paisleypark4 said:

0Butterflies0 said:

I'm so in love with this album. Been so many years since I have bought a NEW MJ album in the stores!! And it was nice to see he was at #1!!

Behind the Mask had me on the floor at first listen. What an amazing song. You can really feel MJ in every part of that song. I'm in love with it =))))))))))))))))

Chile, the album is not in the stores and what chart is he at #1?

it got on sale in Norway today, and he was at #1

Timmy84 said:

mozfonky said:

the album is much ado about nothing unless we can do something. Sitting around calling each other names won't change anything. how do we get to the bottom of this shit? Can the fans force the issue or do we have to play spoonfed consumer?

Eh I made up my own mind. I ain't gonna be a spoonfed consumer. Fuck that. I'll buy the Vision set though. That'll put money in their back pocket because least you won't spot a fake in his videos lol

It’s kind of pointless to buy vision as well if you have all his videos , I brought it for Can You Feel It though and the booklet is nice. As far as the Posthumous album this is my first and last i'm buying of Michael's , I don't like Posthumous albums period.

ViintageJunkiie said:

I'm NOT trying to start a war but...THIS

Prince is a BAD MOTHAfuckaSHUTCHOMOUF but I literally said to the screen, "take that damn ONE glove off!" and then when someone said "I love you!" he said "I love you back" then someone replied "I love you more!"...Hmmm

I KNOW!!!! I saw that too!!!!!! I was like... . Already pullin' an MJ too. GAH! But hey...I'm sure he didn't mean no harm. I thought it was actually kinda cute. And he brought back the PR shades too. ...

Sherri was just goin' craaaazy though.

The Only song I like is Best Of Joy.

Swa said:

So I have the physical copy of Michael in my hands, and it is good to be holding an album again of Michael's - just sad it had to come about this way.

The booklet is nicely done, with the centre spread showing the full artwork - hope they release it on vinyl to truly appreciate the detail of the art.

As for the music - as most of you on here know I stayed clear of leaks as I wanted to hear the album in total and fresh before having a point of view on things.

I will say I am impressed and think that the Estate and Sony did right by MJ in terms of putting an album together that holds well. The opening track I would have shuffled later but it's cool.

I won't go into too much detail about the tracks as the details have been shared by proper reviewers, but I will say there are elements of each song that I love and also get frustrated by - that's more in the overuse of "MJ" overdubs and adlibs. I always thought he put too many in normally, so I would have prefered they got pulled not added, lol.

Of the questionable tracks, I think MJ is on them (to what extent I've already covered in other posts), but Monster is obviously the most questionable with that vibrato action. What frustrates me more is that they buried Orianthi's killer guitar solo at the end of the track to where it is barely noticeable.

And whilst I love Behind The Mask - I don't get the whole crowd noise intro and in the bridge - that's something I'd expect a fan to do, not John McClain - and Shanice doesn't add anything so why put her in there??? It didn't need it. I would love to hear Daft Punk remix this.

On a whole most tracks suffer from lack of musical space. It's as if the producers unconsciously filled the musical gaps with more adlibs or spoken parts - sometimes the music is enough to carry a section.

The best produced track on here is Another Day. Lenny did a stellar job.

I'm glad I bought it and know I will be listening to it over and over.

I respect your opinion but no .

I'm uncomfortable with the modern production on 'Behind The Mask', after multiple listens it's bugging me. Do we really need 'Thriller' era songs updated like that? I want to hear the original mix. It bothers me in that future releases from his golden era might get the same treatment.

I don't want 'Hot Street' updating for example. I can imagine the vocals sat there waiting to be stripped of the music. To me they're perfect as is. Of it's time, and that's the point.

So yeah, 'Behind The Mask' is going down a bit in my estimation.

Marrk said:

I'm uncomfortable with the modern production on 'Behind The Mask', after multiple listens it's bugging me. Do we really need 'Thriller' era songs updated like that? I want to hear the original mix. It bothers me in that future releases from his golden era might get the same treatment.

I don't want 'Hot Street' updating for example. I can imagine the vocals sat there waiting to be stripped of the music. To me they're perfect as is. Of it's time, and that's the point.

So yeah, 'Behind The Mask' is going down a bit in my estimation.

Yeah that sax got to be a bit annoying lol

babybugz said:

The Only song I like is Best Of Joy.

I've played that nonstop.

Timmy84 said:

babybugz said:

The Only song I like is Best Of Joy.

I've played that nonstop.

That song is so Michael , I love it. I think that will be the only one I have on repeat seriously.

How Michael Jackson bought the Beatles catalogue

Johnnie L. Roberts
TheWrap

Forty-eight million in cash would get Michael Jackson only so far in his bid to possess a musical crown jewel.

The coup a quarter-century ago that would hand him ownership of the Beatles catalogue -- one of the 20th century's greatest bodies of songs -- relied heavily on an invaluable intangible: superlawyer John Branca's guile and chutzpah.

Photos: Michael Jackson

Today, Branca effectively controls Jackson's estate -- potentially the richest ever for a celebrity -- and the Beatles catalogue is its shiniest crown jewel. In 1985, the Branca-engineered Beatles purchase would radically redefine the dimensions of Jackson's legend.

In a few years of adulthood and relative freedom from his family's shadow, he towered as a creative force evidenced by the historic ''Thriller," the worldwide tour in support of "Bad," his illusionary moonwalk and the iconographic studded glove. Possessing the Beatles, however, revealed how Jackson's business instincts rivaled his remarkable artistry.

Why the Beatles didn't own their catalogue in the first place was unfortunate. Seeking to thwart British tax collectors, John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the 1960s formed Northern Songs, a public company, as the repository for the songs they wrote. The move backfired in 1969 when impresario Sir Lew Grade bought control of it on the open market through one of his companies, ATV Music.

Seventeen years later, Australian Robert Holmes à Court acquired Grade's crumbling entertainment empire. And, inevitably, Holmes à Court, a notable among the era's unsentimental raiders and plunderers of corporations, would put all or parts of it, including the Beatles, on the auction block.

In September 1984, Branca alerted Jackson, mentioning that ATV, a name the entertainer didn't even recognize, was available. ''It includes a few things you might be interested in," Branca had teased Jackson, according to a 1985 report in the Los Angeles Times. ''Northern Songs ... yeah, Mike ... the Beatles."

On Nov. 20, the lawyer telexed Holmes à Court, with a $46 million offer and a meeting request. Garry Stiffelman, a Branca firm partner who handled pivotal details, described the ensuing months negotiating and jockeying ''the long and winding road," the Times reported.

There was the globe-spanning ordeal of verifying the authenticity of all 4,000 songs in the catalogue, not just the 251 Beatles songs. But mostly it was the maddening antics of the seller, Holmes à Court, who repeatedly reneged on his word. In all, there were eight drafts of the contract, the Times noted.

Holmes à Court relished his reputation for tough dealing. ''The Viet Cong didn't play by the rules, and look what happened," he once told Fortune magazine.

In May 1985, Jackson's emissaries abandoned talks for about a month. Meanwhile, another bidder suddenly emerged: the team of Martin Bandier (now CEO of Sony/ATV) and Charles Koppelman, a veteran show business executive and investor who's now chairman of Martha Stewart's empire.

Their offer: $50 million -- about $2 million more than Jackson's.

Ironically, while Koppelman and Bandier had no idea that the world's biggest megastar was in the running, Branca had sensitive intelligence on the rivals. He, for example, knew they were backed by MCA Music, then headed by Irving Azoff, now CEO of Live Nation. An old Branca acquaintance, the lawyer had hired Azoff in 1984 to help with the Victory tour, Jackson's last with his brothers.

So when Bandier and Koppelman thought they had the deal sewn up, Branca called on Azoff to pull his financing. The two were the last to know they'd been sucker-punched. On the flight to London to -- they thought -- seal the deal, they spied Branca in a nearby seat. ''What are you doing in London," asked Bandier. Replied Branca, ''Just business."

Not until the Bandier and Koppelman met with Holmes à Court, Bandier recalls, did they learn disappointing news: ''He said, 'I've made a decision. I'm selling it to Michael Jackson.'"

Indeed, Branca had left nothing to chance. The bid, at $47.5 million, was the highest amount ever paid by an individual for a catalogue, the Los Angeles Times reported.

On top of the cash, Branca threw in a Jackson benefit concert for Holmes à Court's favorite charity and pledged a lifetime of income from the Beatles' classic "Penny Lane" to Holmes à Court's daughter, Penny.

"Brilliant," Bandier told me this summer, recalling Branca's move. "Charles and I couldn't do the moonwalk."

To this day, 25 years later, it's still evident Branca and his law partners remain sensitive to Paul McCartney's stinging accusation that his one-time friend Jackson had stabbed him in the back.

''Paul's representatives were very aware of what was going on," said Gary Stiffelman, who handled pivotal details for Branca. ''The part that always bothered me was the accusation that Michael stole it from under McCartney."

Branca also had been careful to seek the blessing of Yoko Ono. She reportedly was thrilled that a corporation wouldn't own the catalogue and didn't want the headache herself of teaming with McCartney for a joint bid.

When it was all over, Jackson gifted Branca with a Rolls Royce, the first of two he would give him. So it was that at barely 30 in 1990, Jackson now was fabulously wealthy -- worth $300 million, according to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of "Michael Jackson: The Magic and Madness."

But as the 1990s dawned, a dark chapter of eccentricities, paranoia, debt, lawsuits and scandal loomed. Stunningly, 10 years later, he would be on the hook to one bank for $300 million, with his Beatles rights at stake and his relationship with Branca having turned into a soap opera.

WENN

Akon has a stash of recordings he made with the late Michael Jackson, but he's threatened to "burn" the tapes because he doesn't want to release any music which was left "unfinished."

The R&B star's duet with the "Thriller" hitmaker, "Hold My Hand," is the first single from Jackson's upcoming posthumous album, "Michael."

Akon said he has plenty of other recordings they made together, but he doesn't want to hang on to them in case he is tempted to rework them because his idol wouldn't have wanted him to release incomplete tracks.

He tells MTV.com, "Me and Mike worked on a lot of concepts before he passed. 'Hold My Hand' was one of the records that was actually fully complete; the rest of the records are incomplete.

"They're just ideas, concepts, harmonies and stuff like that which the world will probably never see because I wouldn't want to put it out unfinished -- so I might just burn it after this interview, 'cause I might just get tempted to do a remix!

"I know at the end of the day if it wasn't fully complete, I don't think he would see it released that way. I probably wouldn't ever put myself in a position to make that choice."

ali23 said:

How Michael Jackson bought the Beatles catalogue

Johnnie L. Roberts
TheWrap

Forty-eight million in cash would get Michael Jackson only so far in his bid to possess a musical crown jewel.

The coup a quarter-century ago that would hand him ownership of the Beatles catalogue -- one of the 20th century's greatest bodies of songs -- relied heavily on an invaluable intangible: superlawyer John Branca's guile and chutzpah.

Photos: Michael Jackson

Today, Branca effectively controls Jackson's estate -- potentially the richest ever for a celebrity -- and the Beatles catalogue is its shiniest crown jewel. In 1985, the Branca-engineered Beatles purchase would radically redefine the dimensions of Jackson's legend.

In a few years of adulthood and relative freedom from his family's shadow, he towered as a creative force evidenced by the historic ''Thriller," the worldwide tour in support of "Bad," his illusionary moonwalk and the iconographic studded glove. Possessing the Beatles, however, revealed how Jackson's business instincts rivaled his remarkable artistry.

Why the Beatles didn't own their catalogue in the first place was unfortunate. Seeking to thwart British tax collectors, John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the 1960s formed Northern Songs, a public company, as the repository for the songs they wrote. The move backfired in 1969 when impresario Sir Lew Grade bought control of it on the open market through one of his companies, ATV Music.

Seventeen years later, Australian Robert Holmes à Court acquired Grade's crumbling entertainment empire. And, inevitably, Holmes à Court, a notable among the era's unsentimental raiders and plunderers of corporations, would put all or parts of it, including the Beatles, on the auction block.

In September 1984, Branca alerted Jackson, mentioning that ATV, a name the entertainer didn't even recognize, was available. ''It includes a few things you might be interested in," Branca had teased Jackson, according to a 1985 report in the Los Angeles Times. ''Northern Songs ... yeah, Mike ... the Beatles."

On Nov. 20, the lawyer telexed Holmes à Court, with a $46 million offer and a meeting request. Garry Stiffelman, a Branca firm partner who handled pivotal details, described the ensuing months negotiating and jockeying ''the long and winding road," the Times reported.

There was the globe-spanning ordeal of verifying the authenticity of all 4,000 songs in the catalogue, not just the 251 Beatles songs. But mostly it was the maddening antics of the seller, Holmes à Court, who repeatedly reneged on his word. In all, there were eight drafts of the contract, the Times noted.

Holmes à Court relished his reputation for tough dealing. ''The Viet Cong didn't play by the rules, and look what happened," he once told Fortune magazine.

In May 1985, Jackson's emissaries abandoned talks for about a month. Meanwhile, another bidder suddenly emerged: the team of Martin Bandier (now CEO of Sony/ATV) and Charles Koppelman, a veteran show business executive and investor who's now chairman of Martha Stewart's empire.

Their offer: $50 million -- about $2 million more than Jackson's.

Ironically, while Koppelman and Bandier had no idea that the world's biggest megastar was in the running, Branca had sensitive intelligence on the rivals. He, for example, knew they were backed by MCA Music, then headed by Irving Azoff, now CEO of Live Nation. An old Branca acquaintance, the lawyer had hired Azoff in 1984 to help with the Victory tour, Jackson's last with his brothers.

So when Bandier and Koppelman thought they had the deal sewn up, Branca called on Azoff to pull his financing. The two were the last to know they'd been sucker-punched. On the flight to London to -- they thought -- seal the deal, they spied Branca in a nearby seat. ''What are you doing in London," asked Bandier. Replied Branca, ''Just business."

Not until the Bandier and Koppelman met with Holmes à Court, Bandier recalls, did they learn disappointing news: ''He said, 'I've made a decision. I'm selling it to Michael Jackson.'"

Indeed, Branca had left nothing to chance. The bid, at $47.5 million, was the highest amount ever paid by an individual for a catalogue, the Los Angeles Times reported.

On top of the cash, Branca threw in a Jackson benefit concert for Holmes à Court's favorite charity and pledged a lifetime of income from the Beatles' classic "Penny Lane" to Holmes à Court's daughter, Penny.

"Brilliant," Bandier told me this summer, recalling Branca's move. "Charles and I couldn't do the moonwalk."

To this day, 25 years later, it's still evident Branca and his law partners remain sensitive to Paul McCartney's stinging accusation that his one-time friend Jackson had stabbed him in the back.

''Paul's representatives were very aware of what was going on," said Gary Stiffelman, who handled pivotal details for Branca. ''The part that always bothered me was the accusation that Michael stole it from under McCartney."

Branca also had been careful to seek the blessing of Yoko Ono. She reportedly was thrilled that a corporation wouldn't own the catalogue and didn't want the headache herself of teaming with McCartney for a joint bid.

When it was all over, Jackson gifted Branca with a Rolls Royce, the first of two he would give him. So it was that at barely 30 in 1990, Jackson now was fabulously wealthy -- worth $300 million, according to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of "Michael Jackson: The Magic and Madness."

But as the 1990s dawned, a dark chapter of eccentricities, paranoia, debt, lawsuits and scandal loomed. Stunningly, 10 years later, he would be on the hook to one bank for $300 million, with his Beatles rights at stake and his relationship with Branca having turned into a soap opera.

Not anymore that shit is worth billions.

They fucked up and destroyed the song The way you love me , why they remixed the track ? it was already finished and great .....I loved the last part of the song on the The ultimate collection where mj goes ...lala lala...laaala lala

oh god the horrible vibrato , jarring fake voice on the song MOnster , listen to the bridge of the song....this not MJ..NO..NO ..NO ......NOT MJ....Monster is FAKEST OF ALL

seeingvoices12 said:

They fucked up and destroyed the song The way you love me , why they remixed the track ? it was already finished and great .....I loved the last part of the song on the The ultimate collection where mj goes ...lala lala...laaala lala

oh god the horrible vibrato , jarring fake voice on the song MOnster , listen to the bridge of the song....this not MJ..NO..NO ..NO ......NOT MJ....Monster is FAKEST OF ALL

Yes . I like the original version the new version killed that song for me smh.

babybugz said:

seeingvoices12 said:

They fucked up and destroyed the song The way you love me , why they remixed the track ? it was already finished and great .....I loved the last part of the song on the The ultimate collection where mj goes ...lala lala...laaala lala

oh god the horrible vibrato , jarring fake voice on the song MOnster , listen to the bridge of the song....this not MJ..NO..NO ..NO ......NOT MJ....Monster is FAKEST OF ALL

Yes . I like the original version the new version killed that song for me smh.

Yeah , I love the original

babybugz said:

Timmy84 said:

I've played that nonstop.

That song is so Michael , I love it. I think that will be the only one I have on repeat seriously.

It's repeating on my CD player right now.

babybugz said:

Guys which songs aren’t him again I’m hearing Michael on most of this album not finish listening though. Best of joy is good. Smh at anybody who think this album is better than invincible though. The guy at the cd store near me selling it early lol

The entire album is MJ with some fans convincing themselves it's not him.

The Cascio tracks were recorded in a basement. Not a professional recording studio.

BabyBeMine said:

The Cascio tracks were recorded in a basement. Not a professional recording studio.

I've debunked this argument over and over and over and over again. I have a budget recording studio in my bedroom. I record my demos here. I also record in some of the biggest recording studios in the world with the most expensive gear. I've recorded recently at Metalworks where Prince did Musicology. With multiple Grammy winning engineers.

Bad audio recording in poor environments does NOT make one person sound like another person.

Matter fact, I could upload a file right now of a song I wrote where the first 30 seconds is the demo I did in my bedroom and then I'll edit it together with the final version done in a studio. The demo, I had to process the shit out of the vocals to make up for the fact it was recorded in my bedroom.

Guess what? I sound like the same person on both versions. But one has poorer audio quality and an unprofessional mix.

Try again. Surprise surprise, you have still failed to answer ANY of the questions I posted before.

BabyBeMine said:

babybugz said:

Guys which songs aren’t him again I’m hearing Michael on most of this album not finish listening though. Best of joy is good. Smh at anybody who think this album is better than invincible though. The guy at the cd store near me selling it early lol

The entire album is MJ with some fans convincing themselves it's not him.

The Cascio tracks were recorded in a basement. Not a professional recording studio.

Your argument is flawed , and everything you say is flawed ....

trying to convince others that those fake songs are MJ , babybugz is not stupid, she can make up her own mind when she listens to those tracks...and she will say that they are not MJ....

are you eddie fraudascio?

The thing I find most strange about arguments Baby be mine and one or two others have put forward is that they are based on that premise, and therefore an acceptance, that the tracks don't sound like MJ. Then they go on to give reasons (that make no sense to anyone that knows what they are talking about) as to why they DONT SOUND LIKE MJ!!!!!!!!!!! it doesn't sound like him because of a poor studio/weren't finished etc etc

The point is even they don't think it sounds like MJ!!!!!!!!!!! Perhaps thats becuase its not him??

Either way they don't think it sounds like him so I'm happy about that

There's way more than just one, and somehow now just two people on this site who can discern whether or not a song includes vocals by Michael Jackson. There's hundreds of us around who are life-long experts on this man's voice. But forget so-called "fans" to be the judges, 'cause there's obviously plenty around these forums who actually, seriously believe the tracks sung by Eddie Cascio are Michael Jackson. They will continuously debate those of us who know it's not Mike, while still considering themselves to be hardcore, so selecting "fans" is not dependable either. If anybody should officially analyze and determine authenticity of any recordings from 2006-2009, it's Michael's oldest son, and his foster son/Godson/whatever-son Omer. THEY know.....

CPest1 said:

The thing I find most strange about arguments Baby be mine and one or two others have put forward is that they are based on that premise, and therefore an acceptance, that the tracks don't sound like MJ. Then they go on to give reasons (that make no sense to anyone that knows what they are talking about) as to why they DONT SOUND LIKE MJ!!!!!!!!!!! it doesn't sound like him because of a poor studio/weren't finished etc etc

The point is even they don't think it sounds like MJ!!!!!!!!!!! Perhaps thats becuase its not him??

Either way they don't think it sounds like him so I'm happy about that

seeingvoices12 said:

BabyBeMine said:

The entire album is MJ with some fans convincing themselves it's not him.

The Cascio tracks were recorded in a basement. Not a professional recording studio.

Your argument is flawed , and everything you say is flawed ....

trying to convince others that those fake songs are MJ , babybugz is not stupid, she can make up her own mind when she listens to those tracks...and she will say that they are not MJ....

are you eddie fraudascio?

paisleypark4 said:

CPest1 said:

The thing I find most strange about arguments Baby be mine and one or two others have put forward is that they are based on that premise, and therefore an acceptance, that the tracks don't sound like MJ. Then they go on to give reasons (that make no sense to anyone that knows what they are talking about) as to why they DONT SOUND LIKE MJ!!!!!!!!!!! it doesn't sound like him because of a poor studio/weren't finished etc etc

The point is even they don't think it sounds like MJ!!!!!!!!!!! Perhaps thats becuase its not him??

Either way they don't think it sounds like him so I'm happy about that

Because people going around saying that these tracks are him will make his legacy go down in the tubes. They could make more and more fake tracks all they want to and profit off of it weather they give MJ co-writing credit on the track or not. Even his kids knew that was not him

If there isn't any songs good enough for the label to release then don't release them instead of putting fakes on it.

babybugz said:

If there isn't any songs good enough for the label to release then don't release them instead of putting fakes on it.

Money blinds and stupefies anyone, they'd do anything for it...like Michael once said.

Timmy84 said:

paisleypark4 said:

Because people going around saying that these tracks are him will make his legacy go down in the tubes. They could make more and more fake tracks all they want to and profit off of it weather they give MJ co-writing credit on the track or not. Even his kids knew that was not him

Thanks Tim! I also pull up Michael Jacksons BMI Songwriting Copyrights and notice that none of the Cascio tracks are there.. I checked ASCAP database also and do not see anything. Where are the publishing rights documented for this?

MIJAC MUSIC

[Edited 12/10/10 13:48pm]

paisleypark4 said:

Timmy84 said:

Thanks Tim! I also pull up Michael Jacksons BMI Songwriting Copyrights and notice that none of the Cascio tracks are there.. I checked ASCAP database also and do not see anything. Where are the publishing rights documented for this?

Exactly. I mean they actually thought they were gonna get away from this fully without anyone questioning it.

paisleypark4 said:

CPest1 said:

The thing I find most strange about arguments Baby be mine and one or two others have put forward is that they are based on that premise, and therefore an acceptance, that the tracks don't sound like MJ. Then they go on to give reasons (that make no sense to anyone that knows what they are talking about) as to why they DONT SOUND LIKE MJ!!!!!!!!!!! it doesn't sound like him because of a poor studio/weren't finished etc etc

The point is even they don't think it sounds like MJ!!!!!!!!!!! Perhaps thats becuase its not him??

Either way they don't think it sounds like him so I'm happy about that

Because people going around saying that these tracks are him will make his legacy go down in the tubes. They could make more and more fake tracks all they want to and profit off of it weather they give MJ co-writing credit on the track or not. Even his kids knew that was not him

what's the role of the estate in that situation? can't they prevent that happening and protect his legacy ?

Someone who met headquarters at sony said that they don't have enough material left, which means that sony don't have a full access to MJ's entire unreleased vault, they can use certain songs recorded during a certain period of time , maybe they had the rights to some old songs , and bought the rights to the fraudascios uncompleted fake tracks , hired an imtator to complete the incomplete songs and fool the public.....they don't want to miss an opportunity to cash in...

Maybe Militant can answer if sony has full access to MJ's unreleased vault and can use any song from it?