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Unpopular opinions about MJ’s music?

A dance off with Spike The Rabbit wouldn't have looked any sillier than a guy pretending to be MJ while dancing around in a Werecat mask.
 
analogue said:
A dance off with Spike The Rabbit wouldn't have looked any sillier than a guy pretending to be MJ while dancing around in a Werecat mask.
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I have to disagree. To the untrained eye, it was still MJ under that mask.
 
dam2040 said:
I have to disagree. To the untrained eye, it was still MJ under that mask.
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I think it would still look silly even if it was Michael under the mask. But we do get some cool magic tricks out of it, so that's neat.
 
The HIStory tour is a great watch and Munich is one of the best sounding concerts we have available.
 
For the HIStory Tour I do like that a lot of songs from the HIStory album was performed (Even if some of them were put together as part of a medley). One of the biggest complains of the Dangerous Tour was that Michael didn't perform enough songs from the Dangerous album.
 
Imagine if MJ had just once in a while changed the set-list a bit.

Imagine a live performance of Keep The Faith, Give into Me og Who Is It. - Sung live of course, no playback. - Could have been the best live songs ever.
 
Ok here are some of my unpopular opinions:

I like BOTDF, especially the remixes. Mainly because I like dance/techno music. I would even say I prefer the remix of Money and This Time Around over the originals - imo the remix arrangements fit the vocals better. I also like how the remix of HIStory gives it an entirely different vibe.
As a matter of fact, here are some of my favorite official remixes that are not on BOTDF:
Earth Song - Hani's Around The World Experience
Stranger In Moscow - Hani's Extended Chill Hop Mix
Blood On The Dance Floor - Refugee Camp Mix
Blood On The Dance Floor - Fire Island Vocal Mix
the video edit of In The Closet (the outro dance is insanely good)
Black or White - House With Guitar Radio Mix
Remember the Time - E-Smoove's Late Nite Mix

I think the Refugee Camp Mix of BOTDF fits the video better. The new jack swing beats of the original mix simply don't blend well with the somewhat mysterious and sexy mood of the video.

I don't like Speechless. The sustained 'you are always in my heart' sounds like a failed attempt to replicate YANA, and sounds obviously copy-pasted to make it sound longer.
In fact (and here comes the real controversial one), I think that same phrase in YANA was also copy-pasted. I'm not native in English so it's hard for me to explain, but I think the edit occurs at the beginning of each bar.

I don't like D.S.. As much as I hate 'that guy', D.S. doesn't do much storytelling and focuses too much on personal revenge against 'that guy'.
I can see why MJ wanted to make that song and I 100% support it, but I just couldn't like the song.

Oh, and in case you strongly disagree, you can find me hiding in my closet.
 
fzsky said:
Ok here are some of my unpopular opinions:

I like BOTDF, especially the remixes. Mainly because I like dance/techno music. I would even say I prefer the remix of Money and This Time Around over the originals - imo the remix arrangements fit the vocals better. I also like how the remix of HIStory gives it an entirely different vibe.
As a matter of fact, here are some of my favorite official remixes that are not on BOTDF:
Earth Song - Hani's Around The World Experience
Stranger In Moscow - Hani's Extended Chill Hop Mix
Blood On The Dance Floor - Refugee Camp Mix
Blood On The Dance Floor - Fire Island Vocal Mix
the video edit of In The Closet (the outro dance is insanely good)
Black or White - House With Guitar Radio Mix
Remember the Time - E-Smoove's Late Nite Mix

I think the Refugee Camp Mix of BOTDF fits the video better. The new jack swing beats of the original mix simply don't blend well with the somewhat mysterious and sexy mood of the video.
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Thanks for mentioning these, I've never heard of them before but after one listen to the Refugee Camp BOTDF I think I'll listen to them all.

fzsky said:
I don't like Speechless. The sustained 'you are always in my heart' sounds like a failed attempt to replicate YANA, and sounds obviously copy-pasted to make it sound longer.
In fact (and here comes the real controversial one), I think that same phrase in YANA was also copy-pasted. I'm not native in English so it's hard for me to explain, but I think the edit occurs at the beginning of each bar.
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Even though Michael was a super talented vocalist, I wouldn't be surprised if they did artificially lengthen that note. In order for him to pull that off he would have to have lungs the size of airships. I'm on the fence on it personally, but they did a lot of things in post-production that Michael might not have agreed with, and lengthening that note might have been one of them.

fzsky said:
I don't like D.S.. As much as I hate 'that guy', D.S. doesn't do much storytelling and focuses too much on personal revenge against 'that guy'.
I can see why MJ wanted to make that song and I 100% support it, but I just couldn't like the song.
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I think it gave Michael a bad look, like he was angry at an inspector who was just doing his job. It made him seem almost guilty with how mad he was about an investigation. Of course the investigation was full of B.S. but I think he should've included a reworked version of "Faces" or maybe "On The Line" -- or hell, an early version of "Blood On The Dance Floor" in its place.
 
dam2040 said:
I always thought this was obvious - surely it’s not humanly possible for it not to be that long naturally
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Morten Harket from a-ha says hello. lol

3:25
[video=youtube;6LHqEpqWt1s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LHqEpqWt1s[/video]
 
dam2040 said:
I always thought this was obvious - surely itÂ’s not humanly possible for it not to be that long naturally
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Bill Withers holds a 18-second note towards the end of “Lovely Day,” so it’s possible (though, in fairness, it’s a lower note than in “YANA”). I think a younger MJ could’ve done it with ease, but by his mid-30s that ability was degrading a bit.
 
dam2040 said:
I always thought this was obvious - surely itÂ’s not humanly possible for it not to be that long naturally
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Ok (phew!) somehow I have this impression that the long note received universal acclaim. I remember seeing people on YouTube or something saying how perfect the long note is in 1995 VMA performance and I was like, 'yo he's lip-syncing to a copy-pasted studio track'.
It's possible to do it live with enough training, although I'm not sure if post-HIStory era MJ was capable or not.

What really bothers me is that, in YANA the edit is carefully done so that it's not so obvious (although you can still hear it), but in Speechless the edit is just right in your face. Knowing how MJ was a perfectionist, it's hard for me to imagine him saying 'yep that's the best we could do, keep it in the mix'.
 
fzsky said:
although I'm not sure if post-HIStory era MJ was capable or not.
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It always annoys me when MJ fans suggest that Michael was somehow LESS of a vocalist through the HIStory Era period and beyond, than he was prior to that.
 
Mikky Dee said:
It always annoys me when MJ fans suggest that Michael was somehow LESS of a vocalist through the HIStory Era period and beyond, than he was prior to that.
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I mean obviously he was older but I think his voice had stayed in probably the same range from *Thriller* to 2009, it's just that he started using more of his range as of probably *Dangerous*. I think he stayed pretty consistent in his abilities vocally, except for "losing/damaging his voice" near the end of the *HIStory* tour which was partly out of his control. He wasn't like some vocalists from the 80s and 90s who sound completely different today because all they did was smoke and drink for 30 years.

Another (probably) unpopular opinion I have is that I don't think Michael would've been healthy enough to perform all 50 THIS IS IT shows without a few major scares and possibly a few cancellations. He looked so thin, and even though the moves and the passion and the spirit was still there, I just don't think his body was in it for THIS IS IT (unless they would've changed the scheduling somehow). I don't doubt that had he eaten more, slept better, and paced himself for months in advance, he could've 100% knocked it out of the park. But in the state that he was in during that last month or so, I don't think he could've without something changing (be it his health or the shows themselves).

EDIT: Obviously I mean no disrespect by this and I'm more than willing to be proven wrong
 
I absolutely love Working Day And Night live, and don't think it's too long at all
 
I dunno if I've commented this before, but I was listening to Invincible today and another one came to me:

Michael's high-register vocals on "Heaven Can Wait" are atrocious. He sounds as though he's about to blow out his vocal cords. It's the only time in his discography that I wince listening to him sing. I know fans are very fond of this one, and while I think it's a decent enough song, I really can't listen to it.
 
AlwaysThere said:
I dunno if I've commented this before, but I was listening to Invincible today and another one came to me:

Michael's high-register vocals on "Heaven Can Wait" are atrocious. He sounds as though he's about to blow out his vocal cords. It's the only time in his discography that I wince listening to him sing. I know fans are very fond of this one, and while I think it's a decent enough song, I really can't listen to it.
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I agree right during the bridge. It sounds so strainful!

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 
AlwaysThere said:
I dunno if I've commented this before, but I was listening to Invincible today and another one came to me:

Michael's high-register vocals on "Heaven Can Wait" are atrocious. He sounds as though he's about to blow out his vocal cords. It's the only time in his discography that I wince listening to him sing. I know fans are very fond of this one, and while I think it's a decent enough song, I really can't listen to it.
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While I think it couldÂ’ve sounded worse, it DOES kind of sound like a HIStory Tour live vocal if you know what I mean.
 
AlwaysThere said:
I dunno if I've commented this before, but I was listening to Invincible today and another one came to me:

Michael's high-register vocals on "Heaven Can Wait" are atrocious. He sounds as though he's about to blow out his vocal cords. It's the only time in his discography that I wince listening to him sing. I know fans are very fond of this one, and while I think it's a decent enough song, I really can't listen to it.
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I've never really warmed to "Heaven Can Wait", yet fans sigh over it, all the time. Maybe the strained vocals has something to do with it. I think if we listen hard enough, there are strained vocals dotted hear and there throughout the record. I still like it, overall, though.
 
I've always said that whenever MJ shouts on Invincible it sounds like he's straining and it doesn't sound that great. He never sounded like that before that record.
 
I sort of agree, I think it sounds the most natural on "Threatened" and then maybe "Unbreakable" after that, but he did say that he thought those songs were some of the best on the record
 
AlwaysThere said:
I dunno if I've commented this before, but I was listening to Invincible today and another one came to me:

Michael's high-register vocals on "Heaven Can Wait" are atrocious. He sounds as though he's about to blow out his vocal cords. It's the only time in his discography that I wince listening to him sing. I know fans are very fond of this one, and while I think it's a decent enough song, I really can't listen to it.
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I agree with you on this.

I picked up on that too. Another song that had me wince a little bit was Whatever Happens. Yes. It is a GREAT song. There is no denying that! It is one of the best songs on the album....but he wasn't on his best day vocally. It was always in the back of my mind when I would listen to it. He sounded a little off, a little flat.

Invincible as an album was all over the place vocally. Some songs sound fantastic but others sound off. Who knows...maybe he was experimenting with his vocals or maybe he was pushing himself too hard but it was different from what we were used to.
 
AlwaysThere said:
Michael's high-register vocals on "Heaven Can Wait" are atrocious. He sounds as though he's about to blow out his vocal cords. It's the only time in his discography that I wince listening to him sing.
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Mikky Dee said:
I've never really warmed to "Heaven Can Wait", yet fans sigh over it, all the time. Maybe the strained vocals has something to do with it.
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It has been theorized that Michael Jackson intentionally wanted to sing with that cracked, strained voice in order to show his anguish and despair so as to match the song’s sad lyrical theme.

In any case, ‘Heaven Can Wait’ is a song that he should not have recorded and included on his ‘Invincible’ album because it is a song tailor-made for boy-bands, not for a singer in his 40s.

If you listen, for example, to songs like ‘Words’ (by Boyzone), ‘Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely’ (by Backstreet Boys), ‘End Of The Road’ (by Boyz II Men), etc, you will realize that ‘Heaven Can Wait’ fits far better for such boy-bands.
 
I really disagree with the whole "he wanted to sound that way" thing. MJ had displayed anguish with powerful vocals without sounding like he's destroying his throat for years before Invincible.
 
AlwaysThere said:
I dunno if I've commented this before, but I was listening to Invincible today and another one came to me:

Michael's high-register vocals on "Heaven Can Wait" are atrocious. He sounds as though he's about to blow out his vocal cords. It's the only time in his discography that I wince listening to him sing. I know fans are very fond of this one, and while I think it's a decent enough song, I really can't listen to it.
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If I recall correctly someone here (I think Korgnex) who has heard and earlier version of Heaven Can Wait said that MJ’s voiced cracked and gave in during that part ad they had the re-record those Adlibs on a different day.
 
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