ScissorPuppy

Wow, way to make an Album of "new/unreleased" material look like a greatest hits package. Never mind only using pictures of 80's era MJ, we all know he didn't look like this since 1990!


http://breakingnews.michaeljackson.c...20announcement

MUCH ANTICIPATED NEW ALBUM FROM THE KING OF POP
MICHAEL
TO BE RELEASED DECEMBER 14

Exclusive Teaser and Song to be Unveiled on MichaelJackson.com

New York, NY – The much anticipated album of newly completed recordings from Michael Jackson entitled MICHAEL will be released on December 14 by Epic Records in conjunction with the Estate of Michael Jackson. Tomorrow, an exclusive teaser for the project will appear on www.michaeljackson.com; on Monday, November 8th the world premiere of “Breaking News,” a full track from the album, will stream on the site for one week only.

The creative process never stopped for the King of Pop who was always planning for his next album; unbeknownst to many fans around the world Michael Jackson was writing and recording songs continuously everywhere from a friend’s home in New Jersey to studios in Las Vegas and Los Angeles with a small group of handpicked collaborators. Now, through the unique stories that will be told about the songs that comprise MICHAEL, fans will get mind-blowing insight into how this artist worked and a chance to hear the songs he most recently created along with tracks that Michael had a desire to bring to fruition.

“Breaking News,” a never heard before song by Michael that appears on the new album was recorded in New Jersey in 2007 and recently brought to completion. Fans can begin pre-ordering the album on www.michaeljackson.com in the next 24 hours.

The attached image of the album cover of MICHAEL was created by painter Kadir Nelson in 2009. In the oil painting, Kadir – who is known for story telling through his art – takes us on a journey through some key moments and important people in Michael Jackson’s life.

Stay tuned for the worldwide launch of the official first single from MICHAEL later this month.
www.michaeljackson.com

Numanoid

Moving to worst album covers thread.

ScissorPuppy

Yep, a good idea executed badly for the wrong release.

As a cover for what is supposed to be the "NEW" album it fails. Naming it "Michael" and using a cover like this risks everyday people thinking this is a retrospective or another Greatest hits package. Whether that matters to most MJ's fans is besides the point, the public mass is where the majority of the sales come from. If they are confused it will be a mistake.

This cover would have worked better for the "Vison" box set.

cungar

Why do I have a feeling Michael Jackson is going to have more posthumous releases than Elvis, Jimi Hendrix and Tupac Shakur combined?

ScissorPuppy

He probably will, at least of original material. He was known to record around 30-50 songs for each album. There is an estimated 100 songs in near completed condition awaiting remastering for release.

From my understanding Elvis didn't have a lot of "original" material left when he died. Mostly live recordings and retakes were released.

Tupac? God, guy can't have recorded THAT much stuff in his short time. Could he? lol

UAIOE

Why isn't this the cover to a greatest hits CD?

cungar

Posthumous albums
1997 R U Still Down? (Remember Me) 2 1 4× Platinum
1998 Greatest Hits 2 1 9× Platinum
1999 Still I Rise (with the Outlawz) 6 2 Platinum Gold
2001 Until the End of Time 1 1 3× Platinum 2× Platinum
2002 Better Dayz 5 1 2× Platinum 3× Platinum
2003 Tupac Resurrection 2 3 Platinum
2004 Loyal to the Game 1 1 Platinum
2006 Pac's Life 9 3

The Bus

So, these songs were never released either because they weren't very good, or because they were, but from a business standpoint, it didn't make sense commercially (and now it does).

I hope it's the latter.

vili

Oh dear. This is even worse than the Moonwalker DVD cover.

I'm still hoping that the album might actually be interesting. Some of the unreleased tracks that have leaked over the years haven't been bad. Not Prince quality for sure, but still.

Hokeyboy

Cherubs are lowering a crown onto his head. Epic.

UAIOE

And one is black, and one is white.

vili

Hmh. Do my eyes deceive me, or is that Prince's squiggly symbol right there in a bubble close to the right hand edge of the image, right under the Dangerous mask and next to the lion's head (above the black bear)?

Edit: Apparently it was Prince's symbol, and has now been removed: http://www.drfunkenberry.com/2010/11...ckson-release/

ScissorPuppy

There are so many references in that artwork I wouldn't be surprised (since they didn't get permission from Prince) if they didn't get clearance for any of it.

MTV, E.T., Celebs from WATW and possibly even Captain E.O. are all issues I would imagine.

It's also rumored that the artwork unfolds and the revealing more imagery from his life. I bet Sony is going over the art with a fine comb at this point.

kstublen

So apparently Michael Jackson's family is claiming that some of the songs on the album are being sung by a sound-alike. Not sure what to make of that. I really can't believe that Sony would resort to that, if only because of the awful publicity and backlash they would receive. Not to mention I'm sure someone like Jackson had a decent amount of unreleased recordings, enough to fill an album at least. If they were really looking to pad the album, it would probably be with collaborations, remixes, alternate takes, and demos...not with someone imitating the King of Pop.

Groucho

That album cover looks like a mural somebody threw up the weekend after he died.

vili

My understanding is that Sony couldn't be sure about the vocals either, and after Michael's children and Katherine raised up the issue, some experts were hired to listen to the vocals and determine whether or not it is Michael singing. Their conclusion was that it is.

What I have been able to gather from the news is that this primarily concerns the tracks Jackson was working on in 2007 with Eddie Cascio. Considering that following Invincible, Michael had been recording all over the world -- I can remember at least Bahrain, Dublin, New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles having been mentioned -- I hope that he had someone travelling with him who kept track of what was done where, and who was involved. Otherwise, they have quite a mess to sort out. And in any case, I doubt that he left behind many finished tracks, as his working methods seemed to consists of coming up with plenty of demos, then cherry picking the ones he liked best, and spending plenty of time polishing those tracks to create a final album.

Anyway, MichaelJackson.com will be streaming one of the new tracks starting tomorrow, and they already offer a teaser of some sorts: http://breakingnews.michaeljackson.com/

MANBREASTS

I was wondering about that myself because when I first heard that this was coming out I was really hoping that it would include the song " Let me go" that I had found on You tube a couple of years ago, I thought it sounded better then anything off of Invinsible but now after looking around it seems that that song is sung by somebody else besides Michael, but it sounds so close that you really can't tell the difference. The snippit of breaking news doesn't sound half bad though.

ScissorPuppy

The Jacksons are pretty crazy...

They also claimed that most of the footage from This Is It was a body double.

Seriously...

While it was a hard task tracking down the many tracks MJ recorded over the past decade the Eddie Cascio tracks really shouldn't have had much debate. These tracks surfaced just after MJ's death and where submitted to Sony for the new album. So if they were fake they had some quick work to do. It is a well documented FACT that MJ stayed with the Cascio's in 2007 and recorded. The basic idea was that since his kids (who stayed with him during the recording and were 4 years younger at the time) didn't hear the recording of the 3 songs picked for the new album so they must be fake...

According to some fans what it really boils down to is one thing (At least from some people I have talked to on MJ fansites with inside info). In 2007 3T (MJ's nephews) were trying really hard to get MJ to record with them, MJ blew them off and recorded with Eddie Cascio instead. Eddie Cascio was a family friend and I guess they felt betrayed by him because he recorded 12 songs with MJ. So because of jealousy they don't mind tarnishing MJ's final release. Of course I don't know this as fact, it's just what I read.

Also according to these same insiders the first offical single from the album will be a deut with AKON "hold my hand", This song was supposed to be on AKON's 2007 album but the demo leaked on the net (it is still on youtube) and it was pulled from the final tracklist. Evidently the new version has more MJ lyrics and less AKON.

vili

That's some interesting information, ScissorPuppy. Obviously everything needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but I wouldn't be surprised if what you have heard is true.

I haven't listened to Hold My Hand for a long time, but back when it first leaked, I remember thinking how, well, funny the lyrics were, considering it was Michael and Akon singing to one another. I don't think that it is a particularly good song, either. I'd like to see a little bit more uptempo and edgy song as the first single.

In the end, I guess I'll buy the album whatever it is they put on it, which may also well be what Sony is counting on.

Jason

The Jackson Family continues to entertain...

http://www.sawfnews.com/Gossip/65668.aspx

"Michael Jackson's mother has decided to let the world listen to a brand new unreleased MJ song -- and, taking a shot at Sony, one she claims is 100% authentic."

Of course, this song is actually a (terrible) remix of a thirty year old track.

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vili

According to today's news, the family actually had nothing to do with the release of the song.

To think that I was, a year ago, thinking that after Michael's passing all things to do with his legacy would finally be under some sort of sane management and steady course...

vili

The song "Breaking News" is now available for streaming at michaeljackson.com.

anomynous

What. the. hell.


I'm almost tempted to say that song is the sound alike, just because of how many times he says "I'm Michael Jackson"

vili

MJ Star have already suggested that the vocals are not by Michael, but possibly by Jason Malachi. How credible the accusation is, I cannot say.

Personally, I'm not very impressed by the song. It seems to be recycling themes from HIStory and sounds from Invincible. If the rest of the album is of this quality, it'll be ok, but I'm a bit worried thinking that they may have put out their strongest track here.

ScissorPuppy

While I stated before that it is a fact that MJ recorded with Eddie Cascio I assumed it was actually going to sound like MJ, lol.

I'm not sure if these are real or not.

A. Has anyone ever heard 2000 Watts from Invincible or the B-side Shout?
MJ sang very differently on those tracks, almost similar to this new song. But I do have my doubts about this new song.

B. Would Sony do this? And if they would don't you thinking having 10 months since signing the contract they would have had time to find someone who sounded more like MJ than this guy? They have a 250 million dollar investment in this project and future projects. Would they really risk all that?

It's strange no doubt, but I'd have to listen to the other 2 Cascio tracks to judge completely.