Michael Jackson top albums, life and his kids now: 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.
On the whole, Michael feels rather dull. Vocally, he’s on target the majority of the time, with the exception of the still manufactured-sounding, “Breaking News”, but musically it’s far from impressive. So many of the beats sound so derivative that it lacks any evolution, which is what Jackson was always about. Look at the transition between Off the Wall and Thriller, or better yet, Bad to Dangerous. He went from disco to ’80s synth, from hair metal aesthetics to New jack swing. What’s more, he always surrounded himself with the most top notch, key players in any industry. Do you think it was by chance that Jackson hired the likes of Macaulay Culkin or Michael Jordan for his videos? Remember, it was the early ’90s, those guys were just as much royalty as he was. The same went for Slash, or Eddie Van Halen, or Martin Scorcese, or Teddy Riley. That’s what’s missing on Michael.
Invincible (2001): Admittedly I’ve come around on Invincible in recent years. Back in 2001 it felt like a massive disappointment because, well, it’s a Michael Jackson record, and we expect nothing less than perfection. While flawed, Invincible has plenty of standout moments, showing that Michael was once again able to adapt to a changing musical landscape. And I’m still pissed we didn’t get an official video for “Butterflies.” Forgotten Favorites: “Break of Dawn,” “Heaven Can Wait,” “Privacy”.
Michael Jackson family: Mocienne Petit Jackson’s (Michael Jackson’s daughter) books are now available in french! For our french visitors: La deuxieme partie de l’autobiographie en trois parties de Mocienne Petit Jackson commence par une description detaillee de l’enlevement de Mocienne et de sa vie aux Pays-Bas (Michael Jackson Livre en francais). Par la suite, le recit nous devoile comment se deroule sa vie avec sa famille adoptive, chez qui elle reste en compagnie de la cousine Delivrance. Petit a petit, elle decouvre que son vrai pere est Michael Jackson. A l’age de 15 ans, elle quitte sa famille adoptive et vit dans un internat pendant 4 ans, avant de s’installer vivre toute seule. Nous la suivons tout au long de son adolescence et de son entree dans la maturite, ce qui n’a pas toujours ete facile. Mocienne rencontre un homme avec lequel elle a un enfant. Cependant, cet engagement ne dure pas. Nous en apprenons davantage sur les problemes qu’elle rencontre avec les Services de Protection de l’Enfance, suivis de nombreuses affaires judiciaires. Au debut, celles-ci portaient sur sa propre personne, plus tard, elles se transforment en bataille pour la garde de son fils. Une situation inacceptable prend le relais d’une autre situation inacceptable. Nous sommes egalement mis au courant de nombreux evenements traumatisants vecus par le personnage principal, de ses depressions et de ses nombreuses luttes pour faire face a la misere impregnee dans sa vie et a son combat pour s’en debarrasser. L’auteur explique clairement ces luttes a travers de vifs flashbacks.