Timmy84 said:

No love for Trey in this thread!

Rodya24 said:

That was the wrong song to show off his vocal talents IMO. He was great but COME ON!

Definitely the J5. Lil' Michael sings that song with way more authority than Mariah did. And Jermaine's vocals were just butta.
[Edited 11/23/07 22:13pm]

NuPwr319 said:

Plus the arrangement on Mariah's was just so corny. Anything coming out of Motown was way better than the covers from outside labels. JMHO!

InsatiableCream said:

LOL yeah, when your voice changes you can't do some songs anymore. All of the J5s as a matter of fact, I don't think he can do anymore. Listen to 'Ben' from Triumph. Everytime he does the J5 medly I'm like...do it again Michael, do it over. lol

J5 all the way i also like that pepsi commercial that was great.

floetcist said:

I wanna see him do some other Motown covers like "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" or "Distant Lover" or something like that, lol. Hell he could try to do some of Jermaine's Motown stuff if he wanted to. It's odd that if he ever gets on tour again at 50 that he'll still be singing the songs he sung at 10. Odd, huh? I mean it ain't like he's Smokey or Diana when he can get away with singing real OLD songs because all of them were mature lyrically. But vocally he can't do these songs real well but his best was the "Triumph" tour though.

Jackson Five.

It's a really great chord progression to play and sing along to.

Timmy84 said:

F THAT.

I WANT TO SEE BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE! Of course its impossible to have his voice as fresh and youthful as it was, but I love that song.

I love both versions. But my vote goes to The Jacksons. The chemistry between the brothers (Michael & Jermaine) can't be defeated.

InsatiableCream said:

Timmy84 said:

For me the best adult performance of the song was on Motown 25, when he was 24. That was one of his very best vocal perfomances for me. He just sounded unbelievable. It was the only flawless version I ever heard from him.

midnightmover said:

Motown 25 was lip-sync, Billie Jean that is. The first part with his brothers was live.
[Edited 11/24/07 6:17am]
[Edited 11/24/07 6:18am]

whatsgoingon said:

Uhhh, yeah. We're talking about I'll Be There, not Billie Jean. I think everyone knows he mimed BJ.

I find on the Jackson 5 version, little MJ is out of key, he goes sharp on most of the song.

I like the J5 instrumentation, but I think vocally Mariah and Tre stayed in key better.

I want to hear Michael's solo versions of I'll Be There and Never Can Say Goodbye that he did in 1989 for the Decade album

Oh yea, J5's version is 10x better than Mariah's version. The extended version on MJ's Love Songs compilation is great with the acapella ending

bboy87 said:

The Decade album. Do you know what other tracks were planned for this album?

floetcist said:

I like the 1981 version of Ben!

The Motown 25 performance is beautiful, especially when Michael and Jermaine shared the mic

Rodya24 said:

Decade was mostly a hits compilation that would have covered the span of 1979-1989.

Rodya24 said:

It was a greatest hits album that was planned for either Christmas 1989 or early 1990. It was to feature a couple of new songs:

Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Rock With You
Off The Wall
She's Out Of My Life
Can You Feel It
Heartbreak Hotel
The Girl Is Mine
Someone In The Dark
Billie Jean
Beat It
Wanna Be Startin Somethin
Thriller
Human Nature
PYT
Say Say Say
State of Shock
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
Bad
The Way You Make Me Feel
Man In The Mirror
Dirty Diana
Another Part Of Me
Smooth Criminal
Leave Me Alone
Come Together
I'll Be There(1989 version)
Never Can Say Goodbye (1989 version)
Heal The World
Black or White
Who It It
Gone Too Soon

Little Susie was also recorded for the album, but it didn't make the cut. He later re-recorded the song for 1995's HIStory.....even though he wrote it all the way back in 1979

bboy87 said:

Yeah HIStory is basically Decade 1.1

kash said:

His vocals on the Dangerous version are weaker, and even the Bad one is weakened by those goddamn dancers in fancy dress costumes pretending to sing.

Cinnie said:

Does your signature say: Don't buy the black album, I'm sorry?

Rodya24 said:

Yeah yeah yeah YEAHHHHH *thunderbird tires squeal*

bboy87 said:

Some vocals of I'LL be there solo version (adult version) were used on the pepsi commercial , they are just breataking and beauitful....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z5O61yKkdr4

So touching and emotional.....

how could you ask this question... obviously the Jackson 5... it has a feel to it that even mariah could not caputure... and she over sang the song... and that guy who did that dolphin squeek also contributed to over singing too... and a song does not need 5o million notes to sound good.

TotalAlisa said:

I asked the question because I like both versions (prefer the Jackson Five, of course), and I noticed that there are a number of Mariah fans on the Org, and thought it would be interesting to have a discussion on the two interpretations.

J5


come on really....

Rhondab said:

I know

To this day, when Mariah's version comes on, I'm like "Nahhhhh, turn that shit off!"