Thriller 40th Anniversary - Songs Discussion

[luis98]

I think the mastering is bad. The overall quality of the tracks will be all over the place anyway, because most of these are DEMOS!!! We don't know what their sources are, cassette tapes, acetates etc. They could have told us what the sources were in the booklet, maybe even show some pics of them. The quality of the recordings doesn't bother me at all because I know that these are DEMOS! But there's no excuse for carousel and the other already released tracks to sound bad. Why didnt they get Bernie Grundman to do the mastering? The estate probably fell out with him aswell, probably due to branca's ego! Also,the leaked version of Starlight from years ago sounds better than the officially released version.
I really like WDYK and WALWTG. I can imagine them with The Lady in My Life style of production on them!

Overall, I'm happy we are getting some unreleased stuff, but there should have been more! Where are Nite Line, Trouble, Hot Street? But at least the tracks are not touched or remixed in any way. But what could have made this package better is a Blu-ray with the remastered videos and the original making of thriller documentary.

The estate need to look at what other estates are doing and take notes. But we all know they won't. Branca won't take advice from anyone, especially the fans! They still used that god awful logo on the vinyl and they spelt David Paich wrong in the booklet.

Overall, better than nothing, but still not good enough. I think most of us have lost faith in the estate. It's sad. Why aren't Michael's children involved? It seems like they don't care.

 

[waldo]

the children are clueless. they don't care about the unreleased music. Trouble is the last track!

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

I see, so you do not like the lyrics. But what about the musically idea behind? You do not like the beatboxing etc.?

Anyway, this song reminds me a lot of another song. Especially the refrain, anyone can help?

It's Elton John Yellow Brick Road, Imagine by John Lennon.

 

[SmoothGangsta]

I think we all now understand why Porcaro doesn't want the estate anywhere near his songs lol

 

[Harun]

!!! We don't know what their sources are, cassette tapes, acetates etc. They could have told us what the sources were in the booklet, maybe even show some pics of them.

They found a cassette in the fishermen price recorder of prince and Paris…

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

The biggest issue I have with the Estate is that they could get it right if they wanted to.

Seems like they are making most money out of the live shows, MJ The Musical, One show in Vegas and no doubt the upcoming Biopic. They have been a great success so well done but..

Perhaps put more effort into the real magic, ie MJ's albums. Xscape back in 2014 was good I have no issue with but everything else just seems so amateurish.

The difference is all of those things have been outsourced to creative and smart people. Cirque De Soleil, Spike Lee for docs, uh, Broadway (Whoever heads the musical), and L.A. Reid was in charge in Xscape. Who is that creative in the Estate to head these projects. They could have let Will.I.Am, Michael Prince, Rodney Jerkins or Teddy Riley, be in charge of the archives. Someone who's a noted music/archival professional.

 

[SmoothGangsta]

Even on xscape the original versions were butchered. They only cared about the remixes.

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

Even on xscape the original versions were butchered. They only cared about the remixes.

Ever since 2001 the releases have not been as good. It peaked with HIStory, the most expensive mastering on an album of all time. Bruce Swedien began to step off and things changed.

 

[farlnd]

It's Elton John Yellow Brick Road, Imagine by John Lennon.

I got the Elton John/Christopher Cross vibes from it too.

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

I got the Elton John/Christopher Cross vibes from it too.

Yeah, that's how Mark Ronson described it, it's an apt comparison.

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

My ears are not well trained enough for most sound mastering, I only have some Galaxy Buds to listen on, but all of the released tracks sound better to me than they have from various releases over the year. Carousel and Got The Hots are both much, lower, and far less compressed. The vocals do sound louder than the instrumental too.

 

[innuendo141]

What A Lovely Way is surely mid to late seventies? Hes doing things with his voice he didnt do after 78

 

[SmoothGangsta]

What A Lovely Way is surely mid to late seventies? Hes doing things with his voice he didnt do after 78

Who knows, I legitimately do not trust anything the estate say in regards to MJ's music lol.

 

[Harun]

What A Lovely Way is surely mid to late seventies? Hes doing things with his voice he didnt do after 78

Im thinking it’s a prequel of behind the mask?

 

[mjfan_93]

Do you think that there is a more complete version of Lovely Way? I cant see that they actually considered THAT vocal take for the posthumous albums.

 

[Harun]

Honestly the best thing for us was if Chris / cartman!? Dropped the complete backcatalogue of mj with ALL his unrealased tracks. It would be better for mjs legacy than what the estate do right now! Now I’m appreciate all the leaks they are better than the official estate shit

 

[Scared of the Moon]

Do you think that there is a more complete version of Lovely Way? I cant see that they actually considered THAT vocal take for the posthumous albums.

The vocals from the 2010 mix are the exact same.

 

[mjfan_93]

The vocals from the 2010 mix are the exact same.

Uff! Would love to hear that one then.

 

[Dilan]

There probably was some agreement prior or post MJs death with John Branca to sabotage his posthumous legacy. Probably to with some sort of Vendetta with Sony involved because of the power MJ had owning half of ATV. There is no point complaining they do all of this intentionally. I wonder why Prince doesn't voice his opinions on how badly the estate handles projects.

There is literally signed notes by MJ saying "Dont trust John Branca"

 

[jaorecords]

It's Elton John Yellow Brick Road, Imagine by John Lennon.

Also, it is very similar to "Arthur's Theme" by Christopher Cross

 

[Dorian]

I think they got Bernie Grundman for Bad25 or Xscape? It was awfully mastered anyway. We don’t have proper mastering in this day and age.

 

[Dorian]

There probably was some agreement prior or post MJs death with John Branca to sabotage his posthumous legacy. Probably to with some sort of Vendetta with Sony involved because of the power MJ had owning half of ATV. There is no point complaining they do all of this intentionally. I wonder why Prince doesn't voice his opinions on how badly the estate handles projects

Can we stop with Sony? They won’t sabotage themselves.

 

[Dilan]

Can we stop with Sony? They won’t sabotage themselves.

How much money does these people already have and how much have they already made from MJ? They can afford to kick in a few swerve balls

 

[NeoGardiV8]

Only good thing from this release is the MoFi/SACD and 4k videos.

Yep

 

[NeoGardiV8]

I think they got Bernie Grundman for Bad25 or Xscape? It was awfully mastered anyway. We don’t have proper mastering in this day and age.

Yeah, sad but true, the only way we can get good quality masterings in the modern era is if a dedicated audiophile label (like MFSL) gets the rights to make their own remaster, which doesn't happen often, and usually these labels focus on very specific types of music genres, meaning that there's even less chances of us MJ fans getting any audiophile MJ stuff, Thriller's new SACD by MoFi is really a miracle.

 

[Derek1984]

Definitely a half-a$$ project. It's like they really didn't even want to do it.

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

Who Do You Know - I'm So Blue is a perfect evolution. Imagining how many songs those two inspired by their emotions is super interesting. Ultimately neither one surpasses, say, Stranger in Moscow.

 

[waldo]

Honestly the best thing for us was if Chris / cartman!? Dropped the complete backcatalogue of mj with ALL his unrealased tracks. It would be better for mjs legacy than what the estate do right now! Now I’m appreciate all the leaks they are better than the official estate shit

i think his name was Stuart

 

[farlnd]

Yeah, sad but true, the only way we can get good quality masterings in the modern era is if a dedicated audiophile label (like MFSL) gets the rights to make their own remaster, which doesn't happen often, and usually these labels focus on very specific types of music genres, meaning that there's even less chances of us MJ fans getting any audiophile MJ stuff, Thriller's new SACD by MoFi is really a miracle.

I find apple to be the best right now in my opinion. I was really happy with how bad 25 and xscape turned out on there. I’m expecting the same with thriller 40. Hopefully the distortion issues rests with just the CD mastering.

 

[AmitLal92]

Looking forward hearing on Friday but remember these are demo guys so they are not supposed to sound polished or finished.