I’ve had this for almost a week. I listened to it 3 times straight through last Tuesday during some driving around and I haven’t listened to it since, until starting this review. That’s not really enough attention to make a judgment about the contents, but I’m not likely to give it much more time than that in the next 3 years, never mind the 2 days until it’s released. And it’s the most attention I’ve given ANY music in the last few months, so we might as well just get on with it.
I’ll try to leave aside all the controversies: from his children and mother and brothers stating that some of the tracks don’t contain his singing, to Quincy Jones and others saying none of this should have been released, to the Prince symbol that was originally included on the cover, then yanked, to Teddy Riley making an ass out of himself left and right.
How is the album? Does it stand up to Michael’s early adult works, such as “Off The Wall” or “Thriller?” No. Does it stand up to edgier, mid-period beat-driven work such as “Bad” and “Dangerous”? No. Does it stand up to the self-absorbed, martyrdom of late-period freak-shows “HIStory” and “Invincible”? Well, kind of.
Every cliché in the latter day Michael Jackson canon is here. From the self-pitying, angry “poor me, I’m Michael Jackson” to the saccharine and meaningless “can’t we all just get along” tracks. The hard beats standing in for melody are here. The save-the-world with a Care Bear Stare mentality. The random guest rapper. It’s all here. But as with all of Michael’s albums, even the last couple, there are a few hidden gems to be found. There are some beautiful and brilliant moments hiding in this exercise to milk every last cent out of the Michael Jackson estate.
Because it’s such a hodge-podge, I suppose the best way is to go through it track-by-track.
