New Michael Jackson album announced: Xscape. 8 unreleased songs coming May 13th.

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Both those albums dont count. Both artists were pretty much done working on them before they died.
 
When bathing I always dump my phone in tub for the hell of it.

Lmao! I thought I was the only one who noticed this lol! Grown ass man in the tub taking a bath and just so happens to dump his phone in the water. Really Sony? Lol!


I don't know about this album. I love Timbo but would I really want all of Michael in his hands? I don't think so.
 
I hope there's not another vocal controversy.

I highly doubt it. The twelve MJ tracks believed to be sung by an impersonator (Jason Cupeta) all originate from an obscure New Jersey company called Angelikson Productions (Eddie Cascio and James Porte). None of their songs are expected to be on this album, thankfully.

Edit: To add a bit more context to this, the twelve Angelikson songs were sold to Sony Music in mid-2010. Three of the tracks were later featured on the MICHAEL album, leaving nine left in Sony's vault. John Branca, the co-executor of the MJ Estate, has reportedly stated that the remaining songs will not see a future release due to the vocal controversy.

Will they release the version that was leaked?

The deluxe edition will probably include the leaked mix or another mix from the same time period.
 
I'm excited for this! Hopefully it won't be a disaster like 'Michael' was. At least they're including original versions this time around.

So how is this album any more or less legitimate than his last posthumous relese, MICHAEL?

Questionable vocals on Breaking News, Monster and Keep Your Head Up. Songs were terribly remixed without including versions of how they sounded when Michael last heard them/worked on them.
 
A rumor was that Michael supposedly recorded a catalog of songs (somewhere around 100?) specifically that the record labels couldn't directly touch, so his estate could release them over time after his death to make sure his children were taken care of. They weren't unfinished scraps, as is usually the case; he planned ahead to have posthumous album releases.
That would be crazy if true.
 
Kevin Hughes ‏@Popprince
Great night at the Michael Jackson #Xscape playback. Goosebumps hearing that amazing vocal. LA Reid has chosen well. pic.twitter.com/un6PvjyajR
4:44 PM - 31 Mar 2014

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Kevin Hughes ‏@Popprince
#Xscape Still buzzing from what I heard tonight.. Do You Know Where Your Children Are. Wow! #MJ pic.twitter.com/VgmezdDido
5:55 PM - 31 Mar 2014

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Kevin Hughes ‏@Popprince
#Xscape A Place With No Name... #AllAboutThoseMJharmonies Amazing.. pic.twitter.com/FbZirqcscH.
9:42 PM - 31 Mar 2014

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This Kevin Hughes dude appears to have confirmed four song titles: A Place with No Name, Blue Gangsta, Chicago, and Do Your Know Where Your Children Are. And we know two others are Slave to the Rhythm and Xscape, of course.

Edit: Seventh track is Love Never Felt So Good. The eighth and final song is probably She Was Loving Me.
 
A rumor was that Michael supposedly recorded a catalog of songs (somewhere around 100?) specifically that the record labels couldn't directly touch, so his estate could release them over time after his death to make sure his children were taken care of. They weren't unfinished scraps, as is usually the case; he planned ahead to have posthumous album releases.

Yup. This was his way of giving money to his kids.

Also, can you imagine what will happen when Prince dies? Dude has entire albums, music videos, etc. in the vault.
 
We all know MJ was deeply committed to his music. If theses songs weren't released, it may have been because MJ thought they simply weren't up to his standard.

I don't know how to feel about this.
 
We all know MJ was deeply committed to his music. If theses songs weren't released, it may have been because MJ thought they simply weren't up to his standard.

I don't know how to feel about this.

Six of the eight tracks have been leaked, and i'll be honest.. They are not all that. I mean it's a posthumous album, and the songs weren't supposed to come out like that. A lot of it sounds a tiny bit generic.If I were to rate them, it would go something like this:

Xscape 7/10
Chicago ?/10
Blue Gangsta 6/10 (good, but forgettable)
She was loving me ?/10
Do You Know Where Your Children Are? 9/10
Love never felt so good 6/10
Slave To The Rhythm 5/10
Place With No Name 7.5/10 (for those who don't know, it's basically a cover/remix of America's "A horse with no name", and it sounds good)

Keep in mind that I'm talking about the leaked tracks and not the remixed ones that will be on the album, so they may be better or worse.

Also, there won't be a controversy this time around. The album is legit.
 
The way his hair goes through whatever contraption that is bothering me. Bad photoshop or am I missing something?

Either way, new Jacko will be interesting. "Slave to the Rhythm" sounds pretty sweet IMO, man hearing his voice gave me chills.
 
We all know MJ was deeply committed to his music. If theses songs weren't released, it may have been because MJ thought they simply weren't up to his standard.

I don't know how to feel about this.

I share the same feelings, especially since I felt the quality of his work had started to deteriorate after the release of Invincible, so I don't know what to expect from this album.

(Scratch that, it was Blood on the Dancefloor that was the bad apple.)
 
https://itunes.apple.com/br/album/xscape-deluxe/id850697616?ign-mpt=uo=4

The deluxe edition features 17 tracks and two videos of some kind. It also uses the orange cover.

I wonder what the 17th song is?

It might not be a song. It could just be a short track that introduces the original demo versions of the songs, or something along those lines.

Xscape is available for pre-order on iTunes US now, and the pricing information is there.
Standard version just has the 8 new songs and costs $9.99: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/xscape/id850693793
Deluxe edition also includes the original, untouched demo versions of the new songs as well as 2 videos (no idea what these will be), and costs $16.99: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/xscape-deluxe/id850697616?ign-mpt=uo=4
 
It might not be a song. It could just be a short track that introduces the original demo versions of the songs, or something along those lines.

That's now what I'm leaning towards it being: a voice-over segment/interlude that separates the new mixes from the bonus material.
 
Not sure if anyone here is on any MJ boards because I definitely am. Although I am an honest fan not one of those "MJ is an Angel" fans. The Estate seems to mess a lot of things up and I am not sure how this album will turn out.

It looks like we will have a lot of leaked songs. I am glad we get the original demos this time instead of only remixed tracks. I'm thankful at least Bad 25 gave us original demos too. I hate when they take Michael's music and try to turn it into something it isn't. No one has the same ear for music like Michael did.

Hopefully with the preorders coming up we can get a definitive track list. The 2002 Escape is awesome. I hope the songs that are leaked we get slightly different demos than what has leaked. Keep in mind for both Slave To The Rhythm and Do Yo Know Where Your Children Are what is leaked are 2010 "Michael" album mixes that didn't make the album, not the original demos.

I am just thankful the demos, but that cover is a mess, it doesn't even look like Michael. They should have just used a photo. It looks like CG.

I share the same feelings, especially since I felt the quality of his work had started to deteriorate after the release of Invincible, so I don't know what to expect from this album.

(Scratch that, it was Blood on the Dancefloor that was the bad apple.)

Blood On The Dancefloor is an amazing album. Invincible was bad and completely generic and tired sounding. The new songs on The Ultimate Collection were amazing though, Fall Again, We've Had Enough, Way You Love Me, etc.

A rumor was that Michael supposedly recorded a catalog of songs (somewhere around 100?) specifically that the record labels couldn't directly touch, so his estate could release them over time after his death to make sure his children were taken care of. They weren't unfinished scraps, as is usually the case; he planned ahead to have posthumous album releases.
It isn't about recording stuff for when he died, he over recorded for each and every album and was also recording tracks even when he wasn't making anything specifically for an album. The original plan for Bad was a 2 LP album. In this video he mentions, he records 120 songs for every album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt6zVypo72E

It is a bit of an exaggeration but still. There is tons of material out there. There is even a 3 hour 1993 court deposition (all on youtube) where Michael confirms 100+ unreleased songs, each individually by name. The Estate releasing all these known leaked songs is questionable though. I want to hear stuff like Buffalo Bill, Men In Black, Michael McKellar, Bottle Of Smoke, and Edgar Allan Poe.
 
Listening party impressions:

TheInsider said:
wow. I went feeling very sceptical, as I always am about posthumous albums but bloody hell I was surprised.

It's the album that Michael would've released in 2014 if he was still around. Some brilliant tracks and standout tracks were:
Xscape
Slave
Do You Know Where Your Children Are
Place With No Name - samples Way You Make Me Feel
but all eight tracks were great…
Speakerphone said:
I was going to write almost the exact same post - it's a very strong album and much better than a posthumous release gets to be. You can definitely hear the Timbaland influences in some of the tracks, but they've definitely done a good job of retaining the authentic feel while making it modern. Some similarities to the 20/20 Experience and Bruno Mars, etc,. but then you remember quickly that these songs are what inspired those albums and not vice versa.

Do You Know... is one of the strongest choruses on the album, and Xscape feels very fresh. Slave To The Rhythm is a huge tune, but could have used a bit more oomph - some upcoming remixes should take care of that.

Impressed and pleasantly surprised!
TheInsider said:
Two other tracks were Blue Gangster and Loving You… both were great. Some people said the tracks sounded similar to each other at times but I would call it cohesiveness rather than repetitive. There is only 8 tracks - but you knew that already, right?
Shame they're not just dropping it on iTunes tomorrow, it would get a lot of press especially with it being April Fools Day. Perhaps they know how good it is and are expecting rave reviews.

There was an air of surprise at the quality but I think that's because of the previous album and also the fact people like Timbaland were involved who can be quite hit and miss.
I am not a Bruno Mars fan AT ALL but I could easily imagine him releasing some of these tracks and having huge success, just a shame Michael's unlikely to get much airplay.
TheInsider said:
I imagine these tracks will be brand new to the wider public though. The production and overall sound is so different to the demos too.

Also was delighted that there doesn't seem to be many parts with 'extra vocals' from impersonators or session singers apart from one or two small parts.
Always thought if they needed extra vocals they should've got a sister, brother or even 3T.
Speakerphone said:
The first track on the album was Love Never Felt So Good, very breezy production.
I agree that there was definitely surprise in the room at the quality of the songs, and the enthusiasm went crescendo after the first couple songs - the latter half of the album seemed more modern and punchy. Couldn't single out a bad track, but I would say track 2 (forgot the name) and maybe 3 were the weaker ones.

No tracklist coming for a little while either! But I'm sure it will be all but clear from the inevitable blog reviews over the coming week. Slave to the Rhythm sounds exactly like the snippet in that Xperia ad - wish it had a bit more of a kick to it as the backing track is pretty much constant the whole way through, but it's still a massive jam.
TheInsider said:
Speakerphone, now I'm curious as to who you are! We might have shared a drink for all I know…
This album SHOULD sell by the bucketload but i'm not sure if it actually will, especially as only eight tracks.
Speakerphone said:
Haha, likewise! Small crowd... We probably did. ;)

I do agree it should sell very well, and seems the plan is really to go full blitz with the album across several platforms, so I think it has a decent chance of doing so.
 
Blood On The Dancefloor is an amazing album. Invincible was bad and completely generic and tired sounding. The new songs on The Ultimate Collection were amazing though, Fall Again, We've Had Enough, Way You Love Me, etc.

Invincible has its moment. I really like "Break of Dawn" "Butterflies" and "Dont Walk Away"

Even the commercialized "You Rock My World" was great despite being somewhat of a rehash of his older tunes.
 
I like what I heard from 'Slave to the Rhythm'. It might not be the best MJ song out there (there are dozens of songs better than it, lol), but still sounds nice. I like it.

Can't wait for the album though! :)
 
Thought I recognised that album name and then it dawned to me that Xscape was the name of a leaked song that dates back to around 2002. I'm sure I heard it before but I can't seem to find it now.

One of the tracks is called Do You Know Where Your Children Are? Seriously? Hahaha.

Pretty sure this track was also leaked a loooooong time ago and even I questioned its authenticity because of the track name.
 
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