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Thriller 40th Anniversary

Give the Estate a chance. So far they seem to be doing better than expectations on T40. ok, sure, the expectations were really really low, but still lets be happy we are getting some good songs. I like the way they are revealing song by song per week. Lets not write them off just yet!
 
zinniabooklover said:
Thank you so, so much for posting this. It was awesome. I love these interviews that Brice Najar does. I haven't read an interview of his that I didn't love but this exceeded any that I've seen before. It's an astonishing piece of work.

I especially loved these quotes:

"Then, the Thriller album happened and I went: Ā« Good God ! Ā» I mean, there isnā€™t anything else like that. Thereā€™s the Thriller album and thereā€™s everything else. It was global history all at once. Iā€™ve had a lot of good experiences with a lot of great artists but I donā€˜t think anything could ever match what, first of all, Michael was like. I mean, I have only met whom I have met, but heā€™s certainly the most completely talented person that Iā€™ve ever met. Iā€™ve never seen anyone that could literally do EVERYTHING and do it well! He really could ā€“ he was as complete a showman as weā€™ve ever had ... Nobody covered all the bases on a genius level but Michael Jackson. Nobody. Not even close."

"Michael was a rhythmic singer, and his sense of inner clock and inner rhythm was so impeccable that I wanted to do my level best to give him a chance to use that talent of his to the extreme."

"It took a little while before the recording was released, and then Thriller became Thriller. Thriller wasnā€™t really Thriller the way we think of it now until after the Motown 25 television show. I remember watching that on tv and thinking: Ā« Ok, now, all bets are off. Ā» Iā€™m a show business junkie and with the electronic delivery of television, you can feel it when those rare events happen that are an earthquake to the culture. When he moonwalked on that thing, I looked at my then wife and I said: Ā« This is going to get crazy! THAT is changing everything. Ā» And it did."


Fabulous quotes but the whole interview is a beautiful thing. It was SO exciting to read that. I had no idea he worked with The Carpenters. I love their music but have never really bothered to find out a great deal about them. I only really know the hit singles although I always loved Karen Carpenter as a drummer as much as I loved her voice and the songs.

This interview with John Bettis is a real treasure. šŸ„°
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I loved the article. this is the kind of insight into the lyrics of ā€˜human natureā€™, that I have craved for years. it confirmed a few things for me. along with the innocence and wide eyed wonder, there was also a sense of isolation and feeling trapped. I never knew the origins were so tragic regarding Karen carpenter though šŸ˜„ I can see how it relates to Michael, and Iā€™m glad the two (Michael and John) had a chance to discuss it. hopefully John Bettis can be featured in the upcoming documentary.
 
Yeah, thus far the promo has been fine. Not anything expansive, but itā€™s decent enough for a project apparently aimed at the hardcore fans (even if the blurbs have been absolute trash). I think song teasers would be a great addition in the lead up.
 
I still don't understand why Thriller 40th is having so little promotion . We're talking about the 40th anniversary of the best-selling album in music history and all you're doing is putting a crappy drawing of the "unreleased" songs on Michael's official account. Even with Scream, a simple compilation album, we had teasers all over social media, media ads, posters around the world, etc. Sony is not getting involved in that this new edition of Thriller is known and people listen to it. There is something that still doesn't add up, I don't know if the strategy is to advertise the album a few weeks after it goes on sale or what.

In turn, if the remastered Thriller video is not released shortly before Halloween (that is, in a week), it would seem to me a very serious marketing error. It is the perfect time to release it and have the attention of many people and media.

Anyway, I don't know why but I find everything a bit strange, with this accusation in recent years it will be necessary to see if Sony wants to put its brand excessively or not in MJ projects, hopefully I'm wrong.
 
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I don't expect a huge Sony deal like Xscape had, but not even the fans know what's happening. We've had some brief mention of 4K short films, 'installations' etc..
 
Oh God! It's going to be such a nightmare if they are having hard time finding a promoter / distributor. I hope that's not the case and there is really some strategy behind this.
 
I would say they should at the very least drop Thriller video in 4K this friday - thay way it can build up momentum before Halloween.

Also - get TV channels to air the MJ Halloween Special again. (I did not really like it, but it would be nice promo)

Then hopefully they will release a single - and maybe announce The Making of Thriller and Thriller video in 4K will be available on Netflix and can be bought on Blu-Ray and UHD 4K. - If Ghosts have been made into 4K it would seem fitting to release it before Halloween too. - Along with The Making of. - And if they have more bonus footage regarding Thriller and Ghosts, then release it!

I have not seen a single promotion about T40 - and if I was not a fan and on MJJC I would not know it was coming.

They need some serios promotion soon.
 
Hiker said:
Give the Estate a chance. So far they seem to be doing better than expectations on T40. ok, sure, the expectations were really really low, but still lets be happy we are getting some good songs. I like the way they are revealing song by song per week. Lets not write them off just yet!
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Give them a chance lol. Sorry but this has been said every time they do something since 2010. They are inept, it is what it is.
 
I hope they'll Release A single next week, And start promoting the album.
This is the moment
I wish They release thriller single, B Side Starlight.. this means next revealed Song tomorrow Would be starlight.
But...
 
It would actually be very smart - if they do not wish to release Starlight on disc 2 - then release on of the new songs from disc 2 as a single - and add Starlight and TGIM solo demo on the single. That would be a total win-win.

Promotion needs to kickstart very soon. - 1 month to the release - and more importantly only 12 days till Halloween. - They need focus on Thriller and the Thriller-video now. It has to come some time before Halloween. - Release something friday would make sense.

Thriller is a Halloween song and it charts every year around Halloween. It's a no-brainer that it has to be used and taken advantage of. Come on Estate. - Release something NOW !!! - Thriller 4K and single thanks very much. - And for Gods sake... NO REMIX single release... Give us a proper song as single - maybe with some b-sides.
 
Well if nothing promotional happens then I can only assume LN has left a much bigger footprint than many of you expected. I donā€™t see any other reason that makes sense. Maybe theyā€™re afraid of the possible(probable?) backlash that will occur when they promote the hell out of a new MJ product.

For me it was the same with the musical, if I wasnā€™t a member here I still would not know of its existence.
 
filmandmusic said:
Well if nothing promotional happens then I can only assume LN has left a much bigger footprint than many of you expected. I donā€™t see any other reason that makes sense. Maybe theyā€™re afraid of the possible(probable?) backlash that will occur when they promote the hell out of a new MJ product.

For me it was the same with the musical, if I wasnā€™t a member here I still would not know of its existence.
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An expectation was set by the Estate in May, though, when articles reporting on the press release stated "several anniversay activations are planned between now and the end of the year". Those articles indicated it was starting then with the woeful Thriller 40 merch drop. We are now over 5 months on from that and, as far I can see, there have been no "anniversary activations". From their wording, I was expecting a 6 month span of things celebrating Thriller.

All this is going to be now is standard album promo. And that's even if there's any of that! There was no need to indicate "several anniversary activations" throughout the year. Just leave that out. It's not unusual for a record company to promote a release in the weeks prior. There is nothing newsworthy in that. Sure, it could all burst into life over the coming days, but despite that, this is not how it was put to us in May.

Furthermore, why is the Thriller documentary only in production now? Did they forget about their release schedule? I realise it's unclear and we don't have any indication of how far along it is but again, based on anything that's been told to us, we can only assume that it isn't finished and is not yet ready for release. This is similar to the Bad 25 debacle. Promo was better for that admittedly, but timing was way off. The Bad 25 documentary aired about 3 months after the release of the album by which point it was dead in the water after debuting respectably on the charts and then dropping off the edge of the cliff. Timing is everything in marketing. You build up a head of steam and you strike at the perfectly timed moment. The Estate is spending money to make a Thriller documentary and by all indications, it's going to debut much later, just as Bad 25 did. I'm sure they will still succeed in finding a broadcaster but imagine if the Thriller doc aired worldwide the week of the album's release. It would only be a positive piece of cross-promotion. When Paul Simon's Graceland album received it's 25th anniversary in the same quarter as Bad 25, the accompanying documentary aired on the BBC the night before the album was released, and Graceland's 25th anniversary performed far better on the UK charts than Bad.

Thriller's annual Halloween resurgence is another opportunity to springboard. It's all suspiciously quiet on that front too if we had hoped for them to capitalise on that.

I fear we're hurtling towards another predictably lacklustre promotion of a Michael Jackson anniversary album and time is running out.
 
Maybe they will announce some news tomorrow when they announce the next song.

I really hope we hear some news regarding promotion and videoes etc. very soon. - I hope there will be a single release too.
 
Itā€™s interesting to me that people are disappointed that this isnā€™t being promoted to casual listeners, while also being disappointed that the track listing isnā€™t catering to longtime fans that are familiar with or have already purchased some of the songs.
 
Let's be honest Thriller 40 is an exercise by the Estate. They're dipping their toes back in the water to see if its safe and they're using Michael's most commercially successful and universally loved album to do it.

If it's well received by the public, I think the Estate will be more active next year, with a bigger new release. But right now they're using a 40th anniversary of the biggest selling album history as a safe bet.

The tracklist of Disc 2 is the biggest indicator of that so far, they're not releasing/sacrificing any songs, we haven't heard in some form, (aside from Lovely Way) they're not going use any songs with hit potential on this release like they did with Price Of Fame and I'm So Blue on Bad 25.

If they release the short films for, Billie Jean, Beat It and Thriller in 4K I'll be pleased.
 
Hulkamaniac said:
Guns N Roses releasing a full song from their 1991 New York gig, from their upcomig FULL BLU RAY concert.
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Last year they rereleased Nirvana's Nevermind, with 4 complete live shows from the Nevermind tour.

Next month Guns N' Roses will rerelease Use Your Illusion, with 5 complete live shows from the Use Your Illusion tour.

Meanwhile, we've never had any official release for the tour that accompanied Thriller.

Again, I ask, why is MJ always a second-class citizen.

AlwaysThere said:
weā€™re getting a full second disc of demos and tracks in high-quality.
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Let's not overdo it. They're selling 10 songs on a second disc. Probably 30 minutes of music. Half of which have already been officially released. 20 songs would be a full second disc.

As for quality, the 2001 SE of Thriller sounded objectively a lot worse than the original. And then T25 sounded a lot worse than the SE.

There is every expectation that T40 will be the worst sounding version of Thriller ever released. That's the main reason people are interested in the MFSL version of Thriller, instead of the Sony version.
 
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R1chard said:
Last year they rereleased Nirvana's Nevermind, with 4 complete live shows from the Nevermind tour.

Next month Guns N' Roses will rerelease Use Your Illusion, with 5 complete live shows from the Use YourI llusion tour.

Meanwhile, we've never had any official release for the tour that accompanied Thriller.

Again, I ask, why is MJ always a second-class citizen.
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BeCaUse ThEre Is No RelEAseABLE HQ cOnCert MATerIAl OThEr ThAn MUnIcH 97 ANd PEoPLeIs NOt InteREstEd In COncErTs

wojak-soy-boy-angry-buck-teeth-thumbnail.jpg


...is something @AlwaysThere would say LOL
 
Hulkamaniac said:
BeCaUse ThEre Is No RelEAseABLE HQ cOnCert MATerIAl OThEr ThAn MUnIcH 97
...is something @AlwaysThere would say LOL
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Never said that actually haha, though it wouldnā€™t surprise me if HQ copies of most shows werenā€™t in the estateā€™s possession for whatever reason.

I just donā€™t care about concerts.
R1chard said:
Last year they rereleased Nirvana's Nevermind, with 4 complete live shows from the Nevermind tour.

Next month Guns N' Roses will rerelease Use Your Illusion, with 5 complete live shows from the Use YourI llusion tour.

Meanwhile, we've never had any official release for the tour that accompanied Thriller.

Again, I ask, why is MJ always a second-class citizen.



Let's not overdo it. They're selling 10 songs on a second disc. Probably 30 minutes of music. Half of which have already been officially released.

As for quality, the 2001 SE of Thriller sounded objectively a lot worse than the original. And then T25 sounded a lot worse than the SE.

There is every expectation that T40 will be the worst sounding version of Thriller ever released. That's the main reason people are interested in the MFSL version of Thriller, instead of the Sony version.
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Releasing a Victory Tour concert would require the collaboration of all living Jackson brothers. Prior to the reissues last year, their working relationship wasā€¦ contentious, to say the least. Letā€™s not pretend like they can just release a concert without issue.

As for the second disc, only one song thus far has been previously released. (I donā€™t count the original cuts of ā€œBehind the Maskā€ and ā€œBest of Joyā€/ā€œThe Toy,ā€ in the same way nobody would categorize an unheard demo of ā€œBillie Jeanā€ as a previously released song.) The others are demos of previously released songs, high quality cuts of leaked tracks, and at least one never before heard song. Obviously it isnā€™t perfect, but the refusal of some to acknowledge the great parts of it, and instead pivot the discussion to complaining about what we aren't getting, is astonishing.

I miss the days immediately following the announcement of ā€œWhat a Lovely Way to Goā€ haha. What a positive and exciting time.
 
I'm still super hyped, I'm easy to please. It helps that all the songs on the second disc so far are favorites of mine.

It's all very impressive what Nirvana, Prince or Guns N' Roses release but they haven't had any controversies attached to their names. Why can't you be lucky something gets released in the first place? Any other artist would are dead and buried if they had gone through what MJ has gone through. In normal circumstances we don't get a T40 after 2019 but we do and it is great!

Let the Estate dip the market, let them be careful they have every right to be so. All the current projects and the projects to come are a miracle, he was very very closed to being cancelled completely, don't forget that...
 
AlwaysThere said:
Itā€™s interesting to me that people are disappointed that this isnā€™t being promoted to casual listeners, while also being disappointed that the track listing isnā€™t catering to longtime fans that are familiar with or have already purchased some of the songs.
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What exactly are you trying to say here? That it's cool that the promotion for the release so far has been executed by a 14 year old with bad grammar on twitter? What does that have to do with people being annoyed about being resold music?

The marketing thing is quite simple and literally everyone else does it properly, like someone earlier said, they are inept.
 
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Hiker said:
I like the way they are revealing song by song per week. Lets not write them off just yet!
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You do? I think it's extremely lame. It's lame when they reveal rosters for videogames one by one as well. What next, they reveal the actors in a movie one by one?

What does it achieve? Do they think it creates hype or something? They're just song titles. Worse than that, they're titles for songs nobody has even heard. What's the point? It just seems like they're desperate to create continuous hype.

samijackson1958 said:
wish They release thriller single
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It goes back to a point I made recently. We all know Thriller as the album with 7 top-ten singles. I'd like to change that. Wouldn't it be good to release one of the other two? Lady in My Life single? Wouldn't it be better to know Thriller as the album with 8 top-ten singles?
 
ChrisC said:
An expectation was set by the Estate in May, though, when articles reporting on the press release stated "several anniversay activations are planned between now and the end of the year". Those articles indicated it was starting then with the woeful Thriller 40 merch drop. We are now over 5 months on from that and, as far I can see, there have been no "anniversary activations". From their wording, I was expecting a 6 month span of things celebrating Thriller.
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Is it possible that T40 will be the start of a year of 'anniversary activations'? I'm not saying I want them to do that or that it would be a good idea but I'm trying to make sense of what they are doing. Or, more accurately, what they are not doing. Are there going to be 'activations' (stupid word, lol) for 40 yrs since BJ, Motown 25 (very strongly linked to Thriller, obvs, even though technically a separate thing), Thriller the single and the short film? I have no PR or marketing nous so no idea if such an approach could work but I really am struggling to understand exactly what they are doing. Time is pressing on. For maximum impact re the marketing of this thing they only have a few more weeks left.

Maybe they decided a short, sharp campaign would work better than a long, slow drip drip? šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø

ChrisC said:
All this is going to be now is standard album promo. And that's even if there's any of that! There was no need to indicate "several anniversary activations" throughout the year. Just leave that out. It's not unusual for a record company to promote a release in the weeks prior. There is nothing newsworthy in that. Sure, it could all burst into life over the coming days, but despite that, this is not how it was put to us in May.
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Agreed.

ChrisC said:
Thriller's annual Halloween resurgence is another opportunity to springboard. It's all suspiciously quiet on that front too if we had hoped for them to capitalise on that.
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That's what worries me. How quiet is it atm. Doesn't feel right.
 
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