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What songs didn't make it onto XSCAPE?

AlwaysThere

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24 vocally-completed songs were pulled from the vault for XSCAPE in late 2013. Eight of these songs wound up on the final album, leaving 16 outtakes. According to Damien Shields, two of these outtakes were "Get Your Weight Off of Me" and "I Was the Loser," the latter of which L.A. Reid allegedly loved upon hearing it for the first time in late September 2013.

Can anyone provide insight into the other two dozen outtakes?

I know "Hot Fun in the Summertime" was rejected, but I don't know if I would lump that one into the pile since it's not vocally finished.
 
I'd assume Lovely Way was one of them, and we can probably consider any other song we know is mostly complete. I honestly don't think it was as organised as they made it out to be in marketing when it came to the songs considered. It sounds nice if "LA Reid selected the very best tracks" but I doubt that's how it went lol.
 
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SmoothGangsta said:
I honestly don't think it was as organised as they made it out to be in marketing when it came to the songs considered. It sounds nice if "LA Reid selected the very best tracks" but I doubt that's how it went lol.
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I thought the exact same thing to be honest. It's insanely suspicious that six of the eight songs have been available online for eons, and half the track listing was also in the running for inclusion Michael in 2010 ("Love Never Felt So Good," "Chicago," "Slave to the Rhythm," "Do You Know Where Your Children Are").

I'm beginning to suspect that the majority of the songs given to L.A. Reid were already leaked. There's no way he coincidentally chose those six songs (several of which have been long-time fan favorites). Not to mention that the claim of "only using songs Michael recorded top to bottom several times" is immediately invalidated by "Love Never Felt So Good."
 
SmoothGangsta said:
I'd assume Lovely Way was one of them, and we can probably consider any other song we know is mostly complete. I honestly don't think it was as organised as they made it out to be in marketing when it came to the songs considered.
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That's the point. They have told us nothing more than fary tales.

AlwaysThere said:
Not to mention that the claim of "only using songs Michael recorded top to bottom several times" is immediately invalidated by "Love Never Felt So Good."
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If that was the case, and Michael indeed had recorded 24 vocal takes for STTR, then why wasn't the entire original version of STTR prefered?
 
AlwaysThere;4294062 said:
24 vocally-completed songs were pulled from the vault for XSCAPE in late 2013. Eight of these songs wound up on the final album, leaving 16 outtakes. According to Damien Shields, two of these outtakes were "Get Your Weight Off of Me" and "I Was the Loser," the latter of which L.A. Reid allegedly loved upon hearing it for the first time in late September 2013.

Can anyone provide insight into the other two dozen outtakes?

I know "Hot Fun in the Summertime" was rejected, but I don't know if I would lump that one into the pile since it's not vocally finished.
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I don’t think „I Was the Loser“ was really considered for XSCAPE that much. I like it but it’s basically just mumbling. Even more than in Love never felt so good.
 
mjfan_93;4294145 said:
I don’t think „I Was the Loser“ was really considered for XSCAPE that much. I like it but it’s basically just mumbling. Even more than in Love never felt so good.
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Complete or not, 'Loser' is a real favourite of mine.

The first time I heard it I was enchanted by those adlibs towards the end. You hear Michael clapping, and moving close to the mic and then further away again. Just brought his spirit to life again for me.
 
The moment a song is considered for an official release, it potentially becomes a leak: producers, technicians, staff, executive, press agent. A lot of people is involved in a new product.

For Xscape "outtakes" we should consider songs leaked from 2012 onwards, in HQ (eg. Throwing your life away). Previous leaks could be referred to "Michael"
(also see entire Cascio-Malachi's album "Bible", leaked after those songs were - thank goodness! - scrap for any release due to the fakes-affair).

Other leaks, in LQ, are related to Sundeberg's seminars.
 
mjfan_93;4294145 said:
I don’t think „I Was the Loser“ was really considered for XSCAPE that much. I like it but it’s basically just mumbling. Even more than in Love never felt so good.
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Michael completed The Loser in 2008. So, I Was The Loser is a completed version of the leaked demo I Am A Loser.
 
dethorro;4294169 said:
Michael completed The Loser in 2008. So, I Was The Loser is a completed version of the leaked demo I Am A Loser.
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Yeah but I thought he only re-recorded this particular line „I was the Loser“. I think the rest is still still the same as we hear it in the leaked demo. Am I wrong?
 
I think The Estate wanted to release already leaked songs with Xscape. - to some degree a smart decision actually. - The songs were great too.

I hope - and think - next album will have more unknown songs.
 
Wasn’t there a screenshot from the XSCAPE documentary where there was a DAT from the Song „Turning Me Off“ visible in the background. Anyone has that screenshot? I can’t find it anymore
 
mjfan_93;4294541 said:
Wasn’t there a screenshot from the XSCAPE documentary where there was a DAT from the Song „Turning Me Off“ visible in the background. Anyone has that screenshot? I can’t find it anymore
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Yes, there were a couple of tapes shown I think. Can't remember what songs though.
 
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Do we have a more complete list of the songs that were considered for Xscape? There are probably some songs that were considered that we never heard of, Dream Away is proof of that.

I Was The Loser
Get Your Weight Off Of Me
Turning Me Off
Hot Fun In The Summertime
Throwing Your Life Away
Chicago 1945
Dream Away
Who Do You Know (?)
Lovely Way (?)

Are there any more?
 
Tomboy .craze .buffalo bill.crack kills .angel .do you love me.what you do to me .tabloid jungle .turning me off .the pain .men in black .
 
ChanceToDance said:
Do we have a more complete list of the songs that were considered for Xscape? There are probably some songs that were considered that we never heard of, Dream Away is proof of that.

I Was The Loser
Get Your Weight Off Of Me
Turning Me Off
Hot Fun In The Summertime
Throwing Your Life Away
Chicago 1945
Dream Away
Who Do You Know (?)
Lovely Way (?)

Are there any more?
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L.A. Reid, who oversaw the making of the 'Xscape' album, stated (in 2014) that hundreds of songs were considered for that album.

But, according to him, most of these songs have incomplete vocals (for example, with only the chorus).
 
mj_frenzy said:
L.A. Reid, who oversaw the making of the 'Xscape' album, stated (in 2014) that hundreds of songs were considered for that album.

But, according to him, most of these songs have incomplete vocals (for example, with only the chorus).
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No, he never said that. There were 24 songs up for consideration, of which 8 made the final album.

Frenzy lying tally: 1.
 
filmandmusic said:
It is true Tomboy got played on the seminar on December 10 2022 , I was there, I heard it. It is a slow song like smooth criminal
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Do you like it, could you describe it more.......... And do I sense some more leaks coming?
 
I never understood the criteria for the 24 songs LA Reid spoke of.
In the Xscape documentary, he said
"I made a rule for myself, I'm only interested in songs he (Michael) sang multiple times, from top to bottom"

If that's the case, how on earth did Love Never Felt So Good end up on the album, let alone be first single as Mike clearly only sung it once. The same could be said for Loving You.

So perhaps LA Reid picked 24 songs, he liked and felt that could be contemporised. Also the Estate had access to
 
AlwaysThere said:
No, he never said that. There were 24 songs up for consideration, of which 8 made the final album.
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@AlwaysThere, these 24 songs were the vocally completed songs.

Check also what L.A. Reid explained on TODAY.

"As Reid explained on TODAY Tuesday, he had hundreds of unreleased songs to choose from [for the 'Xscape' album]. He said he looked for vocals 'that had great melodies that would still stand up today', adding that he was more likely to select songs with multiple takes from Jackson" (Randee Dawn, TODAY, 2014)

After all, they combed through 4 decades of Michael Jackson's vaults, so discovering hundreds of vocally incomplete, unreleased songs should not come as a surprise.
 
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