Xscape General Discussion

[bluesky]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Regarding the cover

Quote Originally Posted by PG13 from maxjax


The cover depicts the universe within the rim around his neck and body. To me, it looks like a blackhole is sucking the universe and MJ into it. He can't quite ESCAPE

 

[Vogue]

Regarding the cover

Quote Originally Posted by PG13 from maxjax


The cover depicts the universe within the rim around his neck and body. To me, it looks like a blackhole is sucking the universe and MJ into it. He can't quite ESCAPE

I think it is important to factor in the artist's intent.

Where did you draw inspiration from for the ‘Xscape’ artwork?

I wanted to evoke a contemporary and quintessential incarnation of Michael as an artist who constantly injected new blood into his music and also to focus on both the intriguing and futuristic aspects of MJ. As well as being a tribute, I hope that it will inspire reflection on a man who continues to stimulate and offer unique creative musical possibilities to so many today. I also tried to say that Michael is all around us, in our universe and beyond, on earth and in outer space.

via. http://www.mjworld.net/news/2014/04/02/exclusive-interview-with-xscape-artwork-designer/

Personally, I love it. Especially the defiant and striking look in his eyes. It sees right through you.

People often try to portray Michael's 'recent self' as weak, lost, tragic etc. Here, he looks as powerful as any image of him from the 80's. It's his universe, we're just living in it. -_-

 

[Tygger]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Question please: will the deluxe version be in physical stores?

Damien Shields has contacted Sony about Xscape being premiered tommoro who have responded saying "its not true".

Good job!

 

[Gold Pants Girl]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Question please: will the deluxe version be in physical stores?

Yes it will.

 

[bad25]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Lady gaga worked with some 'vomit artist' and claimed it's art. Then her fans think it's okay to do that because they understood her intention. So does that make it any less disgusting? no. if some artwork is awful, it's awful. i dont care what's the artist intent or the story behind it. His artwork composition scks. He can draw some sprinkle dust and explain why he draw sprinkle dust for an album cover. That's just silly..

 

[HIStoric]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

I like the artwork personally, especially the deluxe one. I'm glad that, rather than just using a photo of MJ, they went for something new by creating a digital illustration or whatever. I also like how they went for some meaning behind the image too as others have already explained

If they could actually have the cover of the deluxe CD/vinyl 'glittery' or whatever, it could look pretty cool too!!

 

[HIStory]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Unless Chicago 1945 is a mid-tempo love song, it's not on the album. Again, here's how the mystery 8th track has been described by those who've actually heard it:

"... another Off the Wallesque, mid-paced love song with a youthful, almost naive-sounding vocal." - The Guardian

"... a flowing '80s-tinged serenade with orchestral bursts and choral harmonies." - Lewis Corner

"... it's mid-tempo from the 1980s and not a song that people have heard." - Joe Vogel

Joe Vogel in particular knows the identity of the song, and if you read his tweets, he pretty much says in a roundabout way that it's not Chicago 1945.

Edit:

Whoops, I missed Vogel's latest tweets. He now flat out states that Chicago 1945 is not on the track list:

"Not sure why the confusion. I heard the songs in L.A. Reid's office. Chicago 1945 is not on this album. The song MJ worked on with Cory Rooney that Timbaland referred to as Chicago a while back is on the album. And it sounds great."

But a fan who was at the listening party in Paris said it IS on the album. So who to believe? We will have to wait and see I guess.

 

[SmoothMJ]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

the more i look at the album artwork the more i dislike it. black mop over his head and then a comfy cone covering part of his face. hno: i'm sorry i hate it.

What a surprise.

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Why ruining his lips and putting a dog cone on him? Michael was a very handsome man, I agree with Birchey it seems taboo using an actual recent picture of Michael on his albums. I've seen more impressive photoshops from fans than the guy who created the cover, it didn't make him justice IMO but like I said before, we can't have everything.

 

[MoeJack]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Lady gaga worked with some 'vomit artist' and claimed it's art. Then her fans think it's okay to do that because they understood her intention. So does that make it any less disgusting? no. if some artwork is awful, it's awful. i dont care what's the artist intent or the story behind it. His artwork composition scks. He can draw some sprinkle dust and explain why he draw sprinkle dust for an album cover. That's just silly..

Lool, this made ma laugh . You do have a point..

 

[HIStoric]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Why ruining his lips and putting a dog cone on him?

Quote Originally Posted by PG13 from maxjax
The cover depicts the universe within the rim around his neck and body. To me, it looks like a blackhole is sucking the universe and MJ into it. He can't quite ESCAPE

That's what I got from it. Certainly attention grabbing which is good

 

[MattyJam]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Didn't Rodney Jerkins say that MJ re-recorded an old Bad era song for Invincible.... wasn't it Chicago? I swear I remember something along those lines....

 

[MJJuniorSinceMW]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Didn't Rodney Jerkins say that MJ re-recorded an old Bad era song for Invincible.... wasn't it Chicago? I swear I remember something along those lines....

Of course it was said at the time, MJ & Rodney would rework some Bad-material songs, namely 'Cheater' & 'Chicago 1945'.

Before the recent announcement, some of us even questioned which version Timbo had to work with. Because it was not clear Rodney was on board with this project, some suggested that Timbo could only work on the old 80's vocal of 'Chicago' because Rodney would have to give his blessing, if the reworked version from Vince-Sessions would be taken.

 

[IMWhizzle]

News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Didn't Rodney Jerkins say that MJ re-recorded an old Bad era song for Invincible.... wasn't it Chicago? I swear I remember something along those lines....

Yes, Chicago 1945 was re-recorded and finished for the INVINCIBLE sessions, as was 'Get Around'. It was stated on the former website of darkchild.com

Here is the complete list:

Michael Jackson - Chicago 145
Michael Jackson - Get Around
Michael Jackson - Heartbreaker
Michael Jackson - Invincible
Michael Jackson - Kick It
Michael Jackson - Maybe We Can Do It
Michael Jackson - Pressure
Michael Jackson - Privacy
Michael Jackson - The Pain
Michael Jackson - Threatened
Michael Jackson - Unbreakable
Michael Jackson - You Rock My World
Michael Jackson - We've Had Enough

 

[AlwaysThere]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Lady gaga worked with some 'vomit artist' and claimed it's art. Then her fans think it's okay to do that because they understood her intention. So does that make it any less disgusting? no. if some artwork is awful, it's awful. i dont care what's the artist intent or the story behind it. His artwork composition scks. He can draw some sprinkle dust and explain why he draw sprinkle dust for an album cover. That's just silly..

The idea of having a talentless artist puke all over an annoying artist and offering what many consider to be a subpar Photoshop job can't be compared. That's ridiculous. Besides, there isn't a single photo from the post-Invincible era that doesn't look Photoshopped to within an inch of its life, doesn't look like it would work on the cover of an album, or just looks bad all together. This photo looks current enough, and actually displays his actual face (to a degree).

But a fan who was at the listening party in Paris said it IS on the album. So who to believe? We will have to wait and see I guess.

Joe Vogel listened to the songs in L.A. Reid's office. He's heard Chicago 1945 before, and he outlines clearly that it is not on the album. And I believe him.

Didn't Rodney Jerkins say that MJ re-recorded an old Bad era song for Invincible.... wasn't it Chicago? I swear I remember something along those lines....

To my knowledge, Michael never rerecorded it; he simply reproduced it. But yes, he pulled Chicago 1945 out of the vaults and reworked it with Rodney Jerkins.

 

[IMWhizzle]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

The idea of having a talentless artist puke all over an annoying artist and offering what many consider to be a subpar Photoshop job can't be compared. That's ridiculous. Besides, there isn't a single photo from the post-Invincible era that doesn't look Photoshopped to within an inch of its life, doesn't look like it would work on the cover of an album, or just looks bad all together. This photo looks current enough, and actually displays his actual face (to a degree).



Joe Vogel listened to the songs in L.A. Reid's office. He's heard Chicago 1945 before, and he outlines clearly that it is not on the album. And I believe him.



To my knowledge, Michael never rerecorded it; he simply reproduced it. But yes, he pulled Chicago 1945 out of the vaults and reworked it with Rodney Jerkins.

They recorded it, see my earlier post!

 

[Albion]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

I'm still in two minds about the cover. The only thing I really like is that it makes you focus on his eyes (which reminds me of Dangerous).

 

[AlwaysThere]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

They recorded it, see my earlier post!

It doesn't say that it was rerecorded, but thank you! I was looking around for the complete list.

I know that The Pain, Kick It and Pressure were worked on sporadically in 2003 as candidates for Number Ones, but they were all booted in favor of One More Chance.

 

[IMWhizzle]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

It doesn't say that it was rerecorded, but thank you! I was looking around for the complete list.

I know that The Pain, Kick It and Pressure were worked on sporadically in 2003 as candidates for Number Ones, but they were all booted in favor of One More Chance.

Darkchild confirmed these re-recorded songs on his former website back in 2002!

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

The idea of having a talentless artist puke all over an annoying artist and offering what many consider to be a subpar Photoshop job can't be compared. That's ridiculous. Besides, there isn't a single photo from the post-Invincible era that doesn't look Photoshopped to within an inch of its life, doesn't look like it would work on the cover of an album, or just looks bad all together. This photo looks current enough, and actually displays his actual face (to a degree).

You're wrong on the bolded part, some the pictures from the Vibe 2002 photo shoot aren't, neither the L'uomo Vogue one but Ivy already explained why those couldn't be used. Even this one from the 1999 TV guide photo shoot which it seems the Xscape cover was based on looks more natural and authentic.

 

[DanGerouS-]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Yes, Chicago 1945 was re-recorded and finished for the INVINCIBLE sessions, as was 'Get Around'. It was stated on the former website of darkchild.com

Here is the complete list:

Michael Jackson - Chicago 145
Michael Jackson - Get Around
Michael Jackson - Heartbreaker
Michael Jackson - Invincible
Michael Jackson - Kick It
Michael Jackson - Maybe We Can Do It
Michael Jackson - Pressure
Michael Jackson - Privacy
Michael Jackson - The Pain
Michael Jackson - Threatened
Michael Jackson - Unbreakable
Michael Jackson - You Rock My World
Michael Jackson - We've Had Enough

i want to hear the unreleased ones so much why won't they release those? rodney is actually involved in this project..

 

[IMWhizzle]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

i want to hear the unreleased ones so much why won't they release those? rodney is actually involved in this project..

Thank god that those are not leaked. I think it's the plan of Sony and the MJ Estate to release those after this album in 2017.

That makes logical sense. But first, we need to enjoy this current 'Xscape' project!

Sooooooo excited!

 

[Zakk]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Yes, the estate are holding back several song's! including the post trial song's and various other's from the invincible sessions for the future. At this moment in time we must cherish the gifts we are currently receiving. Michael deserves to be celebrated. 56,000 Pre Sale Orders in Europe currently. I hope the first single will be released soon with Commercials and other extensive promotion. http://kworb.net/eua/

 

[qbee]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Try to stay on the topic of this forum and thread please

 

[Bubs]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

So Xscape wasn't played on that UK radio after all?

 

[dam2040]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Looks like it wasn't. Such a let down, really can't wait to hear the new music!

 

[ChrisC]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Check the guy's twitter page. He's saying he never claimed it was on BRfm. With BRfm themselves wading in. Which station he meant remains to be seen, but he's starting to look like a crackpot.

 

[Bubs]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

People who are unhappy with cover, can you not do google image search, pick your favourite photo of MJ, print it out, cut to size to fit in cd box? Problem solved.

I personally like the cover because it is not obvious, makes you wonder the meaning of the set up etc.
----------------------------
We need more news, snippets or something from the album to keep us happy

 

[athina_livadi]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

Why Michael Jackson fans cannot stop complaining...

 

[Soldierboy]

Re: News and discussion about new MJ album : Xscape, May 13, 2014.

BRFM :


Following some messages on Twitter BRFM is NOT playing the new Michael Jackson track. And Tony Gold no longer works here at BRFM. I hope this clears the matter up