Xscape 10th Anniversary

Dangerous History Invincible would not be worthy of a worthy anniversary
 
Guess we'll just celebrate the anniversary regardless.

10 Years On, how do we feel about the songs, their contemporizations, and this format?

I think it is a pretty measured body of work, and their choice of partners was actually very subdued. Timbaland, Stargate, and Darkchild, in 2014, was pretty far removed from the pop charts peaks. Imagine if they actually had recruited a Bieber producer, or a Taylor Swift 1989 hit maker. Shudder.

The new music itself also conformed to MJs vocals; no elaborate dubstep tricks like a certain Afrojack producer. No raps inserted where they didn't belong, something Teddy Riley did far too much of on Michael, and something you can argue even MJ himself did on Invincible.

I think as it stands, Xscape, tastes aside, doesn't stand out too far from MJs norms as an artist and producer. And it doesn't break MJs insistence of doing the music his own way, without needing up and coming 20 something year olds to bolster himself and seem young (Like a certain, Drake). It's intent is for everyone to enjoy, young, old, and in between.

I do hope next time they continue with the melodies and sounds MJ himself helped sculpt rather than upend them entirely. And more reliable producers never hurts certainly. But I do like new talents, and MJ certainly appreciated that much in his career. He left Quincy for a reason after all.
 
L.A. Recording Studio The Record Plant to Close After 50 Years
Fifty years ago, the Record Plant was riding high at their lavish recording studios at 3rd and La Cienega, recording the world’s greatest musicians in an ultramodern facility chock full of rock star amenities. This week, according to multiple social media posts and former employees, the legendary studio, which relocated to Sycamore Avenue in Hollywood in 1985, is set to close.
The latest casualty of what was once a thriving industry in Los Angeles, the Record Plant was the vision of founders Chris Stone and Gary Kellgren, who built their first studio together in 1968 in New York to record Jimi Hendrix’s masterpiece, Electric Ladyland. They opened an outpost in Sausalito in 1972 (the Manhattan studio closed in 1987; Sausalito stayed open until 2008).

The following year, in 1969, they expanded to Los Angeles and converted an existing studio into L.A.’s poshest place to make music magic, luring an incredible roster of artists including John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson
A Place With No Name
Jackson originally worked on and recorded the song with Elliott Straite (better known as New Jack Swing producer Dr. Freeze) at Record Plant Recording Studios in 1998. https://www.michaeljackson.com/track/place-no-name/
 
Michael Jackson’s ‘Xscape’ Turns 10 | Album Anniversary
“A Place With No Name” becomes very meta with Jackson borrowing from America’s guitar led riff of “A Horse With No Name” and making it his own. The demo is a joy to listen to with stacked vocals and a sense of purpose present.
If the Estate wishes to further explore Jackson’s unreleased material in the future it will be better served preserving Jackson’s vision and presenting the demos (or even an evolution of demos) rather than handing them over to a record company and disconnected producers intent on updating and contemporizing.
 
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I wonder if the leak of Xscape in 2002 inspired Prince for his 2003 instrumental album Xpectation:
No. Title Length
1. "Xhalation" 2:04
2. "Xcogitate" 3:33
3. "Xemplify" 5:53
4. "Xpectation" 4:01
5. "Xotica" 3:05
6. "Xogenous" 4:12
7. "Xpand" 6:11
8. "Xosphere" 3:34
9. "Xpedition" 8:24
 
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I wonder if the leak of Xscape in 2002 inspired Prince for his 2003 instrumental album Xpectation:

no because it leaked as escape, the estate renamed it Xscape as the album was a tie-in for the xperia phone.

Sony-Xperia-owners-to-get-free-Michael-Jackson-XSCAPE-album.jpg
 
no because it leaked as escape, the estate renamed it Xscape as the album was a tie-in for the xperia phone.

Sony-Xperia-owners-to-get-free-Michael-Jackson-XSCAPE-album.jpg
I was looking at old threads of MJHideout, from December 2002 when the song was know for first time (yes, all those threads are still online) and it actually became known as Xscape, even was called like that in the Mjjproductions statement for the forums that haved downloads to the song

Yeah, I know, I answer it very late 🥲
 
I was looking at old threads of MJHideout, from December 2002 when the song was know for first time (yes, all those threads are still online) and it actually became known as Xscape, even was called like that in the Mjjproductions statement for the forums that haved downloads to the song

Yeah, I know, I answer it very late 🥲
Got a link to one of those threads?
 
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