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Thriller 40th Anniversary - Songs Discussion

Mister_Jay_Tee said:
If Hot Street was on here, we'd probably just be complaining about the quality of it now. They need SACD quality for every release they do from now on. And all of MJs albums as well. Maybe even rerelease T40 with Disc 2, and Bad 25. Just do the most to ensure good audio quality.
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This is why I fear for every future demo release, it's like the Estate only cares about audio quality if they're remixes. I really don't want to hear releases with worse quality than leaks as there are plenty of leaks that I want to hear in HQ but unfortunately there's really nothing we can do about it...
 
JohnC said:
Thriller is available in 360 Reality Audio on Tidal.
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There's a weird edit at 5:38 of Wanna Be Startin' Something.
The opening of Thriller has obvious tape damage and at 3:32 there are two lead vocals playing for a second.
0:20 of Billie Jean has a vocal tick, not on the original album mix.

Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Is that better or equivalent to dolby Atmos for Apple Music?

Why is Spotify so basic?
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Correct.
 
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Themidwestcowboy said:
Nah trust me I’m with you. I think this whole roll out and everything has just been downright awful, but I’m not celebrating the fact that they released something, but more so the fact that i get to hear new MJ material again after so long. At the end of the day we got a few new unheard songs and that in itself is something to be happy about, hearing MJ’s voice again and listening to our favorite artist.

With that being said, I cannot fathom, I can’t fathom how badly they messed this up.
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I feel the same my friend

That's my main take away from this too, we could rant and rave about this release (justifiably) but we must savour these moments, it's precious to hear our hero's voice again, it's been far too long
 
Themidwestcowboy said:
I don’t like this line of thinking. If that’s the case then HIStory 30th should include every outtake from Thriller, Bad and Dangerous because MJ almost always revisited old songs whenever he was working on a new album.

I know the lines gets murky here but a line must be drawn.
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You’re not wrong, but that’s the difficulty of how MJ liked to work. Why does “Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round” get classified as a Bad outtake if it was recorded for Thriller? If the estate were to release one of the demos for “Earth Song,” would they be on a Dangerous reissue since the earliest demo is from 1988, even though the final track was on HIStory? There’s no evidence that “Chicago 1945” was put forward for Victory or Bad, so if it were to be released on an anniversary album, where would we put it?

It’s complicated, but you gotta go on a case by case basis. I think a big qualifying factor is, how much was it worked on?
 
ChanceToDance said:
This is why I fear for every future demo release, it's like the Estate only cares about audio quality if they're remixes. I really don't want to hear releases with worse quality than leaks as there are plenty of leaks that I want to hear in HQ but unfortunately there's really nothing we can do about it...
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The quality has been going down since 2001. Now it's just the lack of any of the old guard that makes sure the quality is subpar.
 
AlwaysThere said:
You’re not wrong, but that’s the difficulty of how MJ liked to work. Why does “Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round” get classified as a Bad outtake if it was recorded for Thriller? If the estate were to release one of the demos for “Earth Song,” would they be on a Dangerous reissue since the earliest demo is from 1988, even though the final track was on HIStory? There’s no evidence that “Chicago 1945” was put forward for Victory or Bad, so if it were to be released on an anniversary album, where would we put it?

It’s complicated, but you gotta go on a case by case basis. I think a big qualifying factor is, how much was it worked on?
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It's actually easier, Earth Song is a HIStory song so it goes on HIStory. Demoes and all.

The other option is album-neutral anthologies. Chicago 1945 belongs to no period, same goes for Love Never Felt So Good, and songs like the Will. I. Am outtakes.

Funny enough, Xscape is basically half of an anthology.

One thing we know for sure is that Shout will be on Invincible 25, as a bonus track, a rarity.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
It's actually easier, Earth Song is a HIStory song so it goes on HIStory. Demoes and all.

The other option is album-neutral anthologies. Chicago 1945 belongs to no period, same goes for Love Never Felt So Good, and songs like the Will. I. Am outtakes.

Funny enough, Xscape is basically half of an anthology.

One thing we know for sure is that Shout will be on Invincible 25, as a bonus track, a rarity.
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Yeah, “Earth Song” was a poor example on my end. But as much as I agree with you about anthologies, the reissue method seems to be a safe and popular one, and given the way Michael worked, I feel like the only way they could proceed would be to consider material that was recorded during the era, not necessarily for the album.
 
AlwaysThere said:
Yeah, “Earth Song” was a poor example on my end. But as much as I agree with you about anthologies, the reissue method seems to be a safe and popular one, and given the way Michael worked, I feel like the only way they could proceed would be to consider material that was recorded during the era, not necessarily for the album.
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Yeah, Thriller 25 took it very safe. Actually I immediately take that back, because why in the world was Someone in the Dark on it.

Ever since Thriller 25 they've been taking it safe. All songs from Bad. It's Thriller 40 that's arguably more lax, and yet, nothing is not  not from 1982 or the year right before it. Sunset Driver is technically a Thriller outtake, we haven't heard the Off The Wall era demo. Even CGOTTR, is a true 1982 song. From now on they'll be even more careful, like, Throwin Your Life Away, will probably be positioned as it's final incarnation first, Don't be Messing 'Round, can re-emerge again and again. Or just stay as a "Bad" outtake for the time being.
 
xscape guy 2003 said:
I really like who do you know. Think this is going to be a huge hit and classic Mj.
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It's not at all what I was expecting when they announced it. I absolutely love that about the track
I wouldn't blame the Estate for reworking this one for a studio album, down the line it's wonderful and deserves attention
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
At the same time, we are completely overvaluing this. The Anka tracks, from 1980, are labeled as 1983, For All Time, a Dangerous outtake, is now a Thriller (25) outtake. And Come Together was put on HIStory, straight outta 1988.
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Honestly...I dont think it mattered to mj for the simple fact it's still his voice. He didn't look at it the way we look at in chronological. Come together had never been released by 95 so I'm guessing fans back then were asking him (via fanmail which he took very seriously) about the song from moonwalker & he added it. That's just my perspective. But again...I dont think that he was thinking that way. Maybe the reason why we have the toy & best of joy in the exact same way. & im guessing he resang it to change the lyrics
 
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wonderouzmj said:
Honestly...I dont think it mattered to mj for the simple fact it's still his voice. He didn't look at it the way we look at in chronological. Come together had never been released by 95 so I'm guessing fans back then were asking him (via fanmail which he took very seriously) about the song from moonwalker & he added it. That's just my perspective. But again...I dont think that he was thinking that way. Maybe the reason why we have the toy & best of joy in the exact same way. & im guessing he resang it to change the lyrics
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CT was a b-side to RTT
 
wonderouzmj said:
Honestly...I dont think it mattered to mj for the simple fact it's still his voice. He didn't look at it the way we look at in chronological. Come together had never been released by 95 so I'm guessing fans back then were asking him (via fanmail which he took very seriously) about the song from moonwalker & he added it. That's just my perspective. But again...I dont think that he was thinking that way. Maybe the reason why we have the toy & best of joy in the exact same way. & im guessing he resang it to change the lyrics
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Yeah, he wasn't an archivist like that. Still, it's something we all have to keep a look out for now, it's just part of the way.
 
So, just to reconfirm, do the bonus tracks sound better off of Spotify and on Apple Music/TIDAL, or is it strictly thriller that has been remastered to quality standards?
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
So, just to reconfirm, do the bonus tracks sound better off of Spotify and on Apple Music/TIDAL, or is it strictly thriller that has been remastered to quality standards?
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Just Thriller has the special Dolby Atmos mix. It's not available on Spotify, either.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Sunset Driver is technically a Thriller outtake, we haven't heard the Off The Wall era demo.
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“Sunset Driver” is from the Thriller sessions. It was recorded in 1982. There’s no evidence that it was done any earlier haha, this rumor is totally unsubstantiated. Fans don’t have the best record when it comes to assuming/guessing when songs were recorded.
 
AlwaysThere said:
“Sunset Driver” is from the Thriller sessions. It was recorded in 1982. There’s no evidence that it was done any earlier haha, this rumor is totally unsubstantiated. Fans don’t have the best record when it comes to assuming/guessing when songs were recorded.
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From the book "Michael Jackson: All The Songs"

https://imgur.com/L8MzDS9

It's also mentioned in another book that's title escapes me atm. It's definitely not totally unsubstantiated in regards to discussion of its original recording date.
 
SmoothGangsta said:
From the book "Michael Jackson: All The Songs"

https://imgur.com/L8MzDS9

It's also mentioned in another book that's title escapes me atm. It's definitely not totally unsubstantiated in regards to discussion of its original recording date.
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The only two books that I know for sure reference it as being an Off the Wall outtake are All the Songs and Man in the Music, both of which are riddled with errors. Great books but far from singular, definitive resources.

I dunno, I just don’t buy it. Lots of people insists this but nobody can offer an undeniable source (a collaborator confirming it, studio documentation, etc.). The little info we know about it just doesn’t match with it being recorded any earlier than 1982.
 
sunrunner said:
Just for the record, I had heard all the leaked tracks before except She's Trouble and the new ones of course. I just feel like anyone complaining about old tracks being on here think about it this way; these tracks now have a proper home.
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This is exactly how I think of it. Disc 2 is all new to me but, even if it wasn't, I would still want these tracks / demos to be officially released. I get the arguments about the uneven quality of some of them but I'm just so pleased to have this stuff. As you say, it's about stuff being given a proper home.

sunrunner said:
Not on some random youtube channels, or some obscure copy of a compilation only available in Japan or Italy.
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Exactly so. I don't live my life online so I'm not gonna go searching for whatever random stuff might be out there. I'm not a collector or a completist so a better release being available in Asia, for example, is no use to me. I'm very old school. I expect to be able to access stuff in my own geographical region. I understand that multiple editions of an album for different regions increases sales but that's not my concern.

sunrunner said:
These now have a proper physical and digital home that'll make it easier for fans to enjoy them now and new fans to discover easier 10, 20, 40 years down the line.
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This 100%. As long as the products remain available, that's how it works.

sunrunner said:
The only one truly worth the complaints is Carousel with that terrible quality and that shorter length too. It's not even labeled a demo so you'd think it would be a final version of it ffs.
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I only heard Carousel once before buying T40. I don't remember a massive difference in quality but it was just the once I listened. If there is a more complete version out there is does seem odd that it wasn't used here. Then again, this is MJE so ... 🤷‍♀️

sunrunner said:
Anyways, chances are they'll open the floodgates and release what's ever left from the Thriller-era for Thriller 50, no doubt there will be one.
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Ngl, can't get excited by the idea of T50. Will I even still be here, lol. I just want lovely box sets, anthologies which include everything. I want it and I want it now, lol. But that's not happening, I guess. Sigh.

sunrunner said:
Maybe a couple completely finished tracks Thriller-era like Hot Street will find their way on another studio album before then.
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That would be cool.
 
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