How would you feel about a 100% ALL MJ Album?

[helena22]

LOL seriously, you have to be realistic here. I can't actually think of an album in the history of man where every single song was written, composed, engineered, produced, and even recorded by the artist alone (hell, even all of the instruments played by the artist PLUS the other things I mentioned...ALONE). I can't name one. Maybe someone else can, but this is unheard of. Maybe Michael would set a new trend, I dunno....

I think the threadstarter meant 100% writing and producing by MJ at least, if not all the other things like, arranging, playing instruments, mixing, engineering, etc. (IMO, he'd have something to do in each of these areas besides writing and producing, tho. Just that it wouldn't be 100% him) Of course, it's hypothetical to think any one artist could make his/her album all by him/herself. But, I believe he can do his thang without outside help in terms of more musical parts of album making which is writing and producing. Look at the artists that DuranDuran mentioned. He's on the same level as they are.

 

[giddyup87]

I think the threadstarter meant 100% writing and producing by MJ at least, if not other things like, arranging, playing instruments, mixing, engineering, etc. (IMO, he'd have something to do in each of these areas besides writing and producing, tho. Just that it wouldn't be 100% him) Of course, it's hypothetical to think any one artist could make his/her album all by him/herself. But, I believe he can do his thang without outside help in terms of more musical parts of album making which is writing and producing. Just as the artists that DuranDuran mentioned, he's on the level of them.

alot of those artists mentioned, IMO... limited themselves by working with themselves. MJ always has had the highest control on all his albums and videos, No one knows everything and someone elses opinion and knowledge is always important.

 

[wannabestartinsomthin21]

All I'd care to see is Michael writing all the tracks himself and producing him. There are better musicians then himself, even though he supposedly can play any kind of instrument, but he'd want the best quality in sound and the best musicianship, I would think. His records always sound the best because he gets the best musicians and engineers on top of his genius as a composer and vocalist. If he simply wrote and produced all the tracks on his own, that would be beautiful.

 

[sharon007]

What I mean by that, is how would you all feel about Michael writing and producing an entire album by himself without producers or anyone else to help? Do you think he could do it? I personally believe he could. He's already shown in the past that he can write and produce songs by himself and do a damn good job too. So, would you all welcome an album where Michael writes and produces the whole thing and doesn't feature any guest stars or other artists and is just ALL 100% Mike?

Discuss.

I would prefer that because I know he can do it he has all those years of experience and he knows how to write sing and produce a song. I dont think he really needs up and coming producers. The Rodney Jerkins collaboration didnt work too much new sounds and it didnt seem like an MJ album to me. :no:

 

[benscarr]

Prince sometimes does his own engineering, because his engineers like Susan Rogers says Prince works too much for other people who want to sleep, have families, etc. As far as instruments there have been plenty of "one man bands" like:
Prince
Stevie Wonder
Paul McCartney
Terrence Trent D'arby
Teena Marie
Jesse Johnson
Roger Troutman
George Michael
Wendy Melvoin
Ray Parker Jr.
Ian Anderson
Jane Child
Lenny Kravitz
Babyface
Steve Winwood
Shuggie Otis
Frank Zappa

George Michael can play every instrument. I haven't heard that before, I don't mean that as an insult (even though I dislike his music) I just haven't heard that before. He must be like Michael who can play guitar, drums. keyboards and piano, but as they never play them on stage people just think they are singer/songwriters.

Though Michael's brother Randy Jackson isn't a big name solo artist, he is also a One Man Band and can play every instrument to a high standard.

alot of those artists mentioned, IMO... limited themselves by working with themselves. MJ always has had the highest control on all his albums and videos, No one knows everything and someone elses opinion and knowledge is always important.

No one knows everything, but I wouldn't say artists like Prince have limited themselves by mainly working alone. It can be said that Michael may have been better producing HIStory alone because a number of Michael's collaborations were over produced (with the exception of This Time Around with Dallas Austin). Where as his his own written/ compsed/ arranged and produced songs were excellently produced. Working with producers can sometimes stifle an artists creativity, which is what I think happend on Invincible.

Even on albums were Prince has done almost everything, he has co-written a song or two with his musicans like Wendy Melvon & Lisa Coleman who taught him classical composition and introduced him to music of The Beatles etc. So working alone doesn't mean complete isolation, where you can get other peoples opinions.

All I'd care to see is Michael writing all the tracks himself and producing him. There are better musicians then himself, even though he supposedly can play any kind of instrument, but he'd want the best quality in sound and the best musicianship, I would think. His records always sound the best because he gets the best musicians and engineers on top of his genius as a composer and vocalist. If he simply wrote and produced all the tracks on his own, that would be beautiful.

I'm not too sure how good Michael is at playing guitar, drums, percussion,keyboard and piano (those are the instruments Michael can play). But I'm sure he can play them well enough to do home demos and let his musicians know what sounds he wants. Teddy Riley has said in the past that Michael would be an awesome, guitar player if he wanted to be. But like yourself, I mainly would like Michael to write/compose and produce his music himself more them him playing all the instruments on any new album.

 

[wannabestartinsomthin21]

Yeah, I'm sure Michael can play all those instruments just fine, and he has played them on some of his records before. I'd like to see more of that from him. But for the best cpaturing of what he's hearing in his head, he would probably want to hire the best musicians around.

 

[GAV001]

I'm not gonna lie to you, I would feel really really really great about a 100% new MJ album. That would be a dream come true!

 

[michaelsson]

I'd just DIE! OMG GOSH..GRAMMYS UP THE YING YANG!!

 

[Renata]

I would love a 100% Michael's album!!!

And I'm sure he could do it perfectly....

But I like the colaborations too... I mean.. as long as Michael is singing, that's good for me. The more Michael, better it gets. But happy just to hear his voice. Though I can't deny I love to hear songs written by him...

 

[SIDEWALK]

Prince sometimes does his own engineering, because his engineers like Susan Rogers says Prince works too much for other people who want to sleep, have families, etc. As far as instruments there have been plenty of "one man bands" like:
Prince
Stevie Wonder
Paul McCartney
Terrence Trent D'arby
Teena Marie
Jesse Johnson
Roger Troutman
George Michael
Wendy Melvoin
Ray Parker Jr.
Ian Anderson
Jane Child
Lenny Kravitz
Babyface
Steve Winwood
Shuggie Otis
Frank Zappa

Add Roger Taylor, the drummer from Queen too

 

[Wilson]

What I mean by that, is how would you all feel about Michael writing and producing an entire album by himself without producers or anyone else to help? Do you think he could do it? I personally believe he could. He's already shown in the past that he can write and produce songs by himself and do a damn good job too. So, would you all welcome an album where Michael writes and produces the whole thing and doesn't feature any guest stars or other artists and is just ALL 100% Mike?

Discuss.

If Michael would do exactly what you are suggesting here, and let loose of what we KNOW he's got in there, I do believe it would outshine Thriller.

I've been a fan for over 25 years. For the past 18 of those years, I've been watching something in Michael that I knew was gonna explode into something like this world has never seen. Sometimes I think he's just being his over kind self when he 'allows' others to help him. That's just Michael, trying to share the glory.

The magic comes when it's just him.

and it's coming. I can feel it.

 

[mjscarousal]

For me, I would just love for Michael to just write, produce compose etc on this next album BY HIS SELF. There is NO EXCUSE why he can't do none of this AT THIS POINT in his career all by his self because he has demonstrated he is capable of doing it. He doesn't need all these mediocre artists/ producers to collab with on his next album, for what? His been in the game for what, 40 years? Half the folks he wants to work with haven't even reached the 10 year mark let alone 5... Michael knows what to do whether or not he wants to do it that way is the question because I feel if all those collaborations are true. Its going to be another "Invincible" but worse. Michael please just WORK by yourself, we want that classic michael jackson back! lol

 

[analogue]

I'd love a full album written and composed by MJ but at the same time MJ's main goal for each album is to make great songs and i don't think he's really bothered about whether or not he writes a full album himself and co-writes an album.

 

[mjroxworld]

I think it would be awesome. I'm not a huge fan of the collaborations and changes to his music that he makes (as a result of collaborations). Like many have said here, Michael has demonstrated time and again that his best work has always, always been when it's something he's done on his own. Michael is a man of many talents, and many styles, not just pop music. If he's got all these styles that he's written songs for but never did anything with, he is withholding and and limiting himself to only one audience. If he let's it ALL out, his audience would be enourmously bigger, and the songs would be even better because it's just him and his music. If he feels others are more talented in the instrumentals, that's fine, I totally understand that, they're not the ones who change his music to suit the desires of popular culture. Michael has said before that he has written hundreds of songs, usually more than a hundred for each album. And of course only a dozen or so get chosen. It's time to perfect and release those songs, because no doubt they are all amazing.

So, I'm all for an all MJ album. It would be imo the best thing he has ever done in his career, and like someone else has said, Grammys out the ying yang!

So come on Mike, show us what all is hiding in there! We know you can do it! And better yet, it'll probably outdo Thriller! We all know you've been wanting to do that. The music you have within yourself is the best in the world. You've graced us with so much already. But I know that isn't all you've got, so be the best you can possibly be with all the talent God has given you, and make us cry with your beauty.

 

[Superstition]

Calm the fuck down. He doesn't. His voice coach Seth Riggs has said that he doesn't sing on record nearly as well as he does when he's working with him in private and I know he doesn't show the full array of his versatitlity as a dancer. Nor does he do so as a composer. His own sister Janet has said people don't know what he's capable of, that he's written several classical, orchastral pieces of music which the public has never heard. Michael isn't a show off, and he holds back big time. Believe whatever you want, but if you understood what you were looking at with Michael, you would be able to tell from that alone that he isn't showing what he's actually capable of.

He dances better in the tiny little clips where he is just messing around (like the private home movies... people on Youtube are arguing whether that's actually him or a computer animation) and he sings better at the Clinton Gala and Sammy Davis Jr. tribute show than he does on record.

So I'm in complete agreement with you there.

 

[wannabestartinsomthin21]

Yeah, you get what I mean. It's not that Michael is trying to deprive people of his talent, not at all. I just think he nevr allows himself to show off or brag. I mean, he already blows people's minds, he's already the best. But if he allowed himself to really show what he can do, people would be like "Alright, is that even real?" You can see how talented he is, you can see that there's this huge amount of talent right below what he does which he isn't letting come out.

 

[analogue]

I was just thinking that for the new album i think MJ could ballance it out perfectly like like this

The album will have 16 tracks and 9 tracks will be written and composed by Michael himsef, 5 tracks he'll co-write with other people and then the other two tracks other people can write for him

I think that keeps it nice and ballanced lol

 

[DuranDuran]

He hasn't really done much uptempo songs by himself since Bad. The songs that he does himself are generally of the "Heal The World", "Little Susie", "Childhood", or "Lost Children" type. I don't think he's going to go over well with an album of that type of material. But at the same time working with the "producer of the month" the songs tend to sound dated or just like the producer in question other stuff. Quincy Jones was an all around producer and could produce just about any genre. Most of the ones after the "Bad" album were just good at one thing mainly. Quincy is a musician who understood music and can conduct & arrange, not like the modern producers who just make "beats".

 

[mjscarousal]

It would be great


At this point in his career it is unacceptable for him not to do an entire album or majority of the work on his own projects his own self period.

 

[DuranDuran]

It would be great


At this point in his career it is unacceptable for him not to do an entire album or majority of the work on his own projects his own self period.

So I take it you're not going to buy his album, because he's already working with other people. I think he's concerned with radio play, otherwise there is no reason to work with people like Akon. It's obviously not for creative reasons like with maybe Randy in the old days.

 

[Cinnamon234]

For me, I would just love for Michael to just write, produce compose etc on this next album BY HIS SELF. There is NO EXCUSE why he can't do none of this AT THIS POINT in his career all by his self because he has demonstrated he is capable of doing it. He doesn't need all these mediocre artists/ producers to collab with on his next album, for what? His been in the game for what, 40 years? Half the folks he wants to work with haven't even reached the 10 year mark let alone 5... Michael knows what to do whether or not he wants to do it that way is the question because I feel if all those collaborations are true. Its going to be another "Invincible" but worse. Michael please just WORK by yourself, we want that classic michael jackson back! lol

I completely agree with that. I do think it's time he did a whole album on his own. I'm not saying he can't get input and feedback from others because I think that's important to get other people involved, but I feel that if he really wants to show he can do something new and suprise people, he should try to do the new album on his own or at least try to do most of his by himself.

 

[Vard]

What I mean by that, is how would you all feel about Michael writing and producing an entire album by himself without producers or anyone else to help? Do you think he could do it? I personally believe he could. He's already shown in the past that he can write and produce songs by himself and do a damn good job too. So, would you all welcome an album where Michael writes and produces the whole thing and doesn't feature any guest stars or other artists and is just ALL 100% Mike?

Discuss.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, that would be the ultimate!!!!! Yes no guests, except me hahahah.
Of course he can do it, and it would be his best work i usure you!, he has such a creative mind... Only Michael can beat Michael.
Of course then all of the thiefs would be copying him, but thats the price of being talented.

 

[Vard]

It would be great


At this point in his career it is unacceptable for him not to do an entire album or majority of the work on his own projects his own self period.

YES totally:agree: But i personally dont want noone but himself, a complete album by himself only.
Michael Jackson being Michael Jackson, the pure Michael Jackson

 

[The Dancin Machine]

If he is looking for a humoungous comeback, than HELL no. If he just wants to make music, just to make music, than sure. However, expect him to be panned to death by critics and some cranky fans.

 

[Cinnamon234]

If he is looking for a humoungous comeback, than HELL no. If he just wants to make music, just to make music, than sure. However, expect him to be panned to death by critics and some cranky fans.

Why do you say that? Most of Michael's best and most popular songs were written by him, songs like "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", "Billie Jean", "Beat It", "Black or White", etc. all big number one hits and all written by Michael. Michael's music and albums turn out best when he contributes more to the writing process, "Off The Wall" is probably the only exception but he did write the biggest hit on that album so I don't see why he can't do it again.

As far as critics go, they're going to insult him no matter what, but they would give him an even harder time if he released an album where he contributed very little to the writing process. If anything him doing an album by himself would give him even MORE credibility as an artist. It's about time Michael stopped caring about critics and fans so much anyway. He should just make an album he wants to make. Like I said, it's important that he have input from others, but at this point in his career I think if he really wants to suprise people, he should forget about working with all these trendy artists and producers and work on the majority of the album by himself.

 

[MJ1814]

It would be nice, but in all reality it's nearly impossible to put together an entire album by yourself.

 

[DuranDuran]

It would be nice, but in all reality it's nearly impossible to put together an entire album by yourself.

Plenty of people write and/or produce their own album (some solo acts even play all or most of the music), but Michael has never done it. I don't think Mike had any totally self produced songs until Dangerous.

 

[arXter]

... and i loved the formula for Dangerous and the collaborations.

i think although Mike isn't this virtuoso multi-instrumentalist or technically-aware musician, he has a clear sense of the different layers of sounds he wants for his pieces and knows exactly how to arrange them in his head. and even though some of his own tracks don't resonate with me, a lot of them are what i and many people consider bang-on classics that span a number of genres and which can only come from someone innately talented enough to write them.

i would definitely root for an album that is MJ-heavy on the writing side, but his collaborations with dedicated producers and musicians i admire a lot, as i see him using the influences from their sounds (that obviously caught his ears in the first place) and putting his own original touch to it. i love that, and hope it'll work out in this new album.

(and imo that's no different to Stevie and Prince going new-jack/cr&b on a lot of tracks in the 90s-00s--, or their other forays all using influences from specific sound-makers of the time - they just done it on their own, whereas Mike went to the original source).

sometimes it works out, other times it flops. i think the risk is worth it, and ultimately it is an original Michael Jackson album, or at least they've all been so far.

 

[MJ1814]

Plenty of people write and/or produce their own album (some solo acts even play all or most of the music), but Michael has never done it. I don't think Mike had any totally self produced songs until Dangerous.

I never said it couldn't be done, but putting an album together is more than just the music side. There's a lot of science that goes into it as far as the sound, quality, dynamics. It's a lot, and none of us know if MJ is skilled at the "science" in putting together the album.

 

[Superstition]

Ultimately, I'm not too concerned about it. If he did do something on his own, I'd certainly be interested in hearing it, but I've had absolutely no problems with his co-production work.