Cloudbuster said:

Yes,but the bottom line is that she made an album that was a radical departure for her.She didn't just read Billboard and call up all the "hot" producers (R.Kelly,Rodney Jerkins,etc).In fact,in 1997,William Orbit could hardly be considered a "safe" choice to make an album with.Ditto for Mirwais (who was totally unknown to the masses before 'Music' and 'American Life').That's my whole point.As an artist,MJ needs to challenge himself and his listeners.



"I know it was a new sound for her but it had already been popular on the *UNDERGROUND* dance scene for some time"


But,the point is,it was largely an underground phenomenon,making it a risky venture for a mainstream artist to tackle.Would MJ ever make music that is considered "underground"? Fat chance.He's only interested in sales and charts.

DavidEye said:

I think Michael's music is far less commercial these days. Look at songs like Morphine, Stranger In Moscow, Superfly Sister, Little Susie, Tabloid Junkie, The Lost Children, Privacy, History, Threatened, Money, Don't Walk Away, Is It Scary, Childhood & 2000 Watts. None of them scream "single material" at me. And I like it that way. I don't think he's bothered about having as many hits as people make out. He's been there, done that. And got more exposure than any other artist while he was at the top. His music has matured and actually sounds less like chart music than Madonna's music does. And I prefer it that way. Madonna is clearly more interested in making music for the moment which in the end suffers from sounding dated after a couple of years.

Cloudbuster said:

Bullshit.Michael is the king of commercial music! He only cares about hits and charts.He has this insane obsession with outselling 'Thriller' and he can't really accept the fact that his commercial heyday is over.Why else would he spend millions of dollars working with EVERY commercial producer in pop/R&B music right now (Missy,Wyclef,Lauryn Hill,even David Foster were all hired by MJ for 'Invincible)? That's not what I consider "artistic inspiration",that's more like "commercial desperation".And speaking of sounding "dated"...the Rodney Jerkins sound was already outdated by 2000.The Teddy Riley sound was already outdated by the early 90s.But that didn't stop MJ from using them on 'Invincible' and some of their tracks sound horribly outdated ("Heartbreaker" sounds like an N'Sync reject).

DavidEye said:

But that's just it. Michael isn't the king of commercial music anymore. And I'm happy about it. As for Teddy Riley's contributions, they sound nothing like his material on Dangerous. Heaven Can Wait, Don't Walk Away, 2000 Watts and Whatever Happens are all very different sounding tunes.

Also, MJ has been working with David Foster on and off since OTW.

Cloudbuster said:

You're right,he's not the king of commercial music anymore so he should quit trying to be.The news that he is,once again,working with R.Kelly on the song "One More Chance" is really disappointing,imo.Why not work with an unknown,*underground* producer and make a unique,original album for once? Be honest,as a fan,wouldn't you rather have an album like that from him?

DavidEye said:

Of course I would. But I doubt it will happen. But the reason I consider Invincible a better album than anything he's done for years is because a lot of it is timeless. Bad is a very eighties sounding album and Dangerous is a very nineties sounding album. Invincible is a whole mixture of sounds and in years to come it will be difficult to pin it to one particular decade.

be edit.
[This message was edited Wed Oct 8 5:02:02 PDT 2003 by Cloudbuster]

(from the Associated Press)---


"MICHAEL JACKSON working on new CD with unknown producer"



King of Pop Michael Jackson has just entered the studio with an unknown producer known as Beryl Schmeryl.The two met at a nightclub in London,where Mr. Schmeryl quickly handed Jackson a demo tape."This is unlike anything you've ever heard",Schmeryl promised as Jackson politely took the tape.Two weeks later,Michael phoned the young musician and said "This music is so groundbreaking,so fresh,so unique! Will you produce my next CD with me? I wanna go in a bold direction,can you help me?".

The two are in the studio working on songs.The new songs are said to be "edgy,with lots of guitars".The new CD will be released in early 2004.

But people are ALWAYS telling MJ to "go back to his roots". His roots derive from R&B. Madonna's are in dance, a fast moving and progressive genre. Whenever MJ departs from R&B he gets all the old-time former fans crawling out of the woodwork moaning. Whenever he does something more traditional, people accuse him of being musically dead.

I'd prefer him to just go with the flow. Madonna and Janet have been dependent on co-writers and producers for 100% of their careers. Michael is no Prince, but he has the talent to write and produce and has proved himself in the past (see half the HIStory album and the self-penned on Dangerous). MJ fell off when he started thinking about formulas for albums and music in terms of record sales. But hidden amongst all of that You Are Not Alone style tosh, there is some amazing work. You just have to have to look for it, and only fans do that. Prince fans should know about that more than most.

Also, MJ has said that he never opens demos sent to him by others. The guy has been subject to almost 1,000 lawsuits for various things. He's won every single plagarism suit, but he doesn't like to risk more.

DavidEye said:

btw,y'all do know that's a bogus press release,right?

But that's the kind of news I wanna hear regarding MJ! That would make me really excited about hearing a new CD from him again.Right now,I am not the least bit interested in hearing "One More Chance".I bet it's another sappy R.Kelly ballad.

DavidEye said:

You're probably right.

DavidEye said:

Is it? Damn! But it is AP?

BlueNote

BlueNote said:

I made the whole thing up.In fact,the name "Beryl Schmeryl" was taken from Cloudbuster's profile

DavidEye said:

Even AP isn't reliable anymore.

But I like that name. Can u imagine what a great MJ era that would be. "Yeah, I know, Schmeryl is da man!"

BlueNote

Tibor said:

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE IS BETTER THAN MICHAEL JACKSON?!!!

sawah said:

He is right now. A kid can do Neptune songs better than a 40 year old.