Does Price Of Fame stand out to anyone else?

Xeones

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Hello all, don't mind me. Just slipping back in unannounced after a long absence...!

So, I was running through Bad 25 last week. I've always enjoyed side two, but Price Of Fame is really a cut above the rest to me. I don't know if anyone else feels this, but to me it sounds so out of place for when it was recorded. Ahead of its time, I mean. Musically, it sounds like something I would've listened to back in the early 2000s. Lyrically, it is strikingly personal, even by Mike's standards. I guess this is just another example of a song Michael didn't feel was strong enough, but the fans (or me) view as a gem. It's testament to his high standards. Anyway, enough of that. I guess I just like the song.

But yeah, does anybody else agree with what I said at the start of the post?
 
In my opinion it's sounds dated to me. it's actually sounds something from the 80's which was the decade it was made in. not saying that's bad. (no pun) i love the song. but i agree. michael always tried to make his music and songs to fit for a long time for each generation to enjoy. he was talented.

i'm gonna be real though, some michael songs are kind of dated. not saying that's a bad thing. i still enjoy them very much.
 
In my opinion it's sounds dated to me. it's actually sounds something from the 80's which was the decade it was made in. not saying that's bad. (no pun) i love the song. but i agree. michael always tried to make his music and songs to fit for a long time for each generation to enjoy. he was talented.

i'm gonna be real though, some michael songs are kind of dated. not saying that's a bad thing. i still enjoy them very much.

Yeah, I think half of it may be that it's an MJ song I haven't overplayed for years tbh.
 
Well the track definitely stands out in the respect that it sounds more complete lyrically and musically than some of the other demos.
 
Well the track definitely stands out in the respect that it sounds more complete lyrically and musically than some of the other demos.

What also supports that idea is the existence of the "Pepsi Version". Really weird that song got a Pepsi version.
 
I was a never a fan of the song. I really think it's a rip off of Billie Jean, he always trieS to emulate certain formulas, and though he was sometimes succesfull, to my estimation, this was not the case. I guess it gets more praise amongst fans because it was intended for a PEPSI commercial (though it would have been completely weird...it's just not a commercial song at all and even though it fits the commercials, it just weird for PEPSI).

Having said that, I honestly don't like when MJ talks about ''FAME''. I enjoy Childhood, and D.S, Money or Scream because they were intended to discuss THAT after the allegations. It was not ''the price of fame'' , it was ''the burden of being Michael Jackson''. However, ''the price of fame'' seems a bit off, taking into consideration that he was the responsible for having his face EVERYWHERE, he wanted that attention, and now he's complaining?. For that matter, I like LEAVE ME ALONE better, it's a great statement, but the song is not about fame.
 
I really think it's a rip off of Billie Jean

In what way, purely thematically? Wouldn't that make lots of songs rip offs of other songs? I personally don't feel the connection.

If it just thematically then you could say for example "you are not alone" is a rip off of "you've got a friend" (Carole King) or "get on the floor" rips off "don't stop till yo get enough" etc.

For me a rip off is taking the melody or beat of one song for your own song.
 
I think it's a good song that could have been great, had Michael finished it.

I wish Michael finished the song for Invincible album and released it instead of Privacy. Both are similar songs in theme, but POF is a lot stronger.
 
Hudson112;4307819 said:
I think I’m So Blue is more of a demo to Who Is It.
Wait.....how??? They sound totally different!
I wish i knew what the lyrics were going to be. I love the sha da da da da da dum.. i think of something like "girl you know you got me down"
 
In what way, purely thematically? Wouldn't that make lots of songs rip offs of other songs? I personally don't feel the connection.

If it just thematically then you could say for example "you are not alone" is a rip off of "you've got a friend" (Carole King) or "get on the floor" rips off "don't stop till yo get enough" etc.

For me a rip off is taking the melody or beat of one song for your own song.

Not thematically, but sound-wise. When I say rip-off, I mean that he was going the same route, trying to achieve basically the same atmosphere. Thematically, Dirty Diana is kinda of a self rip-off of Billie Jean, it's a song about a groupie, that the protagonist of the song knows it's not good, however, he falls for it. Who is it, as well, it's basically Dangerous' Billie Jean , and GIVE INTO ME is the ''ROCK ''song , same that was Beat it or Dirty Diana.

I don't mean rip off as in ''stealing'' but basically, repeating the same structure in every record, until HIStory, which has none of the things he intended to achieve before, in my estimation. It does sound similar to Dangerous, sound-wise, but he really went for the punch on that one. I love that record.

And since you mentioned it, I don't see GET ON THE FLOOR being a rip off of DSTYGE , but I do see EVERYBODY being basically, GET ON THE FLOOR. I love them both, don't get me wrong, but they're twin-tunes as much as GHOSTS and IS IT SCARY.
 
I really do like Price of fame very very much.

I still hope that song will be temporized and released on the next new MJ album. - Same with We've Had Enough - these songs are waay too good to be totally unknown by anyone but hardcore fans.
 
I really do like Price of fame very very much.

I still hope that song will be temporized and released on the next new MJ album. - Same with We've Had Enough - these songs are waay too good to be totally unknown by anyone but hardcore fans.

same.
 
Well billie jean, dirty diana, dangerous, and who is it, probably give in to me are all about women who michael or some other guy deal with and broke his heart in some kind of way. michael did have some songs about women he saw in a romance and sensual way. but let's be real the kind of women michael was looking for "didn't exist" and was hard to find. someone who was kind of similar to him.

i mean smooth criminal, dangerous, al capone, you rock my world, and blue gangsta are all basically the samething. michael was a big fan of gangster movies. i do believe some michael songs was connect to each other like they don't care about us which had two short films.

i don't see nothing wrong if michael songs was connect.
 
Having said that, I honestly don't like when MJ talks about ''FAME''. I enjoy Childhood, and D.S, Money or Scream because they were intended to discuss THAT after the allegations. It was not ''the price of fame'' , it was ''the burden of being Michael Jackson''. However, ''the price of fame'' seems a bit off, taking into consideration that he was the responsible for having his face EVERYWHERE, he wanted that attention, and now he's complaining?. For that matter, I like LEAVE ME ALONE better, it's a great statement, but the song is not about fame.

I agree with this. :laughing: that's how it is when it comes to fame. Michael loved all his fans but i think he needed time for himself sometimes which he explained alot. i love the song in my opinion. :) price of fame came out before childhood and D.S.

i'll say speed demon and privacy are more fan obsessed section which he did said about them. :laughing:

LMA was about the press. though some fans feel he kind of did that to himself. i love that song but it's not one of my favorites MJ songs.

i agree. any song that had Michael talking about the press etc aren't really my favorite songs. many fans agree that took over his fame because we all know Michael songs was about love, having fun, positively, etc. but after the press started bothering him when bad was release it was beginning to be a "different" world for michael.

that's why i'm not really a fan of his later eras. the press and the world stole his joy and happiness. :( but i do love songs from his later eras though. :)
 
I love it. For an outtake it sure is a gem.

What makes it stand out is the musical composition with those experimental Reggae'ish vibes. (Might be an influence of The Police there who also blended a bit of Reggae vibes with Pop in the 80s). It still has an unpolished feel to it though, which makes me wonder how, in that state, it already got to the point of turning it into a Pepsi song. Would be interesting to find out more about that whole "The Chase" commercial story.


... he intentionally began (with the help of his then-manager Frank DiLeo) to feed the tabloids with fake stories about him for publicity purposes.

Which, as recently discussed (and of course ignored by you), is solely down to CLAIMS from not exactly trustworthy tabloid writers themselfes and one disgruntled ex-employee doing a smear campaign for money. Therefor it can not be blindly considered as FACT. Especially not the degree of Michaels personal involvement, IF so.
 
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i agree. price of fame does sounds little bit like who is it. :) maybe who is it part 1? it maybe be an connection. i remember someone said that Michael would use some of the sounds in his songs that was rejected and used them for future songs. especially around the dangerous era. so i wouldn't be surprise that Michael got his idea for who is it from the price of fame.

to be honest Michael didn't really like who is it. i like who is it. it's underrated. but it's not surprising since michael didn't like the song too much either.
 
i agree. price of fame does sounds little bit like who is it. :) maybe who is it part 1? it maybe be an connection. i remember someone said that Michael would use some of the sounds in his songs that was rejected and used them for future songs. especially around the dangerous era. so i wouldn't be surprise that Michael got his idea for who is it from the price of fame.

to be honest Michael didn't really like who is it. i like who is it. it's underrated. but it's not surprising since michael didn't like the song too much either.

WHAT??

This is absolutely news to me? When did MJ ever say he did not like one of his own songs? - On the contrary I think he like Who Is It A LOT. - Even did the beatboxing and singing part in the Oprah interview.

Is there an interview or anything where MJ suggest that he does not like Who Is It ??
 
Somebody here said he didn't. your right. something isn't right. :scratch: one thing for sure the song is underrated.
 
I believe that what MJ disliked (can.t remember the source for this assumption) was the "who is it" video
 
I believe that what MJ disliked (can.t remember the source for this assumption) was the "who is it" video

Yep. I think it was about Sony not letting him redo shots of him that he didn't like.
The single was released in Europe in August 1992 with that David Fincher video. In the USA the single came out March 1993 with that other montage video instead, probably due to Michael blocking the Fincher video in his homeland.
 
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I completely agree with you Xeones, also it's great to have you back mate

I love Price Of Fame, it's one of very few unreleased songs were I genuinely Michael should have released it during his lifetime.
Lyrically it's complex and fascinating, musically it's new and different for Mike at the time and it's interesting that the structure is very Michael

I wish Mike would have kept pushing this song beyond the early Bad sessions and it been consideration for the record, because I think a more polished third verse and maybe some more polish to the song musically (without losing any of the funkiness) and it could have fit perfectly onto the Bad album as one of the cornerstones of the album, and I say that with Bad as my favourite of all time.
I remember one unfair thing I read in a review of the Bad album at the time it was released, was there was no big hit like Billie Jean was on Thriller. I personally see that as unfair because Bad as an album of songs is stronger than Thriller, most would agree, but had Price Of Fame been on Bad who knows? Maybe it would have been regarded as one of the best songs on the album or maybe people would have said it's too much like Billie Jean
I do think it would have sounded a bit too dated to fit on say Dangerous but Price Of Fame is such a good song and it's honestly a shock the Estate didn't release it on either Michael or Xscape, instead of almost relegating it to Bad 25, although I'm so thankful we have the demo version.

Every time I hear Price Of Fame, it always takes me back to the excitement on this forum and in the community for Bad 25, the speculation and the all the anticipation. I can still remember hearing a snippet of this and Al Capone on a French radio station, someone shared on this forum, great times.
 
I completely agree with you Xeones, also it's great to have you back mate

I love Price Of Fame, it's one of very few unreleased songs were I genuinely Michael should have released it during his lifetime.
Lyrically it's complex and fascinating, musically it's new and different for Mike at the time and it's interesting that the structure is very Michael

I wish Mike would have kept pushing this song beyond the early Bad sessions and it been consideration for the record, because I think a more polished third verse and maybe some more polish to the song musically (without losing any of the funkiness) and it could have fit perfectly onto the Bad album as one of the cornerstones of the album, and I say that with Bad as my favourite of all time.
I remember one unfair thing I read in a review of the Bad album at the time it was released, was there was no big hit like Billie Jean was on Thriller. I personally see that as unfair because Bad as an album of songs is stronger than Thriller, most would agree, but had Price Of Fame been on Bad who knows? Maybe it would have been regarded as one of the best songs on the album or maybe people would have said it's too much like Billie Jean
I do think it would have sounded a bit too dated to fit on say Dangerous but Price Of Fame is such a good song and it's honestly a shock the Estate didn't release it on either Michael or Xscape, instead of almost relegating it to Bad 25, although I'm so thankful we have the demo version.

Every time I hear Price Of Fame, it always takes me back to the excitement on this forum and in the community for Bad 25, the speculation and the all the anticipation. I can still remember hearing a snippet of this and Al Capone on a French radio station, someone shared on this forum, great times.
Just listened to it for the first time yesterday.
 
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