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MJ's Album and 'Unreleased' Songs

A good number of his unreleased material are gems.. sometimes could have been classics if released.. a few I find them more as Michael exploring different sounds to see what works, so for that if he didn't believe in them than I could understand.. Now we do consider the fact that for a large part Michael worked artistically with people he believed In also.. They would vote on what they felt would be smash songs..

If it were up to Michael we would not have had 'Another Part Of Me', could you imagine that??? It would have been replaced with Street Walker (great song) but picture never having the APOM video, performance...

We couldn't have ALL the songs even though we would like it lol! Also another thing we have to consider him and his team plotted out his album lay out for a specific feel. That's why they would pin songs against each other instead of putting both.. Like "We have two jumpy rock theme songs.. Which one?" they tried balancing the album
 
respect77 said:
It only would have made the album repetitive.
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I agree.. I like some of the Bad demo's more than some of the songs on the actual album, but if they'd been included the album would have ended up being pretty unbalanced. That's why I understand the choices they made with Bad.. imo the album is perfect as is, and we have the demo's now anyways, so I'm happy! :D
 
I love every single demo on Bad25 and wish they were finished and wish he had put out that 3 disc album. I wouldn't throw out one single song in the original.

I see the concept of Bad as being a visual album. Each and every song is a mini movie. And then the videos he made were even a thousand times better than what I was seeing in my mind. (With the exception of Liberian Girl).
 
barbee0715 said:
I love every single demo on Bad25 and wish they were finished and wish he had put out that 3 disc album. I wouldn't throw out one single song in the original.

I see the concept of Bad as being a visual album. Each and every song is a mini movie. And then the videos he made were even a thousand times better than what I was seeing in my mind. (With the exception of Liberian Girl).
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There could have definitely been a mini movie or concept.

He courts the girl, the girl cheats on him he accuses her of prostitution and social deviants, she is now an outcast from society, he is the 'Smooth Criminal' and kills her for revenge, but convinces himself that some other person his Alter ego named Al Capone did it.


The Way Make Me Feel--------Cheater------Streetwalker--------Smooth Criminal---------Al Capone

That seemly is a basic concept right there.
 
innuendo141 said:
So keeping in line what you had said in the other thread you think that Michael could have, nay, SHOULD have outsold Thriller by releasing a 3 disc concept album.
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What does this have to do with outselling thriller? HUH? Quality NOT quantity.
 
innuendo141 said:
Smooth Criminal is a fully produced completed song.

Al Capone is a demo with incomplete lyrics that are impossible to understand, and possibly some not even english (Michael had a tendency to do that).

Al Capone is incomplete early draft of Smooth Criminal. The magic of evolution. Smooth Criminal is a finished masterpiece.
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I'll step out against the crowd here and admit that I prefer Al Capone to Smooth Criminal.

The groove is so much more addictive and the base line is a bit sharper than that of the original. Not that Smooth Criminal isn't an excellent piece, but sweet Lord, my jaw was on the ground the first time I heard Al Capone. A much better song, in my personal opinion.

It doesn't really have anything to do with completion. Hey, I adore Beautiful Girl and Fall Again, and those songs are far from finished. It's just how impressive the presented work is. And Al Capone could stand on its own as an absolutely excellent demo.
 
AlwaysThere said:
It doesn't really have anything to do with completion. Hey, I adore Beautiful Girl and Fall Again, and those songs are far from finished. It's just how impressive the presented work is. And Al Capone could stand on its own as an absolutely excellent demo.
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It's definitely become one of the most enjoyable songs for me to listen to aswell. Smooth Criminal is one of my favourite songs but that's why I appreciate Al Capone so much. Plus the fact I'm kind of obsessed with that whole prohibition era in the states. I just wish the lyrics were much clearer but the one's I sing along to are still pretty good, even if they are wrong.
 
AlwaysThere said:
I'll step out against the crowd here and admit that I prefer Al Capone to Smooth Criminal.

The groove is so much more addictive and the base line is a bit sharper than that of the original. Not that Smooth Criminal isn't an excellent piece, but sweet Lord, my jaw was on the ground the first time I heard Al Capone. A much better song, in my personal opinion.

It doesn't really have anything to do with completion. Hey, I adore Beautiful Girl and Fall Again, and those songs are far from finished. It's just how impressive the presented work is. And Al Capone could stand on its own as an absolutely excellent demo.
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Yeah I see what you're saying. Al Capone is definitely funkier. It also has this relentless energy - one catchy hook after another.

I love both AC and SC as compositions. I find it hard to compare them as one is a finished masterpiece and the other is not. I would probably still go with SC, but if he had fully finished Capone, I might have preferred it to SC as well.
 
SoCav said:
Yeah I see what you're saying. Al Capone is definitely funkier. It also has this relentless energy - one catchy hook after another.

I love both AC and SC as compositions. I find it hard to compare them as one is a finished masterpiece and the other is not. I would probably still go with SC, but if he had fully finished Capone, I might have preferred it to SC as well.
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AC is the sequel to SC lyrically.
 
innuendo141 said:
It's definitely become one of the most enjoyable songs for me to listen to aswell. Smooth Criminal is one of my favourite songs but that's why I appreciate Al Capone so much. Plus the fact I'm kind of obsessed with that whole prohibition era in the states. I just wish the lyrics were much clearer but the one's I sing along to are still pretty good, even if they are wrong.
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Without a doubt. It gets a little irritating listening to it and having no idea what he's saying - but then again I adore Tabloid Junkie, and the verses/bridge are completely indistinguishable without lyrics at hand (which may be wrong in themselves).

SoCav said:
Yeah I see what you're saying. Al Capone is definitely funkier. It also has this relentless energy - one catchy hook after another.

I love both AC and SC as compositions. I find it hard to compare them as one is a finished masterpiece and the other is not. I would probably still go with SC, but if he had fully finished Capone, I might have preferred it to SC as well.
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I feel odd looking at what is (rightfully) considered to be one of Michael's best songs and saying, "The unfinished demo is better," but I just can't help it. SC has a darker, more cinematic feel, whereas AC sounds hand plucked from the first half of the album - funkier and more upbeat.

Both are excellent but I find myself listening to AC much more often.
 
My opinion on this Smooth Criminal vs. Al Capone is this: While al Capone has a great rhythm and can stand on its own. Smooth Criminal as a theme brings more mystery (which Michael was definitely working into his image at the time).. From the talk of "what is he saying?" lol "Smooth criminal, what kind of criminal?" "Who's Annie? and what happened to her?.. Is she ok?" lol . Al Capone lays it all out, everyone knows who Al Capone is.. I'm not taking anything from the song but I could understand why they went with Smooth Criminal.. To add to that listening to both songs, Al Capone does sound a little more dated! Smooth Crim. would have a longer life.
 
KOPV;4101722 said:
My opinion on this Smooth Criminal vs. Al Capone is this: While al Capone has a great rhythm and can stand on its own. Smooth Criminal as a theme brings more mystery (which Michael was definitely working into his image at the time).. From the talk of "what is he saying?" lol "Smooth criminal, what kind of criminal?" "Who's Annie? and what happened to her?.. Is she ok?" lol . Al Capone lays it all out, everyone knows who Al Capone is.. I'm not taking anything from the song but I could understand why they went with Smooth Criminal.. To add to that listening to both songs, Al Capone does sound a little more dated! Smooth Crim. would have a longer life.
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I'm tell you what both SC and AC are all about. The Smooth Criminal is actually MJ giving himself an elias. See he killed Annie. Annie is the code name he gave for Billie Jean. So Billie Jean the stalker and paternity fraudster is the one that got murdered. MJ was masking his true feeling by the constant repetition of the phrase "Annie are you O.K.? See he was fooling the listener into thinking he cared but in actual fact he was the killer and constant repetition of it was to convince us and divert our attention away from suspecting that MJ was the possible culprit. Think about it, he even recites the exact scenario of how Annie (Billie Jean) was stalked and killed:


First Verse
As he came into the window
It was the sound of a crescendo
He came into her apartment
He left the bloodstains on the carpet
She ran underneath the table
He could see she was unable
So she ran into the bedroom
She was struck down, it was her doom

Second Verse
So they came in to the outway,
It was Sunday, what a black day.
Every time I tried to find him,
There were no clues, they’re behind him.
And they end up never knowing,
Who’s the suspect or what to expect.
Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,
Sounding heartbeats, intimidations.


He basically narrates the entire scene and scenario. If MJ was not the SC, then how was he able to recite the exact circumstance of the crime so easily? Think about that. In another stroke of genius towards the end of the song he can be heard repeatedly saying "I don't know" after every question he asked her in the chorus. He is basically further toying with the listener trying to convince us that he doesn't know to make it sound like he wasn't the SC:


Annie are you okay, I don't know
Will you tell us that you're okay, I don't know
There's a sign in the window, I don't know
That he struck you, a crescendo Annie, I don't know
He came into your apartment, I don't know
Left bloodstains on the carpet, I don't know why baby
Then you ran into the bedroom, I don't know


With Al Capone, he is again using a different alias but this time instead of it being just a random nameless 'Smooth Criminal', he furthers the narration of the story by implanting a real and famous gangster/crime lord. This makes it seem as though he is the investigator and has now got possible leads to who committed the crime. But ultimately he is the SC or AC.
 
Funkystrong;4101744 said:
I'm tell you what both SC and AC are all about. The Smooth Criminal is actually MJ giving himself an elias. See he killed Annie. Annie is the code name he gave for Billie Jean. So Billie Jean the stalker and paternity fraudster is the one that got murdered. MJ was masking his true feeling by the constant repetition of the phrase "Annie are you O.K.? See he was fooling the listener into thinking he cared but in actual fact he was the killer and constant repetition of it was to convince us and divert our attention away from suspecting that MJ was the possible culprit. Think about it, he even recites the exact scenario of how Annie (Billie Jean) was stalked and killed:


First Verse
As he came into the window
It was the sound of a crescendo
He came into her apartment
He left the bloodstains on the carpet
She ran underneath the table
He could see she was unable
So she ran into the bedroom
She was struck down, it was her doom

Second Verse
So they came in to the outway,
It was Sunday, what a black day.
Every time I tried to find him,
There were no clues, they’re behind him.
And they end up never knowing,
Who’s the suspect or what to expect.
Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,
Sounding heartbeats, intimidations.


He basically narrates the entire scene and scenario. If MJ was not the SC, then how was he able to recite the exact circumstance of the crime so easily? Think about that. In another stroke of genius towards the end of the song he can be heard repeatedly saying "I don't know" after every question he asked her in the chorus. He is basically further toying with the listener trying to convince us that he doesn't know to make it sound like he wasn't the SC:


Annie are you okay, I don't know
Will you tell us that you're okay, I don't know
There's a sign in the window, I don't know
That he struck you, a crescendo Annie, I don't know
He came into your apartment, I don't know
Left bloodstains on the carpet, I don't know why baby
Then you ran into the bedroom, I don't know


With Al Capone, he is again using a different alias but this time instead of it being just a random nameless 'Smooth Criminal', he furthers the narration of the story by implanting a real and famous gangster/crime lord. This makes it seem as though he is the investigator and has now got possible leads to who committed the crime. But ultimately he is the SC or AC.
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You have a vivid imagination, ill give you that
 
AlwaysThere said:
Without a doubt. It gets a little irritating listening to it and having no idea what he's saying - but then again I adore Tabloid Junkie, and the verses/bridge are completely indistinguishable without lyrics at hand (which may be wrong in themselves).
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Add Shout to that list too. ven reading the lyrics I sill find it hard to know what he's saying.

As for unreleased songs, She Got It is a song I love even though I know half of what I'm singing is gibberish. Dont care!
 
innuendo141 said:
Add Shout to that list too. ven reading the lyrics I sill find it hard to know what he's saying.

As for unreleased songs, She Got It is a song I love even though I know half of what I'm singing is gibberish. Dont care!
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Exactly! Forgot about Shout - that one's excellent.
 
innuendo141 said:
Add Shout to that list too. ven reading the lyrics I sill find it hard to know what he's saying.

As for unreleased songs, She Got It is a song I love even though I know half of what I'm singing is gibberish. Dont care!
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Lol. shout sounds like straight up gibbersh. If they ever release that song, please turn up MJ's vocals on the verses.
 
Themidwestcowboy said:
Lol. shout sounds like straight up gibbersh. If they ever release that song, please turn up MJ's vocals on the verses.
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I can understand it fine haha. Although yeah his voice could do with a slight volume increase.
 
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