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The Discussion of MJ's Unreleased Tracks

NeoGardiV12 said:
I don't get this take, I never will.
I always thought the remixes were just weak and quick beats slapped together so they could throw MJ's lead on top and call it a day.

It's also why I dislike 90% of all the house, club, dance etc MJ remixes from his 90s singles, there's literally zero hint of the original song present in those.

To each his own I guess, but I never thought the majority would agree with ya lol
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From a producer's standpoint:
It's really hard to remix a track and make it sound top-tier. You really have to do a good job to come up with completely different melodies / instrumentation and still make it fit the vocals. Especially if you're only familiar with the vocals.

Imo Dr. Dre is a producer who failed at doing remixes. Plus some years ago I tried remixing a track myself and my version sounded cheap and like doodoo. And I've been producing beats for years.

Many MJ remixes sound cheap. But I can't take you serious if you really think, that the new versions of (lets say) Loving You and Chicago were weak. Yes, they don't sound like their original counterparts, but they do sound like Michael + still modern / cutting edge.
 
JEMFTV said:
From a producer's standpoint:
It's really hard to remix a track and make it sound top-tier. You really have to do a good job to come up with completely different melodies / instrumentation and still make it fit the vocals. Especially if you're only familiar with the vocals.

Imo Dr. Dre is a producer who failed at doing remixes for an example. Plus some years ago I tried remixing a track myself and my version sounded cheap and like doodoo. And I've been producing beats for years.

Many MJ remixes sound cheap. But I can't take you serious if you really think, that the new versions of (lets say) Loving You and Chicago were weak. Yes, they don't sound like their original counterparts, but they do sound like Michael + still modern / cutting edge.
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Yes, Chicago and Loving You are good remixes.
It is unfair for me to group every single remix on Xscape together when clearly there's outliers.
It is also true though, that the majority of remixes featured in the album are not up to the level of those two.
And i'm not even gonna count Love Never Felt So Good (In my opinion, the only other good remix) as a Xscape remix, you know why?
Because that one wasn't even made DURING or even FOR the Xscape project. It was made along with the other remixes meant for the Michael (2010) album, and that one IS a great example of an album that does sound like Michael. Perhaps not nearly as "modern", but MJ's music was never that "modern" sounding to begin with, we are talking about the man who released a record that featured an entire half of New Jack Swing songs in late 1991...
 
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NeoGardiV12 said:
estamos hablando del hombre que lanzó un disco que incluía la mitad de las canciones de New Jack Swing a finales de 1991...
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This, in addition, was who released his debut album with a disco theme when the genre was not at its best, and ironically, it is these characteristics that make his albums sound timeless
 
All_Star_JJGH said:
This, in addition, was who released his debut album with a disco theme when the genre was not at its best, and ironically, it is these characteristics that make his albums sound timeless
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This is a very remarkable point.
Much of Michael's innovation was to "end" genres by making them (disco, rock, metal...) transcend into world pop music. With the ability to be the best performer in and across genres (also physically), he kept their authentic essence while breaking down the walls that had previously limited them
This is such a lesson in a myriad ways

It's also the reason that almost all remixes are ****
It's taking something universal and limiting it again 🤣
 
Slave to the Rhythm is literally just the original version polished up with Timbaland idiosyncrasies though. Like they are very similar and it's incredibly obvious.

That's the truly valid criticism of Xscape, that the project is just a vehicle for L.A. Reid to get his unused MJ demo shined and shown to the world. Cause MJ was not gonna bring that one back out any time soon.

Otherwise, A Place with No Name, I hesitate to say it's bad cause Stargate were passionate and I do find the Higher Ground vibe interesting. But it just will never compare to America's sample.

And I forgot to finish this so I'm done talking for now lol
 
Honestly I would have preferred that the work between Michael and Xscape had been a single album, some songs could have been taken from both, in some others from Xscape respect the original versions and even include others that have not been edited or were released in Bad 25 or Thriller 40, with only 13 or 14 of the 15 songs that were released in those two albums you get a more solid product than Michael and that lasts less than an hour
 
I am surprised that Who Do You Know never made it on to Michael or Xscape. The song sounds like something meant for an R&B group and could've actually been recorded for Triumph. I would've asked the brothers to provide backing vocals and modernized it a touch.
 
Alaslam said:
I’m still mad that you guys doxxed the channel with the ‘84 Moonwalker Tapes he was supposed to release an unheard demo
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Is that the reason they stopped uploading those memoirs? I thought it was because they got a copyright notice from the Estate since they were demanding people to pay for a premium subscription in order to be able to watch them. Pretty scummy that the channel even started doing that.
 
ChanceToDance said:
Is that the reason they stopped uploading those memoirs? I thought it was because they got a copyright notice from the Estate since they were demanding people to pay for a premium subscription in order to be able to watch them. Pretty scummy that the channel even started doing that.
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They were scammers who had been reported multiple times by the Estate, and by Katherine herself. Towards the end of their time on YouTube, they put everything behind a paywall just to keep making money off MJs name, which pushed the Estate to shut down the channel.

Yet somehow, someone on that thread was blaming me for "doxxing" them, just because I found a public court document that another MJJC user had already posted over 10 years ago lol.
 
zinniabooklover said:
"It's one of his classics and I just sang along with it and did new background vocals ..."
Mariah Carey
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Hot_Street said:
Could be IJCSLY.
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I don‘t think IJCSLY would be fitting, especially since it‘s already a duet, what about The Lady In My Life… or Liberian Girl, sure most wouldn‘t call them classics but come on, every one is a classic
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Slave to the Rhythm is literally just the original version polished up with Timbaland idiosyncrasies though. Like they are very similar and it's incredibly obvious.

That's the truly valid criticism of Xscape, that the project is just a vehicle for L.A. Reid to get his unused MJ demo shined and shown to the world. Cause MJ was not gonna bring that one back out any time soon.

Otherwise, A Place with No Name, I hesitate to say it's bad cause Stargate were passionate and I do find the Higher Ground vibe interesting. But it just will never compare to America's sample.

And I forgot to finish this so I'm done talking for now lol
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The whole Xscape album is shit because it sounds totally dated… when you listen to it you know exactly in which decade it was released thanks to The use of trap beats… even MJs Dangerous sounds more timeless..
 
kai said:
The whole Xscape album is shit because it sounds totally dated… when you listen to it you know exactly in which decade it was released thanks to The use of trap beats… even MJs Dangerous sounds more timeless..
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The album itself could have been a timeless classic IF they had gone with the original versions only and allowed an actual mixing engineer do the finishing touches.
 
kai said:
The whole Xscape album is shit because it sounds totally dated… when you listen to it you know exactly in which decade it was released thanks to The use of trap beats… even MJs Dangerous sounds more timeless..
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i remember when everyone said Bad was dated sounding before 2012s reappraisal came around.
 
I think we’re being a bit exaggeratory suggesting that the original versions are any less dated than the remixes. I totally empathize with not liking them, but both the remixes and the originals are (for the most part) very indicative of their time.
 
AlwaysThere said:
I think we’re being a bit exaggeratory suggesting that the original versions are any less dated than the remixes. I totally empathize with not liking them, but both the remixes and the originals are (for the most part) very indicative of their time.
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Maybe that’s why MJ didn’t release them. I’m not saying that MJs releases are all 100 percent timeless… but they are more timeless than Xscape
 
Personally I'm not against modernizing tracks the way they did with Xscape. Think about it, wouldn't the album have been worse with just the original versions? No cohesion at all in melodies, sounds, and approaches, with demos coming from the 80s, some from the 90s, others from the 2000s… not to mention the vocals, or how raw and unfinished some tracks were, like Loving You.

Whether they suck or not is subjective. I'm not a fan of DYWYCA (It throws in way too many unnecessary hee-hees, if I remember right) and STTR (especially that one, it makes it sound like some 00s eurodance track you'd hear in a nightclub, way too far from the original). But aside from those, the rest do a solid job of presenting a cohesive disc.
 
Every discussion people pick a different "best" and "worst" song. It's like The Rise of Skywalker discourse, what's the only good part and the worst part?
 
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