AlwaysThere
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- Joined
- Jan 31, 2012
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I continue to see discussion about the estate and their incompetence reign throughout nearly every thread on this board. Many arguments I've read are very insightful and thought out; some are simply reaffirming long standing feelings and disapproval of the way things are being carried out. So, with that in mind, I've decided to put together a stand alone thread where the fans can rant about the estate. I did a search and couldn't find a standing thread pertaining to this topic, but I apologize if I missed it.
==NOTE: Assuming this thread isn't deleted, discussion WILL get heated. There are no wrong opinions, nor are their right ones. There will be debates. In advance, I want to point out that I do not wish to insult any member of the fan community with any post I make in this or any other thread. I am simply expressing my feelings towards those who take what they get for granted.==
To begin my assessment (which is a bit long ), we need to give the estate the benefit of the doubt. Michael was admittedly God awful at archiving. His belongings, including paintings, hard drives, etc., were in total disarray when the estate was first formed soon after his passing. Hell, the estate can't even locate Michael's vocals for Groove of Midnight, which was recorded in 1987 and, based on Matt Forger's response, may have been lost or destroyed. When fans complain because they felt that a newly-released compilation didn't offer enough unreleased music, I can't help but want to point out that the estate does not have everything, and releasing more than necessary at one point in time would dry out the vault in a matter of years. Think about it: would you rather waste all the Bad-era demos at once for Bad 25 and never hear a new song from that era again, or have them released in sections over a long period of time and get to experience that magic over and over?
Secondly, fans tend to focus on the negative side of everything. Bad 25 gave us a VHS copy of Wembley, right? Yeah, but it also gave us six amazing new songs, a great package, a phenomenal documentary and perhaps the strongest performance Michael's ever done. The Michael album was overproduced and gave us three fake songs, right? Yeah, but it also gave us seven amazing songs that are regularly acclaimed on this very board. I'm not saying you have to adore every single project that comes out -- criticism breeds higher quality -- but when the estate does something right, you need to tell them.
We are not dealing with Michael Jackson here, people. I'm fully with the belief that every release has to honor his legacy, but we cannot expect 100% perfection. And I'm sure I will see comments that say that flawlessness isn't expected. True, not from everyone at least. There are a number of people, not only on here but on other boards, who have the mindset that if a project has a flaw, they can only talk about that flaw and not give props to anything. There are a substantial number of fans that will criticize, yet give credit when it is due, and for those of you who do, this paragraph specifically is not directed at you.
If I had to give the estate a rating from 1 to 10, I would give them a solid 6.5. Their beginnings were very rocky, especially with Michael, but as of late they have shown a true desire to communicate with fans and give us what we want. I don't expect perfection in the slightest, but I have faith that the estate will deliver in the next few years. If I'm wrong, of course I will be the first to stand up and take back everything I said. But for the time being, I wish them the best of luck with the next album, and I'm excited to see how it turns out.
==NOTE: Assuming this thread isn't deleted, discussion WILL get heated. There are no wrong opinions, nor are their right ones. There will be debates. In advance, I want to point out that I do not wish to insult any member of the fan community with any post I make in this or any other thread. I am simply expressing my feelings towards those who take what they get for granted.==
To begin my assessment (which is a bit long ), we need to give the estate the benefit of the doubt. Michael was admittedly God awful at archiving. His belongings, including paintings, hard drives, etc., were in total disarray when the estate was first formed soon after his passing. Hell, the estate can't even locate Michael's vocals for Groove of Midnight, which was recorded in 1987 and, based on Matt Forger's response, may have been lost or destroyed. When fans complain because they felt that a newly-released compilation didn't offer enough unreleased music, I can't help but want to point out that the estate does not have everything, and releasing more than necessary at one point in time would dry out the vault in a matter of years. Think about it: would you rather waste all the Bad-era demos at once for Bad 25 and never hear a new song from that era again, or have them released in sections over a long period of time and get to experience that magic over and over?
Secondly, fans tend to focus on the negative side of everything. Bad 25 gave us a VHS copy of Wembley, right? Yeah, but it also gave us six amazing new songs, a great package, a phenomenal documentary and perhaps the strongest performance Michael's ever done. The Michael album was overproduced and gave us three fake songs, right? Yeah, but it also gave us seven amazing songs that are regularly acclaimed on this very board. I'm not saying you have to adore every single project that comes out -- criticism breeds higher quality -- but when the estate does something right, you need to tell them.
We are not dealing with Michael Jackson here, people. I'm fully with the belief that every release has to honor his legacy, but we cannot expect 100% perfection. And I'm sure I will see comments that say that flawlessness isn't expected. True, not from everyone at least. There are a number of people, not only on here but on other boards, who have the mindset that if a project has a flaw, they can only talk about that flaw and not give props to anything. There are a substantial number of fans that will criticize, yet give credit when it is due, and for those of you who do, this paragraph specifically is not directed at you.
If I had to give the estate a rating from 1 to 10, I would give them a solid 6.5. Their beginnings were very rocky, especially with Michael, but as of late they have shown a true desire to communicate with fans and give us what we want. I don't expect perfection in the slightest, but I have faith that the estate will deliver in the next few years. If I'm wrong, of course I will be the first to stand up and take back everything I said. But for the time being, I wish them the best of luck with the next album, and I'm excited to see how it turns out.