Do you miss Michael Jackson? I know I do. Part of me feels like an imposter saying that, because it wasn’t until the day he died that I actually properly discovered and fell in love with him. I don’t want to bog this post down with my Michael Jackson story, I’ll save that for another time, but I really do have him to thank for so much. Since I was 9 years old he has gone on to influence some of the biggest and most important aspects of my life and who I am, which stand so tall even today. I feel like it was on June 25th 2009 when the person I wanted to become was truly born, and ever since then I have been living under his influence. But rather than writing a sad post 11 years on since we sadly lost him, I wanted to write something helpful and constructive.

If anyone knows me in real life, or if you’ve read other posts on my blog, you’ll hopefully know that I don’t really care about “the hits” that my favorite artists have. Instead I like to dig deeper and try to help introduce more casual fans to aspects of these artists that news articles and music websites won’t tell you about. And I wanted to do that today, for Michael, talking about all the music that was released in what feels like a “grey area” of his career. His last studio album was released in 2001 with little promotion, and it feels like his musical output since 1995’s ‘HIStory’ is often overlooked. Everyone knows ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Smooth Criminal and ‘Scream’, but do the casual fans know about songs like ‘Shout’, ‘Carousel’ and ‘We’ve Had Enough’? This post will introduce you to some of my all time favorite lesser known Michael Jackson songs and hopefully show you a whole new world that you probably won’t find on a mainstream site. This post is by a fan and is for the fans. I hope you enjoy!

 

Invincible B-sides

Michael Jackson made his comeback in October 2001 with his studio album ‘Invincible’, his first album since 1997 that saw the release of the ‘Blood On The Dance Floor’ remix album. Three singles came from ‘Invincible’, one of which was a promo only release on American soil; but only one of these singles continued the trend of including b-sides. Back when singles were released in the 7 inch vinyl format, the main songs would be backed by a bonus song that was exclusive to that physical single, which is something that has seemingly been lost in recent years. As well as having an accompanying music video, albeit without Jackson in it, the single for ‘Cry’ was the only ‘Invincible’ era single to feature b-sides like the good old days, whereas the other two just had various remixes and alternative cuts. Those b-side tracks are ‘Shout’ and ‘Streetwalker’.

Shout: is one of the most unique songs in all of Jackson’s discography. Of all the song’s I’ve heard him do, all the different styles he has explored, there is not another single as song that sounds like ‘Shout’. To me it sounds like hard rock combined with rapping. As a song it seems really minimalistic and like there’s only really a few instruments pushed to the forefront of it. You’re lost in the chugging muted guitar that’s accentuated with these occasional wails and solos, then there’s a strong snare and kick drum beat that all happens around Jackson rapping. He really flexes his talent here, which is the only instance I can think of where he’s fully rapping and it is incredibly impressive. Everyone knows him for his quirky ad-libs, but this song alone shows off a unique hybrid of sounds, genres and talent. It was recorded during the ‘Invincible’ sessions and doesn’t really fit the overarching sonic themes of the album, so it would stand out like a sore thumb in context of the record. But I’m so glad that it was released as a b-side. The world deserves to hear such a unique song.

Streetwalker: was recorded during the ‘Bad’ album sessions in 1987, and has been released many times on projects related to the ‘Bad’ era such as the special edition in 2001 and ‘Bad 25’- it was even included on the Wii game ‘Michael Jackson: The Experience’ as a bonus song to dance along to. In terms of the song itself, it comes across sonically with a strong sound that can be found on the ‘Bad’ album. It’s a shame the song wasn’t released on the album in 1987 as it would have perfectly fitted in with the other songs on it, but it’s an immediate contrast in sound to the edgy hybrid hard rock/rap of ‘Shout’. ‘Streetwalker’ instead provides a Western sound at the beginning and end of the song while its middle section and main part keeps in the same vein of the more upbeat songs from ‘Bad’, such as ‘Another Part Of Me’ and ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’. It’s groovy, funky and upbeat whereas ‘Shout’ is much more serious, full of anger and makes you think. ‘Streetwalker’ just makes you wanna dance and sing along.

 

2001 Special Edition Reissues

Half a month prior to ‘Invincible’ being released, Jackson’s discography from 1979 to 1991 were reissued on CD. His big albums from that period were all reissued simultaneously on October 16th 2001, and were branded as “special edition” and “remastered” releases. All of them except for ‘Dangerous’ included a second disc that was comprised of interviews with people involved with the recording process, along with three previously unreleased songs. I’m guessing that this was done as a way to promote or build hype for the upcoming ‘Invincible’ album, as well as giving the fans something new to collect that simultaneously gave them a look into the behind the scenes process of some of the most successful albums of all time.

Across the special editions are multiple home demos for songs from Jackson’s career that we all know and love. We’ve come accustomed to hearing the polished, final studio versions of these songs on the radio every now and again. But here, and I believe for the first time, fans were offered a glimpse into the early versions of these beloved hits so we could hear how they originally sounded in their early incarnations before they were touched up and edited to become the songs we know so well today. The special edition of ‘Bad’ instead included three bonus songs that were previously unreleased up to that point: ‘Streetwalker’, the Spanish version of ‘I Just Can’t Stop Loving You’ and ‘Fly Away’.

Someone In The Dark: this song was originally released in 1982 on the ‘E.T the Extra-Terrestrial’ soundtrack, but was prohibited from being released as a standalone single from the project; it’s first release outside of the ‘E.T’ soundtrack was on the 2001 reissue of ‘Thriller’. With lyrics written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and music written by Rod Temperton, it sounds like a perfect fairy tale song akin to something you’d hear in say ‘Peter Pan’, which Michael said he related to just as much as he did to E.T. The song is missing conventional instruments like drums and guitar, and instead has pretty synth melodies over slow orchestration. It gives the song a fluid, free flowing feeling with huge emotion and freedom inside of it, as opposed to a more confined and restricted pop/rock song with drums and guitar.

Carousel: was recorded during the 1982 sessions for ‘Thriller’ under the title ‘Circus Girl’, and was originally intended to be on the album before ‘Human Nature’ took its place. Fans finally got to hear the outtake when it was released on the 2001 ‘Thriller’ reissue, but it would be a further seven years until the full version was released in 2008 on the Italian ‘King Of Pop’ compilation. I was surprised to hear this song be so bright and upbeat, as I originally thought it would be more slower which is probably why I avoided it for so long. Much like a few of the other songs on ‘Thriller’, this is another where Jackson is chasing a girl; this time he gets his heart left in pieces after she runs away.

Fly Away: dates back to the ‘Bad’ album sessions of 1987, and though Jackson himself never released it on an album, his sister Rebbie recorded the song for her album from 1998 called ‘Yours Faithfully’. The song starts out slow with Jackson singing against more strings, lulling you into a false sense of security before the tempo kicks up a bit. In comes a percussive drum beat and a synth line before we reach a catchy chorus where Jackson threatens to fly away, saying he would “rather stay in our love today”. I often overlook this song, waving it off as another slow and sappy love song, but repeated listens of late have made me realise it’s so far from that. It may start off slow but it has a strong, catchy chorus, strong vocals and a cool groove to it. I think I’m gunna be playing this song a lot more from now on!

 

What More Can I Give

Prior to the release of ‘Invincible’, Jackson performed two concerts at Madison Square Gardens in September 2001. These concerts celebrated his 30 year anniversary as a solo artist, as well as reuniting the Jackson 5 on stage for the first time since their Victory tour in 1984. Hours after the last of these two celebratory concerts, the both towers of the World Trade Center were struck in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Not only did it shake the country and the world, but it also was also apparently a contributing factor to the fact that Jackson didn’t tour to promote his ‘Invincible’ album. He did however get back in the studio following the attacks, and revisited an old song of his from 1992.

It was originally called ‘Heal L.A’ and was worked on through the ‘HIStory’ recording sessions and tour, before Jackson met with Nelson Mandela in 1999 and was inspired to finish the song. Jackson invited his friends along for two charity concerts in June 1999, where he intended to debut the finished song – now called ‘What More Can I Give’ – for the first time before releasing it as a single, with the proceeds then going to charity. Sadly that never came to be but the song was revisited following the 9/11 attacks, and Jackson invited a new bunch of friends to record it with him in both English and Spanish. Some of the artists on the track include Beyonce, Celine Dion, Shakira, NSYNC, Mariah Carey and Tom Petty; they were collectively branded the All Stars for the song. Jackson then organised a charity concert that was performed on 21st October 2001, which closed with Jackson and the All Stars performing the song together live. The song was released to radio in 2002, then as a digital single in 2003 for a limited time only, with proceeds from digital sales going to charity.

The song itself reminds me of ‘We Are The World’, Jackson’s other famous charity single from the mid 80’s which also featured an all star vocal cast. But nearly two decades later, Jackson was still using his power, influence and talent to pull together artists to help try and benefit the world following another tragedy. This was a massively ambitious project, and all done in the name of charity which just proves how much Jackson cares and wanted to help those who had recently been left devastated by the attacks. It’s a really beautiful and soulful song, where Jackson kind of takes a backseat role and gives everybody else the opportunity to do their thing. Jackson can be seen in the songs accompanying music video, both sat behind a mixing desk and instructing the artists what to do. I feel like this footage really highlights the fact that the project was about everyone, with Jackson feeling more like a guest vocalist on his own song. He does have a few vocal parts, my favourite being the ad libs he adds at the end. They help bring the song to such a higher level, showcasing not only his talent and passion, but I also sense an underlying feeling of frustration in there too; that’s something I feel was very prominent in this era. Just listen to the songs ‘Shout’ and ‘We’ve Had Enough’.

 

One More Chance

I feel like if anyone has a Michael Jackson compilation album in their CD collection, there’s a high chance that ‘Number Ones’ is the one that’s a part of it. I feel that it’s such an iconic album, despite being a compilation release; it’s also so incredible to think that every song on the album, apart from one, hit the number one spot on the charts. And they’re all by the same artist too. How amazing is it that an album that is 18 tracks long, 16 of those hit the number one spot? This album truly solidifies the fact that Michael Jackson is the most successful artist of all time, but was also the album that featured the last original single released while he was alive.

The last song on the album was a completely new composition called ‘One More Chance’, which was written by R.Kelly just like ‘You Are Not Alone’ from the ‘HIStory’ album was. I feel that both of the songs carry the same kind of feeling, with both having slow tempo’s and being romantic ballads. ‘One More Chance’ was recorded exclusively for the compilation and a music video was filmed, but sadly left incomplete following the 2003 allegations; the existing footage was eventually edited together and released for the first time exclusively in the 2010 ‘Michael Jackson’s Visions’ box set. Sadly it lacks any real close up shots of Jackson and only shows him from the back, dancing around a diner while fans watch him onstage. It was the last music video recorded during his lifetime and the first to be released after his passing, which makes this single even more special along with the warm and romantic feelings the song already had when it was released in 2003.

 

The Ultimate Collection

This set really does hold its name. As of its release date on November 16th 2004, and even now, this release is like a magnum opus of Michael Jackson material. Spread across four discs are studio versions and 7 inch single edits of songs from his career as a solo artist and as part of The Jackson 5/The Jacksons. But between all of those, and why I love the set so much, is the amount of demo tracks and unreleased songs included here. It even came with an exclusive DVD on release of Jackson’s ‘Live In Bucharest’ concert from the 1992 Dangerous tour, which was only available in this set for a short while.

‘The Ultimate Collection’ may present itself as simple and lowkey with the minimalistic cover it has – a golden silhouette of Jackson set against a white background – but this box set takes you on a journey; from the bare bones of songs that never made it to the final album, to the hits we all know, right up to seeing them performed on stage with theatrics, raw energy, incredible talent and so much passion. But there are honestly so many previously unreleased songs on this box set, and if I spoke about them all here it would make this post far longer than it’s already going to be. So instead I’m going to include an “abridged review”, speaking about my favorite songs from the release, and go more in depth into the 14 exclusive songs at a later date. So be on the lookout for that!

Cheater: a synth heavy and funky track that just makes me wanna dance! It was released as a single from ‘The Ultimate Collection’ and even had a music video made for it, which is built up of footage from the ‘Live In Bucharest’ DVD included in the box set. It’s a shame this song – as well as many others on the album – was never officially released as I feel it could have had massive potential to have been another smash hit around the ‘Bad’ era; it was recorded around that time but sadly left off the album. A real shame, but we finally got to experience the electric goodness of this song in ’04, and the music video that was made for it works really well too.

Dangerous: is one of my top three Michael Jackson songs of all time, and after stumbling across ‘The Ultimate Collection’ when I was younger, this version was always favoured over the 1991 studio version. It starts off with a wall falling on Jackson and him exclaiming in shock and pain, before going into a sonic soundscape that’s so different from the final version. I love hearing songs in their early incarnations and this song is one of my top examples of that, because it feels so much more raw, intimate and like a totally different song to the album version.

Someone Put Your Hand Out: is another ‘Dangerous’ era track, which was released as a promo cassette single beside the Dangerous tour; an instrumental version of it can also be heard as an interlude during the ‘Live In Bucharest’ DVD prior to ‘Smooth Criminal’ being performed. The reason why I love this one so much is because of just how genuinely beautiful it is, with its orchestral instrumentation and vulnerable lyrics. Jackson’s vocals here are really strong, and the overall feeling of the song reminds me of ‘Who Is It’ which sits in my top ten favourite Michael Jackson songs. Hearing the biggest pop star on the planet sing, basically beg, for someone to put their hand out to him and give him love really is quite upsetting.

In The Back: feels like a strange song among the other songs in Jackson’s catalogue. I say that because the song feels rather unfinished, with most of the vocals during the verse coming across as scratch vocals that would later be recorded again with proper lyrics. The chorus of the song is why I love this one so much, because of how bitter Jackson comes across with the lines “If the police don’t take it, God forsake it, I can’t take it/Why’d you stab me in the back?”. It feels like Jackson was angry, out for blood, directing this song at somebody who had upset or betrayed him. For such a peace loving guy to come out with a direct lyric like that, he must have been really pushed. But I’m here for it! It radiates the same energy as ‘Why You Wanna Trip On Me’ and is a shame that we haven’t heard a finished version yet, if one even exists that is. But for Jackson to call himself a perfectionist and for this song to be released on an official box set, it makes me wonder what else his estate is hiding…

We’ve Had Enough: comes as an outtake from the ‘Invincible’ sessions, and I think its one of the best songs that he ever recorded. It comes across to me as the lovechild of ‘Earth Song’ and ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ in the sense that the song is just so powerful, full of such emotive and vivid lyrics that make you sit and think; one example is the second verse which talks about a girl asking a policeman about “why her father had to die”. Jackson’s vocals are again so strong and the song just builds and builds until it reaches its musical climax. This song really is a powerhouse and a perfect song to end ‘The Ultimate Collection’ with. It deserves a lot more love and recognition, and should be hailed as highly as Jackson’s other social justice songs. If you hear this song and it doesn’t make you feel something, then I don’t know what to tell you.

 

Thriller 25

Michael Jackson and will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas were filmed by Access Hollywood in the studio together, in a remote part of Ireland sometime in 2006. Both were working on music together, including one song that would go on to be called ‘Fly Girls’ and end up on will.i.am’s 2007 solo album. Since Jackson’s passing, will.i.am has said that the pair worked on a few songs together at that time, but he would never dream of releasing them. But what did happen however, was Jackson let will.i.am have a helping hand in one of the last projects of his lifetime. February 2008 saw the release of ‘Thriller 25’, which boasted 5 “modern” remixes of some tracks from the original album with artists like will.i.am, Fergie, Kanye West and Akon singing alongside Jackson. It also included a couple of unreleased songs – ‘For All Time’ and ‘Got The Hots’ – as well as various extended versions, vocal demos from the recording sessions, and a DVD with the original ‘Thriller’ era short films.

I’m not really one for remixes personally, I see no point in most of them as all I take most of them for are sped up with some extra notes, samples and percussion added in. I’m really picky when it comes to remixes, but I will shout praise for the ‘P.Y.T’ remix on ‘Thriller 25’, as it’s perhaps one of my favourite remixes. Remixes work best for me when they totally transform the song into something new, like the original version is basically an entirely new track. And using the original vocal stems from the ‘P.Y.T’ demo, which was a lot slower back then, will.i.am was able to create a super funky, techno remix that I listen to all the time. I also love hearing his vocals on the same track as Jackson, because as much as will.i.am isn’t really my scene as an artist, I do love him as a person and think he’s so lucky to have been able to spent time with the Michael Jackson. The rest of the remixes I’ve heard once and none impressed me as much as that, so you’re gunna have to judge the rest for yourself unfortunately. And please don’t come at me for what I said about remixes, this is my personal opinion!

For All Time: stems from the ‘Thriller’ era originally, before being worked on again in the 1990 recording sessions for ‘Dangerous’. While looking into this song it’s unclear as to which version is included on this set, but to me it sounds like ‘Dangerous’ era Michael… I could be wrong, but if I’m right then it begs the question as to why include a ‘Dangerous’ song on a ‘Thriller’ box set? The song itself is another slow and percussive ballad with Jackson telling the person he’s singing to that no matter what atrocities happen in the world, he’s going to need this person for all time. I like to think that it could be about the fans, with Michael saying how no matter what happens to him, he’s going to love, want and need us for the rest of his life. Luckily he has one of the strongest fan bases going, who will defend him until we die.

Got The Hots: is a synth heavy, upbeat song from the ‘Thriller’ era that sadly failed to make the final cut of the album. As soon as you start playing it, the song just screams how fun and bouncy it is with its synth stabs and Jackson’s signature ad libs. I particularly love the chorus, which is so romantic and warm before it drops back into the funky synth line. The song was originally to be released on the 2001 ‘Thriller’ reissue, but was sadly pulled from it before being finally released as a Japanese bonus track on ‘Thriller 25’, meaning it’s not on the standard versions and is perhaps hugely overlooked. I hadn’t heard it until just now for this post, but I’m so glad that I did. It’s a new Michael Jackson song I can throw on when I’m loved up or need some happy, feel good music. I highly encourage you to search this one out, just for the chorus alone it’s worth it.

 

This Is It

I think the most disappointing thing for me is that this album, which is branded as the “soundtrack to the film”, isn’t really a soundtrack at all. If anything it’s a greatest hits CD with a new song, a poem and three early demos thrown into the mix. And while people could argue that the whole ‘This Is It’ movement could be seen as profiting from Jackson’s death, with the rehearsal footage being sold and this compilation being released, I would have much preferred if this release truly was a soundtrack. By that I mean I wish it was, at least in part, a live album. There’s only one live Michael Jackson album from his solo career, and that’s only available with the deluxe 3 CD/1 DVD edition of ‘Bad 25’ in 2012.

I think it’s public knowledge by this point that Jackson would often lip sync performances during the Dangerous and HIStory tours, for understandable reasons might I add, so there aren’t really a lot of live performances from that era to pull live albums from. But at least some of the vocals during the ‘This Is It’ rehearsals sound truly live, and they claim to have “100 hours of footage” from the rehearsals. So I’m sure some magical editing could have been done to have made a few live tracks to bury between the studio versions, to make this release a bit more unique and special rather than just another greatest hits compilation. How can the greatest live entertainer of modern times only have a single live album? That being said however, the second disc of ‘This Is It’ treats us to more exclusive and never before heard demos of songs we know so well, as well as two new and previously unreleased tracks.

Planet Earth: June 18th 1992 saw the release of Jackson’s second autobiography, but rather than being in the same format of ‘Moonwalk’ which came before it, this one was instead presented as poems, pictures and “essays, thoughts and feelings” that he had on tour. A couple of these poems went on to become well known songs of his, such as ‘Will You Be There’ and ‘Heal The World’, while others reflected on his more humanitarian and nature loving side. The best example of this is ‘Planet Earth’, a poem which could be seen as a sister creation to ‘Heal The World’. A vocal version of Jackson reciting the poem was released on the second disc of the ‘This Is It’ compilation.

This Is It: contrary to what you may think or have heard, ‘This Is It’ wasn’t a brand new song recorded in 2009 to coincide with the concert tours. It was instead birthed in 1983 and was written with Paul Anka, originally intended to be a duet between the pair on Anka’s own album ‘Walk A Fine Line’ in 1983. The song was then recorded by Sa-Fire and released on her own 1991 album, before Anka released a duet version with Jackson on his 2013 ‘Duets’ release. Jackson’s own demo was then touched up and released four months after his death, before being included on the ‘This Is It’ concert film and the accompanying “soundtrack” release. This is another slow tempo ballad like ‘One More Chance’ but has a lot more emotion attached to it considering the circumstances of its eventual release, as well as the alternative orchestral version also available on the second disc. Jackson’s vocals call back to the love songs on ‘Thriller’, the era in which the demo was recorded, but there’s of course a whole new meaning attached to this version. I think it was a perfect song to have released to close off the lifetime of one of the greatest artists pop music has, and will ever see.

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Click below to read some of my other album/music reviews:

HIStory Continues / Breaching Prince’s Vault / Essential Japan / Top 10 Adam Ant Songs