As the first excavation of Michael Jackson’s vaults, Michael carries the weight of expectation it cannot possibly bear to support.
After Jackson split with Quincy Jones following 1987’s Bad, he had a revolving door on his studio, letting in all major producers for a track or three, sometimes selecting these songs for a finished album, sometimes not.
Michael rounds up ten of these leftovers, relying heavily on cuts he was tinkering with in the years after Invincible, but apart from cameos by Akon and 50 Cent, there’s precious little here that sounds modern.
Perhaps it’s the heavy presence of Teddy Riley, but much of this recalls the cacophonic clutter of Dangerous, heavy on rhythms but not melody, so desperate for relevance that every overdub is overworked.
Tellingly, the exceptions to the rule are the oldest tunes here -- “Behind the Mask” and “Much Too Soon,” both dating back to Thriller, and “(I Like) The Way You Love Me,” an outtake first aired on the 2004 box The Ultimate Collection and reworked somewhat extensively here.
Much of this has likely been tweaked extensively to prep it for release, but it’s impossible to discern exactly what overdubs were added after Jackson’s death, particularly because this so heavily recalls his last decade of released records, right down to the recurring theme of MJ’s persecution, which sounds quite bizarre in the wake of his passing.
That and Akon’s self-aggrandizing salvo to the opening “Hold My Hand” are the only ghoulish touches here: Michael is often tacky but considering how garish Jackson’s taste could be, it winds up seeming almost respectful.
At the very least, the album doesn’t tarnish his legacy, although it adds nothing to it either.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hold My HandClaude Kelly, Aliaume Thiam, Giorgio Tuinfort | Michael Jackson, Akon | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 2 | Hollywood TonightBrad Buxer, Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley | Michael Jackson | Play | 04:31 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 3 | Keep Your Head UpEddie Cascio, Michael Jackson, James Porte | Michael Jackson | Play | 04:51 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 4 | (I Like) The Way You Love MeMichael Jackson | Michael Jackson | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 5 | MonsterEddie Cascio, Curtis Jackson, Michael Jackson, James Porte | Michael Jackson | Play | 05:06 | 11 MB | 38 MB |
| 6 | Best of JoyMichael Jackson | Michael Jackson | Play | 03:03 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 7 | Breaking NewsEddie Cascio, Michael Jackson, James Porte | Michael Jackson | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 8 | (I Can't Make It) Another DayLenny Kravitz | Michael Jackson | Play | 03:55 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 9 | Behind the MaskMichael Jackson, Chris Mosdell, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Michael Jackson | Play | 05:02 | 11 MB | 39 MB |
| 10 | Much Too SoonMichael Jackson | Michael Jackson | Play | 02:48 | 6 MB | 15 MB |
| 41 mins | 95 MB | |||||
| 41 mins | 294 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50 Cent | Featured Artist, Rap |
| 2 | Kory Aaron | Recording Assistant |
| 3 | Akon | Duet, Instrumentation, Primary Artist, Producer, Programming |
| 4 | Alex Al | Bass |
| 5 | Alex Alvarez | Programming, Studio Technician |
| 6 | Angelikson | Producer |
| 7 | Christopher Austopchuk | Creative Director |
| 8 | Eelco Bakker | Recording Assistant |
| 9 | Dave Baron | Synthesizer Programming |
| 10 | Dave Barron | Drum Programming, Noise |
| 11 | Rudy Bird | Musician |
| 12 | Charlie Bisharat | Concert Master |
| 13 | Stuart Brawley | Assistant Engineer, Engineer, Musician, Voices |
| 14 | Edward Brown | Keyboards |
| 15 | Brad Buxer | Composer, Producer |
| 16 | David Campbell | Arranger, Conductor |
| 17 | Eddie Cascio | Composer, Musician |
| 18 | William C. Champlin | Piano |
| 19 | Myron Chandler | Voice Engineer |
| 20 | Joe Corcoran | Assistant Engineer, Drum Programming, Engineer, Musician |
| 21 | Paulino da Costa | Percussion |
| 22 | Paulinho Da Costa | Percussion |
| 23 | Brandon Datoli | Assistant Engineer |
| 24 | Steven Dennis | Assistant Engineer |
| 25 | Reggie Dozer | String Engineer |
| 26 | Thomas Drayton | Bass |
| 27 | Scott Elgin | Engineer, Mixing |
| 28 | Tommy Emmanuel | Guitar |
| 29 | Theron Feemster | Drum Programming, Instrumentation, Keyboards, Producer |
| 30 | Nicole Garcia | Musician |
| 31 | Jesus Garnica | Mixing Assistant |
| 32 | Serban Ghenea | Mixing |
| 33 | Quentin Gilkey | Assistant Engineer |
| 34 | Khaliq Glover | Engineer, Mixing |
| 35 | Mark "Exit" Goodchild | Engineer |
| 36 | Dave Grohl | Drums |
| 37 | Dave Hampton | Voice Engineer |
| 38 | John Hanes | Mixing |
| 39 | Travis Harrington | Assistant Engineer |
| 40 | Drew Harris | Assistant Engineer, Engineer |
| 41 | Henry Hirsch | Vocal Engineer |
| 42 | Jean-Marie Horvat | Mixing |
| 43 | Sean Hurley | Musician |
| 44 | Curtis Jackson | Composer |
| 45 | Eric Jackson | Guitar |
| 46 | Michael Jackson | Composer, Concept, Inspiration, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 47 | Sharon Jackson | Musician |
| 48 | Taryll Jackson | Spoken Word |
| 49 | Jaycen Joshua | Mixing |
| 50 | Craig Johnson | Archivist |
| 51 | Alphonso Jones | Vocals (Background) |
| 52 | Suzie Katayama | Accordion, Contractor |
| 53 | Claude Kelly | Composer |
| 54 | Konvict | Producer |
| 55 | Lenny Kravitz | Bass, Composer, Drum Programming, Featured Artist, Gong, Guitar (Electric), Horn Samples, Mini Moog, Mixing, Noise, Producer, String Samples, Timpani, Vocals (Background) |
| 56 | Dennis Krijnen | Recording Assistant |
| 57 | Sheri Lee | Art Direction, Creative Director, Design |
| 58 | Michael LeFevre | Vocal Producer, Voices |
| 59 | Glen Marchese | Engineer |
| 60 | Naiden Maynard | Screams |
| 61 | Nigel Maynard | Screams |
| 62 | John McClain | Producer |
| 63 | Danny Ray McDonald, Jr. | Whistle (Human) |
| 64 | Vlado Meller | Mastering |
| 65 | Stacey Michaels | Voices |
| 66 | Mischke | Vocal Engineer, Vocals (Background) |
| 67 | Monte Neuble | Musician |
| 68 | Tommy Morgan | Harmonica |
| 69 | Chris Mosdell | Composer |
| 70 | James Murray | Engineer |
| 71 | Luis Navarro | Engineer |
| 72 | Kadir Nelson | Cover Art |
| 73 | Jon Nettlesbey | Digital Editing, Drum Programming, Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Sequencing |
| 74 | Wessel Oltheten | Engineer |
| 75 | Lisa Orkin | Voices |
| 76 | Sandy Orkin | Voices |
| 77 | Matt Paul | Recording Assistant |
| 78 | Greg Phillinganes | Keyboards |
| 79 | Mike Phillips | Saxophone |
| 80 | Justin Pintar | Recording Assistant |
| 81 | James Porte | Composer, Drum Programming, Musician, Vocals (Background) |
| 82 | Michael Prince | Archivist |
| 83 | Michael Durham Prince | Engineer, Vocal Engineer, Whistle (Human) |
| 84 | Zachariah Redding | Assistant Engineer |
| 85 | The Regiment | Horn |
| 86 | Teddy Riley | Composer, Mixing, Producer, Programming |
| 87 | Tim Roberts | Assistant |
| 88 | Christina Rodriguez | Art Direction, Design |
| 89 | Craig Ross | Guitar (12 String Electric) |
| 90 | Ryuichi Sakamoto | Composer |
| 91 | Mark Santangelo | Mastering Assistant |
| 92 | Miguel Scott | Recording Assistant |
| 93 | Jason Sherwood | Assistant Engineer |
| 94 | Allen Sides | Engineer, Mixing |
| 95 | Duawne Starling | Vocals (Background) |
| 96 | Christopher "Tricky" Stewart | Producer |
| 97 | Cameron Stone | Musician |
| 98 | Leon Sylvers III | Vocal Arrangement |
| 99 | Evvy Tavasci | Archivist |
| 100 | Aliaume Thiam | Composer |
| 101 | Brian "B-Luv" Thomas | Engineer |
| 102 | Giorgio Tuinfort | Composer, Instrumentation, Producer, Programming |
| 103 | Franck van der Heijden | String Arrangements |
| 104 | Erick Walls | Guitar |
| 105 | Ryan Wiese | Recording Assistant |
| 106 | Shanice Wilson | Vocals (Background) |
| 107 | Jamie Wollam | Musician |
| 108 | Mack Woodward | Recording Assistant |
| 109 | Benjamin F. Wright | Arranger, Conductor |
| 110 | The Benjamin Wright Orchestra | String Section |
| 111 | James "Big Jim" Wright | Drum Programming, Keyboards |
| 112 | Andrew Wuepper | Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |