SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Thank you very much!

Rodya24 said:

He sure did. Well, actually he sent the fans a "nice letter", lol. I forgot what it said on it though. Maybe bboy or Flo can refresh my memory. I think Stuart Backerman was managing him at the time.

Timmy84 said:

I didn't know the details, thanks for them. So he actually chose to throw out all those songs because *one* leaked? Does he know that everything leaks these days? And now he seems he was working only on the Thriller remixes... But what does the guy do all day if not recording?

LiveToTell86 said:

Well if you believe J. Randy, going to home to hotel to whatever. And if you believe Raymone, he's... NOT participating in a J5 reunion.

LiveToTell86 said:

Umm... I don't think he chose to scrap the project because one song leaked. Songs from his previous albums have leaked before, but he chose to release them anyway.

None of us know why the 2003 album was scrapped.

As for what he does all day? Probably watching Madonna videos.

And Michael hasn't really giving any of us an explanation as to why they were scrapped. I can finally understand why fans back then were freaking out. I thought they were "whining". But that's the price you pay for letting the blind lead you. But I truly hope for something new from Mike.

OK got it now. But he was really stupid for going with Number Ones and opening a flood of retrospective projects (The Ultimate Collection, The Essential Michael Jackson, Visionary and now Thriller re-release)...

Damn, some of you guys really don't understand the music biz. Just because you don't hear new material from an artist for awhile doesn't mean they're sitting around doing nothing. It's one thing to record music, it's a different story when it comes to releasing it. First of all, the artist doesn't have a say in what gets released, they can have a completed song that they feel is a hit, but the "powers that be" can shut there shit down (i.e. Motown vs Marvin Gaye wars). Then again, if they love the song, they try to figure out how to market the song, and that's nothing story. There are steps to take in order to release music, now if the song is leaked, nobody gets paid, record label, managers, accountants, lawyers, publishers, A&R reps, producers, artist.

LiveToTell86 said:

While I agree with you about Number Ones, I think releasing The Essential Michael Jackson was a good decision. It was released right after he was acquitted. It reminded the non-hardcore fans that before all the weirdness, there was the music.

As for Visionary, re-releasing them as singles in Europe was a good idea. The box set was unnecessary IMO.

As for The Ultimate Collection, I love it as a fan. Probably not for the casual fans unless you can get it at a discount.

From what I know, the unreleased album was to be released after Number Ones. In fact, there was a huge promo tour that was supposed to coincide with both releases:

Number One release
One More Chance video
Number Ones TV Special
USA/UK promo tour
New album


unfortunately, the trial/scandal happened, the OMC video was cancelled, the Number Ones special was pulled, then edited to an hour, and aired on CBS 2 months late, the promo tour was cancelled, and so was the new album.

Escape wasn't to be on the album, but it was a unreleased track from Invincible and reworked for the Number Ones compilation

Rodya24 said:

I'd agree about The Essential Michael Jackson, IF Number Ones didn't exist. It was released less than 2 years before the trial ended, so the non-hardcore fans could have picked up that one too. The tracklist of Essential is obviously superior, but still feels redundant...

Visionary: I think it was a bad idea because the singles really had nothing new.

The Ultimate Collection: I have it myself and I like it too, except a few missteps in it (like the song choices from Dangerous & HIStory). But if you look at it between Number Ones & Essential, it really feels weird. It should have been released at the same time with one of them as a "hardcore fan edition" or something. But I think most people don't even know it exists.

LiveToTell86 said:

That's so bad ass. I hope "this fan" is legit. Michael is always ahead of the times. He know where the industry is headed. As much I hate the idea of him not doing an album, I'm glad that he's atleast thinking outside of the box, in true MJ fashion.

it will be less costly if he releases singles online.. instead of releasing an album... so i dont blame him...

bboy87 said:

Number Ones was supposed to be for "casual" fans and The Ultimate Collection was for the hardcore fans and collectors

bboy87 said:

I don't have Number Ones (never intended to get it) but I do have the UC. But I guess I'm not hardcore enough to buy everything Michael.

DarlingDiana said:

But with that, the question comes with "will he follow this through" or think of doing something else altogether.

Timmy84 said:

I consider myself a hardcore fan, but I don't have any of his singles, import cds or remixes (except for Blood on the Dance Floor).

I just have the standard Motown and Epic releases and compilations.

Rodya24 said:

Cool... you know something? The only thing MJ I had on my wall (at the time) was the "Invincible" poster from my Entertainment Weekly magazine. There was also an old MJ picture of him during "Thriller" that was on the wall but that was taken out when I was still very young. I actually don't have NO MJ on my wall, I only looked at one MJ DVD, got a lot of the Epic albums... and some Motown stuff (J5) but that's about it. Guess I border on casual nowadays, lol. But I wanted the box set for the '70s songs and the unreleased songs alone.

Timmy84 said:

I think that is the great thing about good music in general. Sometimes it appeals to you at certain times of your life, and other times not so much. It seems to be a cycle.

Rodya24 said:

Yep. I found myself listening to less of "Bad", "Dangerous", and haven't put on "HIStory" and "Invincible" in a minute. I don't know why but something about me is feeling the Motown/J5/Jacksons/Off the Wall MJ than the Michael that came after these periods.

Timmy84 said:

When I was younger, if it was a Michael Jackson release, I was buying it
Now, if it has something worthwhile, then I'll buy it.
The only reason I bought Number Ones was because I loved One More Chance, which is ironic because I detest R.Kelly to the core of my very being

It took me nearly 1 and a half month to get The Ultimate Collection. I ordered it off of Best Buy online because none of the stores I went to refused to carry it or they said they didn't have it, although they had stack upon stacks of Bon Jovi, Elvis, and Nirvana's boxsets

I can't help but look at Nirvana's boxset now and say "fuck ya'll"

bboy87 said:

I say that under my breath when I don't see Marvin's "Master" box set but Garth's ass all over the place.

bboy87 said:

People bitch about MJ having a lot of releases. Pff... What about ELVIS and ELTON JOHN and DAVID BOWIE!

Rodya24 said:

I'll buy anything from Elton and David but I ain't got the money. Hell I wanted to get some Queen but I was always money-short, lol. That's ok, once I get somewhere after college, I'm gonna get paid and then I can buy all the Queen and Elton John and George Michael and Marvin I want.

Timmy84 said:

What about Elvis? Someone has to pay for Priscilla's procedures.

Timmy84 said:

At the store I go to, they have nearly every Marvin release, but won't put any of that crap on the display section

bboy87 said:

That means you have to LOOK FOR THAT MOTHERFUCKA! But hey if there's a lot of Marvin, I need to one day move to where you at.

Rodya24 said:

I ain't giving Priscilla more money so she look like a barracuda.

Timmy84 said:

Marvin got his own damn shelf in the front!!!!! You gotta go to whole other part of the store to find some that crap.