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Public and Radio Reaction to "This Is It"

Sony did the right thing. Everyone seem to love the song. 1 hours ago my Radio DJ played it and said before that the tune is fantastic.
 
I only listened to the song twice (snippet and full) and it's already stuck in my brain.
So saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddddd :no:
 
I may be jumping to conclusions here, but does anyone else think that the TII streaming on MJ.com and being played on radios is specifically a RADIO EDIT, and the 2 versions we'll get on the album are the original (piano and vocal) and what is currently being labelled as the "Extended Orchestra Version" (4:40)?

If so, I see no harm in Sony releasing the 3:46 edit as a physically/downloadable single, as the album will still included 2 alternative versions of the song on top of the radio edit.
 
for the last time, peeps, I DO NOT HATE THIS SONG. I love it... I love Mike's voice. it's heavenly. I am crying as I write this. he sounds so gorgeous, almost raw, and so fragile and powerful at the same time, it's taking my breath away. and the song is now stuck in my head.

I guess I don't have words to convey how I'm really feeling right now.

but it's true that I was hoping it'd be

1) correctly labeled and marketed (as in, this is NOT a new song, and that this is NOT a song that Michael tapped as THE release for the movie).

and 2) a little better POLISHED in terms of production values. face it, it's not.

but it seems people don't mind and don't care. and that's fine with me. so I'll shut up.

I'd love to hear the demo (clean) version though. so if anyone can point me to that, I'd be grateful.
 
I love this song! I've been playing it non stop!! It's absolutely perfect, perfect, perfect!

Even the counting in is adorable, yes!

:wub:
 
[SIZE=+2]Jackson Song Debuts in Advance of Documentary Film[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1] By Chris Richards
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 12, 2009 12:44 PM
[/SIZE]

Since Michael Jackson's passing on June 25, grief has dovetailed seamlessly into commerce, and album sales have skyrocketed accordingly. But now fans have the opportunity to hear an unheard Jackson tune for the first time since his death -- and for free.
In Washington, the new song arrives as a city continues to mourn the King of Pop. An empty Adams Morgan bar pumps the classic "I Want You Back" from its open doors in hope of snaring a weeknight patron. Memorial issues of Time and Entertainment Weekly refuse to cede their positions on drugstore magazine racks. At 9th and U streets NW, promotional posters for the forthcoming Jackson documentary film "This Is It" cover an abandoned liquor store -- advertisement masquerading as memorial.
The documentary's title track, "This Is It," premiered on michaeljackson.com at midnight Monday, where it continues to stream in anticipation of the film's Oct. 28 release. It's a dawdling love song that dissolves into a sweet, middling mush -- halfway between the up-tempo sunbeams we hoped for and dishwater balladry we expected. Fans may have wanted This Is It! but the result is more This Is It?
Jackson counts the tune off in the diminutive speaking voice that belied his supernatural vocal agility. "This is it, here I stand/I'm the light of the world, I feel grand," he coos in the song's opening verse, as if basking in the affection of a lover (or perhaps an audience of millions).
Jackson's brothers provide the backing vocals, evoking the Freon-cool harmonies that populated some of the singer's finest work. Imagine the carefree melodies "The Girl Is Mine," unfurling at a much breezier tempo. Pianos chime, guitars strut, violins surge -- all to the beat of Jackson's snapping fingers.
There's more where this came from -- a whole lot more, according to the managers, family members and label honchos currently wrestling over Jackson's unreleased material. In August, Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo told Rolling Stone that the singer's family had obtained a trove of over 100 songs, including demos, outtakes and recent collaborations with Will.I.Am, Akon and Ne-Yo.
"This Is It" marks the first drops in what could be a flood of unheard material. Let's hope future trickles aren't so treacly.
 
ManInTheMonitor said:
I may be jumping to conclusions here, but does anyone else think that the TII streaming on MJ.com and being played on radios is specifically a RADIO EDIT, and the 2 versions we'll get on the album are the original (piano and vocal) and what is currently being labelled as the "Extended Orchestra Version" (4:40)?

If so, I see no harm in Sony releasing the 3:46 edit as a physically/downloadable single, as the album will still included 2 alternative versions of the song on top of the radio edit.
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I think you may be right, it's a radio edit. The extended orchestra version fades out correctly, unlike the shorter version which fades out whilst Michael is still singing.

I really love the extended orchestra version, the brother's harmony at the end is very sweet and fitting for the song.
 
Sorry for my ignorance, but a question: when did he write and when did he record this song? In 1991? In 1980? Or at other time?
 
NatalieM said:
I think you may be right, it's a radio edit. The extended orchestra version fades out correctly, unlike the shorter version which fades out whilst Michael is still singing.

I really love the extended orchestra version. The brother's harmony at the end is very sweet and fitting for the song.
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I agree, it is more fitting; a much more epic affair :) This track is really growing on me, though I still do NOT like that they left in MJ's "1, 2, 3, 4". I fully understand it being left on the original/demo version, it adds to the charm of a rough cut, but it just deminishes the production value of the 2009 Orchestra Version, IMO. And totally doesn't fit with the music.
 
indranee said:
I see three vids there, Herrie. which one is the version with just his voice and the piano? is there one like that? that's what I want to listen to badly.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=25ADA30AD2E1241E
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The 3:38 version is the version with just Michael, Piano and his brothers backup vocals but no orchestra. You hear a lot more of the finger snapping and I believe his voice to be done more justice as well :)
 
000cozzie000 said:
Well all his other, more recent music has R.Kelly and god knows who else messing around it. I don't think we'll see Michael's level of perfection again unless it was 100% finished and ok-ed by him.

*sigh* :(
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Exactly, people need to understand that everything that is released now by Michael from the vaults may not be up to his standards because he is dead. What do you fans want? They might as well not ever release anything else by him. I think the song is fine and I do not need radio host to give my their approval.
 
knots said:
Exactly, people need to understand that everything that is released now by Michael from the vaults may not be up to his standards because he is dead. What do you fans want? They might as well not ever release anything else by him. I think the song is fine and I do not need radio host to give my their approval.
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That's right. It was the same with Freddie Mercury. I don't think "You don't fool me" and all his other stuff that was released after his death were up to his standards. There was a reason why these guys didn't release these songs when they were living.

Singer-songwriters write a lot of songs and it's natural that some are great and some aren't that great. If Michael had thought "This is it" was a great song he would have put it on "Off the wall" or "Thriller" ('cause I've heard he wrote it in 1980) or any of his later albums. So no need for the critics to slag him off. It was just a demo that he rejected. They only released this song now, because it has "this is it" in it.
 
MySerenity5 said:
He's the FREAK! Who the hell does he think he is?

If this is the worst song he ever heard, then I'm sure he never heard of the garbage we call music nowadays. Damn, What a effin loser! I hope he loses his job...
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yes, i was deeply offended by his comments, even the interviewer seems a bit taken aback, but his totally un PC remarks
 
Its very obvious the song was not complete and I think it is disrespectful of Sony just to throw a song out there just because it has the name they want on it. I am sure many do not believe that is what they did but I think it is fairly obvious. The song is ok but no where near perfect. The song should have been taken into the recording studio and finished and cleaned up a little before it was released. It could have been so much better in my opinion.
 
Moonroller said:
Its very obvious the song was not complete and I think it is disrespectful of Sony just to throw a song out there just because it has the name they want on it. I am sure many do not believe that is what they did but I think it is fairly obvious. The song is ok but no where near perfect. The song should have been taken into the recording studio and finished and cleaned up a little before it was released. It could have been so much better in my opinion.
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exactly. they didn't because it's all about the moolah to them. they needed to release it asap before the movie. now we'll know -- more and more, with each passing day -- why Michael hated Sony.
 
Moonroller said:
Its very obvious the song was not complete and I think it is disrespectful of Sony just to throw a song out there just because it has the name they want on it. I am sure many do not believe that is what they did but I think it is fairly obvious. The song is ok but no where near perfect. The song should have been taken into the recording studio and finished and cleaned up a little before it was released. It could have been so much better in my opinion.
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im putting all my faith in the movie now, it could be all we get for a while
 
Herrie said:
The 3:38 version is the version with just Michael, Piano and his brothers backup vocals but no orchestra. You hear a lot more of the finger snapping and I believe his voice to be done more justice as well :)
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got it. thanks so much Herrie. you're an angel.

but I guess I can't listen to the full orchestral version as I'm in the US.

Sony sucks. (tell you what, that's gonna go in my .sig from now on).
 
I heard the song today just for a minute but I am sorry to say that the song is boring。。。i am thinking if Sony has the right to release it after MJ died. Obviously MJ ( or someone else) felt the song wasn't strong enough for release, but now they had done so without honouring MJ's previous decisions. That's bad.
 
Michaels voice is beautiful as always, the orchestral feel to it I really like and the harmonies too, its trademark Michael. I do feel like its an incomplete song though, it continues in the same way throughout the song, and I'm not entirely sure that Michael himself would be happy with this being released.

From what I've heard its being received fairly well though.
 
CNN made a news report about the new song
they play it,
Wolf Blitzer say he likes the song, the girl from entertainment tonight say she loves it.
CNN even make a mini video clip with the song with some mj pictures fading in/out along with the song

Guy from Rolling stones says there are like 100 more in Sony vaults, and "this is it" looks like a unfinished song/demo.

But I didn't understand something
he say "according to my sources at Sony, they don't know for sure when it was actually recorded.:scratch:

I'm sure they will repeat it later today, if there are people that like to watch CNN they will repeat i think
 
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Herrie said:
I would recommend everyone to listen to the "regular" (without orchestra) version on YouTube as posted above. It's a lot more raw and I think most will like it quite a bit more :)
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They definately should have released the regular version. That orchestra is completely unnecessary. The regular version has a nice doo wop feel to it and all of the vocals sound great. The orchestra just clutters the song in my opinion.
 
yeah, no one knows when exactly it was recorded. I was guessing it was around Invincible, but the beginning sounds way earlier. like around the early 80s.
 
yeap I forget to say aswell, guy from Rolling stone say the first part sound like MJ of the 80's
 
October 12, 2009, 12:33 PM

The New Michael Jackson Single: The Verdict

By JON PARELES AND JON CARAMANICA
The New York Times Arts Beat Blog

mjthisisit190.jpg


At midnight, the new Michael Jackson single, “This Is It,” became available as a free stream on michaeljackson.com. Jon Pareles, the chief pop critic of The New York Times, and Jon Caramanica, a regular contributor, discuss its merits, and the striking resemblance to a 1991 song recorded by the Puerto Rican singer Safire. (See Ben Sisario’s report on the backstory here.)


JON PARELES: Michael Jackson’s commercial afterlife starts today with “This Is It.” Maybe there should be a question mark at the end of the title–or, perhaps, a slight expansion paraphrasing Peggy Lee: “Is this all there is?”

Promoted as brand-new, it’s not. It has much in common — its melody and many lyrics — with “I Never Heard,” a song written by Jackson and Paul Anka before Jackson’s “Dangerous” album and shelved. “I Never Heard” surfaced in 1991 near the end of an album by the Puerto Rican singer Safire. She sang with what now sounds very much like Jackson’s phrasing, and with a lot more joy.

Safire’s “I Never Heard” exults in an unexpected romance. For “This Is It,” the lyrics got a telling rewrite. Safire sang, “In the light of the world, love is grand,” but Jackson’s version changes it to the considerably more messianic, “I’m the light of the world, I feel grand.” And later, “I’m the light of the world, this is real.”

Jackson still sings about being a lover in “This Is It,” but I don’t hear romance. Now, especially since the song is attached to the memorials of the rehearsal-footage movie, also called “This Is It,” and a blatantly greedy album — the big hits yet again, two versions of “This Is It” and a handful of demos — “This Is It” becomes one of the Jackson songs that conflates his own stardom with universal love and uplift. Love Michael Jackson and heal the world; it was the kind of promise he could make when he was pop’s global superstar. (And the song may well have been set aside because Jackson used the same hymnlike tempo and ascending harmonies in “Heal the World.”)

The vocal starts with the breathy jitters that added another level of tension and syncopation to Jackson’s dance tunes, but soon smooths itself out. Over Jackson’s piano-and-voice demo, the production waxes reverent: rising massed strings, genteel guitar tickles, his brothers in the Jacksons going “ooh.” The free stream on michaeljackson.com is the orchestra version; the “album version” Epic sent the media this morning takes off the strings, an improvement that unveils all the vocal harmonies and the fingers snaps.

No funk here: It’s the posthumous, all-sweetness-and-light Jackson that his family is determined to sell. But at least he sounds human, especially at the end, where he lets the vocal line take a few tentative leaps. The vulnerability — especially at the beginning, as he counts off the song — is the endearing thing about “This Is It.” But what was he thinking as he sang, “I’m the light of the world?”

JON CARAMANICA: Oh dear — it’s an unfortunate coincidence, I’m guessing (hoping?), that the pre-roll ad I’m seeing on michaeljackson.com is for “Gone Too Far,” the MTV reality-intervention series premiering on Monday and starring DJ AM, another 2009 victim of a drug overdose.

Or perhaps that’s reflective of the fumbling hands with which this song has been released. As mentioned here and elsewhere, these lyrics have been heard before. On the stream the recording of the vocals is fuzzy, the mix is far from perfect. And the song itself never fully resolves, working at one melodic and emotional pitch and then fading out.

“This Is It” does have that naïve quality that Jackson managed to hold on to through the early ’90s, only completely losing it in the face of media scrutiny and his own melting under it. (So glad you mentioned “Heal The World,” a far better and possibly smarter song built from largely the same Tiddlywinks.) But as a musical artifact, it’s better as suggestion than song: What I hear here is how Jackson might have sang these words in a proper studio setting, perhaps in a roomier arrangement with more motion in the rhythm.

And it’s an odd choice to signal Jackson’s re-emergence. The song itself is a trifle, a mildly ornery and defensive lyric over a sketch of lush harmonies to come. For “Michael Jackson: The Lost Tapes,” maybe, it would be a welcome curio, but ultimately “This Is It” sticks out as a song chosen more for its title than its meaning. My fear, JP, is that it’s not a question mark missing after those words, but a period.

JON PARELES: I’m with you –”This Is It” won’t be on anyone’s list of best Michael Jackson songs, even if it’s a long list. I’m holding out some small hope about later posthumous releases for exactly the reason you suggest: that the song was chosen for its title, those three little words that were so heavily promoted. “This Is It” was a fine bit of ambiguity from the moment the London shows were announced. This is what? A new beginning? A last stand? We didn’t know it would mean farewell before it started.

But the Jackson vaults have to hold something better. He released albums so slowly and painstakingly that there must be a lot of outtakes–more than the batch of unreleased songs that showed up in 2004 on “Ultimate Collection.”

I’m music geek enough to be entirely curious about the demos of the hits that they are doling out so stingily. Let’s hear them all, not just these three. I remember seeing Jackson in TV interviews, casually beatboxing the rhythms that would be the foundations for those unstoppable Quincy Jones productions, and I can’t be the only one who’d be fascinated by how the songs were built. I’d also like to hear the grooves that never made it into songs. Get a diligent A&R digger into the collection and then book a brilliant D.J. to do a Michael Jackson megamix CD, like the Beatles’ “Love,” from the outtakes.

The question is, who’s going through those vaults and what are they looking for? Right now, it seems as if they’re fixated on ballads, aiming for some soothing adult-contemporary hit. But look at the track list for the “This Is It” album, reflecting the set list planned for London. More than half is upbeat and laced with paranoia, songs like “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Smooth Criminal,” “They Don’t Care About Us,” “Beat It” and “Billie Jean.” Those songs weren’t just there for their dance moves; Jackson knew his fans wanted his choppy beats and weird thoughts, his ***** ***** side, as well as his comforting bromides. Sooner or later, the family and Sony ought to let a funk fiend into the vaults, to find something stranger and better than “This Is It.”

JON CARAMANICA: Who’s going through the vaults, indeed? It’s probably a reflection of the disarray bedeviling Jackson’s catalog, legacy and institutional memory that no one in his camp seemingly knew, or cared, that this material had already been released in some form. (Is a cease-and-desist from Paul Anka far off?) Does no one over there read Spin?

Worse, as powerhouse-guest-written Safire tracks go, it’s nowhere near as strong as Marc Anthony’s work from her first album, especially “Boy I’ve Been Told.”

Maybe Jackson knew that, and was happy to let it go. Curiously, the Jackson/Anka writing credit is absent from the Allmusic entry for Safire’s second album.

To wit, did you see the GQ cover story on Jackson a couple of months ago? One of the most moving bits was the brief anecdote about how he asked to sit in and watch Stevie Wonder work on “Songs in the Key of Life.” How he wants to get inside the music’s “anatomy.” We know him as a performer of stratospheric gifts, but he was also a tremendous technician–it’s so reassuring to hear him count out “1, 2, 3, 4 …” at the beginning of “This Is It,” so casually in control.

But so thoroughly encoded into contemporary pop are Jackson’s template and tricks — in everyone from Justin Timberlake to Rihanna to Ne-Yo and far beyond — that the odds of a new song bringing shock were never very good. The future was molded in his shadow.

His attempts to update his sound on his last albums, from asking the Notorious B.I.G. to tag along on 1995’s “HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I” to the stilted neo-soul on 2001’s “Invincible,” were never fully convincing. At the time of his death, it was reported that he’d been working on a dance music album with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, another Jackson acolyte.

Who knows how that might sound? Maybe it’s better, then, to have the letdown of the merely familiar.


Source: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2...ckson-single-the-verdict/?hp&apage=3#comments
 
It's getting mixed reviews. It's average at best. I don't HATE it but I don't think it's anything amazing! I think it's just a nice little number to help lead in the film. I do agree with most that it's clearly very demo sounding and unfinished!
 
elusive moonwalker said:
kinda thinking the same thing aswell for once they cant blame mj. the music/arrangement isnt mikes he was never gonna release the song.sony found it saw the title and thought hey we can use this. and its not even being released so it cant be successful or not .so who really cares
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Can it go to number 1 while NOT being a commercial release -only by airplay?
I'd really want a no.1 for michael before the end of the year.. It would make him the first artist with number 1 hit's in five decades, and as stupid as it may sound, I found it a conforting thought..
 
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