Whoa!!!!! Where did this come from? Without any hype or media attention, Sony has just released "The Essential Michael Jackson" (37 tracks, 157 min.), perhaps the ultimate Michael Jackson compilation.
CD 1 (20 tracks, 79 min.) cover the period up to and including the "Thriller" album, starting with the best known Jackson 5 singles such as "ABC" and "I Want You Back", then shifting to the Jacksons. It would have been better to include "State of Shock" or "Lovely One" instead of "Enjoy Yourself". CD1 finishes off with 7 of the 9 "Thriller" album tracks (the other 2 being "Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady in My Life"; it's still hard to believe how successfull that album really was, and how many hits were relased from it, in the days when "radio tracks" meant actual vinyl single releases). This was of course Michael at his absolute best, now 23 years ago.
CD2 (17 tracks, 78 min.) compiles 8 tracks from "Bad" and 7 from "Dangerous", and finishes off with "You Are Not Alone" from HIStory and "You Rock My World" from Invincible. In other words: only 2 tunes from the post-1992 era, and rightfully so, even though the HIStory and Invincible albums are not nearly as bad or mediocre as many would like you to believe. The only track that arguably should be on here (but, at 78 min. already, at the expense of what other track then?) is "Scream", the No. 1 duet with sister Janet.
In the end, this "essential" compilation is better than any other compilation available (HIStory Vol. 1; Number Ones, etc.) as it covers both the Jackson 5/Jacksons era and his solo output. It's very strange to me that this was released without any hype or advertizing campaign, but the main thing is that it's out and available. Hihgly recommended! The Essential Michael Jackson
Thjere are many Michael Jackson CD's on the market. This is the one to own however since it captures all of his big hits and well represents my two favorite albums "Off The Wall" and "Thriller". His best songs are all here" Rock With You, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Beat It, Billie Jean,The Girl Is Mine, Human Nature, etc. as well as his early hits with the Jackson Five and the great later albums like "Bad" and "Dangerous". THIS IS THE BEST SOUNDING representation of these hits I have ever heard. There are 37 cuts. Michael was indeed an American tragedy and a pop music icon. If you can only own one CD, this is the most logical choice. My only quibble is the omission of "Never Can Say Goodbye" which was my favorite Jackson Five song. At one time, he was selling over one million albums-CD's a day (1983-84). He changed the course of pop music history and his legacy will live on despite the cynics. Highly recommended!
While some might gripe about the lack of new material on this collection, very few (and I only say this because I don't own all of them) of the sets in the "The Essential" series of compilations have anything new on them. The point is to make available an affordable compilation of an artist's hits over the course of their career. This is especially useful in the cases of artists who have had career highlights on various labels, such as Johnny Cash or Michael Jackson. In the case of Jacko's collection, this is the only 2-disc set on the market that contains tracks dating from the J5 years to the present, so it's valuable to those who want a lot of his hits in one purchase but don't want to buy the J5's greatest hits, a compilation of pre-Off the Wall hits and then another compilation that covers from Off the Wall to the present.
There are a few glaring omissions to be noted, though: "Dancing Machine," "Scream" (with Janet), and "Say Say Say" (with Paul McCartney) deserve to be on here. "Blood on the Dancefloor" is a personal favorite of mine that would've been nice to get without having to buy a remix album, too, but it's inessential (then again, so is "Dangerous," which made it on). Overall, though, I recommend it for those who want a 2-disc Jackson fix in 1 purchase.
All the positive reviews here have neglected to comment on one thing, and that is the songs on this collection are not the full length versions. Rather they are the edits for radio versions. I prefer the original full length songs that come from the respective albums so prefer HIStory to this.
I agree with an above poster. I didn't buy this album to "drool" over. I wanted to listen and enjoy his music not analyze his life or even think about his passing. Just enjoy the tracks on this record. 2 songs I liked weren't included they were , The Jacksons "Torture" and MJ's 2001 song "2000 Watts". But I got most of those from the net. I liked some of MJ's songs but only knew the most popular ones prior to his passing. Since his passing and thanks to a tribute of MJ songs played on XM Satellite Radio. I now enjoy more songs than ever before. I know most think that people like me ONLY bought this record because of the hype. That isn't true if you never liked MJ's music than regardless of the hype you won't all of the sudden like his music. You have to be a fan of some sort prior to his passing. Sad that it takes MJ passing for fans bring his music to a level that he never saw when he was alive. I like most (if you never owned a MJ album) wanted to have at lease one ACTUAL record of MJ's to remember the good music he did. I'll add that listening to "You are not alone" is very hard now knowing that MJ is gone. Knowing that he meant so much to so many! It was like his way of leaving a final message! RIP MJ
There are a number of MJ compilations out there, but this is by far the best one. It features a nice sampling of Jackson 5 and 70s Jacksons hits, as well as all the major solo hits. The only major omissions are the Jackson 5 hits "I'll Be There" and "Dancing Machine", the Jacksons "State of Shock" and the duet with Janet Jackson, "Scream", but considering this is a Michael Jackson compilation it's not that detrimental.
I'm impressed at the scope of this collection, and all of MJ's major albums, "Off The Wall", "Thriller" and "Bad" are well-represented here. The underrated "Dangerous" is also well-represnted including songs that were not on "HIStory" or "Number Ones", including the hypnotic "In the Closet" and "Who Is It".
Invincible is only represented by "You Rock My World", although I think "Butterflies" and "Cry" would have been good additions.
But, it's hard to complain when you have 30 years of some of the most incredible pop music ever made. - Hip Hop'
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