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10 Reasons Why Michael Jackson's New Album 'Xscape' Should Stay Locked Up
Michael Jackson will continue to follow in 2Pac's posthumous footsteps on May 13 by releasing his second album from beyond the grave. In the process, he will also make Epic Records a lot of money. The new album, called "Xscape," promises to feature a collection of previously unheard Jackson tracks that have been "modernized" by the production hands of Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins and Stargate and will feature additional vocals by Mary J. Blige and D'Angelo.
But the real question is: do we actually need a new Michael Jackson album? Absolutely not! Here are 10 reasons why "Xscape" should never, ever be released.
10. MJ's last posthumous album sucked
Michael Jackson's estate already released one posthumous album called "Michael" back in 2010 and it was awful. Now a second? "Michael" was produced by the likes of Akon and Lenny Kravitz and featured 50 Cent. Despite being the worst, "Michael" made the label a lot of money and sadly, that seems like the only justification for the sequel "Xscape."
9. What posthumous album has been worth it?
Biggie, Tupac, Aaliyah, Amy Winehouse, Joey Ramone…has there ever been a good posthumous album? It's hard to think of an artist’s post-death album that stands out as being quality. It seems like it’s never worth releasing a posthumous album for anyone except the label.
8. Bringing back old MJ scandal
No matter what, if a new Michael Jackson album is released, MJ’s name will be back in the headlines and talk of his scandalous past will resurface. Discussion of pedophilia and whether or not music fans should be supporting his legacy will be questioned. MJ has been gone for five years. Let him rest in peace.
7. It's not a Janet Jackson album
With all these big-time label executives and big-money producers scraping their efforts together to get a new MJ album released, why aren't they focusing on trying to get a new one out of the most talented member of the Jackson family who's still alive? There are probably more fans that want a new Janet album and it wouldn't appear as just a shameless cash-grab by the label.
6. Modernizing Michael?
Does Michael Jackson need to be modernized? Is it the right way to "contemporize" Michael Jackson by having Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins (Gaga, Justin Bieber) and Stargate (Selena Gomez, Katy Perry) do it?
No offence to those guys, but the whole idea just sounds financially driven and as many records as MJ sold, he was always an artist. The idea of Mary J. Blige and D'Angelo providing updated vocals on tracks also sounds like a total snooze.
5. MJ never wanted you to hear it
The eight songs on "Xscape" were scraps from Jackson's old albums. He never liked them when they were made so there's a reason why he never finished and released them on his other albums when he was still alive. Would he really want them out now to potentially taint his approved catalogue of music?
4. LA Reid is calling all the shots
"Xscape" is being totally dictated by label mogul and former "X Factor" judge LA Reid, who claims to be "capturing Michael's essence." Although Reid says this project is strictly for art purposes and not making Epic Records a bunch of cash, you can't help but feel that sentiment is insincere coming from the label boss who's trying to release the artist's second posthumous album.
3. Quincy wasn't part of it
Legendary record producer Quincy Jones has always had his hand in Michael Jackson's best work. He produced "Off the Wall," "Thriller," and "Bad" and will forever be tied with Jackson's best successes. But Jones has nothing to do with any of the material on "Xscape." No production credits, no presence and no praise of the upcoming release. That's a bad sign for quality.
2. It's not even a full album
Since when is a full album only eight songs long? The "Xscape" track listing has only seven confirmed songs so far but Epic Records says that it will contain eight. It seems like the label was desperate to scrape up any songs they could to make a new MJ album and boost second quarter sales but they still managed to fall short.
1. It's not actually a new album
"Xscape" may be billed as a new Michael Jackson album, but obviously it's not. The guy died back in 2009! What we've got here are a pack of throwaway b-side songs (or pieces of tracks turned into songs) from earlier MJ recording sessions that are the musical equivalent of three-day old leftovers in your fridge. Nobody wants 'em. The first single "Xscape" is a scrap from back in 2001 when MJ recorded his mediocre album "Invincible."
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/22/mi..._n_5150437.html
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