I’ve noticed three common complaints with XSCAPE:
1.) The remixes are being promoted as the definitive editions of the songs, while the demos are relegated to bonus tracks.
2.) The demos are presented in embarrassingly subpar quality, and were clearly given less attention and care than the remixes.
3.) The demos appear to quite literally be the ORIGINAL demos—meaning, the earliest versions of each song.
I think point #3 is kind of nit picky and ridiculous, but points #1 and #2 are fully valid. XSCAPE had better intentions, but the execution was poor. One of the many reasons why I prefer MICHAEL, faults and all. I’d rather an album that stays (mostly) true to the original recordings, than one that shows outright contempt for them.
Without turning this into another
Xscape apology thread, I've heard all these complaints and they've never rang true for me, because:
1. That's how the projects always been. We already knew that. And that is the case for every posthumous song that wasn't finished. Is Hollywood Tonight complete by MJ standards because Teddy added poetry on top it? Would half a Minnie Ripperton song be done thanks to another artist singing the other half? Almost all posthumous songs are inauthentic, some simply invite the feeling of "completion" more. Mac Miller's Circles or David Bowie's BlackStar is the quality of release most deceased artists wish they could get.
Michael was so far removed from both. But though it's still true, I'll say Akon did the best job of anybody, even if Hold my Hand isn't my favorite song. He truly made the song whole.
I think the bigger argument is that
Xscape is not true to MJs style. It's basically a Timbaland album, completely unfamiliar to him. Basically it's the 20/20 Experience 2.5 by Justin Timberlake. But that was by design, and that guy owes everything to Michael, so it goes both ways I guess. Depending on the songs themselves, even in their original incarnations, they're all out there, away from MJs "norm". America samples, a soft ballad right before the hard edged, angular,
Bad era, a Paul Anka piano ditty, a Latin Tango Smooth Criminal sequel, a Public Service Announcement sequel to Abortion Papers, a cloudy, atmospheric ballad, a story about a housewife in ailing, and another Invincible outtake about the media. And none of them were on the lists of songs MJ wanted to finish if I remember rightly. But anyway. They are all songs that take a bit of adjustment to getting used to. Musically the new sounds are more uniform and at least, dance oriented. Not that it's great that they are all the same, and still ultimately a bit plain. There were much wilder sounds and artists out there than, Stargate.
In addition, the deluxe means you get all the demoes. Original Versions, as they are called. That's quite a lot of airtime and doesn't suggest they're second string. The standard 8 only version didn't sell much at all. And I heard the original version of A Place With No Name on the radio way more than I heard the new version. But when a song was put to radio, it chatted, and it charted because people flocked to it. Like Chicago, and Loving You, and definitely Love Never Felt So Good.
Now for the other 2 points:
2. I can agree, but at the same time, I don't. This is an audiophile thing, the songs sound fine to me. I do care about the quality, and I get that there's tape warp on Loving You and maybe the mastering isn't always the best, but really, it's silly. All 2000s releases sound bad to adequate. It's no changes here.
3. That actually did bother me, I liked the later versions more. But it's a decent archival project and we'll certainly hear other versions of these songs, you can bet money on that.
