Arriving three decades after the disco bubble had already popped, “Love Never Felt So Good” vividly evokes thoughts of Studio 54’s velvet ropes, strobe lights, and swirling mirror ball. Paul Anka’s unpolished 1983 demo—featuring Jackson’s signature finger-snapping and verbal percussion—offers a fascinating glimpse into the 25-year-old’s musical prowess. “Michael brought a lot more to the basic track when he did all of the things that he did and that great feeling of passion and warmth and believability that he did in his songs.”

Giorgio Tuinfort and John McClain have artfully interwoven swooping strings, a four-to-the-floor drumbeat, and funky guitar licks on the reworked solo version while retaining every ounce of Jackson’s youthful charm and energy. Even the Justin Timberlake-assisted duet (which peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 2014) maintains that fresh-yet-familiar vibe courtesy of Timbaland and J-Roc’s horn-heavy groove tailored for summertime cookouts.

While it’s difficult for longtime fans to call a project like Xscape an official Michael Jackson album, “Love Never Felt So Good” manages to capture his spirit in a way that other posthumous efforts rarely achieve.

Studio 54? Please, I'm just laughing my ass off

About that track, I could have told them that after those Mexico Deposition Tapes

[Edited 12/22/17 7:53am]

I prefer the original

Goddess4Real said:

I prefer the original

Me, too. Just MJ and the piano... Beautiful.

Goddess4Real said:

I prefer the original

YUCK! fraud!!!!

I really like the new one and Paul did a great job. Bunch of geezers in here, MJ would have loved it too.

It really is well-done. A lot of thought seems to have gone into how to make it work as a dance track. I really can't say the same about most of what was included on that (mostly awful) release.

Timbaland "updating" "Do You Know Where Your Children Are"? You can't convince me that was in any way better than the original "demo" by Jackson.

I liked it like the 1st hundred times I heard. After that not so much .

Easily the best of the updated tracks on "Xscape". Thanks christ they included the orignal demo's on the deluxe version, that way you can hear for yourself how much they butchered the other tracks...

[Edited 12/26/17 19:39pm]

Toofunkyinhere said:

Easily the best of the updated tracks on "Xscape". Thanks christ they included the orignal demo's on the deluxe version, that way you can hear for yourself how much they butchered the other tracks...

[Edited 12/26/17 19:39pm]

Exactly, this is what is wrong with the industry. Always fucking with something and adding the current crop of future has beens.

laurarichardson said:

Toofunkyinhere said:

Easily the best of the updated tracks on "Xscape". Thanks christ they included the orignal demo's on the deluxe version, that way you can hear for yourself how much they butchered the other tracks...

[Edited 12/26/17 19:39pm]

Exactly, this is what is wrong with the industry. Always fucking with something and adding the current crop of future has beens.

Some of them defenitley needed updating. Lovin You, Xscape, Blue Gangsta and Chicago were terrible without help. It was very dated and cheap / demo sounding.

They sound much better with new production. I hope they do it again.

paisleypark4 said:

MickyDolenz said:

JOHNNY!!!! Goes 2 show u that everything old is new again!!!

woogiebear said:

JOHNNY!!!! Goes 2 show u that everything old is new again!!!

When they released Mike's duet version, I wondered why they didn't have Justin Timberlake sing the lyrics from Johnny's version. On a similar note, the Jackson 5 recorded a song written & produced by Stevie Wonder called Buttercup that wasn't released until a few years ago. But Carl Anderson recorded it in the early 1980s and released it first.

Free2BMe said:

paisleypark4 said:

Some of them defenitley needed updating. Lovin You, Xscape, Blue Gangsta and Chicago were terrible without help. It was very dated and cheap / demo sounding.

They sound much better with new production. I hope they do it again.

I loved the originals; however, I also really liked the updated versions. Xscape was a top motch project. I really enjoyed having an album with both the originals and new versions. I never tire of listening to this album. I also hope they do this again.

Agreed!

purplepolitician said:

I liked it like the 1st hundred times I heard. After that not so much .

I love the new version, not much the original.

paisleypark4 said:

laurarichardson said:

Exactly, this is what is wrong with the industry. Always fucking with something and adding the current crop of future has beens.

Some of them defenitley needed updating. Lovin You, Xscape, Blue Gangsta and Chicago were terrible without help. It was very dated and cheap / demo sounding.

They sound much better with new production. I hope they do it again.

Terrible those two, really?

Eh, I love all three versions on the album.