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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2017 19:50:39 GMT
So are we saying the curse word is definitely bleeped on the Scream cd and vinyl? Scream is uncensored on the CD So, I got through the whole album today going to and from work, so just a few points that I would like to make about it Pros - While it's an odd release, it still has a selection of some fantastic songs.
- Like Respect said, songs that aren't usually in your average MJ compilations make an appearance, and deservedly so, such as Heartbreak Hotel Ghosts and Leave Me Alone
- All the album/full versions are used, even Scream is uncensored
- Michael's work with the Jacksons is treated as part of his official canon, as it should be
- The first half of the album flows really well and is quite enjoyable
- Ghosts is a great album closer (which I always believed, as the last song of the "BOTDF EP")
- While very loud, some songs really popped for me. Unbreakable sounded lovely (listening in my car with bad speakers and bass turned down and treble up, it sounded great)
Cons
- The sequencing here isn't great. Unbreakable / Xscape / Threatened really stand out on their own from the other songs. They should have integrated these newer songs amongst the rest. No song post 97 appears on the first half of the album
- Leave Me Alone is an odd choice. Without the context of what we know regarding the song, to the average listener it's just a guy fed up with his girlfriend. Ooooooh!
- The remix of Xscape is used. The original (with the intro) would have worked better
- Danegerous and Unbreakable have very long outros. Dangerous works for me and always had, but after Dangerous, Unbreakable really drags.
- Is It Scary instead of Leave Me Alone would have worked so so well.
- The artwork is nice and original
- This Place Hotel instead of Heartbreak Hotel (kidding, I know the drill
All in all, not bad. I take back what I said about not listening to this again. I will, but sparingly. I'd give it a 7/10.
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
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Post by TonyR on Oct 5, 2017 21:28:35 GMT
Thanks @innuendo141 Another (not disimilar review here). Ignore the fact this guy doesn't like HIStory (his prerogative), nice to see the lesser works getting appreciation, which was always my point about the album.
Right, he was the King of Pop and all that stuff, but Michael Jackson was a capital-A album artist through and through once Quincy Jones stepped in. It’s not patently absurd to imagine someone with an hour of free time wanting to hear “Beat It” alongside “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “The Way You Make Me Feel” instead of setting up “Human Nature” and “P.Y.T.”, but it’s hard to imagine someone craving this sequence enough times to pay for it in a fixed order rather than just taking to Spotify when the mood strikes. Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, and the glorious, bombastic, undervalued Dangerous are all fully realized masterworks of cutting-edge pop maximalism, while the singles off the lesser HIStory and Invincible are fairly up to the same par as the deep cuts surrounding. You’re not getting a new revelation about “Earth Song” or “You Rock My World” by saving them from their intended contexts. So, of course, a Michael Jackson best-of sells, but it’s a misnomer. His bests are Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous. Few argue. There was just enough time in between these monuments for each to be events in themselves. Madonna’s Immaculate Collection is a blessed mixtape from the gods after boiling down mostly good records to the essentials, and she did learn to make essentials of her own shortly after. Jackson’s discography divvies up neatly on its own. So when Scream was first brought to our attention in September, it was looking to follow This Is It and Xscape into his non-pantheon of outtakes digs that rarely rose to the occasion of lone buried classic “Love Never Felt So Good”, and it turned out to be even less essential: another compilation. However, this one’s got some teeth (and balls), as a “Halloween-themed” collection that usefully corrals the man’s darkest and spookiest fare into a pretty convincing and sonically fluid totality of its own. For one thing, just four of Scream’s 14 songs come from the aforementioned great albums, which leaves 10 songs that actually stand a chance of improving on their original home, and they actually do. Partly, this is because non-solo Jackson tunes are wisely included: Rockwell’s 1984 hit “Somebody’s Watching Me” and two of the Jacksons’ best tunes are reconstituted betwixt “Thriller” and “Leave Me Alone” to give their minor-key menace a flow. The horn-y “Xscape”, first unveiled in 2014, is given a chance to shine in its Prince-circa-Come way, while overtaxed 2001 swan song Invincible gets its excellent bookends, “Unbreakable” and “Threatened”, subsumed into something greater (though it’s not clear what the former, a not-spooky-at-all Biggie duet, is doing here). It doesn’t take much to pry the famed Janet duet “Scream” from the jaws of HIStory’s mediocrity. But the biggest surprise of all may be the two tracks from 1997’s completely ignored Blood on the Dance Floor remix/mixed bag, the proto-Lady Gaga theater of “Blood on the Dance Floor” and the nearly P.E.-discordant “Ghosts” injected with new life in such A-list company. The consistent click of the new jack-inspired funk rhythms and total lack of ballads really do add up to a decent Halloween party with a consistent feel and steely momentum. Absurd as the package and its very existence are, it’s not misbegotten; you can hear the function it serves and the holiday conceit makes it fairly possible to imagine someone picking it up at Wal-Mart at the last minute along with their candy and decorations rather than going to the trouble to sort out a playlist. The bar for this sort of cash-grab is low enough that Scream clears it rather easily. It is in fact a scream, and it makes a case to revisit Jackson’s lesser works even as it cherry-picks from them. That’s almost enough to recommend plunking down cash for it. Almost. Essential Tracks: “Ghosts”, “Threatened”, and “Somebody’s Watching Me” consequenceofsound.net/2017/10/album-review-michael-jackson-scream/
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Post by aazzaabb on Oct 5, 2017 22:06:53 GMT
So it's almost worth buying? Well, consider it almost bought then.
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Post by HIStoric on Oct 5, 2017 22:21:30 GMT
So are we saying the curse word is definitely bleeped on the Scream cd and vinyl? No? Who said that? Only place you’ll find censored is on the censored music video. Everywhere else has it uncensored.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Oct 5, 2017 23:01:05 GMT
I don't understand why you'd be upset a song isn't censored?
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Post by debbie on Oct 6, 2017 7:10:40 GMT
Aww that's a shame. Thank you for the info.
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
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Post by TonyR on Oct 6, 2017 19:33:02 GMT
Final Chart position in UK #9
Not bad really! I imagine there's many people who don't already own these songs.
And to put it into perspective, Miley Cyrus's new album was only one place higher.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Oct 6, 2017 21:35:14 GMT
Final Chart position in UK #9
Not bad really! I imagine there's many people who don't already own these songs.
And to put it into perspective, Miley Cyrus's new album was only one place higher. I'd say that's actually very good.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2017 0:40:47 GMT
Good for a compilation that isn't a "Greatest Hits" to be fair. Good to know a lot more people will have heart Heartbreak Hotel this week... BUT THEY'LL KNOW IT ONLY AS THIS PLACE HOTEL!!!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2017 11:05:17 GMT
Then again, if it can reach a new generation of fans, who may have never known Michael Jackson in his prime and probably not have aopinions about all the nonsense and gossip along with Jordy and Gavin, things may improve for the legacy of Michael and his music.
It may not be our cup of tea as hardened fans, but we are dealing with an artist who died over 8 years ago and a new rising generation of young people could pick up this album (Scream) and think "Wow these songs are really funky, who is this Michael Jackson guy". And if that happens then Scream has done it job and copies of back catalogue albums sell and we have more Michael Jackson fans (And also helps if they discover Prince too).
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2017 8:02:34 GMT
I gave in and bought it today, haven't listened to it yet, but no Is it Scary, seems weird. Are grateful for "Someones watching me" as I used to have it on my Motown 8CD set, but for some reason missing the 7th disc (1980 - 1985) which has the song on it. Glad to get it back. Artwork is pretty cool.
The guy at the counter told me he was waiting for me, as he knew I would be the only person to buy it and I have so far. I asked him why and he said, "oh we know you only come in whenever there is a new Michael Jackson or Prince Cd comes out and Family Guy DVD's". Bit worried about the stalking implications, but at least they know what I like. Hopefully they will save a promotional poster for me too, as they let me have an Xscape banner one last year.
The fact it has been out a week and I am the only person to buy it, in a mall with 200 shops that serves an area of over 100,000 people from diverse backgrounds. The time when I queued up with 200 other people in the rain for the Release of HIStory Book One back in 1995 is long gone. And I do buy other stuff there too.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2017 8:20:25 GMT
I gave in and bought it today, haven't listened to it yet, but no Is it Scary, seems weird. Are grateful for "Someones watching me" as I used to have it on my Motown 8CD set, but for some reason missing the 7th disc (1980 - 1985) which has the song on it. Glad to get it back. Artwork is pretty cool. The guy at the counter told me he was waiting for me, as he knew I would be the only person to buy it and I have so far. I asked him why and he said, "oh we know you only come in whenever there is a new Michael Jackson or Prince Cd comes out and Family Guy DVD's". Bit worried about the stalking implications, but at least they know what I like. Hopefully they will save a promotional poster for me too, as they let me have an Xscape banner one last year. The fact it has been out a week and I am the only person to buy it, in a mall with 200 shops that serves an area of over 100,000 people from diverse backgrounds. The time when I queued up with 200 other people in the rain for the Release of HIStory Book One back in 1995 is long gone. And I do buy other stuff there too. I suppose some people would like that approach from a record store, that they "know you" but everyone is different. I have a record on hold at my record store that I dont want any more actually... You just reminded me. OK so, 2 weeks on, what does everyone think? Nice collection? Waste of time? I'd much preferred a link to an additional track than that VR thing. Enough with the gimmicks lads. Anything bar that Thriller mix though. That gave me indigestion.
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Post by HIStoric on Oct 9, 2017 10:22:45 GMT
I gave in and bought it today, haven't listened to it yet, but no Is it Scary, seems weird. Are grateful for "Someones watching me" as I used to have it on my Motown 8CD set, but for some reason missing the 7th disc (1980 - 1985) which has the song on it. Glad to get it back. Artwork is pretty cool. The guy at the counter told me he was waiting for me, as he knew I would be the only person to buy it and I have so far. I asked him why and he said, "oh we know you only come in whenever there is a new Michael Jackson or Prince Cd comes out and Family Guy DVD's". Bit worried about the stalking implications, but at least they know what I like. Hopefully they will save a promotional poster for me too, as they let me have an Xscape banner one last year. The fact it has been out a week and I am the only person to buy it, in a mall with 200 shops that serves an area of over 100,000 people from diverse backgrounds. The time when I queued up with 200 other people in the rain for the Release of HIStory Book One back in 1995 is long gone. And I do buy other stuff there too. That would explain why it hasn't even cracked the Top 40 in New Zealand. It is on the Heatseekers chart, but that's just fastest rising titles outside of the Top 40 and isn't really significant tbqh. Crazy to hear about the queueing up for HIStory in the rain though! Keen for story time if there is a story for that
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2017 11:56:29 GMT
I posted it on MJJC a couple of years ago, but if the mods say its okay, here goes.
June 1995 (Not sure exact day, think it was about the 18th or 19th) I was home from Uni for the Semester break after finishing exams in Christchurch, New Zealand - now American and Europe based MJJForum people take note this is midwinter in New Zealand and I lived in Christchurch a southern city. They had billboards advertising the new Michael Jackson album set, History and the news was full of the statues floating down the river. One of the main music stores (Either Radar or Echo Records, in Christchurch Central) had a special opening party at midnight to release the HIStory album. Free entry and the chance to buy HIStory at a few dollars off, with a DJ spinning Michael Jackson records. I got permission to go there (I was 19 and borrowing my Mum's car) she thought I was mad, as the Jordie Chandler thing was still fresh in many people's minds and people had started to go off MJ in general. The car borrowing turned out to be my brother driving and chaperoning, even though I had my full licence and he only his learners, my mother trusted him only.
I only had to wait 15 minutes in fairly light rain, but it was like 4c (40f) and supposed to snow (It didn't) and some of the people had been waiting in line since like 6pm, as the store was under strict orders not to sell the new Michael Jackson album until the next day. I had done the whole queue in line for a new album thing before, when 6 months earlier we queued up for Pearl Jam's Vitaology (Ah the 90s).
We get there about 11.45 (Well I get dropped off and told to call when I want to come home) and there is like 200 people waiting for the record store to open. At midnight they do and I am in line talking to someone who saw the Bad and Dangerous tours in London and somehow end up talking about Prince too. The store opens we go in and we all buy our albums, the DJ is playing Scream and then plays stuff like Billie Jean and Black or White (I think I paid like $24.95 for the 2 cassette set, the CD's were $59.95 and I did not trust my cheapo CD player with them). About 1am the store says "Okay we are going to have to close, but thanks for coming", a few albums are unsold, but everyone has their Sets and a few other Michael Jackson albums are for sale (Thriller, Bad and Dangerous I remember with the Scream single and a few Dangerous era singles). They gave us hot chocolate and it was raining. I remember getting home easily enough, my brother dropped me off, went to some bar and came and got me (Pre cellphone days) and we listened to some of history on the way home, he didn't like TDCAU much but did like 2 Bad because of the rapping (I was 19, he was 21).
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Post by HIStoric on Oct 10, 2017 6:39:14 GMT
I posted it on MJJC a couple of years ago, but if the mods say its okay, here goes. June 1995 (Not sure exact day, think it was about the 18th or 19th) I was home from Uni for the Semester break after finishing exams in Christchurch, New Zealand - now American and Europe based MJJForum people take note this is midwinter in New Zealand and I lived in Christchurch a southern city. They had billboards advertising the new Michael Jackson album set, History and the news was full of the statues floating down the river. One of the main music stores (Either Radar or Echo Records, in Christchurch Central) had a special opening party at midnight to release the HIStory album. Free entry and the chance to buy HIStory at a few dollars off, with a DJ spinning Michael Jackson records. I got permission to go there (I was 19 and borrowing my Mum's car) she thought I was mad, as the Jordie Chandler thing was still fresh in many people's minds and people had started to go off MJ in general. The car borrowing turned out to be my brother driving and chaperoning, even though I had my full licence and he only his learners, my mother trusted him only. I only had to wait 15 minutes in fairly light rain, but it was like 4c (40f) and supposed to snow (It didn't) and some of the people had been waiting in line since like 6pm, as the store was under strict orders not to sell the new Michael Jackson album until the next day. I had done the whole queue in line for a new album thing before, when 6 months earlier we queued up for Pearl Jam's Vitaology (Ah the 90s). We get there about 11.45 (Well I get dropped off and told to call when I want to come home) and there is like 200 people waiting for the record store to open. At midnight they do and I am in line talking to someone who saw the Bad and Dangerous tours in London and somehow end up talking about Prince too. The store opens we go in and we all buy our albums, the DJ is playing Scream and then plays stuff like Billie Jean and Black or White (I think I paid like $24.95 for the 2 cassette set, the CD's were $59.95 and I did not trust my cheapo CD player with them). About 1am the store says "Okay we are going to have to close, but thanks for coming", a few albums are unsold, but everyone has their Sets and a few other Michael Jackson albums are for sale (Thriller, Bad and Dangerous I remember with the Scream single and a few Dangerous era singles). They gave us hot chocolate and it was raining. I remember getting home easily enough, my brother dropped me off, went to some bar and came and got me (Pre cellphone days) and we listened to some of history on the way home, he didn't like TDCAU much but did like 2 Bad because of the rapping (I was 19, he was 21). Thats so cool! Man how things have changed. I guess these days you can really only compare it to midnight showings of really big movies like Star Wars. Thanks
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