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Post by nesboy43 on Nov 10, 2022 22:06:13 GMT
At this point I may have several copies of the 2CD and SACD pre ordered and will forget to cancel the dearest ones š I have the SACD and the MoFi āOne Stepā pre ordered and am in two minds about the whole thing. One minute I feel Iāll just go with the standard deluxe edition CD, the next minute I feel like I want to get the lot. š¤ I mean the SACD is closer to source than the Mofi One Step and at one quarter of the price. It's a DSD file created from the master tapes. I can't believe mofi even still calls these records "one steps" when they are digitally sourced. The 1999 Thriller SACD is supposed to be a flat transfer of the tapes and has held a high value past its release.
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Post by SoCav on Nov 10, 2022 22:35:45 GMT
I'm here for the music at this stage. My expectations from his estate have been rock bottom since 2010 Cascio debacle, so tbh, the new content on this release has actually exceeded my very low expectations. I learnt a long time ago with MJs estate to keep your expectations low and then you can only be pleasantly surprised. I'm looking forward to hearing some new MJ music and am not gonna let his shabby estate ruin that for me. See, I have moments where I feel that way too, and I'm sure I will enjoy the songs next week. But at the same time, I cannot shake the frustration about this very finite amount of unheard material completely being wasted on these terrible, lazy releases. Just think of the number of unheard songs we've had to first encounter in dreadful 'contemporized' form (songs on 'Michael'), on an overlooked deluxe disc in subpar audio quality (the demos on Xscape), or on random compilations (some of the demos on the 'This Is It' soundtrack). I would not really be bothered if all the Estate did was lazily re-release his old albums. Sure, it would be a tad annoying, and something like the Off The Wall anniversary release is laughably bad, but at the same time it's not really harmful as it's just the same old material being repackaged. However, there is only one first time to hear The Toy, or Who Do You Know, etc, and I wish that would be in the context of a beautiful box set or album like so many other artists are getting. Instead my entire experience will now consist of jumping on Spotify, listening to the 5 new songs, and that's that. They're not giving us any information about the songs, there are no interviews with people who worked on them, there's no neat looking physical product that transports you right back to that era - nothing. And even if Branca and McClain resign some day and get successors that DO create quality products, then there's no way to unhear this material and experience it as though it was completely fresh again. I know, I know, I could just not listen to the songs now and wait for the day until they get a better release, but we can't all be disciplined like TonyR, nor should we have to be. MJ deserves so much better than this. I never thought the day would come that I'd be more excited about a couple of Prince and Elvis vinyls I am expecting - material I HAVE heard many times before - than the upcoming release of 5 brand new MJ tracks, but here we are...
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Post by HIStoric on Nov 10, 2022 23:03:58 GMT
Instead my entire experience will now consist of jumping on Spotify, listening to the 5 new songs, and that's that. They're not giving us any information about the songs, there are no interviews with people who worked on them, there's no neat looking physical product that transports you right back to that era - nothing. It's possible the 2CD set may have a booklet with information about those songs in it? Xscape's booklet had background information about all of the new songs.
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Post by aazzaabb on Nov 10, 2022 23:17:31 GMT
Instead my entire experience will now consist of jumping on Spotify, listening to the 5 new songs, and that's that. They're not giving us any information about the songs, there are no interviews with people who worked on them, there's no neat looking physical product that transports you right back to that era - nothing. It's possible the 2CD set may have a booklet with information about those songs in it? Xscape's booklet had background information about all of the new songs. I also bought Damien Shieldsā Xscape Origins which really enhanced my overall experience with the album. Again, it was a fan project that brought the album up quite a few notches for me. But to be fair I enjoyed that album for what it was and let slide what it wasnāt. There was a lot of public casual love for MJ during this album back in 2014.
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Post by aazzaabb on Nov 10, 2022 23:33:16 GMT
I have the SACD and the MoFi āOne Stepā pre ordered and am in two minds about the whole thing. One minute I feel Iāll just go with the standard deluxe edition CD, the next minute I feel like I want to get the lot. š¤ I mean the SACD is closer to source than the Mofi One Step and at one quarter of the price. It's a DSD file created from the master tapes. I can't believe mofi even still calls these records "one steps" when they are digitally sourced. The 1999 Thriller SACD is supposed to be a flat transfer of the tapes and has held a high value past its release. Youāre probably right but I like Mike Espositoās take on the āOne Stepā. Ironically the guy who exposed MoFi actually likes what theyāve done and I feel Mike is a genuine guy. Thereās a lot of pretentious audiophiles out there but Iāve never felt that of Mike. Iām also suffering from FOMO with this release and anxious that Iāll miss the best bit. At the same time I have a first pressing Thriller and Mikeās son prefers that over the MoFi and Mike says the original Thriller is more in keeping with what the album actually is; a dance record. So I think thatās very fair and sincere comment. In an Ideal world Iād be able to go to a listening party for the MoFi, make my own mind up as to wether or not itās worth it and go from there but time, distance and capitalism deems it not possible. The SACD probably IS the perfect compromise though.
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Post by WildStyle on Nov 10, 2022 23:36:40 GMT
I posted this on another forum to back up the claim that Thriller's other short films were filmed, too. Yes, we had this back and forth already. The film reels were transferred to video tape, then edited and then released. They'd need to re-scan every reel, find out which take was used, do the editing from scratch etc. But nothing of the impossible.
This is what I have a hard time believing that this lazy cheap estate would do. Seems too big of a task for them to be bothered with.
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Post by HIStoric on Nov 10, 2022 23:43:11 GMT
It's possible the 2CD set may have a booklet with information about those songs in it? Xscape's booklet had background information about all of the new songs. I also bought Damien Shieldsā Xscape Origins which really enhanced my overall experience with the album. Again, it was a fan project that brought the album up quite a few notches for me. But to be fair I enjoyed that album for what it was and let slide what it wasnāt. There was a lot of public casual love for MJ during this album back in 2014. Oh yeah. Man those last few years before Leaving Neverland were amazing. I distinctly remember commenting about how great it was to see the public's respect for him rise more and more every year since his death, especially with the allegations fading more and more in the rear view. Never felt like I had to worry about being judged for wearing an MJ t-shirt or something, less of a chance his allegations were brought up in conversation. Granted, it's better now than it was in 2019 for sure, but it's still nowhere near the level of the mid-2010s and probably won't be for quite some time.
I never got around to reading Xscape Origins. I really should (along with a billion other books š)
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Post by aazzaabb on Nov 11, 2022 0:13:17 GMT
I also bought Damien Shieldsā Xscape Origins which really enhanced my overall experience with the album. Again, it was a fan project that brought the album up quite a few notches for me. But to be fair I enjoyed that album for what it was and let slide what it wasnāt. There was a lot of public casual love for MJ during this album back in 2014. Oh yeah. Man those last few years before Leaving Neverland were amazing. I distinctly remember commenting about how great it was to see the public's respect for him rise more and more every year since his death, especially with the allegations fading more and more in the rear view. Never felt like I had to worry about being judged for wearing an MJ t-shirt or something, less of a chance his allegations were brought up in conversation. Granted, it's better now than it was in 2019 for sure, but it's still nowhere near the level of the mid-2010s and probably won't be for quite some time.
I never got around to reading Xscape Origins. I really should (along with a billion other books š)
I actually think I remember you making that exact comment because it resonated with me a lot. Thank god weāre coming out the other side of LN now to a certain degree but who the heck knows whatās around the corner. I just hope we all live to see total redemption, justice and vindication for MJ beyond any doubt. Not sure how it would happen but I have to have faith in the truth. Yeah Damienās book was a nice read. Some very enjoyable insights and it really turned me on to Xscape a lot. I must have read hundreds of books on MJ at this point but Iām useless at retaining a lot of the knowledge and information on him.š Still, I love a good MJ read. Yesterday I received Vogelās revised and updated paperback edition of Man In The Music. I know heās come in for some criticism, I think initially he was remaining tight lipped on the Cascio tracks but in recent years I believe heās fully stood up for MJās legacy. I think the guys at the MJCast put him in his place about it and heās since realised his wrongs. Although he didnāt include the Cascio tracks in his book.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Nov 11, 2022 0:29:14 GMT
I also bought Damien Shieldsā Xscape Origins which really enhanced my overall experience with the album. Again, it was a fan project that brought the album up quite a few notches for me. But to be fair I enjoyed that album for what it was and let slide what it wasnāt. There was a lot of public casual love for MJ during this album back in 2014. Oh yeah. Man those last few years before Leaving Neverland were amazing. I distinctly remember commenting about how great it was to see the public's respect for him rise more and more every year since his death, especially with the allegations fading more and more in the rear view. Never felt like I had to worry about being judged for wearing an MJ t-shirt or something, less of a chance his allegations were brought up in conversation. Granted, it's better now than it was in 2019 for sure, but it's still nowhere near the level of the mid-2010s and probably won't be for quite some time.
I never got around to reading Xscape Origins. I really should (along with a billion other books š)
Can recommend Xscape Origins. Basically goes through track by track and tells you about the songs, with interviews, quotes etc. Much better than the Xscape booklet.
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Post by amaya on Nov 11, 2022 6:19:48 GMT
Glad to see the last song is a new/unheard of one. I think I'm leaning towards buying this now. But there's one problem: I don't know which version to buy.
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Post by HIStoric on Nov 11, 2022 8:26:10 GMT
Literally had no idea this song even existed until yesterday when y'all were discussing it. Awesome! Hope it's a good demo.
Also, like others, surprised some like Hot Street and Niteline (which seemed obvious contenders) were left off. But I can totally see them leaving for a future contemporised album or Thriller 50.
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Post by SmoothGangsta on Nov 11, 2022 17:12:00 GMT
Glad to see they are promoting T40 by mentioning Billie Jean in this post!
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Post by respect77 on Nov 11, 2022 17:20:23 GMT
Glad to see they are promoting T40 by mentioning Billie Jean in this post! I can't with this useless Estate.
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Post by respect77 on Nov 11, 2022 17:33:27 GMT
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Post by respect77 on Nov 11, 2022 18:51:35 GMT
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