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Unbreakable vs Escape

what's better

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Spaceship

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Both are hard-hitting hip hop-ish tracks produced by Darkchild during the making of Invincible and have gone on to become fan favorites. "Unbreakable" was the most critically acclaimed track on Invincible and even one of MJ's personal favorites on the album. "Escape" has been popular in the fan community since it first leaked in 2002 and many people felt that it should have been on the album. What song is better?

I'm not too crazy about either song since they only retread ideas MJ had already covered before, but they're well-polished, well-made songs. "Unbreakable" may be a little too bloated, though, and the Biggie sample was unnecessary; I swear, they should have just gotten a living rapper Jay Z on it. They got him for the "You Rock My World" remix, so they could have definitely got him on "Unbreakable". "Escape" has better production and thankfully doesn't sample anyone who was dead. Gotta give this to "Escape".
 
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On the real, imagine how much more popular "Unbreakable" would have been if Jay-Z was on it. Even without being a single, the song would have still gotten a lot of attention over the years due to the inclusion of Jay-Z, like "This Time Around" did due to Biggie.
 
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Everything about Unbreakable is great, the rhythm, the lyrics - but Xscape (original version) is better. It sounds to me like a HIStory song. It hits hard and yet it is playful.
 
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Big shame that the original version "Escape" has never officially been released in good quality. The quality of the leak isn't perfect and the demo on Xscape Deluxe sounds like crap. They really should have just put the final mix of the song on The Ultimate Collection in 2004. "We've Had Enough", another Darkchild outtake, was on that boxset, after all.
 
Fuzball said:
^ was there a final mix at all?
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I'm pretty sure it was made in 2002, shortly before the song got leaked onto the Internet. In any case, they could have just used whatever was the most recent mix.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
The version on Xscape is the final mix.
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I'm referring to the final mix that MJ actually worked on. Darkchild's 2014 remix was made after he died.

Or are you talking about the demo on the deluxe edition? That's an early version of the song from 1999; the 2002 leak was more up-to-date.
 
Bad1978 said:
I thought they were the same?
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The 2001 mix that was leaked in 2002 has more "isolated" vocals.


I have no real source to this and I don't know if it's true or not, but a few years ago I heard from a collector who claimed to have the 2004 mix that the only change in the 2004 mix is that the mix has a stronger kick, otherwise it sounds the same as the 2001 mix. Again, I've no real source to this so take it with a grain of salt.
 
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The sound quality is clearer in the 2002 leak. You can hear the buzzing sound effect in the intro and the helicopter sound effect in the bridge better when you listen to the leak.
 
Unbreakable (like the song Dangerous) drags on far too long, and it didn't need that long rap either. Both songs would have been much better shorter and punchier at 4-5 mins max. Shame neither had official edit versions
 
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