Bjørrn Clausen · @thatothergayguy
6th Dec 2010 from Twitlonger
Review of MICHAEL by #michaeljackson
Track-by-track :)
01. Hold My Hand
We know it, I love it. Smooth and a wonderful anthem. Already had the pleasure of listening to this at an MJ fan party, and this inspired giant chains of holding hands. Wonderful first single, perfect for the holiday season.
02. Hollywood Tonight
This is the bomb! Michael's beat boxing is beyond awesome, and his nephew's vocal additions are quite alright. This is a dance floor blaster!
03. Keep Your Head Up
Even though I have my doubts on the vocals (#cascio if you were in doubt), it is a really nice song. It is definitely the one I've grown the most attached to of all the MICHAEL leaks. The lyrics are very Michael, the composition is very Michael.
And the removal of the weird Earth Song ad libs in the end did help on the final track - although now I can not help singing "WHAT ABOUT APATHY?!" whenever I get to the end. :)
04. (I Like) The Way You Love Me
Many fans - me included - had very big problems with this being on the album. Seing as it was already released, how could they possibly make it better or update it to be fully worthy of being on an MJ album?
Well, safe to say. Sony and the Estate did it! Right from the beginning with the added telephone conversation of the man himself demonstrating how he wanted the song to sound, and to the renewed instrumentation - it all fits perfectly, and I'm confident that this is close to what Michael had wanted for the track.
I think it's interesting to notice how they have added ad libs in the end that (I believe) consists of some vocals from the harmonies throughout the song. A smart move, and it fits the song beautifully without sounding like a rip-off. However I miss the few da-da-da vocals in the end from the demo version. All in all a great job.
05. Monster (feat. 50 Cent)
This one I waited for with dread and anticipation. Without going too much into the vocals ('cus where is that gonna get me anyways?), I had my fears from listening to the demo version of Monster with all the strange samples from several other MJ songs.
But listening to the final version, most of the samples are gone - thankfully! Only a small (and very strange) of Janet from Scream remains in the first chorus.
The instrumentation is way better than the demo, an update which makes this song single potential.
Lyric wise, I love this song as well. It's simple yet powerful and gives a great mirror image for the media to have a good long look into. The 50 Cent rap is well done. I'm not a fan of his - right now I'm just happy that he didn't swear (although the strange HA!'s during the rap was oddly distracting, and quite frankly the most un-Michaelish vocals on the entire track).
06. Best Of Joy
I just cry from listening to this track. Cry from joy! This is supposedly the last track Michael worked on before his passing - and if that is true, we have no reason to think he was unhappy. This track is so filled with love, that one might think it was written by a teenager falling in love for the first time.
However - the lyrics being repeated: "I am forever. We are forever." *cries*
07. Breaking News
We know this track all too well. The track that started all the controversy, and the track will - for me - always be colored by that. What I think in this case is irrelevant. This is just about the music.
I find the lyrics quite strange. Michael repeating his name several times seems odd - and the weird snort hasn't been removed either. Thankfully they turned down the back-up singers in the choruses - in the old version, they were truly taking up too much volume.
Although musically it is quite danceable, so I don't complain!
08. (I Can't Wait) Another Day
Leaked just 24 hours prior to the leak, I've only had the chance to listen to this final version a few times. It's wonderful to finally listen to the completed version of the song.
Is it any good, then?
YES! I think it's crazily completely utterly fantastic! The new instrumentation is great, Lenny did a great job!
Only minus - I had hoped for some more verses after what we'd heard in the leak. But that can't be helped anyways ;-)
The ad libs seem oddly mismatched. Someone (I believe @Dangerous_Inc) mentioned that they sound similar to 2 Bad, which is absolutely true. Are they identical? No. Maybe from a demo version or something similar. But I do not believe they belong originally in Another Day.
09. Behind The Mask
The long awaited track!!!
Listened to it for the very first time just now. That was strange. It contains several live snippets from the Dangerous Tour in Bucharest (I recognize the whistling that was overused in that concert DVD), and I'm not sure I like that. I can't agree with myself whether is adds or subtracts from the track experience.
Now, the song itself! It's definitely an 80'ies track - or rather a mix of Bad era and what was to be New Jack Swing on the Dangerous album). And I wish they'd released it back then - because I don't see it belonging on this otherwise very updated album.
But I love the song. A great vocal performance from Michael and I can't wait to dance to it! :D
10. Much Too Soon
This slow tune has a country feel to it. It reminds me of Speechless, Gone To Soon and even The Beatles' Let It Be. Very simple lyrics, very organic instruments. I definitely enjoyed the song, and it seems the perfect closer.
Over all:
Despite some vocal troubles on several songs (which I still won't get too much into), I enjoy the album. It's a wonderful reunion with our King of Pop, even though there's some hiccups along the way.
The major one I feel is Behind The Mask. It's a wonderful song, but it doesn't fit in with the bunch. It should rather have been released on a 'In The Vaults' album with demos and unreleased melodies from through the eras.
Otherwise the album has a great flow, and I love listening to it.
That being said: It's nothing next to Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory or Invincible. It just ain't.
Over and out.