Latest on MJJC

Did MJ suffer from writer’s block in the 2000’s?

Blues_Away2023

Proud Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2023
Messages
1,652
Points
113
A random thought came into my head so apologies if it sounds like a load of rubbish.

We all know Michael had a lot of trauma through the 00s from the trial to his drug dependency.

Some of the songs recorded during this period , beautiful girl, I am a loser , Days in Gloucestershire etc are all basic mid tempo songs that let’s be honest, are not hit material.

Do you think Michael had writer’s block and was struggling to write really meaningful and mega hits? He had a hell of a lot going on personally so it’s not a surprise.

I’ll also add that I appreciate these were just demo recordings and that a middle age MJ had different taste in music and writing compared to his prime years
 
Last edited:
Just because a song is midtempo doesn't mean it's not a hit or meaningful. "Days in Gloucestershire" was about reminiscing on the past, and it's quite like "Stranger in Moscow". It would have probably not been a hit in the US (frankly, nothing would've been after 2003), but I could see it doing reasonably well in the UK. Same with "I Am a Loser".

Also, "Beautiful Girl" was recorded in 1998. I used to think MJ lost a lot of his passion for songwriting after the 1999 bridge accident, but we can see that he was mostly shopping for songs even before. "A Place with no Name", "Blue Gangsta", and "Break of Dawn" were all recorded in 1998, and MJ didn't write any of those songs.
 
Last edited:
Spaceship said:
Just because a song is midtempo doesn't mean it's not a hit or meaningful. "Days in Gloucestershire" was about reminiscing on the past, and it's quite like "Stranger in Moscow". I don't think it would have been a hit in the US, but I could see it doing reasonably well in the UK. Same with "I Am a Loser".

Also, "Beautiful Girl" was recorded in 1998. I used to think MJ lost a lot of his passion for songwriting after the 1999 bridge accident, but we can see that he was mostly shopping for songs even before. "A Place with no Name", "Blue Gangsta", and "Break of Dawn" were all recorded in 1998, and MJ didn't write any of those songs.
Click to expand...
Michael was out of the game since 1994 as BOTDF was just history & dangerous outtakes, and even then majority of the songs were written for dangerous/before. I think he really wanted to just do films after 1990.
 
We’ve Had Enough and Speechless feel like classic MJ but you do have a point, his songs after that period don’t feel like it had that ‘MJ magic’ as much as the stuff prior to it. That’s why I’m so keen to hear more songs from the final years, no matter what state they are in.
 
Writers block would sure explain Invincible. I agree, it's not that the songs were bad during this phase, it's that they didn't have that 'MJ magic'. I was curious to see what MJ would release after the trial, especially as I loved History. I was surprised to learn he was working on mainly love songs towards the end. The only one that sounded interesting to me was 'water' and there was hardly much too that.
 
I think in his later years MJ became too reliant on modern and trendy producers/songwriters. I know someone will say that he's been doing that since Dangerous with Teddy Riley but the big difference there is that those works still had that MJ magic and you could still *feel* his presense on those songs.
 
analogue said:
I think in his later years MJ became too reliant on modern and trendy producers/songwriters. I know someone will say that he's been doing that since Dangerous with Teddy Riley but the big difference there is that those works still had that MJ magic and you could still *feel* his presense on those songs.
Click to expand...

There is none of MJ's own magic on "Can't Let Her Get Away", "She Drives Me Wild", "You Are Not Alone", "Smile", etc beyond his vocals.
 
He said in 2002-3 that best is yet to come and you have seen nothing yet so he definitely had a lot of plans.
 
If memory serves me right, Michael actually spoke about writers block in the 2001 Rolling Stone interview. He didn't believe he had writers block and gave words of wisdom on how to prevent it.

Interview:

I see it the same way analogue does. I believe he tried too much (though he wouldn't admit it) to create a 'modern' sound... Probably after people getting into his head of what is 'hot'.
 
Galactus123 said:
He said in 2002-3 that best is yet to come and you have seen nothing yet so he definitely had a lot of plans.
Click to expand...
To be fair he also said at the 2000 world music awards that we ain’t see nothing yet and all we ended up getting was a bit of a damp squib
 
Invincible was the first album he recorded after he was already a father. He certainly had other priorities at the time and was perhaps having the best time of his life. This could explain why he wrote less himself.
 
He was writing meaningful songs but probably wasn't interested in chasing hits. He could've been in a space where he didn't have anything to talk about musically, thus taking a backseat to the creative side of songs during Invincible
 
Blues_Away2023 said:
We all know Michael had a lot of trauma through the 00s from the trial to his drug dependency.

Do you think Michael had writer’s block and was struggling to write really meaningful and mega hits? He had a hell of a lot going on personally so it’s not a surprise.
Click to expand...
That is not a valid argument considering that Michael Jackson had a lot of trauma also through the biggest part of '90s, yet this did not prevent him from writing meaningful songs in that period.
Beano Wild said:
I think he really wanted to just do films after 1990.
Click to expand...
If Michael Jackson really wanted to just do films after 1990, then he would not have signed that huge contract with Sony Music in 1991 (March).

That contract guaranteed him a 5 million (American dollars) advance per each new album along with a 25 per cent royalty rate on retail sales.
 
Blues_Away2023 said:
Do you think Michael had writer’s block and was struggling to write really meaningful and mega hits? He had a hell of a lot going on personally so it’s not a surprise.
Click to expand...
Beano Wild said:
Michael was out of the game since 1994 as BOTDF was just history & dangerous outtakes, and even then majority of the songs were written for dangerous/before. I think he really wanted to just do films after 1990.
Click to expand...
Tbf, I think there was no need or pressure for MJ to write entirely new songs, as he had already started working on (& also laid down) dozens (actually hundreds) of songs (song ideas) at different states of completion during 1970s/80s.

Ever since the Dangerous album sessions he'd returned to those whenever he didn't work on songs given to him by 3rd parties. oc there few exceptions where Michael did write and compose songs from scratch in later years.
 
I think a mistake Michael made in his later albums was trying to cram as much as he could on to one CD. I get that he wanted to give the listener as much as possible but sometimes a 10-12 track album that's about 40 minutes long is all that's needed. By trying to cram so much on to one album you have the risk of having some fillers.
 
Or did he just have to raise three kids as single parent, go through a grueling 2 year stint of another round of unjust accusations and a murderous trial and huge financial problems on top of all that ???

(my question to the thread starter?)
 
MJJuniorSinceMW said:
Or did he just have to raise three kids as single parent
Click to expand...
But, that would be an additional source of inspiration for any artist.
analogue said:
I think a mistake Michael made in his later albums was trying to cram as much as he could on to one CD. I get that he wanted to give the listener as much as possible but sometimes a 10-12 track album that's about 40 minutes long is all that's needed. By trying to cram so much on to one album you have the risk of having some fillers.
Click to expand...
That is why, Quincy Jones' end of contract with him was described as a huge loss for Michael Jackson.

Quincy Jones believed in quality over quantity.
 
"You Are Not Alone" is, like, the easiest song for someone to sing. Aside from MJ's vocals, it's completely mediocre; R. Kelly is not a good songwriter or producer lol
 
mj_frenzy said:
That is not a valid argument considering that Michael Jackson had a lot of trauma also through the biggest part of '90s, yet this did not prevent him from writing meaningful songs in that period.
Click to expand...

Obviously he had even more trauma in the 2000s.

For all intents and purposes, the trial was the final nail in his artistry's coffin.
 
Did MJ suffer from writer’s block in the 2000’s?
Click to expand...
MJ in 2000-2001:
(...) I have accomplished my dreams with music and all that (...)
The Michael Jackson Tapes, page 64
 
A part of me thought the bridge accident in 1999 stifled MJ's creativity, but it doesn't seem like he was writing many songs back in 1998, either, at least not to the completion. "A Place with No Name", "Blue Gangsta", and "Break of Dawn" were all composed entirely by Dr. Freeze.

I guess "Speechless", "The Lost Children", and "What More Can I Give" were basically the only completed songs he wrote by himself during the Invincible sessions. I wish he finished "Hollywood Tonight"; it could have been his best song post-History, maybe.
 
Spaceship said:
I guess "Speechless", "The Lost Children", and "What More Can I Give" were basically the only completed songs he wrote by himself during the Invincible sessions. I wish he finished "Hollywood Tonight"; it could have been his best song post-History, maybe.
Click to expand...
wmcig dates back to pre History era.
 
MJJuniorSinceMW said:
Or did he just have to raise three kids as single parent, go through a grueling 2 year stint of another round of unjust accusations and a murderous trial and huge financial problems on top of all that ???

(my question to the thread starter?)
Click to expand...
did you even read my post? 🧐

I literally said he had a lot of shit to deal with as you can see below.

We all know Michael had a lot of trauma through the 00s from the trial to his drug dependency

I also said - He had a hell of a lot going on personally so it’s not a surprise.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top