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Reviews Of Man In the Music By Those Who Bought And Read the Book

I am uo to History now. I just finished Dangerous and to be honest it made me feel sad. He briefly mentions how with this album everything was going well for Michael and he was top of the world and then the allegations came in 1993 and changed everything. I really hate what those people did to Michael.

Anyways, I find it interesting. You feel like you are in the studio with them. I didn't know that Michael sent Quincy a copy of Dangerous before it was released. He wanted to know what he thought and he told Michael it was a masterpiece. I like how the author is pointing out that with time people are appreciating the music more now. Back when they were released that people judged Michael the person too much and not focused on his music and what he was trying to do. I hope Michael is in the songwriters hall of fame.
 
Back when they were released that people judged Michael the person too much and not focused on his music and what he was trying to do. I hope Michael is in the songwriters hall of fame.
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To be honest, unfortunately this hasn't changed much. Just remember Rolling Stone's "tribute" in 2009 where they were harping on tabloid gossip such as was his nose detachable. And this in a so called music magazine. It's like they deliberately want to reduce him to a tabloid caricature so that they don't have to deal with and listen to his message.

I agree with you it's sad what happened to him in 1993, not only on a personal level but also on an artistic level. One can only wonder where he would have developed artistically without the allegations. Don't get me wrong, actually many masterpieces came out of that situation as well, because of his anger, frustration - on History as well as on Blood on the Dance Floor and Invincible. Actually songs from that era which reflect on how he was treated by the media, society etc. are my favorites right now. But the allegations definitely harmed him in terms of popularity a big deal. Noone sells more albums after he's been accused of pedophilia. So after the very successful Dangerous one can only wonder how high he would have gone without the allegations? So sad that we will never know.
 
respect77 said:
To be honest, unfortunately this hasn't changed much. Just remember Rolling Stone's "tribute" in 2009 where they were harping on tabloid gossip such as was his nose detachable. And this in a so called music magazine. It's like they deliberately want to reduce him to a tabloid caricature so that they don't have to deal with and listen to his message.

I agree with you it's sad what happened to him in 1993, not only on a personal level but also on an artistic level. One can only wonder where he would have developed artistically without the allegations. Don't get me wrong, actually many masterpieces came out of that situation as well, because of his anger, frustration - on History as well as on Blood on the Dance Floor and Invincible. Actually songs from that era which reflect on how he was treated by the media, society etc. are my favorites right now. But the allegations definitely harmed him in terms of popularity a big deal. Noone sells more albums after he's been accused of pedophilia. So after the very successful Dangerous one can only wonder how high he would have gone without the allegations? So sad that we will never know.
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Maybe with time that will change and his music will be appreciated more. That's the feeling I am getting from this book. Joe Vogel hopes that will happen.
 
marebear said:
I am uo to History now. I just finished Dangerous and to be honest it made me feel sad. He briefly mentions how with this album everything was going well for Michael and he was top of the world and then the allegations came in 1993 and changed everything. I really hate what those people did to Michael.

Anyways, I find it interesting. You feel like you are in the studio with them. I didn't know that Michael sent Quincy a copy of Dangerous before it was released. He wanted to know what he thought and he told Michael it was a masterpiece. I like how the author is pointing out that with time people are appreciating the music more now. Back when they were released that people judged Michael the person too much and not focused on his music and what he was trying to do. I hope Michael is in the songwriters hall of fame.
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According to the Songwriters Hall of Fame website Michael was inducted in 2002.

http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C116
 
I ordered this book about a week ago. It should be here very soon :dancin:

I'm so so excited. Especially about reading about the Invincible era in particular - which is rarely given any attention in any book. As one of the most underrated records Michael released and one of my favourites personally, this is the one I look forward to most. Can anyone (without revealing too much) tell me the nature of the Invincible chapter? Is it given equal treatment?

The second I get this book, I'm sitting down and reading it from start to finish! All these reviews and positive talk means it'll be worth the wait. Learning about the nuances of Michael's craft is by far my favourite thing to do. It sounds like this book enables us fans to hear Michael's music in a refreshing and new way. That is what I'm most excited about.
 
Oh yes and Bruce Swedien's book is awful. Don't buy it. If you know your musical/recording knowledge then sure, but it's way way too technical for the average reader to understand, there is very little ironically about Michael in the book and it's been edited very poorly. The layout of chapters etc is all over the place.
 
Gonetoosoon said:
Oh yes and Bruce Swedien's book is awful. Don't buy it. If you know your musical/recording knowledge then sure, but it's way way too technical for the average reader to understand, there is very little ironically about Michael in the book and it's been edited very poorly. The layout of chapters etc is all over the place.
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Ugh..yeah I realized that one too late...I was so disappointed at how very little info about Michael was actually in there...:(
 
I am up to Invincible now. I really like this book. I am appreciating Michael even more. I have to say that I hope no one takes offense with this. It's sad that Michael wasn't appreciated in North America like he used to. ( I am from Canada). I felt that before Michael died and to read this book it shows that. He was loved all over the world and I am glad that History is the best selling 2 disc album of all time and Blood on the Dancefloor is the best selling remix album of all time. I admire Michael even more because he never stopped creating and wanting to give the world great music.

I hope I didn't offend anyone. Most people I know don't know any songs from History, BOTDF and Inviincible. I think they know Scream with Janet but that's it. He did so many good songs. I really like Joe Vogel's positive attitude. He thinks with time these albums will be appreciated more than when they came out. He even thought Dangerous wasn't appreciated as it should have been. Dangerous was very successful.
 
^^ Michael always reminds me of the biblical saying: "nobody is a prophet in his own home". Basically since Thriller each of his albums sold more outside of the USA than in the USA (although generally for every artist the US is the biggest record buying country). I wonder why is that. I have my ideas though. For example I think the US was more disturbed by his lightening skin and they didn't take a black man "turning white" and blurring boundaries between races so lightly than other parts of the world, because of US history with black slavery and racism (I'm not saying there is no racism elsewhere but for example in my country racism isn't directed at blacks, but at other group of people). Same with what people perceived as Michael blurring boundaries between genders. In the religiously conservative US this was less accepted than elsewhere.
 
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Yes, and the allegations as well. I'm from Europe, and I don't think that it had the same effect here as in the US. Here in France, I don't remember seeing that on TV so much, and when they talked about it on the news, from what I remember, there were a lot of doubts about them.
 
Yes, i've only recently come to realise just how much mj's sales dropped in the usa after thriller. In the uk, bad outsold thriller when it came out, and his most popular single was earth song, beating even billie jean. I blame the relentless onslaught from the media - i'm sure there was a racial element, but also mj just didn't play their game and give interviews - he wanted to keep his mystique so they were never sympathetic towards him. The uk have a dreadful tabloid press that can easily rival any in the us i think, but if you don't buy the tabs you can avoid the worst of it. The US however seems to have the equivalent of tabloids on their tv - i think US had cable and multi-channels before us in the uk- and we don't seem to have all these entertainment shows that just seem to dissect everything mj did. It's harder to avoid the anti-mj media when it's in your living room.

I know that adage -a prophet is never recognised in his own land - but i still think it's so sad. The usa should have been so proud to have the greatest global entertainer as one of their own.
 
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Sorry, double post.

respect77 said:
One can only wonder where he would have developed artistically without the allegations. Don't get me wrong, actually many masterpieces came out of that situation as well, because of his anger, frustration - on History as well as on Blood on the Dance Floor and Invincible. Actually songs from that era which reflect on how he was treated by the media, society etc. are my favorites right now. But the allegations definitely harmed him in terms of popularity a big deal. Noone sells more albums after he's been accused of pedophilia. So after the very successful Dangerous one can only wonder how high he would have gone without the allegations? So sad that we will never know.
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MJ stilll had the sony contract to play out so he seemed to be protected in his music career even if the sales weren't going to be as high but he seemed to have had big hollywood film plans which evan chandler destroyed. Vogel talks of a Lost Boys prod company - i think i read somewhere else that plans were underway at the time of the allegations for a film on edgar allan poe. Hollywood of course ran a mile from him, and never really came back to him, which knowing how passionate mj was about film is such a loss as i'm sure he could have contributed so much.
 
Gonetoosoon said:
Oh yes and Bruce Swedien's book is awful. Don't buy it. If you know your musical/recording knowledge then sure, but it's way way too technical for the average reader to understand, there is very little ironically about Michael in the book and it's been edited very poorly. The layout of chapters etc is all over the place.
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I agree. Well it's not awfull, but it's mighty difficult to read without any recording knowledge. There's some really nice bits and pieces in there, but I'm still struggling to get through the complete book.

I've been searching for the Earth Song part from Joe Vogel. Can't find it though, only for the Kindle. Anyone have a tip for me? I'm ordering from Europe.
 
Some of the Things I'm reading about in thread how Michael's albums sales dropped in America is Not True. Example after THRILLER Not true. After all some of you are Just Now understanding his music through Joe Vogel's book and research which is good,but don't state what's not true.

Afterall BAD is what United the World w/ MJ & Fans! be grateful. Love is most important and open mind.
:heart:
 
souldreamer7 said:
Some of the Things I'm reading about in thread how Michael's albums sales dropped in America is Not True. Example after THRILLER Not true. After all some of you are Just Now understanding his music through Joe Vogel's book and research which is good,but don't state what's not true.

Afterall BAD is what United the World w/ MJ & Fans! be grateful. Love is most important and open mind.
:heart:
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Do you have data to back up it's not true?
 
roomdownstairs said:
As you read it, you want to finish the chapter in record time so you can play the album being discussed and immerse yourself in it in an entirely new way. As soon as I finished the chapter on OTW I played the album from start to finish and felt I uncovered an array of new layers to the album I've not heard before. That is the beauty of Michael's music, and the book certainly provides that feeling. Joe is not only an excellent writer, but he examines the creative process in such a sincere way. He highlights beautifully Michael's god-given talent, passion, drive, dedication, perfectionism and sheer brilliance as a lyricist, composer, arranger and vocalist. It is recognition of the highest order. I love it.
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Yes, and this is exactly why I love this book so much (I finished it earlier today)--for all of the above. It is so refreshing to read a book that keeps the focus where it needs to be.
 
I finished reading Invincible part. Now to the final years. To be honest this is the hard part for me. I don't remember much about the Invincible time and why Michael had problems with Sony. I really think it's a shame what happened. Invincible had a good start and it should have continued to be successful. It is good though that despite it all it did do well. It sold over 10 million and most albums today don't do that anymore.

In the book I get the impression and what Joe Vogel says that Michael was selling more outside of the US. He was still selling in the US but the ratio was changing from how it was before. I don't have actual numbers but that's what is in the book. Michael was loved all over the world.
 
I would love to buy this book. I will be going book shopping soon. Hopefully they have it yet at Half Price Books.
 
Sunflowers said:
I've been searching for the Earth Song part from Joe Vogel. Can't find it though, only for the Kindle. Anyone have a tip for me? I'm ordering from Europe.
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When Earth Song was released I managed to buy it and get it as a pdf file but that doesn't seem like an option anymore seeing as it has been released as a paperback book now. What you can do is download this app from amazon for your computer. This should allow you to buy the kindle version of the book but read it on your computer and possibly print it out as a pdf.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311
Hope that helps
 
I finished it and I loved it. Excellent book and I think every fan should have this book.
 
I just read the Blood on the Dance Floor part and generally I liked it (like I LOVE the original songs on BOTDF), but I was kind of surprized at Joe's slight criticism of the film "Ghosts". It wasn't bad just that he mentions some things he considers flaws in it. I didn't agree with this assessment. And I have to say I don't like it when people call it "a sequel to Thriller" because it's so misleading, giving the impression Michael just re-cycled the idea once again, which is not the case. The only common thing in Thriller and Ghosts is that they are both of the horror genre, but otherwise I don't consider Ghosts as a sequel to Thriller.

I consider Ghosts a very underrated and overlooked masterpiece so I was a bit surprised that Joe wasn't as impressed by it.

Also I'm not sure about the "Gothic Popstar/Megastar" label. When I look up the meaning of Gothic subculture in Wikipedia I don't think Michael was a "Gothic Megastar". Does my love of horror movies make me Gothic? Does Michael's love for horror short films make him a Gothic Megastar? I don't think so.

Don't get me wrong, I love the book, I recommend it to everyone, just there were a couple of things in this chapter I didn't agree with.
 
I flipped through it at the bookstore a few times, and honestly it's nothing new for me. It doesn't go into depth for songs that I wanted to read about. How many times do we need to hear how brilliant Billie Jean is? LOL! Just nothing that really interested me. It was kind of just like a short summary of each song with one or two tidbits thrown in, and then comments from celebrities which I didn't like too much.

*shrugs*

I'm just waiting for a book that recognises Michael's song writing abilities PRE Off the Wall. We've heard enough of Thriller and Dangerous and all that, let's get a book on the Jacksons era!
 
https://twitter.com/#!/JoeVogel1
JoeVogel1 Joe Vogel
But I'll see what I can do...Thanks for the feedback/encouragement :)
26 Nov

JoeVogel1 Joe Vogel
I will try to do both #ScaredoftheMoon and #StrangerinMoscow. These types of pieces though come with a lot of challenges...
26 Nov

andy_healy &E
It's great to read @JoeVogel1 #mitm book whilst listening to the music. 2 albums in and I'm loving the insights. #itsallaboutthemusic
26 Nov
Retweeted by JoeVogel1

JoeVogel1 Joe Vogel
@lmt4mj I love them both...I feel they are two of MJ's most poetic and revealing songs
26 Nov

JoeVogel1 Joe Vogel
@CEThomson @lmt4mj Brad def. should've been credited, but it was collaborative
26 Nov

JoeVogel1 Joe Vogel
@CEThomson You're right. But Scared of the Moon has such a fascinating back story, plus glimpse into MJ's life around 1984
26 Nov

JoeVogel1 Joe Vogel
I'm debating between Scared of the Moon and Stranger in Moscow....Tough choice...Have great material on both of them
26 Nov

JoeVogel1 Joe Vogel
Who would be interested in reading a long piece (ala Earth Song) on "Scared of the Moon"?
26 Nov
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marebear said:
In the book I get the impression and what Joe Vogel says that Michael was selling more outside of the US. He was still selling in the US but the ratio was changing from how it was before. I don't have actual numbers but that's what is in the book. Michael was loved all over the world.
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Sorry souldreamer and marebare, didn't want to suggest mj wasn't loved in the US but it's undeniable that mj's sales were surprisingly low in the US after thriller considering he was such a huge global megastar. Usually countries support their own and mj was such a well-known personality in the US from his jackson 5 days. Off the wall sold around 8m in US, thriller of course went crazy with 29m but then bad and dangerous both sold around 8m each, whereas i know in the uk mj's albums and singles did really well after thriller.
 
kindofdisco said:
I flipped through it at the bookstore a few times, and honestly it's nothing new for me. It doesn't go into depth for songs that I wanted to read about. How many times do we need to hear how brilliant Billie Jean is? LOL! Just nothing that really interested me. It was kind of just like a short summary of each song with one or two tidbits thrown in, and then comments from celebrities which I didn't like too much.

*shrugs*

I'm just waiting for a book that recognises Michael's song writing abilities PRE Off the Wall. We've heard enough of Thriller and Dangerous and all that, let's get a book on the Jacksons era!
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Interesting for you to say that... I don't know if there is another book (not a blog, article, but a full volume book) that focuses solely on Michael's arts. Many writers simply choose to downplay Michael's accomplishment post-Thriller. Many in the U.S. do not even know the existence of Blood on the Dance Floor. I'm of the opinion that not enough have been said on Dangerous, HIStory, BOTDF and Invincible. These great albums are criminally overlooked. In general, Michael's song-writing ability is underrated. Don't get me wrong. I love the pre-OTW albums. One Day in Your Life is a true beauty. Blues Away is lovely.

If you are interested in in-depth analysis of the song, try Joe Vogel's piece on Earth Song. He's going to write similar pieces on SIM and/or Scared of the Moon.
 
love is magical said:
Interesting for you to say that... I don't know if there is another book (not a blog, article, but a full volume book) that focuses solely on Michael's arts. Many writers simply choose to downplay Michael's accomplishment post-Thriller. Many in the U.S. do not even know the existence of Blood on the Dance Floor. I'm of the opinion that not enough have been said on Dangerous, HIStory, BOTDF and Invincible. These great albums are criminally overlooked. In general, Michael's song-writing ability is underrated. Don't get me wrong. I love the pre-OTW albums. One Day in Your Life is a true beauty. Blues Away is lovely.

If you are interested in in-depth analysis of the song, try Joe Vogel's piece on Earth Song. He's going to write similar pieces on SIM and/or Scared of the Moon.
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You do know Michael didn't write One Day In your Life? LOL! I was talking his early song-writing abilities, things he had done himself or written by the brothers with him in mind. Blues Away, That's What You Get (For Being Polite), Destiny, Time Waits For No one....etc etc! Not enough is said about Michael's vocal strength and ability during this period. Even fans seem to lump Jackson 5 and Jacksons into one, big era before OTW and pretend that Michael was just a kid the whole time haha! It gets me so frustrated.

I find critics are quicker to lump praise on Thriller followed closely by Dangerous more than any other album. For me my favourite albums are OTW and Dangerous, so I kind of win in a way! I do think HIStory is very underrated. Never been a big fan of Earth Song though so I didn't read Joe's piece on it. I would love to hear his thoughts on Stranger in Moscow though!
 
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