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Thriller 40th Anniversary

robotchicken14 said:
The problem is that Xscape treated the songs Michael had written and composed himself in the exact same way it treated those by outside writers/producers. Rodney Jerkins can do whatever he wants to the production of Xscape (the song); he came up with it in the first place, and as long as the version he worked on with MJ is also available, I see no problem.

Michael's own compositions, on the other hand, are a whole different story. Who gives some random producer the right to override MJ's original production (which he was not pleased with, hence the lack of release), and present it as the 'definitive' version. MJ wrote a song like DYKWYCA with a specific vision for the song in mind. The fact that he didn't think it was strong enough for release on an album doesn't rationalise the mutation of his art into something entirely different.
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SmoothGangsta said:
I'd say following what MJ was already doing and trying to finish that way is better than just doing whatever you want and changing everything for no reason. Will never understand someone being picked to work on someone else's unfinished work and just doing whatever the hell they want.
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I won't say much more about the subject of this album, in the Thriller 40 thread of all places. But a few more points and, playing devil's advocate.

When you get into the nitty gritty, you got a few MJ penned demoes (LY, DYKWYCA), that don't really belong with mostly 2000s outtakes, but anyway, a few collabs (APWNN, BG, XSCAPE, LNFSG), and a few songs given (STTR, SWLM).

Cory Rooney, Dr. Freeze, Darkchild, Paul Anka, all were alive to step in and take a part in the process, and did if I remember correctly. If not, that's a bloody shame. Stargate did the one song, not a lotta justice tbh. I mean, they did fine, but they didn't save the song. The version we had was Classic, and got love and airplay thankfully. I totally prefer the MJ rendition with America's sample. But MJ wanted to collaborate so their song work wasn't completely outta left field. The couple of "Bad" outtakes could have been left alone though, also. They really clash otherwise, two 80s tracks with late 90s work.

L.A. Reid basically did the whole project so MJ could sing and "Dance" to the song he and Babyface did together. (And Timbaland spruced it up with all the original DNA intact. )


But I'll end by saying, the album was made to appeal to young people and the next generation, and it did that. If it's baby's first MJ record then by all means, it's fine. It is trendy and modern, and also aging reasonably well. It appealed to the casual, not hardcore, MJ fan. And that's happening a lot in every "franchise", I get that.
 
wendijane said:
that leak..song, and everything about it.. gets more perfect by the day.
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Haven't been listening to Michael - or anybody - for about 10 days now (I think I've got that Strep A thing) but I've been playing Dream Away in my head the whole time. I've only listened to it 3 times but it's already burned into my brain. Everything else just has taken a back seat to it.

You are so right. It does get more perfect by the day. Right now I don't feel I need anything else.
 
Nite Line said:
Yes, the reworked version of Xscape is better, even though I also like the original version.
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The original version is nice, a good song, but the way people treat it versus the other Darkchild tracks that made Invincible is kinda funny. Heartbreaker and Invincible are just as good, and Unbreakable and Threatened are way better.
 
For Xscape (the song) there is only one way for me: The original.
I feel the same as SmoothGangsta about the remix. It’s totally underwhelming.
Worst of the reworked songs, together with Blue Gangsta & DYKWYCA.

The original Xscape though, to me is a classic!
 
MJJuniorSinceMW said:
For Xscape (the song) there is only one way for me: The original.
I feel the same as SmoothGangsta about the remix. It’s totally underwhelming.
Worst of the reworked songs, together with Blue Gangsta & DYKWYCA.

The original Xscape though, to me is a classic!
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The remix is so weak compared to the original, it loses all the grit the original had, hence why I don't like it very much.
 
SmoothGangsta said:
Can't stand the remix of Xscape. The sped up vocals are annoying and the horns totally destroy the vibe of the song.
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I don't love the sped up tempo. The horns add a certain breeziness, like Jam, but the vibes of the original were very playful anyway, with the interlude and the goofy sound effects at the end.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
The original version is nice, a good song, but the way people treat it versus the other Darkchild tracks that made Invincible is kinda funny. Heartbreaker and Invincible are just as good, and Unbreakable and Threatened are way better.
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In my opinion. Heartbreaker is better, but Xscape is better than Unbreakable and Threatened. And Invincible is an awful song, in my opinion.
 
Nite Line said:
In my opinion. Heartbreaker is better, but Xscape is better than Unbreakable and Threatened. And Invincible is an awful song, in my opinion.
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Invincible is a great song, we just get tired of it after a minute. It's underrated in a lotta ways. The bridge is great and the beat is pretty modern still. Versus the late 90s Superthug of Unbreakable, or the early 2000s glitchpop of Heartbreaker.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1602736018087727105
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Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Invincible is a great song, we just get tired of it after a minute. It's underrated in a lotta ways. The bridge is great and the beat is pretty modern still. Versus the late 90s Superthug of Unbreakable, or the early 2000s glitchpop of Heartbreaker.
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Maybe if Invincible wasn't track 3 on the album, I might feel differently about it. Listening to Unbreakable, Heartbreaker & Invincible one after another can be a chore. Inclusion of FATS doesn't help either.
 
Nite Line said:
Maybe if Invincible wasn't track 3 on the album, I might feel differently about it. Listening to Unbreakable, Heartbreaker & Invincible one after another can be a chore. Inclusion of FATS doesn't help either.
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That's what I'm saying. You gotta enjoy it on your own. No one actually listens to the entire CD.
 
I know people like to hate John Branca - but I really enjoy the TikTok videos. They are professionally made, they give info and promote MJ.
So what if it's Branca? - He knew MJ for 20+ years. He was his lawyer, so he probably knew many many things about MJ both personally and professionally.

Yetnikof asked if MJ was angry about something with ET - what was that about? Why would MJ be mad? - MJ won a grammy for the ET project, right? Can someone enlighten me please. :)
 
ChanceToDance said:
Clearly everyone is forgetting about the hit song GYWOOM.
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It's not any worse just like the others aren't much better. From what I've heard. But it is an outtake. They're all good songs, some are just better developed and in different sonic phases.
 
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