drat great song, and curate songs that fit him like a white sequin glove, he's the consummate performer, and it all comes together to form the man who made loving Thriller. Like, it's genuinely a depressing thought to know that I'll never get to hear him sing Billie Jean or Beat It live. Even the artists that I love the most making music right now, people like Lady Gaga, Kanye West, all of these very good pop musicians, none of them has quite the universal appeal that Michael Jackson does.

I think, were it not for the bumps in his personal life (which I don't necessarily blame people for not being able to look past, though I certainly don't feel that way), he'd easily be the most likable musician on the planet. I mean, I loving dare you to not like Billie Jean. You can't. It's even worse than hating the Beatles.

Leinadi
Sep 14, 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGlwTv90jdo 'A place with no name'

Visited one MJ forum and many didn't like this version of the song (many prefer the leaked demo). I haven't heard the demo yet but I think this is easily the best track released so far. Fantastic performance from MJ, great beat and a great build to it all. The riff playing throughout is really reminscant of 'Leave me alon'. Guess that will bother many.

But yeah, thought this track is really fantastic.

MarioTeachesWiping
Nov 1, 2006

by XyloJW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PmleSERWxo


This is pretty dire. Real disappointing. The original is far and away the better one. Thank god for the deluxe edition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7cuRi05Pzw

Leinadi
Sep 14, 2009
They seem to have pretty different feels to them, but yeah... I can't understand the hate for the new version to be honest. I love it, think it's a lot better than the other songs released so far (and I still like them). I guess I understand if one heard the demo first since the feel is really different, not so "club-ish."

Still, it's nice that the Deluxe version offers the original recordings also.

AntiNeo
Feb 3, 2002

Not that one.
An MJ version America's "A Horse With No Name" about Propofol? Creepy, but I like it.

DominoDancing
Apr 26, 2008

Each morning after Sunblest
Feel the benefit
Mental arithmetic
Neither version of A Place With No Name does anything for me. Mostly because the vocal melody seems so unremarkable. It doesn't help that both versions remind me of better songs (A Horse With No Name in case of the original demo and Michael's own Leave Me Alone in case of the new one). Still, it's not bad, I just prefer pretty much every other song that's "leaked" so far.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Leinadi
Sep 14, 2009
'Slave to the rythm' http://www.godermag.com/2014/05/michael-jackson-slave-to-the-rhythm-via-godermag-goder/

This is the first Timbaland produced track where I actually think the music is great. Really enjoyed this one. Looking to be a solid album overall.

  • Locked thread