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Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of "Michael" (2010)

DanGerouS-

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Hey everyone!


It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since the release of "Michael" in December, 2010. To celebrate this "milestone", I’d love to hear your memories and thoughts on this album.


  1. Where were you the first time you heard "Breaking News"? What were your first thoughts when you listened to it?
    -> i was up all night and couldn't believe my ears. I went to bed and after waking up, i thought i had a bad dream. But it was totally real and the singer on BN was not MJ. I tried to believe though, it's somehow him.
  2. Which track from the album is still your favorite today?
    -> Hollywood Tonight is such a gem. A shame it did bad on the charts and they butchered it even more with the Single Mix. A missed opportunity. They could have done more with the bridge section and add stuff from the 2008 mix.
  3. Who was the worst producer on the album?
    -> that one dude who pushed the buttons. not even worth mentioning his name :) (he's reading on this forum for sure)

Looking forward to hearing your stories and thoughts!

AI Mix with MJ:
 
When I bought the album, rumors were already circulating about its authenticity, and the three songs sounded more like Jason Malaria than Michael. Adding to the disappointment was the fact that one song was a remix (They Way You Love Me) and another was essentially an Akon track. Nevertheless, Hold My Hand is a great song, just with a bit too little of Michael's original sound. Hollywood Tonight is also great, and of course, Behind the Mask. But to this day, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth that those responsible simply didn't take their work seriously.
 
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I was a very new fan by then, I was only 13. I was still discovering Michael's world. Somehow I felt there was something wrong with the album and I never really enjoyed it that much, especially because being a new fan meant starting from the very beginning of his career, I was so in love with the album Bad back then. But it was nice to hear Hold My Hand on MTV all the time, they were playing it A LOT.
 
I was still in my pre-teens when “Breaking News” dropped. I remember convincing myself that it was MJ and the vocal was just overly processed, manipulated, etc. I was deep in denial that the Cascio tracks were fake until “Keep Your Head Up” leaked.

“Best of Joy” and “Behind the Mask” are my personal favorites. Both are just pitch perfect.

Worst producer for me is probably Tricky Stewart. I don’t care for “Keep Your Head Up,” but I really enjoy the swung rhythm of the drums on the original demo. All Tricky did was put a new drum pattern on that doesn’t hit nearly as well. Just lazy work altogether.

Overall, I still think Michael is over-hated. The Cascio tracks are an affront to MJ and the general public, no question. But I will maintain that the other seven songs are fantastic.
 
Where were you the first time you heard "Breaking News"? What were your first thoughts when you listened to it?
I became a Michael fan in 2009 after his passing, so Michael was the first album that was released after I became a fan. For quite a while after the release of Breaking News, and eventually the release of the other Cascio tracks on Michael, I tried to convince myself that it was Michael's voice. I couldn't have imagined that Michael Jackson's estate and record label would be stupid enough to release the vocals of an imposter on a Michael Jackson album. I guess I now know that they are indeed that stupid.

Which track from the album is still your favorite today?
Best of Joy & Hold My Hand.

Who was the worst producer on the album?
Lenny Kravitz, because Another Day is the worst song on the album, excluding the 3 fake tracks.
 
I heard Breaking News when it premiered. I was absolutely stunned, and knew instantly it wasn't him, before the first sentence was even finished. My heart sunk.

The rest of the album unfortunately is quite good - Behind The Mask is probably my favourite as time has gone on, Hollywood Tonight too.

It's the closest to an actual MJ album the Estate have given us, which is ironic.
 
What the hell! Why the hell are we remembering or even acknowledging this ep? It was a terrible terrible time for any MJ fan and Michael's family too. The way that they were shut out of the studio while Teddy Riley and the estate were conniving and putting this mess together. The way that they lied and messed with some of the original demos like Hollywood tonight. Giving Taryll some words and telling him that it's his uncles words that he never did record and he did actually record them. I still need to purchase the newer version of Michael without the three fake tracks. Not to mention now the Cascio Family is now a falsely accusing Michael of S.A.

I was just saying the other day I prefer the leaked version of hold My hand better than the version that they finalized. I also prefer the version of the way you love me from The ultimate collection over this version.

I think I even prefer the leaked version of behind the mask and the other people that have sung it over the version that was on this album.

The only song I guess I really liked on this was Hollywood tonight.

I really try to like much too soon and best of joy but they just didn't click with me.
 
Nite Line said:
Which track from the album is still your favorite today?
Best of Joy & Hold My Hand.

Who was the worst producer on the album?
Lenny Kravitz, because Another Day is the worst song on the album, excluding the 3 fake tracks.
Click to expand...
Hold My Hand and Another Day kinda are the only songs that really were made with the intention to finish them the way they would’ve sounded and not to remix/remake them entirely
 
I was 33 when it came out. I guess it was the moment I realised you can't trust the estate, and when I lost all interest in "new Michael Jackson songs".

Favourite is probably Hollywood Tonight.
 
No thanks , don’t want to celebrate the anniversary of that abomination and rubbish album art.

It did give us Much too soon though , so credit where it’s due
 
dam2040 said:
I heard Breaking News when it premiered. I was absolutely stunned, and knew instantly it wasn't him, before the first sentence was even finished. My heart sunk.

The rest of the album unfortunately is quite good - Behind The Mask is probably my favourite as time has gone on, Hollywood Tonight too.

It's the closest to an actual MJ album the Estate have given us, which is ironic.
Click to expand...
They had the nerve to tease breaking news by releasing the intro , it legit sounded like a real MJ track.

As soon as the vocals started , it was instantly obvious that it was not him (Malachi)
 
The pre-excitement ahead of its release was huge in 2010. The disappointment after hearing Breaking News was huge as well, unfortunately.

I thought it was a joke. I knew something was wrong for the first second on, when the vocals appeard on the live stream of the track.

Still great tracks on the album. Especially, Behind the Mask.
 
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I remember waiting anxiously for the 30 sec preview clip to premiere and while I liked the beat and production I started to question why they didn't "preview" a single word sung by MJ (now I know why) and why the only thing that made it an MJ-Adjacent track was the "aww" at the end, and even that felt like it was taken from somewhere else, like I had heard it before.

Hearing the full track and listening to "Michael Jackson" refer to himself in the third person over and over was just too much.
 
A bummer that this album was released in the state it was in. Even as a newer fan at the time I knew the vocals on those three songs weren't Michael. I had heard another fake MJ song years prior that was done by Jason Malachi (Let Me Let Go) and instantly recognized it was the same voice. Really a shame as some of the other, legit songs are quite nice. Monster could have been huge if Michael had fully completed his vocals for it and they released it with said vocals.

If Todd in the Shadows ever decides to do a Trainwreckords video on one of Michael's albums, it should be this one.
 
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Like that theme song from "The Facts of Life," you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both. Yeah, it's messed up about those three fake songs. They weren't good anyway. I wasn't going to let them ruin the excitement.

Where were you the first time you heard "Breaking News"? What were your first thoughts when you listened to it?
I was at my house, waiting around midnight, finally came, and I was shocked... "This doesn't sound like him!" Prior to that, there was controversy about the authenticity of Michael's vocals coming from some of the Jackson family, but I was neutral until I can hear it for myself. After that, I was like, "No way! This is NOT Michael, not by a long shot!" Aside from singing his own name in "Dear Michael," he never sang his name. It wasn't until years later when we all found out how it could this be possible!

Which track from the album is still your favorite today?
I love "Best of Joy." That's one of the best posthumous songs. I also enjoyed "Behind the Mask (both the 2010 version and the "Mike's Mix Demo"). "(I Can't Make It) Another Day," I'm still rocking it today. "Much Too Soon" was very different, but I loved it. "(I Like) The Way You Love Me," it was interesting that they included Michael's message about how he wanted the song to go, and I enjoyed it. "Hold My Hand" is definitely Michael, even though it was Akon's project from the start. "Hollywood Tonight" was good until I heard the demo, I prefer the demo version now. If I had to pick one, it would probably be "Best of Joy."

Who was the worst producer on the album?
Who else? It's a no-brainer. Maybe that's why Michael wasn't feeling those "songs."
 
I like the Michael Album. The art, the songs (the real songs). Best of joy and Hollywood are highlights. The only one I'm not fond of is Another Day. It's just not my cup of tea.
 
Behind The Mask is the best thing on there, great remix. I like Best Of Joy and I think Neff U did a fine job with the remix but still waiting on the original demo lol. Hollywood Tonight remix is pretty mediocre and Teddy changing the bridge part just makes it a non listen for me nowadays.
 
It's strange that I don't remember the day MJ passed, but I remember very clearly the first days after the release of the Michael album. I guess I was just too young, I'm a 2001 kid!

As far back as I can remember, I've always loved his music. Some of my earliest pre-2009 memories are singing Thriller and Billie Jean at the top of my lungs with a friend from elementary school on the way to the swimming pool, while my mom was driving us there. Or another classmate doing a ridiculously funny dance to Beat It at his birthday party, that image is still burned into my brain lol.

My first real post-2009 memory tied to MJ is my dad buying me the Michael CD, because he knew how much I loved his music. I played Hold My Hand and Hollywood Tonight nonstop, especially Hold My Hand, which was my absolute fav. I still have a video on an old iPod Touch of my whole family in the car, going to pick up my grandma for a day trip, with Hold My Hand playing in the background. I'd put it on repeat every single time it ended. Thinking about that now is super nostalgic, and I still associate that song with a really carefree moment of my childhood, especially because my grandma is in that video.

The last thing I remember about the album is that I always skipped Another Day. I couldn't stand it, I still don't like that track at all today.
 
I’m gonna be completely honest. I knew something was wrong as soon as I heard “Everybody watching the news bout Majkel Jacsun.” I just knew something was off, but I tried to justify it, in any way I could. We’d just come from losing Michael and the TII project and I desperately wanted to just shut off my brain for a moment and pretend like it was the old days when I used to sneak into my older brothers room and listen to his MJ albums. I said to myself

“There’s no way they’d use someone else’s voice. That’s conspiracy talk”

I was in complete denial. Yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. The more I listened to it, the more I started to come to grip with the reality of the situation. What happened next is perhaps the real tragedy, imo. The division within the fanbase that still, to this day, hasn’t healed. For those of you who weren’t here or active, I believe the thread is still available here to scroll through. It was a crazy time. What was supposed to be a celebration turned into a WWE event. And it wasn’t just in-fighting but also battles against the estate who tried to gaslight us, and the media who called us conspiratorial “crazy” fans. Even my brother, whom I inherited a lot of my musical taste from including MJ, told me I was bugging and that it was him. He has since then changed his tune.

Nowadays I only listen to 3 songs from thay album, I believe. Best Of Joy, Much Too Soon and Hold My Hand. Those were the songs I felt stayed true to Michael’s essence If I could say.
 
1. I was at home when I first heard Breaking News. It was hilariously off base and yet, I just was along for the ride. The other fake Casio songs, well they were just as glaringly fake, but they were way catchier.

2. All of that chaos for me became irrelevant when I heard Behind The Mask, which was quintessential Michael Jackson. To be honest, I don’t think they’ve put out a better song posthumously, though This Is It and Love Never Felt So Good are the most iconic. Dare I say I like it more than some of his enduring classics. It’s just high up in the ranking for me.

I was also partial to Hollywood Tonight, but to me it’s too cluttered sonically. The Throwback Mix is neater and funkier but also a little too sparse. There’s no perfect version of the song tragically. That’s how the songs always felt, like a true unpolished gem.

3. Worst producer on the record in my opinion, was Teddy. He said too much, did too much, but his work ethic in comparison to Dangerous was a steep drop off a cliff. Akon was fine, and Lenny has his critics but I like Another Day well enough. Neff-U was solid. John McClain though, he was the MVP here. I wish he got more credit as the executor in comparison to Branca. Maybe one day he’ll give a tell all book.
 
1. I think I listened to it when I premiered at midnight? I was home, of course.
2. "Best of Joy", easily.
3. Dunno lol
 
Breaking News 2025

Riley, Branca and McClain
fakers behind Michael 2010
they turned the back on our love
and they can't get it again
 
The album should not have been released in 2010 with 3 fake songs, the estate probably thought the fans would not notice it, which showed me at the time that they do not take fans seriously
 
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