I would like to clear up some things, seriously.
First, I am not forcing my opinion of liking or not liking the songs on anyone.
Second, I was alarmingly scandalized when people compared the vocals on Chicago with the Cascio songs! Sorry for my French, but WTF!
Third, with all due respect to every single fan on this board there is something that we all are craving for: UNITY.
Actually, the reworked songs are not a mess as some have mentioned, WE are the mess. We are the unhappy ones. We are the whining ones. We are selfishly overcriticizing things that in reality shouldn't be criticized the way we are doing it.
I am not saying that criticism shouldn't be done, but please, let us not allow to become Roger Friedman alien species.
Here is the reality:
SHOT n°1: Before the coming of Internet, building the hype was different. Michael Jackson would release a single as a teaser then the whole album.
SHOT n°2: MJ would release short movies gradually, while the hype was still there. What was frustrating in the videos is that the versions on the videos would almost automatically be different from the album version. (= two versions of the same song), and there was no Internet for people to get quickly bored in one day by watching the video over and over again. People had to actually wait till they stumble on the video while watching the TV. (= the hype was not killed from the very start)
SHOT n°3: People would actually go out and buy the physical Maxi CD remixes and alternative versions because there was no Internet to as easily download as today. (= people would discover new versions/remixes and sometimes bonus songs approved by MJ)
SHOT n°4: The hype was built not only in among the fans' circles, but also in the clubs, hence the need for refreshed/remixed dancable-friendly versions of the songs.
Today with the Internet as the main tool for people to discover music and build the hype, we can't afford so many shots. We only have ONE DECISIVE SHOT. And this is what has been wisely done with Xscape:
SHOT n°1 (the only available shot): Association with a big corporation to boost the sales by advertizing MJ's new album via Xperia products. More precisely an album with songs which have already been made as dancable-friendly, easily accessible/leakable, with possibilities to present video projects. All this has to be presented extremely fast in order to get that hype from the very start, because there is only ONE SHOT which cannot be wasted nor miss the target.
In addition, in order to satisfy hard-core fans, the demos have been added to the release so that the fans don't get frustrated by the modernized versions.
Those parameters cannot be ignored, but as long as we live in the Internet era, we have to accept that the marketing and the way of building the hype has drastically changed.
Let us however not forget that MJ DID approve the remixes in the past, and he would most certainly approve them today. The only difference with the past is that those remixes are presented to the public differently, nevertheless in a manner that would not kill the hype. So, it would be ironic that the hype gets killed by the fans themselves only because they don't liek the remixes. It's fine not to like them, but instead of being vocal not liking them, give them a chance to be released as hits and let them hit the new public.
We need unity in this, not bickering and blindly criticizing those producers as if they were unaware of what they are doing. After the bad Cascio episode, I don't think they'll make a mistake to try to play tricks on us ever again. It's not in our interest, it's not in their interest.
:hiya:
