Thriller 40th Anniversary - Songs Discussion

They could be considered MJ tracks if MJ had heard them and decided to work on them, he didn't and they're not. Sorry I disagree totally on this lol.

Saying "someone wrote this for MJ" isn't the same thing as considering a track an MJ track just because it was written with him in mind by someone else.
They are prospective MJ tracks. That is what I said. They are not MJ tracks. But they're not just songs, they were meant for him and would otherwise just not be there. You're technically right but also technically wrong, it's just not black and white, to say it simply.
 
They are prospective MJ tracks. That is what I said They are not MJ tracks. But they're not just songs, they were meant for him and will otherwise just not be there. You're technically right but also technically wrong, it's just not black and white, to say it simply

We agree they're not MJ tracks then, not everything needs to have a grey area.
 
Why does the snippet of "Carousel" on Thriller 2001 Edition sound so much better, fuller, and warmer than the weak, tinny version included on Thriller 40? How do the versions on the Italian/French "King Of Pop" albums compare? Is the version released years ago from Michael Sembello's website the best sounding version?
 
Why does the snippet of "Carousel" on Thriller 2001 Edition sound so much better, fuller, and warmer than the weak, tinny version included on Thriller 40? How do the versions on the Italian/French "King Of Pop" albums compare? Is the version released years ago from Michael Sembello's website the best sounding version?
Every version of the song sounds better than Thriller 40. 2008 is basically the superior version of this same rip, which makes no sense
 
Every version of the song sounds better than Thriller 40. 2008 is basically the superior version of this same rip, which makes no senseth
Thanks. It doesn't make sense at all does it. I hope the Estate didn't do it deliberately. It's as if deep down they wanted Thriller 40 to fail. When you think of the care and attention other Estates give their deceased artists, such as Prince's, the MJ Estate seems completely disrespectful to MJ. Having said that, I noticed even the Prince releases have now all but stopped since Sony Legacy took over Prince's non-soundtrack material from Warner. Maybe then the problem lies with Sony Legacy?
 
Thanks. It doesn't make sense at all does it. I hope the Estate didn't do it deliberately. It's as if deep down they wanted Thriller 40 to fail. When you think of the care and attention other Estates give their deceased artists, such as Prince's, the MJ Estate seems completely disrespectful to MJ. Having said that, I noticed even the Prince releases have now all but stopped since Sony Legacy took over Prince's non-soundtrack material from Warner. Maybe then the problem lies with Sony Legacy?
I think some people mentioned that Sony is the one wanting to put out releases, while the Estate keeps on blocking.
 
Yeah apparently the estate weren't interested in this release at all and just rushed it out because Sony were wondering why they weren't releasing anything.

I wouldn't say that's an explanation for the horrid sound quality though, the demos on Xscape sounded the same level of crap so I just think they don't care about MJ's originals in all honesty.
 
Carousel is the inclusion that pisses me off the most. You can argue that it's "alright" to include CGOOTR, Got The Hots and Sunset Driver on the album since they were rare releases and not readily available but Carousel had already been released in 3 albums and on top of that we didn't even get the full version. Not to mention that the sound quality is completely awful. Other song could've taken the spot.
 
Carousel is the inclusion that pisses me off the most. You can argue that it's "alright" to include CGOOTR, Got The Hots and Sunset Driver on the album since they were rare releases and not readily available but Carousel had already been released in 3 albums and on top of that we didn't even get the full version. Not to mention that the sound quality is completely awful. Other song could've taken the spot.
Theres no such thing as a "spot". Theres more than enough space on the CD to keep Carousel and just add stuff like Niteline and Hot Street. I like to have all Thriller era tracks in one place :)
 
Theres no such thing as a "spot".
Clearly there already is.
Theres more than enough space on the CD to keep Carousel and just add stuff like Niteline and Hot Street. I like to have all Thriller era tracks in one place :)
Sure, it could've been put on Disc 3 if they insisted but not on Disc 2. A song like either Nite Line or a new unheard one should've taken the place.
 
Thanks. It doesn't make sense at all does it. I hope the Estate didn't do it deliberately. It's as if deep down they wanted Thriller 40 to fail. When you think of the care and attention other Estates give their deceased artists, such as Prince's, the MJ Estate seems completely disrespectful to MJ. Having said that, I noticed even the Prince releases have now all but stopped since Sony Legacy took over Prince's non-soundtrack material from Warner. Maybe then the problem lies with Sony Legacy?
They know they're gonna do this again in 10 years so they definitely didn't bother to try it. A 40th Anniversary is pretty silly to begin with, tbh. Middle age?
 
It has taken over a month but What A Lovely Way To Go is finally growing on me, it's not the best song on disc 2 like critics say (WDYK is clearly the best one) but it's becoming an alright tune to me.
Ironic now that we know it's barely a thriller era tune now. Might have been thought about once but was hardly a final tracklisting runner up.
 
It has taken over a month but What A Lovely Way To Go is finally growing on me, it's not the best song on disc 2 like critics say (WDYK is clearly the best one) but it's becoming an alright tune to me.

To me 'Lovely Way' is the "diamond in the ruff" from the Thriller40 release.
I understand why most like "Who Do Know" better & I agree that it is more pleasing to the ear, especially on first few listenings.
BUT: 'Lovely Way' is special. It is showing another facet of MJ. A whole other style & like always when he dips into different styles & genres, MJ makes it his own & makes it more enjoyable for me. More than any other artist ever could.
'Lovely Way' to me is so completely different than all of his other songs & material we got over the years, it's a total treasure.

What makes 'Lovely Way' difficult to access is the bare bones state of the demo. And how they mixed & arranged the different tracks they had. There's an abruptness to start & end the song & even between verse & chorus. That's what's a little off-putting. But even with those shortcomings of the Thriller40 album mix, i totally fell in love with 'Lovely Way'.

Having said that, @ChanceToDance I would recommend you to the "Multiverse Mix" of 'Lovely Way', which hides above mentioned shortcomings. It's supposedly close to the version of Mark Ronson, which he did for the MICHAEL album. It provides more instrumentation, which gives the songs a red line to follow through from beginning to end. It gives it a feeling of breezy effortlessness, & everything seems to be coming together in a more neat, tidy & refined way.

Have fun with that true diamond of an MJ song.

By the way I immediately sorted 'Lovely Way' within my 'Off The Wall/early - Era' outtakes album. There it fits perfectly and is one of the nicest additions. Along with 'Sunset Driver' & 'CGOTR'.
 
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Having said that, @ChanceToDance I would recommend you to the "Multiverse Mix" of 'Lovely Way', which hides above mentioned shortcomings. It's supposedly close to the version of Mark Ronson, which he did for the MICHAEL album. It provides more instrumentation, which gives the songs a red line to follow through from beginning to end. It gives it a feeling of breezy effortlessness, & everything seems to be coming together in a more neat, tidy & refined way.
The Multiverse Mix is fantastic. I still don’t care for the song in general, but a full(er) arrangement definitely gives it more of a “lift” than the demo.
 
The Multiverse Mix is fantastic. I still don’t care for the song in general, but a full(er) arrangement definitely gives it more of a “lift” than the demo.
Agree,its great and the only version of this song that I really like.
Only wish a fixed version of Behind The Mask demo was available,there is one on YT but only as compressed mp3
 
To me 'Lovely Way' is the "diamond in the ruff" from the Thriller40 release.
I understand why most like "Who Do Know" better & I agree that it is more pleasing to the ear, especially on first few listenings.
BUT: 'Lovely Way' is special. It is showing another facet of MJ. A whole other style & like always when he dips into different styles & genres, MJ makes it his own & makes it more enjoyable for me. More than any other artist ever could.
'Lovely Way' to me is so completely different than all of his other songs & material we got over the years, it's a total treasure.

What makes 'Lovely Way' difficult to access is the bare bones state of the demo. And how they mixed & arranged the different tracks they had. There's an abruptness to start & end the song & even between verse & chorus. That's what's a little off-putting. But even with those shortcomings of the Thriller40 album mix, i totally fell in love with 'Lovely Way'.

Having said that, @ChanceToDance I would recommend you to the "Multiverse Mix" of 'Lovely Way', which hides above mentioned shortcomings. It's supposedly close to the version of Mark Ronson, which he did for the MICHAEL album. It provides more instrumentation, which gives the songs a red line to follow through from beginning to end. It gives it a feeling of breezy effortlessness, & everything seems to be coming together in a more neat, tidy & refined way.

Have fun with that true diamond of an MJ song.

By the way I immediately sorted 'Lovely Way' within my 'Off The Wall/early - Era' outtakes album. There it fits perfectly and is one of the nicest additions. Along with 'Sunset Driver' & 'CGOTR'.
Lovely Way? Is that the song you meant?
 
No he meant “shake your body (down to the ground) but it had too many words to type out again and again so he picked a different shorter song instead.
Your making a joke off me & I'm making one from him. He said it so many times I was joking to say that 1. That's why I bolded it....
 
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