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The documentaries on Xscape

igorzets

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So I made this thread so we can discuss some things the producers, L.A., and the collaborators said. I just watched the documentary and am a little bit bothered by this phrase by L.A., when talking to the producer of the track "Xscape", who happen to be the same on the new version as in the old:

"Listening to the original track and to the new track is like comparing yourself from then, to yourself now, isn't it?"

What? L.A. really got to be kidding. He, most importantly than the producers should know that the original versions are produced by MICHAEL JACKSON. They're not comparing themselves to themselves, they're comparing Michael to themselves, wich isn't fair really lol.

So, your thoughts?
 
''You never stop studying the greats'' - Michael Jackson
 
Interesting that Stargate (and the others aswell) didn't listened to the original version, but heard the acapella. Btw, didn't Timbo say, that the acapella from Blue Gangsta was like 6 mins long?
 
L.A. has to say what he wants to say to promote the record. Just like when he (or someone else) said that MJ would've approved the project. None of us know what MJ would've felt about this. But they have to still somehow sell the product to the general audience (inc. the fans).
 
mo_rizwan said:
L.A. has to say what he wants to say to promote the record. Just like when he (or someone else) said that MJ would've approved the project. None of us know what MJ would've felt about this. But they have to still somehow sell the product to the general audience (inc. the fans).
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Yeah lots of what they're saying is just PR fluff to sell the album.

When they were trying to sell 'Michael' the story then was that it was the album MJ would've released had he been alive, when we know that a lot of those songs weren't even on MJ's radar.
 
It didn't really seem like a documentary to me. Just a vehicle for L.A. Reid and Timbaland to say "Look how lame these tracks were before we got ahold of them." At least it comes across that way watching it.
 
I'm surprised that all of the short videos about the collaborators from YouTube weren't included here. I believe that the first of those videos is the beginning of the actual DVD, but it doesn't include the parts with Paul Anka, Cory Rooney, etc. I wasn't expecting anything on the level of Bad 25, but there could have been a more room for a little bit more (or even release the Love Never Felt So Good short film, since it must've wrapped up shooting weeks ago).
 
Zack44 said:
(or even release the Love Never Felt So Good short film, since it must've wrapped up shooting weeks ago).
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Judging by tweets, it was shot about a week or so ago - way beyond the cut off date :p
 
About L.A. saying the Estate has found 24 unreleased songs on an interview...

Really? There are only, well, 16 tracks left and then we are done? What is that about?
 
Jeez, some sensitive overly defensive MJ fans in this world. Its an cool little bit of footage, nothing more, nothing less. No one suggests the original tracks were below par, if anything all they do is state THEIR work could have been better. Let's not kid ourselves here, MJ didn't self produce all his material, there was room for improvement all round.
 
Who's being overly sensitive and defensive other than you about the documentary? lol
Just stating how it came across to me. Nothing more, nothing less.
 
Wasn't a documentary. Just a commercial for the album. Waste of time.
 
JEMFTV said:
Interesting that Stargate (and the others aswell) didn't listened to the original version, but heard the acapella. Btw, didn't Timbo say, that the acapella from Blue Gangsta was like 6 mins long?
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About this, Timbaland said he only heard 3 demos and 3 acapellas as he didnt want to get a beat in his head, fair enough, further along LA says "Now this is the first time you have heard this right" talking about Blue Gangsta

What I dont get is if Timba never heard BG, how did he make EXACTLY the same ending as the Demo lol - I mean my commen sense says he made the track, then heard the demo then stuck them horns on at the end?
 
I wasn't a big fan of the documentary to be honest. The best bit for me was the APWNN acapella.
As for LA saying there was 24 tracks to pick from, he said he picked 24 that he liked and thought he had potential, so I think there is way more than the 24 he picked left.
 
I haven't been able to get my physical copy yet (hopefully, today is the day) but based on your comments guys, most of the producers, not all came up as a bunch of arrogant schmucks, I won't watch it. Is it too much asking to put a mere minute of The Man, Michael in the studio recording any of those songs? What a waste of space and money for us who bought/will buy it!
 
Dangerous1991 said:
About this, Timbaland said he only heard 3 demos and 3 acapellas as he didnt want to get a beat in his head, fair enough, further along LA says "Now this is the first time you have heard this right" talking about Blue Gangsta

What I dont get is if Timba never heard BG, how did he make EXACTLY the same ending as the Demo lol - I mean my commen sense says he made the track, then heard the demo then stuck them horns on at the end?
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I wondered about that too. Also the intro of Slave... its the same notes in the demo.
I think the "acapellas" that LA Reid sent out also included some of those cool key sounds and things like guitar solos, intros, outros etc for some of the songs. Just no beats. Thats how its usually done when you sent things to a producer to create a remix (or whatever it should be called in this case). Makes sense then.
 
I really liked the documentary myself. (The one on the disc. I don't know if there's another?)I didn't find anything negative about what the producers said on there. I thought it was very positive :) I especially liked Rodney Jerkins story of how he first met up with Michael.
 
I've only watched a bit of the documentary so far, but it just seems so stupid. They should have included footage of Michael from the archives, not had something like a bunch of record producers sitting around and talking about making the album.
 
ShipOfFools said:
I've only watched a bit of the documentary so far, but it just seems so stupid. They should have included footage of Michael from the archives, not had something like a bunch of record producers sitting around and talking about making the album.
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Yeah, that's something that is interesting to watch on youtube, but it was hardly necessary to make a DVD for that. I wish they would have put studio footage of Michael instead...
 
Timbaland says, about Blue Gangsta's original version: "this doesn't sound as bad as the other ones." Okay, it might be up to interpretation, but I didn't like this quote since I heard it for the first time.
 
Snow White luvs Peter Pan said:
I haven't been able to get my physical copy yet (hopefully, today is the day) but based on your comments guys, most of the producers, not all came up as a bunch of arrogant schmucks, I won't watch it. Is it too much asking to put a mere minute of The Man, Michael in the studio recording any of those songs? What a waste of space and money for us who bought/will buy it!
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Instead of letting other people decide your thoughts, watch it for yourself and then decide.

Besides, it's not like the price of the album has gone up at all for us. It costs the same as any other deluxe album.

ShipOfFools said:
I've only watched a bit of the documentary so far, but it just seems so stupid. They should have included footage of Michael from the archives, not had something like a bunch of record producers sitting around and talking about making the album.
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Is it just possible that there's not as much studio footage as everyone assumes there is? I mean, we're talking about a guy who had cameras on him outside the studio 24/7, who was known to record in the complete dark sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that it would've been nice to see some footage of MJ in the studio, tinkering around and stuff - and I wish they did include some footage like that, even if Michael wasn't working on the specific song being played at the time. I just see so many posts here about people wanting more and more studio footage of this specific song and that specific song, and it makes me wonder if everyone overestimates the amount of unreleased studio footage the Estate has of Michael.

I personally found the documentary pretty interesting. No where near as good as Bad 25, but the point of it was to promote the album obviously. It was interesting to see the producers' process as well.
 
The nitpicking every time. It makes me sick.

Just enjoy this project and it's content! Sit back and relax! We're blessed to even hear and see new Michael Jackson (related) stuff. Be thankful.

God...
 
igorzets said:
"Listening to the original track and to the new track is like comparing yourself from then, to yourself now, isn't it?"

What? L.A. really got to be kidding. He, most importantly than the producers should know that the original versions are produced by MICHAEL JACKSON. They're not comparing themselves to themselves, they're comparing Michael to themselves, wich isn't fair really lol.
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You're being overly defensive -- as others pointed out, L.A. was referring to Rodney working with Michael on the original version of Xscape. The fact that Michael had a major hand in all these songs is obvious because it's a Michael Jackson album and they're working with material that he left behind -- it's not something that needs to be pointed out by the producers at every turn.

igorzets said:
About L.A. saying the Estate has found 24 unreleased songs on an interview...

Really? There are only, well, 16 tracks left and then we are done? What is that about?
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I am at work and can't watch the part of the documentary you're referring to but the Billboard interview, which the documentary is based off of, clearly states that John Branca and Karen Langford selected 24 possibilities from the vault that matched Reid's specifications. "Selected possibilities" being the operative words here. There are definitely more than 16 songs left in the Vault.

igorzets said:
Timbaland says, about Blue Gangsta's original version: "this doesn't sound as bad as the other ones." Okay, it might be up to interpretation, but I didn't like this quote since I heard it for the first time.
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He could be referring to anything here, but I take it to mean he feels the production on BG sounds more current than on the other tracks he worked on. Those other tracks being Chicago, Loving You, STTR and DYKWYCA, I tend to agree with him. I still prefer many of those original versions over his contemporizations myself, but there's no denying that they don't sound very modern or (in some cases) even complete.

You really need to calm down and stop looking for negative vibes that simply aren't there. These guys showed great respect and admiration for Michael and the material they got to work with and, in my opinion, did an amazing job with this album. Just relax and enjoy the music.
 
Y'all need to calm down with telling people to calm down for what I think is calmly sharing their thoughts and opinions. The world is not going to end because people feel a certain way about a 20 minute spot on the bonus DVD. They bought it and have the right to comment on their purchase.
 
igorzets said:
Timbaland says, about Blue Gangsta's original version: "this doesn't sound as bad as the other ones." Okay, it might be up to interpretation, but I didn't like this quote since I heard it for the first time.
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Production. He meant that the production was bad (dated), not bad in the sense that it sucks.
 
I am very very disappointet with the DVD...

The outtakes is ridicculus - no need to ever see that again.

The main doc is 23 minutes long ?? WTF ?!!? What a waste...

They should have included some studio footage of MJ and made it a lot longer. They should have gone through the album track by track and told about the history of the song and how the contemporized it etc. - MJ's visions and ideas.

The DVD is worthless IMHO. - Pure crap. It had been A LOT better if they had just dropped the DVD and kept the price lower. - Deluxe edition should only have been 1 CD with the 8 demos and 1 bonus track with JT.

DVD made it a little more expensive and a little more crappy. Worst DVD ever!

Sorry for the negative post. - But this DVD was really a wasted opportunity. - It could have been so cool, instead we got this rubbish....
 
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