The Discussion of MJ's Unreleased Tracks

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

It's not on qobuz.

Cuz it sounds worse than ever

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

I think if anything now we should start considering why certain songs (Sunset Driver, We’ve Had Enough) get near entire vocal takes while certain songs (Water, Don’t Be Messin’ Round) never do.

 

[MsAshley]

I think if anything now we should start considering why certain songs (Sunset Driver, We’ve Had Enough) get near entire vocal takes while certain songs (Water, Don’t Be Messin’ Round) never do.

do we know dont be messin round doesnt? i dont like the song so ive never really looked into it, but michael seemed obsessed with it

 

[mjfp]

do we know dont be messin round doesnt? i dont like the song so ive never really looked into it, but michael seemed obsessed with it

I think if anything now we should start considering why certain songs (Sunset Driver, We’ve Had Enough) get near entire vocal takes while certain songs (Water, Don’t Be Messin’ Round) never do.

I mean the 1986 vocal track sounds great. He re-recorded it during the Dangerous sessions but the vocal track sounds more work in progress and it has additional lyrics. During and after Invincible, Michael always first wanted to finish the song entirely before recording the vocals. When he worked on previous demos, he just kept a previously recorded vocal take as reference, when the track was finished, then he wanted to record vocal tracks.

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

I mean the 1986 vocal track sounds great. He re-recorded it during the Dangerous sessions but the vocal track sounds more work in progress and it has additional lyrics. During and after Invincible, Michael always first wanted to finish the song entirely before recording the vocals. When he worked on previous demos, he just kept a previously recorded vocal take as reference, when the track was finished, then he wanted to record vocal tracks.

I mean there’s a general process but on an individual case by case, there’s still a lot of nuance. Slave to the Rhythm got recorded multiple times but ultimately got left off, Xscape was essentially fully finished but leaked before it was put out, Hold My Hand was a work in progress. Each song has its own unique work in progress narrative.

 

[mjfp]

I mean there’s a general process but on an individual case by case, there’s still a lot of nuance. Slave to the Rhythm got recorded multiple times but ultimately got left off, Xscape was essentially fully finished but leaked before it was put out, Hold My Hand was a work in progress. Each song has its own unique work in progress narrative.

I was mainly talking about the 2000s versions of DBMR. Michael often recorded multiple vocal takes, even before the main vocal sessions happened. Slave To The Rhythm‘s vocal take is still a demo take and isn‘t the one that would‘ve been on the album in 91, but it would‘ve been re-recorded entirely. Xscape was finished in 2001 for Invincible but left off. Hold My Hand was actually mainly just a vocal session, Akon‘s original demo is practically the same.

From Bad to HIStory, the recording process was nearly always, vocal and instrumental demo -> instrumental -> vocal sessions -> mixing -> master. But for Heal The World for example, Michael felt something was missing during mixing, so additional Toms were recorded and overdubbed onto the mix.

After the many leaks in the 2000s, he backed off of recording lead vocals till the track was finished entirely.