How come everyone hates the documentary because it "trashes" Michael's demo's, which it does, in saying for Blue Gangsta for example "This one ain't as bad as the rest of 'em" yet in Bad 25 they literally go all out attack on Just Good Friends and even go as far as saying it shouldn't have been on the album and it wasn't any good at all really.. Just something I was wondering, I know the Xscape docu doesn't have any new footage and is a bit of a let down but that just intrigued me.
I think there are quite a few differences between the criticism of Just Good Friends in Bad 25 and the Xscape docu. Firstly, the criticism itself is of a different nature. Most of the people in the Bad 25 docu say that they thought the song was not as strong as the other tracks on the album or other tracks that could have been released instead, or they state that they expected more from a MJ/Stevie collaboration. In other words, they say that "this one ain't as
good as the rest of 'em" rather than the much more condescending "this one ain't as bad as the rest of 'em". The people criticizing JGF dislike one song, Timbaland basically dismisses all of MJ's demos.
More importantly, the people commenting in the Bad 25 docu are people who were involved with the creation of the song at the time or outside observers reminiscing about an old song. Fair enough, it's their opinion. Timbaland, on the other hand, was put in charge of remixing MJ's material for the Estate's biggest release to date. This finite amount of unreleased MJ demos is precious, historically significant material. Timbaland has every right to his opinion as well, but if he holds that material in such low regard, perhaps he should not have gone anywhere near it in the first place.
As for why people did not really discuss the JGF criticism: I think it's because it's a really short segment in an otherwise rather positive and insightful documentary, containing interviews with people who worked on the album and some unreleased footage of MJ. The Xscape documentary, on the other hand, was mostly a mutual backslapping fest showing LA Reid and Timbaland going absolutely nuts over the 'contemporized' tracks while talking condescendingly about the original material Michael worked on. And of course it's also part of the bigger discourse about the direction the Estate is taking with these releases.
When I watched Bad25 I couldnt understand what they are saying about Just good Friends, I think its amazing and you can feel Michaels and Stevies energy in it. Plus Michaels harmonies & background vocals are like cherry on a pie
I think it is a solid song as well. The harmonies are indeed incredible! "That doesn't mean she doesn't love me ooooo-ooooh.... GOOD FRIENDS!" :lol: Amazing.
