Do you listen to the posthumous albums?

I think "Xscape" is pretty good, even if the new arrangements are a bit overproduced. It's well worth a listen, especially the demo versions of the songs.
 
Widely believed in the fan community...not proven or admitted to, as yet. There is a class action court case going on at the moment, which feels as though it will never actually end.

The controversy around the Cascio songs really turned me off the Michael album, so I never bought it. I will admit there are some good songs on that album, though.

I did buy the deluxe edition of Xscape and I definitely prefer that one out of the two.

I'm also a Britney Spears fan, and the same rumour and controversy surrounded her Britney Jean album. Her backup singer Myah Marie is rumoured to have done a lot more than just background vocals on half the record, and it's her own father that started the rumour (he later backtracked but his words to Star Magazine were beyond clear). Myah Marie and Britney's team denied the rumours.

It really sucks 'cause Michael and Britney Jean are both solid and very good albums, two of my favourites, to be honest, so no, I don't believe those rumours. Sure, Myah Marie is quite present on Britney Jean as a background vocalist, but to the extent of fully (or almost fully) dubbing three songs and parts of other songs??? I refuse to believe so. And it's not unusual for background vocalists to sing lead in certain parts, ad-libs, or for an engineer to layer the backup singer's voice with that of the main artist. Same thing when it comes to Michael.

I love both Michael and Xscape, and I'm very glad they were released as Michael did not release that many studio albums in the 80s and beyond.
 
I do not listen to the posthumous albums at all. I feel that the songs were butchered in the mastering.... that and the fake songs show that very little thought went into them. The inclusions of the original versions on the Xscape special edition was the only reason to buy it, with the other versions being tacky and unlistenable. And as for Scream... that one was pretty much a waste that offered nothing new, and wasn't even consistent in its theme. There is a whole host of unreleased MJ tracks out there, surely they can do a lot better to protect his musical legacy.
 
Sorry for asking, but I didn't hear about that. Which songs are the fake songs on the Xscape?
 
I hate posthumous remixes so I only listen to the demos but not often.I'd rather listen to HIStory these days.
 
A Place Without No Name - in Xscape is genius. I love it. There are some real treasures on that album.

Yes!!! Since I'm so young, I didn't know about Michael until he died. But when Xscape came out, I became obsessed! Especially with A Place With No Name! I had that on loop and it always made me wanna dance! So I honestly don't mind if they do more of those albums, cause they could encourage the younger generations to explore and enjoy Michael's legacy and magic in his music and everything he did. Just as long as they don't bring any fake voice impersonator on HIS STUFF...I'll be good!
 
Sorry for asking, but I didn't hear about that. Which songs are the fake songs on the Xscape?
the album 'Michael' has 3 fake songs.
keep your head up, breaking news, monster
(voice sounds like Jason Malachi).


there are no fake songs on xscape.
 
For me I don't even bother with those album. When Xscape came out in stores I didn't bother getting it. I just didn't see the point of it. Especially since it won't be no where near as good as the ones that did come out when we still had him. Because of my depression which is really bad now. Knowing what it is going to be in June. I don't even listen to him anymore. Late August of 2017 was the last time I had listen to him.:boohoo
 
There are MJ songs on this albums, aren't there??

And good ones at that. Even some great ones.
I'd say there are some jewels & rough diamonds on that posthumous releases.

Of course I listen to those albums/songs. I love ALL MJ...
 
I hope more posthumous albums and singles are released since Michael did not release many studio albums in the 80s (only 2), the 90s (only 2) and the 2000s (only 1). In Michael's case, it was very much a case of quality over quantity (though releasing many albums doesn't necessarily mean lesser quality). I wish he had released even more studio albums, though; it could have happened was it not for all those sordid sex abuse allegations, the toll they had on his life and his untimely passing.
 
The problem with the Posthumous albums (and Invincible) is that Michael seemed to stop writing songs and rather outsourced ideas to others. Which is why we never get a feeling of identity on the albums. Invincible is one massive fruit salad and feels like an album of b-sides and outtakes. Same goes for Michael and Xscape.
All of a sudden we've got Jerkins, Dr Freeze, Riley, Babyface, Harris.

Some of the posthumous tracks are great whilst others are pleasant at best.

Probably my favourite is the one with Kravitz Another Day, but I preferred the original demo leak rather than the finalised album version.

Would love to hear the original Much Too Soon version also. Xscape as a track is a cracker and should have been on Invincible.
 
MJPhantz;4253841 said:
The problem with the Posthumous albums (and Invincible) is that Michael seemed to stop writing songs and rather outsourced ideas to others. Which is why we never get a feeling of identity on the albums. Invincible is one massive fruit salad and feels like an album of b-sides and outtakes. Same goes for Michael and Xscape.
All of a sudden we've got Jerkins, Dr Freeze, Riley, Babyface, Harris.

Some of the posthumous tracks are great whilst others are pleasant at best.

Probably my favourite is the one with Kravitz Another Day, but I preferred the original demo leak rather than the finalised album version.

Would love to hear the original Much Too Soon version also. Xscape as a track is a cracker and should have been on Invincible.

The adage ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ applies perfectly to the ‘Invincible’ album.

Also, MJ was not working consistently on that album, & instead of staying focused on his work, he used to take very long breaks which certainly did not help the whole process of making that album.

When you want to do a job right, then you should be committed, focused & try also to work under pressure of time which is an additional motive.

I would have preferred the first version of the ‘Invincible’ album (mid 2000), which it did have more of an identity.

Also, the decision to remove the ‘Xscape’ song from the official ‘Invincible’ track list was so unexpected that took people who were working on the album by complete surprise.

‘Invincible’ is the only album of his career that the unreleased material from those sessions was by far better than the officially included one.
 
I definitely do. I find these albums very interesting, since they were previously unreleased songs (duh). For the most part, I think the "modern" mixing and instrumentation on these songs is wonderful; I don't really mind it. I understand the idea that Michael did not want this stuff released, so some fans refuse to listen to this, but I still listen, since his music fascinates me.
 
Not often but they have many great songs. I actually like Michael album more than Xscape. It sounds better.
 
I listen to some posthumous songs such as Best of Joy, Slave to the Ryhtm, Hold My Hand on a frequent basis, but most posthumous songs, I haven't listened to more than 4-5 times.
 
Galactus123;4272171 said:
Not often but they have many great songs. I actually like Michael album more than Xscape. It sounds better.

I actually haven’t stopped listening to Xscape since it was released. I LOVE that album. It still sounds fresh. Btw, I have not listened to the Michael album since the first day it was released.

The Xscape album STILL sounds great. I just listened to it today. I love the fact that it has the originals and the remixes. This was a great project from the Estate and I am so thankful that they released it.
 
somewhereinthedark;4272197 said:
I actually haven’t stopped listening to Xscape since it was released. I LOVE that album. It still sounds fresh. Btw, I have not listened to the Michael album since the first day it was released.

The Xscape album STILL sounds great. I just listened to it today. I love the fact that it has the originals and the remixes. This was a great project from the Estate and I am so thankful that they released it.

Yeah, great album. Definitely the best the Estate has given us after Bad 25.
 
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I listen to Michael's postumous work. I agree that some of the production has marred some of the original tracks, but songs like Behind The Mask, Best of Joy and a Place with No Name are killer. I also dig Love Never Felt So Good. However I do.feel like there's a lotta subpar stuff in those albums. I wonder what gems could be in that vaultm
 
I agree Xscape is great. - I really hope next new album will be made the same way - 2 discs - and disc 2 is the demoes as mj left them.
 
I listen to some posthumous songs such as Best of Joy, Slave to the Ryhtm, Hold My Hand on a frequent basis, but most posthumous songs, I haven't listened to more than 4-5 times.

Best Of Joy is my favorite posthumous song. It's a beautiful song and it's a travesty he didn't get to finish it and release it.
 
I've been listening to Xscape more often, and it only reaffirmed my love of (most of) the remixes and my disappointment with (most of) the originals. "Chicago" and "A Place With No Name" in particular were brought to new levels, whereas I feel the originals are somewhat lacking.

I play Michael every now and again, but its replay value isn't as strong to me.
 
I listen to Michael's postumous work. I agree that some of the production has marred some of the original tracks, but songs like Behind The Mask, Best of Joy and a Place with No Name are killer. I also dig Love Never Felt So Good. However I do.feel like there's a lotta subpar stuff in those albums. I wonder what gems could be in that vaultm

The fact that some of them are "subpar" is probably why Michael never finished them and released them, in the first place. I doubt that there's anything much better in the vault than what we've already heard, to be honest.

I listen to the posthumous albums just as often as I listen to the other albums....they're just blended into the rotation, on shuffle. I like many of the posthumous songs very much - Behind the Mask, Hollywood Tonight, Hold My Hand, Another Day, STTR, Chicago, Love Never Felt So Good, Xscape, to name just a few. Normally, I don't like remixes at all. I didn't even like the remixes that Michael did himself, for BOTDF and Thriller 25. BUT I love most of the remixes on the Xscape album - generally, the producers did a very good job of what is no doubt an extremely difficult task.
 
i listen to xscape album more than the michael album
 
I'm surprised that most fans prefer the Xscape album over the Michael album. Personally, I have always preferred the Michael album (minus the 3 fake songs) over the Xscape album. Sound wise, Michael album feels more like a Michael Jackson album to me, whereas Xscape doesn't.

Am the only MJ fan who feels that way?
 
I love Xscape, love the reworked tracks, because of Timbaland. They should do a project like that again with Pharrell Williams, Daft Punk and Skrillex as a producer. Unheard tracks of course.
 
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