My take on the elusive eleventh album.

Xeones

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Hello everybody.

I've seen a lot of discussion and debates online surrounding the topic of Michael's eleventh album. After doing some of my own research, I'd like to put forward my take on it. This is just a bit of fun, please don't be too harsh, this premise and most of the info is fanmade!
-
Title: Beautiful Girl.
Release Date: August 29th, 2006.
Label: MJJ Productions.
Made with: Pro Tools/plugins.
Producer(s): M. Jackson.
Writer(s): M. Jackson.
-
Album Track-list:
1. Beautiful Girl. (Completed version.)
2. Fall Again. (Completed version.)
3. One More Chance.
4. The Way You Love Me. (Original version, completed.)
5. Angel.
6. Loving You. (Original version, reworked 2004-06.)
7. Hollywood Tonight. (Original version, reworked January 2006.)
8. Get Your Weight Off Of Me.
9. Xscape. (Reworked late 2005-early 06.)
-
Okay, now I'll explain some of my ideas. So, why the release date? Well, 2006 is the year after Michael won the trial, so in my mind he was motivated to get into the studio to show the world that he's still got it, and to show his adversaries that they can't win. It's sort of a celebration between Mike and the fans. August 29th is obviously his birthday, so I thought that was sweet.

I decided to make this a completely MJ produced album. I don't think that concept is too far from the realms of reality. I also believe that this hypothetical album being made entirely in Pro Tools is realistic when you look at the release date. Analog recording would be considered slightly outdated by a newer audience, and it would be necessary in order to be in line with younger artists and the 'quality' of their sound.

The track-list was something I really had to think about. MJ had just won the trial, and he was obviously happy about that, and that's where the first six tracks come in. I think they would reflect his overall feeling about winning the trial. The title track truly is the most unique song I have ever heard. I would even put it in its own genre. There is not another song like it. Hollywood Tonight serves as a middle ground, a transition, between the first six songs and the last two. GYWOOM and Xscape are two traditionally "angry" MJ songs, which I believe would have been included to represent how he felt deep inside.

I will add more to this, let me know what you think so far!
I love you all,
Xeones.
 
Although your proposed album compilation aims mostly at fun, I will bring some real facts about your raised subjects.

The ‘Thank You’ song should be also included on that album.

‘Thank You’ was a song that Michael Jackson was actively working on during the months of his 2005 trial, and it was a song that he wanted to dedicate it solely to his fans from all around the world that supported him during that trial.

The exact stage of the completion of the ‘Thank You’ song remains unknown.

Also, Michael Jackson would never produce and release a studio album using Pro Tools even in 2006.

As Rodney Jerkins put it, Michael Jackson was scared of Pro Tools and he preferred analog because he was familiar with but also he liked analog’s warmer sound.

After all, Michael Jackson came from Motown, and artists from Motown generally dislike using Pro Tools but they opt for analog.

Michael Jackson would also never produce an entire album by himself, even after the 2005 trial (for example, in 2006) and despite having already been in the music industry for more than thirty years by that time.

Michael Jackson was always too reliant on his external producers and he used to leave a big part of the production work (of a certain studio album) to them.

He thought that if he concentrated on the production work of an album, that thing would disorientate him from his creative (writing) aspect of the album.
 
I was hoping somebody would notice my (admittedly deliberate) discrepancies! I'm very impressed with your knowledge!
 
Really nice idea, it would have been great to hear a self written self produced Mike album. I would definitely have bought, if for only a completed version of Beautiful Girl, that song is straight from the heavens. Great job
 
I don't really know... but "Beautiful Girl" would not be the right opener for such an album that came after the trial I think.
The "Thank you" song, if existent, would have been a good opener. :)




I'm very impressed with your knowledge!

mj_frency is notorious for mixing his own non-expert and fan interpretations with things he reads in books and keeps failing to properly differenciate by stating sources. Michael thought... Michael felt... etc. So I'd be careful in calling all that knowledge.

That whole analog statement doesn't make much sense for example if it's taken out of context / generalized like that. Take Invincible... apart from Michaels voice and a few real instruments there is hardly anything analog in there. Even things like Santanas guitar are of course recorded digitally in a DAW like Pro Tools. The only thing analog left since a long time in modern music production is maybe the analoge mixing desk and maybe tape transfers during mastering, to get a bit warmth back into the otherwise fully digital production.
 
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I keep hearing different sources on what was used to record Invincible... It gets frustrating since almost every article/source I've read has given different answers.
 
Hello everybody.

I've seen a lot of discussion and debates online surrounding the topic of Michael's eleventh album. After doing some of my own research, I'd like to put forward my take on it. This is just a bit of fun, please don't be too harsh, this premise and most of the info is fanmade!
-
Title: Beautiful Girl.
Release Date: August 29th, 2006.
Label: MJJ Productions.
Made with: Pro Tools/plugins.
Producer(s): M. Jackson.
Writer(s): M. Jackson.
-
Album Track-list:
1. Beautiful Girl. (Completed version.)
2. Fall Again. (Completed version.)
3. One More Chance.
4. The Way You Love Me. (Original version, completed.)
5. Angel.
6. Loving You. (Original version, reworked 2004-06.)
7. Hollywood Tonight. (Original version, reworked January 2006.)
8. Get Your Weight Off Of Me.
9. Xscape. (Reworked late 2005-early 06.)
-
Okay, now I'll explain some of my ideas. So, why the release date? Well, 2006 is the year after Michael won the trial, so in my mind he was motivated to get into the studio to show the world that he's still got it, and to show his adversaries that they can't win. It's sort of a celebration between Mike and the fans. August 29th is obviously his birthday, so I thought that was sweet.

I decided to make this a completely MJ produced album. I don't think that concept is too far from the realms of reality. I also believe that this hypothetical album being made entirely in Pro Tools is realistic when you look at the release date. Analog recording would be considered slightly outdated by a newer audience, and it would be necessary in order to be in line with younger artists and the 'quality' of their sound.

The track-list was something I really had to think about. MJ had just won the trial, and he was obviously happy about that, and that's where the first six tracks come in. I think they would reflect his overall feeling about winning the trial. The title track truly is the most unique song I have ever heard. I would even put it in its own genre. There is not another song like it. Hollywood Tonight serves as a middle ground, a transition, between the first six songs and the last two. GYWOOM and Xscape are two traditionally "angry" MJ songs, which I believe would have been included to represent how he felt deep inside.

I will add more to this, let me know what you think so far!
I love you all,
Xeones.

Wow! I really like the way you made it a very simple 9 track album (Thriller style).I also absolutely love the idea of an official 'Fall Again' and 'Hollywood Tonight' release (non-posthumous) since I feel like these songs really deserved to be completed and released while Michael was still alive.

One of the things I would change is the order of the track-list.I wouldn't put 'Beautiful Girl' as the first song on the album as I don't feel like opening with a ballad is a great idea (even though I love the song).I would probably put a song like 'Hollywood Tonight' or 'Xscape' as the opening track.

I also don't think Michael was ready to release an album in August 2006.After the trial ended he really needed to go through a period of physical recovery because during the trial he stopped eating and couldn't sleep at night.

You also have to remember that Michael was living in Bahrain in 2005/06 and that he was supposed to re-launch his career in the kingdom with the help of Sheik Abdullah who had just opened his own record label 'Two Seas Records' and had shelled out more than 7 million dollars on Michael, in total.

Michael did visit the studio that Abdullah had built especially for him and this project, and several collaborators including John Barnes, Bill Botrell and John Legend flew to Bahrain and worked with Michael on demos.
However, Abdullah got pretty mad at Michael because by the spring of 2006 he had made very little progress, so Abdullah turned off the money taps.From that point on Michael stopped working on songs in Bahrain and moved to Ireland a couple of months later.

After moving to Ireland, I don't think Michael was keen on releasing new music any time soon.I think what really did it for him was the success of Thriller 25 which sold about 3 million copies within its first 3 months of release in early 2008.I think it was then that Michael realised that he could release a new album and that people would still go absolutely nuts over it.

So overall I really love the track list but I just imagine it coming out a bit later and also being produced with the help of Will.I.Am and RedOne probably who would have brought some new songs to the table.
 
Electro;4274371 said:
I don't really know... but "Beautiful Girl" would not be the right opener for such an album that came after the trial I think.
The "Thank you" song, if existent, would have been a good opener. :)

mj_frency is notorious for mixing his own non-expert and fan interpretations with things he reads in books and keeps failing to properly differenciate by stating sources. Michael thought... Michael felt... etc. So I'd be careful in calling all that knowledge.

That whole analog statement doesn't make much sense for example if it's taken out of context / generalized like that. Take Invincible... apart from Michaels voice and a few real instruments there is hardly anything analog in there. Even things like Santanas guitar are of course recorded digitally in a DAW like Pro Tools. The only thing analog left since a long time in modern music production is maybe the analoge mixing desk and maybe tape transfers during mastering, to get a bit warmth back into the otherwise fully digital production.

Xeones;4274373 said:
I keep hearing different sources on what was used to record Invincible... It gets frustrating since almost every article/source I've read has given different answers.

The ‘Thank You’ song title appears to be the early (or alternative) title of the ‘You Are So Beautiful’ song.

‘You Are So Beautiful’ is the official title of that song.

Like I said before, Michael Jackson wanted to show with that song his gratitude to his fans for their support during the 2005 trial, so he was working on it eagerly at that time.

About the Pro Tools matter, here are Rodney Jerkins own words about that:

“…The last time I used analog was on Michael Jackson in 2000 [‘Invincible’ album]. He was a little scared of Pro Tools. We tried to get him to use it, but he didn't want to go that route yet and I understand: He came from the school of analog…” (Rodney Jerkins, MixOnLine)

The ‘Invincible’ recording sessions were under the supervision of Rodney Jerkins, so he knows what was going on regarding the use or not of Pro Tools on that album.

dethorro;4274378 said:
I also don't think Michael was ready to release an album in August 2006.After the trial ended he really needed to go through a period of physical recovery because during the trial he stopped eating and couldn't sleep at night.

You also have to remember that Michael was living in Bahrain in 2005/06 and that he was supposed to re-launch his career in the kingdom with the help of Sheik Abdullah who had just opened his own record label 'Two Seas Records' and had shelled out more than 7 million dollars on Michael, in total.

Michael did visit the studio that Abdullah had built especially for him and this project, and several collaborators including John Barnes, Bill Botrell and John Legend flew to Bahrain and worked with Michael on demos.
However, Abdullah got pretty mad at Michael because by the spring of 2006 he had made very little progress, so Abdullah turned off the money taps.From that point on Michael stopped working on songs in Bahrain and moved to Ireland a couple of months later.

Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa stated officially at one point (in late 2006) that Michael Jackson’s new studio album recorded in Bahrain was pretty much finished with really good songs.

But later some legal, business conflicts emerged between him (who financed that album) and Michael Jackson, and the album was eventually shelved.
 
mj_frenzy;4274478 said:
Like I said before, Michael Jackson wanted to show with that song his gratitude to his fans for their support during the 2005 trial, so he was working on it eagerly at that time.

If you say that... :)



mj_frenzy;4274478 said:
About the Pro Tools matter, here are Rodney Jerkins own words about that:

“…The last time I used analog was on Michael Jackson in 2000 [‘Invincible’ album]. He was a little scared of Pro Tools. We tried to get him to use it, but he didn't want to go that route yet and I understand: He came from the school of analog…” (Rodney Jerkins, MixOnLine)

The ‘Invincible’ recording sessions were under the supervision of Rodney Jerkins, so he knows what was going on regarding the use or not of Pro Tools on that album.

It's still out of context. What exactly does he refer to? Instruments/sound design or mixing? A fully analog studio setting would involve real instruments, vintage synthesizers like the Moog (witout digital signal processing), multi-track tape recording, a giant mixing desk etc. Just like it was the standard up until the Thrier days. That's clearly not what he referred to or what can be heard on Invincible.
 
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