Not sure this may have been posted already!

Although he’s currently entrenched in legal battles, Michael Jackson may bring the focus back to his music — at least a little bit — when he releases a five-disc, career-spanning box set this fall.

The massive anthology, aptly titled The Ultimate Collection, will contain four audio CDs with 57 singles, album tracks, rarities and previously unreleased recordings, as well as a live concert DVD. The box set is due November 16, just over one year after Jackson's last best-of collection, Number Ones, hit shelves.

The DVD disc features Jackson's October 1992 concert at Bucharest's National Stadium during his Dangerous tour. The show includes "Thriller," "Beat It," "Man in the Mirror," "Billie Jean," "Heal the World" and "Will You Be There" in its 16-song set list.

For the first time, fans will be a peek into the pop star's recording process with The Ultimate Collection's nine previously unreleased demo recordings. Included in the set are demos of "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (from the Thriller recording sessions), Jackson's solo demo of "We Are the World," "Shake a Body" (a track recorded with the Jacksons, which later turned into 1978's "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"), "Sunset Driver," "Scared of the Moon," "Cheater," "Fall Again," "Beautiful Girl" and "The Way You Love Me."

Tracks by Jackson, the Jackson 5 ("ABC") and the Jacksons, as well as collaborations with artists including Diana Ross ("Ease on Down the Road" from "The Wiz") and "The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney), and tracks from movie soundtracks, including "Childhood" from "Free Willy 2," pepper the four discs.

The set, executive produced by Jackson, also includes a 64-page color booklet with details on each track, rare photographs, personal memorabilia from Jackson's archives, a timeline of his life and an essay by journalist Nelson George.

Though the timing of the release of this box set may seem strange given the media's current focus on Jackson's legal battle, the release date of his last greatest-hits effort was even more unfortunate. Number Ones landed in stores on November 18, 2003, just as his Neverland Ranch was being searched due to new allegations of sexual misconduct (see "New Allegations Spark Search Of Jackson's Neverland Ranch").

Track list for The Ultimate Collection:

Disc 1:
"I Want You Back"
"ABC"
"I'll Be There"
"Got To Be There"
"I Wanna Be Where You Are"
"Ben"
"Dancing Machine"
"Enjoy Yourself"
"Ease on Down the Road"
"You Can't Win"
"Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"
"Shake a Body"
"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
"Rock With You"
"Off the Wall"
"She's Out of My Life"
"Sunset Driver"
"Lovely One"
"This Place Hotel"


Disc 2:
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' "
"The Girl Is Mine"
"Thriller"
"Beat It"
"Billie Jean"
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
"Someone in the Dark"
"State of Shock"
"Scared of the Moon"
"We are the World"
"We Are Here to Change the World"


Disc 3:
"Bad"
"The Way You Make Me Feel"
"Man in the Mirror"
"I Just Can't Stop Loving You"
"Dirty Diana"
"Smooth Criminal"
"Cheater"
"Dangerous"
"Monkey Business"
"Jam"
"Remember the Time"
"Black or White"
"Who Is It"
"Someone Put Your Hand Out"


Disc 4:
"You Are Not Alone"
"Stranger in Moscow"
"Childhood"
"On the Line"
"Blood on the Dance Floor"
"Fall Again"
"In the Back"
"Unbreakable"
"You Rock My World"
"Butterflies"
"Beautiful Girl"
"The Way You Love Me"
"We've Had Enough"


Disc 5 (DVD):
"Jam"
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' "
"Human Nature"
"Smooth Criminal"
"I Just Can't Stop Loving You"
"She's Out of My Life"
"I Want You Back"
"I'll Be There"
"Thriller"
"Billie Jean"
"Working Day and Night"
"Beat It"
"Will You Be There"
"Black or White"
"Heal the World"
"Man in the Mirror"




—Alyssa Rashbaum
[Edited 9/9/04 18:15pm]

oooooh baby

This guy really has NO TALENT!!!!! How many more "Greatest Hits" type packages is this no talent fuck going to whore out to the public

Since he got caught paying a kid for rape in 1993. EVERY Project (except the $70 Million Budget Invincible) Has been with a Greatest Hits Package tagged to it )

1) History (Had Greatest Hits because HE knew the public wouldnt want to hear his new shit)

2) Blood on the Dance Floor ( Had Greatest Hits too)

3) Inivincible ( the ONLY project with all new music on it's own and IT BOMBED )

4) Number Ones (Hey another Greatest Hits Package )

5) Box Set (WOW another Greatest Hits Package Does he have NO shame.. )

* Here is a CLUE 99% of all these Greatest Hits Packages are from all the stuff Quincy Jones did.

Off The Wall
Thriller
Bad

WHY not buy these Disks and stop buying repackaged versions of them

Shit if there is one new thing go on Kazaa or something A Bunch of Retards IF He was a Musican he wouldn't put out Greatest Hits Packages for 10 years straight on EVERY Project except one.



Talk about a guy free falling Having a Greatest Hits Package more or less everytime out.

orgjacko said:

you know you certainly know alot about him...

I might think your a closeted fan...

Federal Law prohibits Convicted Felons from earning money private money while in Jail, and since this albums is unlikely to have a warm reception this Christmas season and he;ll be in prison by the beginning of next year, MJ may have to wait another 10 years before his next comback.

orgjacko said:

i'll answer each comment in turn.

1. Wrong. people were interested. it shifted 15 million units. highest selling double album of all time. Earth Song was his biggest selling single ever despite not getting a release in the states. however 'You are not alone' went straight in at #1 on Billboard. That had never happened before.

2. No it didn't.

3. Again wrong. 8 or 9 million sold by anyone is not to be considered a flop. Sony screwed that album there are at least 3 classic MJ tracks on there IMO.

4. His first stand alone Greatest Hits Package.

5. This isn't a greatest hits set in the slightest. sure it has a few hits, but there is a lot of obscure and lesser known songs on it to keep the fans happy too. I don't suppose he takes into consideration all the haters when he puts his projects together. Why should he give a fuck what they have to say anyway?

And for a guy who has 'no talent' he's sure had a long career and a lot of hits over the years. i wonder why.

I'll let your fuckwit rape comment go. You advertised your own stupidity loud and proud for all to see all on your own.


[Edited 9/10/04 2:29am]

Cant wait, do u know when it hits UK stores. Would like him to do something with Quincy Jones again as that was the peak of his career, some brand new tunes similar but original to the likes of Beat it, billie jean, thriller, PYT, etc etc etc etc etc.

This article is much better. Has more information on the set:

Unreleased Tracks Bolster Jackson Box Set




More than a dozen previously unreleased tracks plus a host of rarities will be found on the career-spanning Michael Jackson box set, "The Ultimate Collection." Due Nov. 16 via Epic and executive-produced by Jackson, the set features 57 audio tracks spread over four discs plus a DVD with a 1992 concert from Bucharest, Romania, that was originally broadcast on HBO.

Making their debut on "The Ultimate Collection" will be demo recordings of the previously unreleased songs "Scared of the Moon," "Cheater" and "Sunset Driver," plus demos of the No. 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," the title track to 1991's "Dangerous" and "Shake a Body," an early version of the Jacksons' 1978 No. 3 R&B smash "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)."

Jackson has also dusted off his solo demo of "We Are the World," a No. 1 hit recorded by the all-star gathering USA For Africa as a benefit for African famine relief. In addition, five previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1994 and 2004 can be found on disc four: "Fall Again," "In the Back," "Beautiful Girl," "The Way You Love Me" and "We've Had Enough."

Other rarities include the Diana Ross duet "Ease on Down the Road" from "The Wiz," a song written for the out-of-print "The E.T. Storybook" titled "Someone in the Dark," "We Are Here To Change the World" from the 1986 IMAX 3-D film "Captain Eo," an edit of the Teddy Riley collaboration "Someone Put Your Hand Out" from a Pepsi-sponsored promo cassette and the soundtrack collaborations "Childhood" (from "Free Willy 2") and "On the Line" (from "Get on the Bus").

Rounding out the box will be Jackson's biggest hits, dating back to such Jackson 5 classics as "I Want You Back" and "I'll Be There" through to solo smashes like "Thriller," "Beat It," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Black or White" and "You Are Not Alone."

Journalist Nelson George has penned liner notes for a 64-page booklet featuring rare photos and a discography.

As for the DVD, it chronicles a Sept. 19, 1992, show as part of the tour in support of that year's "Dangerous" release. Beyond album tracks like "Jam," "Will You Be There" and "Black or White," the performance includes "Man in the Mirror," "Beat It," "Human Nature," "Smooth Criminal" and a medley of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" and "The Love You Save."

Here is the track list for "The Ultimate Collection":

Disc one:
"I Want You Back," Jackson 5
"ABC," Jackson 5
"I'll Be There," Jackson 5
"Got To Be There"
"I Wanna Be Where You Are"
"Ben"
"Dancing Machine," Jackson 5
"Enjoy Yourself," the Jacksons
"Ease on Down the Road" with Diana Ross ("The Wiz" soundtrack)
"You Can't Win" (12" U.K. single, from "The Wiz")
"Shake a Body" (unreleased early demo), the Jacksons
"Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)," the Jacksons
"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
"Rock With You"
"Off the Wall"
"She's Out of My Life"
"Sunset Driver" (unreleased demo)
"Lovely One," the Jacksons
"This Place Hotel," the Jacksons

Disc two:
"Wanna Be Startin' Something"
"The Girl Is Mine" with Paul McCartney
"Thriller"
"Beat It"
"Billie Jean"
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
"Someone in the Dark" (from "The E.T. Storybook")
"State of Shock," the Jacksons with Mick Jagger
"Scared of the Moon" (unreleased demo)
"We Are the World" (unreleased demo)
"We Are Here To Change the World" (from "Captain Eo")

Disc three:
"Bad"
"The Way You Make Me Feel"
"Man in the Mirror"
"I Just Can't Stop Loving You"
"Dirty Diana"
"Smooth Criminal"
"Cheater" (unreleased demo)
"Dangerous" (unreleased version)
"Monkey Business" (unreleased track)
"Jam"
"Remember the Time"
"Black or White"
"Who Is It" (ISH mix)
"Someone Put Your Hand Out" (Dangerous tour/Pepsi promo cassette)

Disc four:
"You Are Not Alone"
"Stranger in Moscow"
"Childhood" (from "Free Willy 2")
"On the Line" (from "Get on the Bus")
"Blood on the Dancefloor"
"Fall Again" (unreleased demo)
"In the Black" (unreleased track)
"Unbreakable"
"You Rock My World"
"Butterflies"
"Beautiful Girl" (unreleased demo)
"The Way You Love Me" (unreleased demo)
"We've Had Enough" (unreleased track)

Disc five, "Live in Bucharest":
"Jam"
"Wanna Be Startin' Something"
"Human Nature"
"Smooth Criminal"
"I Just Can't Stop Loving You"
"She's Out of My Life"
"I Want You Back"/"The Love You Save"
"I'll Be There"
"Thriller"
"Billie Jean"
"Working Day & Night"
"Beat It"
"Will You Be There"
"Black or White"
"Heal the World"
"Man in the Mirror"


-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Pictures of the packaging:

twink69 said:

Hehehe.

gooeythehamster said:

Is just me having fun, y'all

Looks like a kewl box set.
Finally a good retrospective that has all the right songs, even ease on down the road

Wow.I'm gonna save some duckets to get this.

I'll be getting this for sure! Got everything I want except for scream...but one track left off is all good. It's got We are here to change the world and THAT rocks.

Where the fuck is:

Human Nature
Give into me
Heal the world
Scream
They dont really care about us
Get on the Floor
Working day and night
Xscape

F Mr. Jackson you get an F for FAIL!

And wait, the Dangerous tour only performed TWO of the tracks from dangerous?????

"The key to re-hearing the music of the biggest album in music history is Michael's voice. All of the tools that he'd been developing since 'I Want You Back' are in full effect. The grace, the aggression, the growling, the natural boyishness, the falsetto, the smoothness - that combination of elements that mark him as a major vocalist are abundantly clear. Just as he learned from Stevie Wonder, Jackie Wilson and James Brown, Michael has educated R. Kelly, Usher, Justin Timberlake and countless others with Thriller as the textbook." - from the liner notes written by Nelson George

Three and a half decades after an 11-year old phenomenon from Gary, Indiana and his teenage brothers forever changed the face of popular music, MICHAEL JACKSON - THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION marks the most extensive presentation of his artistry ever assembled in one package.

The deluxe 5-disc display book box set - containing 4 audio CDs (totaling 57 tracks) of hit singles, album tracks, 13 previously unissued recordings, and impossible-to-find rarities from the U.S. and U.K. archives spanning 1969 to 2004, plus a completely unreleased 1992 live concert DVD - will arrive in stores November 16th on Epic Records, a division of Sony Music. The box set was executive produced by Michael Jackson. Project Manager was Al Quaglieri.

For Michael Jackson, whose seven solo albums on Epic Records between 1979 and 2001 (Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory: Past, Present and Future - Book 1, Blood On The Dance Floor: History In The Mix and Invincible) and four long-form videos (Video Greatest Hits/HIStory, Dangerous: The Short Films, HIStory On Film, and Number Ones) have sold more than 60-times RIAA platinum in the U.S. alone, THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION is the record of a lifetime. It is, in effect, the ultimate tribute to Michael Jackson's "vibrant vocal personality," as characterized in the newly commissioned 4,000 word liner note essay written by author and veteran R&B journalist Nelson George.

From the career-defining string of four #1 Pop/#1 R&B singles of 1969 and 1970 by the Jackson 5 on Motown Records that open this box set ("I Want You Back," "ABC," "I'll Be There," "Got To Be There" - the first group in history to have their first four internationally-distributed singles all hit #1), to the back-to-back hits that launched his solo career the following year ("Got To Be There," "I Wanna Be Where You Are"), to the quintet of previously unissued works spanning the '90s and '00s that are found on Disc Four ("Fall Again," "In The Back," "Beautiful Girl," "The Way You Love Me," "We've Had Enough"), MICHAEL JACKSON - THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION is truly representative of one of the most legendary careers in American popular music.

Included are 14 more signature hits by Michael Jackson that reached #1 on the U.S. Pop and/or R&B charts between 1971 and 1995, which would be the backbone of any collection on the artist: "Ben," "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Rock With You," "The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney), "Beat It," "Billie Jean," "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man In The Mirror," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (duet with Siedah Garrett), "Dirty Diana," "Remember The Time," "Black Or White," and "You Are Not Alone."

In addition, numerous other signature chart hits are included -- "Off The Wall," "She's Out Of My Life," "Wanna Be Startin' Something," "Thriller," "Smooth Criminal," "Jam," "Blood On The Dance Floor," and "You Rock My World."

This ULTIMATE COLLECTION lives up to its title with the inclusion of 13 previously unissued tracks spanning more than a quarter-century of development. Among these are 9 never-before-heard demo recordings that Michael Jackson has decided to unveil on this box set: "Shake A Body" (with The Jacksons, a fascinating glimpse into the creative process that turned into 1978's "Shake Your Body"), "Sunset Driver" (from the Off The Wall sessions), "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (from the Thriller sessions), "Scared of the Moon," "We Are The World" (Michael's own solo demo of this song he co-wrote with Lionel Richie), "Cheater" (from the Bad sessions), and the aforementioned "Fall Again," "Beautiful Girl," and "The Way You Love Me."

Throughout each of the four CDs, there are rarities to be found that will satisfy the hardest-to-please archivists. On Disc One, Michael Jackson's starring role alongside Diana Ross in The Wiz (the 1978 film version of the all-black Broadway musical based on The Wizard Of Oz) is celebrated on their thematic duet "Ease On Down the Road." Jackson turned another song from the production, "You Can't Win," into a 7-minute dance opus issued in the U.K. as a 12-inch. Disc Two features "Someone in the Dark," a song created for The E.T. Storybook in 1982, which was subsequently withdrawn from the market (on MCA Records), but the song was included on the 2001 SACD release, Thriller - Special Edition. ULTIMATE COLLECTION also marks the first commercial appearance of "We Are Here To Change The World," produced in 1986 for the IMAX 3-D short film Captain Eo, that was shown at Disney theme parks.

Disc three uncovers a CD single remix of "Who Is It" (from the Dangerous album) done by Brothers In Rhythm. There is also an edited version of "Someone Put Your Hand Out," a collaboration with Teddy Riley that was distributed on cassette as a promotion by the Dangerous tour sponsor Pepsi-Cola. "Childhood," the evocative theme from 1995's Free Willie 2 movie soundtrack, surfaces on Disc Four, which also contains "On the Line," a song recorded for the Spike Lee film "Get On The Bus."

The fifth disc in MICHAEL JACKSON - THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION is the official commercial debut of a full-length concert DVD (16 selections) from the show that took place in the politically volatile Romanian capital city of Bucharest during the Dangerous tour. The concert was videotaped on September 19, 1992, and premiered October 10th on HBO.

In addition to the hours and hours of audio and video content on this box set, there is also an ample 64-page color booklet to kindle the imagination. Full discographical details of every track (timings, composers, publishers, recording dates, studio personnel and musician rosters, album references and so on) are offset by dozens of rare and never-before-seen photographs and personal memorabilia from Michael Jackson's archives. A chronological timeline covers the entire story and a complete discography are also included, along with Nelson George's essay.

"Michael Jackson made his first recordings during the Age of Aquarius," he writes, "and continues on in the era of downloading. In that respect he has no peers. Not in longevity, overall artistic achievement or plain old record sales over five decades. From The Jackson Five to The Jacksons, from Gary, Indiana to Hollywood, California, from neophyte to master. Is Michael Jackson really the King of Pop? The answer is in your hands."

jayaredee said:

I think u'll find it was FOUR not 2!!

kremlinshadow said:

Ok i didn't see heal the world and WYBT but still, this being the dangerous tour doesn't make it very "Dangerous" 4 cuts dont work

This looks more like a farewell tour with all the previous hits

I agree 100%, but I must say it's an ironic comment given your Emancipation av!

Iam shocked they did not include the "Dangerous" outtakes "Seious effect" (a cracking uptempo no. with LL cool J on rapping duties) and the gorgeous self composed ballad "For all time".....honestly this track is as gorgeous as "Human nature"!

I got good copies of those 2 but I wanted perfect copies damn it!

Dang guys, he can't please EVERYONE. It's unexpected enough that we are getting 13 unreleased cuts and his first ever live DVD this year. I wasn't expecting any releases until after the trial, and this to me is a collectors dream.

WildStyle said:

But i want him to please ME and that's all i care about ME ME ME!

I think i might've asked this before when this came up but:

A. Does anyone remember what the tracklisting looked like before they changed it and

B. Does anyone know if the new and previously unreleased stuff is any good?

Jackson 5 Mike


Jacksons Mike


Most of the Family



Off the wall Mike


Thriller Mike (New Nose and Half a shade lighter)


Victory Mike (the weirdness starts here, tattooed eye liner)
http://www.neverland-vall....jpg[/img]

Captain EO Mike


Bad Mike (Mike goes Mulatto)


Dangerous Mike (Anyone remember that movie powder..now sporting tattooed lip stick & new nose)


History Mike (aka the pokemon era)




Blood on the Dance floor mike (Why the Scrunchie???)


Invincible Mike


Court room mike


Inmate mike

i'm not exactly sure what the pictorial biography has to do with the topic but...ok...

anyhow...i am so excited about this box set! finally, a box set that provides a pretty decent synopsis of his solo career! and let's not even discuss the dvd of the dangerous tour...i've been waiting for this thing on dvd for ages!!! i have a crappy vhs copy and i need a new, crisp, clean copy!

this is great news! there are so few box sets i've ever purchased and this will be one that goes in my collection.

SassyBritches said:

Don't be so sensitive!!! It is just an intresting look at his changes over the years. I think he WAS a great artist so the first have of those pics bring back fond memories.

Soulchild82 said:

Glad you cleared that up. I thought for a moment you were trying (and failing miserably) to be funny.

Shame there was no room for Working Day & Night, In The Closet, Give In To Me, Will You Be There, Scream, Earth Song, They Don't Care About Us, Morphine, Whatever Happens or Break Of Dawn. Other than that it's pretty good.

Soulchild82 said:

you say "interesting" as though this were something that's never been done before. so, again...

Soulchild82 said:

This is not about sensitivity. It is about bad jokes.

But the worst part of it is, that we can't do a retrospect of your declining joke history. I bet you always were the 'missed punchline' jerk at school and after you missed it again they looked at you like 'what da?' and some guy just cleared his throat. Tough, huh? But don't give up, you will find something you are good at. Be a man and stop looking for jokes, alrighty?

And please stop confusing little Mikey's fans here, they are always the naive ones who try to justify why they are fans of his, even though they don't have to.

BlueNote