DarlingDiana said:

will i am said like a month or two ago that michael still sings like a bird and in london he sang with someone on a piano and he had them in tears so i'm 100% confident in michael and i like madonna also so i hope she does as well

dag said:

55 top ten hits. yet none of it is any good. you're right. thank you for showing me the light!!!

I doubt MJ will release anything this year. It'd be nice, but I doubt it.

It's really a tough call. Madonna has a big following, and her last album was a BIG comeback from her. Even when US radio was avoiding her like a plague(with the exception of Hung Up), the album still sold pretty good in the states. So Madonna has a really good chance.

MJ could surprise us though. Despite everything, he's still considered an amazing artist, and if the album is good, it could hit well. An Unplugged special would be a pleasant surprise.

Regardless, I dont expect any of them to sell more than 5 million copies. Nevermind that both havent pulled numbers like that since the 1980s(Madge's biggest seller since the 90s is Ray of Light, which sold 4 million). The current music climate is dismal. The last three artists to do that were Mariah Carey, Green Day and I think Kelly Clarkson. Not even Justin, the supposed reincarnation of MJ and Prince, has sold that much(though I wouldnt be surprised if he reached 5 million or close by the end of summer). Both could probably sell 2 million right off the bat based on their names and size of fanbases, and if the albums are THAT good, maybe 4 million. But that's it.

neither of these will be ready by the end of this year. mark my words.

Tessa said:

Madge is a buisness when she says she'll deliever her product she will

Michael's always been good at releasing albums on time too. It's just Invincible that got ridiculously delayed. Every other album came out on time and only took a few months to make.

Off The Wall took 7 months to make. Thriller took about the same time as OTW to make. Bad only took 6 months to make. Dangerous took even less time to make, 4 months. HIStory took about a year to make, although it's hard to say when exactly he started making it. Invincible took the longest to recorded because Michael kept re-recording it and changing stuff around. It took 4 years to make. But Invincible was a one-off incident. I doubt it will happen again.

So on average, Michael takes 12 months to make an album (this is only because of Invincible. If you don't include Invincible, his average is 7 months). That's not bad. He started making this about around May 2006. So based on his average, he might finish the album month! But if he finished the album next month, then he will probably spend some time filming a video and getting everything perfect before he even thinks about releasing the album. And don't forget he doesn't have a record deal yet. So he's got a lot to do before the album is released. With that in mind I say the November 2007 date is very possible.

Don't be thinking Michael takes years to make an album just because of the very rare occurence known as "Invincible". His other albums were all made within the space of a few months. He's actually pretty fast-paced at making music.

Madonna's.
Michael Jacksons will bomb spectacularly worse than Invisible even

tane1976 said:

Invincible didn't bomb. It sold 11.2 million copies internationally.

ehuffnsd said:

I don't know about Michael,but I'm pretty sure Maddy will have her CD all ready to go by November.Reportedly,she only has a few more songs to record.Her CD will be released in November,assuming she doesn't fall off a horse again,forcing a delay

728huey said:

Agreed.At this point,I think an "Unplugged" CD is the only way he could make any type of comeback.Nearly everyone loves his old songs.That would be an easy sell.Rod Stewart jumpstarted his own career when he did that Unplugged set in the 90s.MJ could do the same.

Well according to Rolling Stone, MJ and Will have already made 8 songs.

DarlingDiana said:

You can't compare OTW and Thriller with his subsequent albums, simply because he was still heavily involved with the Jacksons, so even when he wasn't making his solo albums he was still doing albums like Destiny and Triumph with his brothers, between 1978 and 1982 he was practically releasing an album a year. But after Thriller that's when the 5 year gaps started appearing between albums. It's one of the reasons why in the space of 20 years he has only done 3 and half proper albums, (which is not very productive at all and it's not as if these albums contain his most classic work) whereas between the years of 1969 and 1982, in just 13 years including his solo work and group work, he managed to do over 20 albums. Understandably, most of the stuff he did for Motown was written and produce for him. But by the late 70s on albums like Destiny, Truimph and his own solo stuff alot of the writing was done by him and his brothers.

whatsgoingon said:

But in those gaps he wasn't just making an album. He was touring or fighting legal battles. From the time he gets into a studio to start making an album, to the time he releases that album is not usually very long. Except for Invincible.

DarlingDiana said:

Michael has no problem recording songs,he just takes forever to compile a final tracklist and release the darn thing

SoulAlive said:

He took forever to compile a tracklist and release INVINCIBLE, but he had no problem with that on other albums.

dag said:

Uh...Madonna is a recording artist.Making music and doing concerts is part of her JOB.I guess being a Michael Jackson fan,you wouldn't understand this.Some artists are actually inspired and excited about making music.They don't feel the need to hide away for five years,letting the world pass them by

CinisterCee said:

I hear ya but I wanted one song that he could perform with his brothers.They could be the "special guests" that arrive unannounced.Don't these Unplugged shows usually have some kind of special guest?

SoulAlive said:

Welll, Mike started at the age of five, so he worked for some years when she started. He has right to take some time off after all these years. But he´s not the only one being so slow - Sade, Lisa Stansfield and others are too.




I haven´t said that none of it is any good. But most of her recent stuff is very weak, not just MJ´s Invincible.

Isolar said:

You seem very optimistic that MJ could make a comeback But it's interesting to note that Madonna never really needs to make a "comeback".Unlike MJ,she doesn't have to prove anything.To me,that's a much better position to be in.

DarlingDiana said:

He did a lot more touring with his brothers. And the legal battles only started after Dangerous, and again after Vince. Most of his legal problems were self inflicted. Peeps like Prince and Madonna tour more and record more in general. MJ hasn't been really prolific at all in the last 20 years. I doubt we will see an album by the end of this year.

whatsgoingon said:

Why do you even care? It'll be crap to your ears anyway. Like all his post Thriller stuff is to you.

Cloudbuster said:

I don't really care, its no skin off my nose when he releases his album. I am just saying peeps like to compare the days of OTW and Thriller, with subsequent albums when the circumstances were completely different.

SoulAlive said:

MJ DOES NOT NEED A COMEBACK. What gives you guys the impression that he does. He is far mor epopular than Madonna. I've never seen Madonna being followed around by hundreds of fans everytime she goes out. She's nothing compared to MJ. Every album she releases is called a "comeback album". MJ is not making a comeback. He's just making another album. Get over this "comeback" shit. It's always double standards with MJ. He sold over 10 million copies of his last album, but because he made Thriller, people think that means 10 million isn't good enough for him. It's a very impressive sales figure as far as I'm concerned. No other artist has to "comeback" from a 10 million selling album, so why should MJ have to?
[Edited 4/19/07 3:21am]

DarlingDiana said:

Well it sort of is a comeback. When people say comeback they are refering to coming back from the last few years of scandal och trials, not invincible.

DarlingDiana said:

When you go around calling yourself "The King Of Pop",you're expected to live up to that title.Michael is the one who sets these unrealistic goals for himself.If he was a "serious artist",he would just make great music without worrying about how many copies he sells.But,every new MJ album is treated like some big earth-shattering "event",and it never lives up to the hype.


"Michael is far more popular than Madonna"


yes he is.But for the wrong reasons


"Every album she releases is called a "comeback album"


Bullshit.What does she ever have to "come back" from? Her career is in a healthy state.It's not as if she spent the last few years on trial for molesting a child She releases albums consistently and tours on a regular basis.Unlike MJ,she doesn't have anything to prove.


.
[Edited 4/19/07 5:51am]

smoothoperator said:

Exactly.

SoulAlive said:

The only album that failed to live up to the hype was invincible. I agree with the fact that he shouldn't worry about how many copies he sells and just focus on making good music. Big promotions is a thing of the past.

I know that MJ looks very lazy next to Madonna in the recent years. I have never actually studied how many albums have MJ and Madonna ever released but I checked and I was surprised:
Madonna has released 10 studio albums.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...iscography
and MJ around 30 studio albums. (You gotta include J5 records there, cause he did sing on them). I say around 30 because I am not sure which of these Jacksons albums were compilations, cause I have hardly any of them.

http://www.steady-laughin.../slcom.htm
If the link won´t take you directly do discography, click on Michael in the top bars and there you will find it.

So Madonna has still a lot to do to catch up with him. i think in the past 20 years, MJ only "looks" that he is not productive. He does a lot of things, but he doesn´t bother releasing them, which is a shame. I´ve heard that for Invincible he had over 100 songs to choose from.
[Edited 4/19/07 5:59am]

DarlingDiana said:

I don't see how it matters if one artist is more popular than another when you're at the stature of MJ, Madonna and Prince. The fact that fans follow Michael around everywhere he goes doesn't really say much at the end of the day. Especially knowing about some of his followers.

Personally, I haven't heard Madonna's albums considered comebacks and find it odd since she consistently puts out albums and tours regularly.

dag said:

The man has every right to slow down if he wants.
Hasn't he done enough already?
15 albums with his brothers and 10 solo.
That's a fair amount of work.