Customer Reviews

The Essential Michael Jackson

5 star:		(154)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Whoa!!!!! Where did this come from? Without any hype or media attention, Sony has just released "The Essential Michael Jackson" (37 tracks, 157 min.), perhaps the ultimate Michael Jackson compilation.

CD 1 (20 tracks, 79 min.) cover the period up to and including the "Thriller" album, starting with the best known Jackson 5 singles such as "ABC" and "I Want You Back", then shifting to the Jacksons. It would have been better to include "State of Shock" or "Lovely One" instead of "Enjoy Yourself". CD1 finishes off with 7 of the 9 "Thriller" album tracks (the other 2 being "Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady in My Life"; it's still hard to believe how successfull that album really was, and how many hits were relased from it, in the days when "radio tracks" meant actual vinyl single releases). This was of course Michael at his absolute best, now 23 years ago.

CD2 (17 tracks, 78 min.) compiles 8 tracks from "Bad" and 7 from "Dangerous", and finishes off with "You Are Not Alone" from HIStory and "You Rock My World" from Invincible. In other words: only 2 tunes from the post-1992 era, and rightfully so, even though the HIStory and Invincible albums are not nearly as bad or mediocre as many would like you to believe. The only track that arguably should be on here (but, at 78 min. already, at the expense of what other track then?) is "Scream", the No. 1 duet with sister Janet.

In the end, this "essential" compilation is better than any other compilation available (HIStory Vol. 1; Number Ones, etc.) as it covers both the Jackson 5/Jacksons era and his solo output. It's very strange to me that this was released without any hype or advertizing campaign, but the main thing is that it's out and available. Hihgly recommended!

Thjere are many Michael Jackson CD's on the market. This is the one to own however since it captures all of his big hits and well represents my two favorite albums "Off The Wall" and "Thriller". His best songs are all here" Rock With You, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Beat It, Billie Jean,The Girl Is Mine, Human Nature, etc. as well as his early hits with the Jackson Five and the great later albums like "Bad" and "Dangerous". THIS IS THE BEST SOUNDING representation of these hits I have ever heard. There are 37 cuts. Michael was indeed an American tragedy and a pop music icon. If you can only own one CD, this is the most logical choice. My only quibble is the omission of "Never Can Say Goodbye" which was my favorite Jackson Five song. At one time, he was selling over one million albums-CD's a day (1983-84). He changed the course of pop music history and his legacy will live on despite the cynics. Highly recommended!

While some might gripe about the lack of new material on this collection, very few (and I only say this because I don't own all of them) of the sets in the "The Essential" series of compilations have anything new on them. The point is to make available an affordable compilation of an artist's hits over the course of their career. This is especially useful in the cases of artists who have had career highlights on various labels, such as Johnny Cash or Michael Jackson. In the case of Jacko's collection, this is the only 2-disc set on the market that contains tracks dating from the J5 years to the present, so it's valuable to those who want a lot of his hits in one purchase but don't want to buy the J5's greatest hits, a compilation of pre-Off the Wall hits and then another compilation that covers from Off the Wall to the present.

There are a few glaring omissions to be noted, though: "Dancing Machine," "Scream" (with Janet), and "Say Say Say" (with Paul McCartney) deserve to be on here. "Blood on the Dancefloor" is a personal favorite of mine that would've been nice to get without having to buy a remix album, too, but it's inessential (then again, so is "Dangerous," which made it on). Overall, though, I recommend it for those who want a 2-disc Jackson fix in 1 purchase.

All the positive reviews here have neglected to comment on one thing, and that is the songs on this collection are not the full length versions. Rather they are the edits for radio versions. I prefer the original full length songs that come from the respective albums so prefer HIStory to this.

I agree with an above poster. I didn't buy this album to "drool" over. I wanted to listen and enjoy his music not analyze his life or even think about his passing. Just enjoy the tracks on this record. 2 songs I liked weren't included they were , The Jacksons "Torture" and MJ's 2001 song "2000 Watts". But I got most of those from the net. I liked some of MJ's songs but only knew the most popular ones prior to his passing. Since his passing and thanks to a tribute of MJ songs played on XM Satellite Radio. I now enjoy more songs than ever before. I know most think that people like me ONLY bought this record because of the hype. That isn't true if you never liked MJ's music than regardless of the hype you won't all of the sudden like his music. You have to be a fan of some sort prior to his passing. Sad that it takes MJ passing for fans bring his music to a level that he never saw when he was alive. I like most (if you never owned a MJ album) wanted to have at lease one ACTUAL record of MJ's to remember the good music he did. I'll add that listening to "You are not alone" is very hard now knowing that MJ is gone. Knowing that he meant so much to so many! It was like his way of leaving a final message! RIP MJ

There are a number of MJ compilations out there, but this is by far the best one. It features a nice sampling of Jackson 5 and 70s Jacksons hits, as well as all the major solo hits. The only major omissions are the Jackson 5 hits "I'll Be There" and "Dancing Machine", the Jacksons "State of Shock" and the duet with Janet Jackson, "Scream", but considering this is a Michael Jackson compilation it's not that detrimental.

I'm impressed at the scope of this collection, and all of MJ's major albums, "Off The Wall", "Thriller" and "Bad" are well-represented here. The underrated "Dangerous" is also well-represnted including songs that were not on "HIStory" or "Number Ones", including the hypnotic "In the Closet" and "Who Is It".

Invincible is only represented by "You Rock My World", although I think "Butterflies" and "Cry" would have been good additions.

But, it's hard to complain when you have 30 years of some of the most incredible pop music ever made.

Greatest Hits albums are always difficult to rate. Realistically, no compilation will ever be able to gather every last "hit" from a particular artist, and "The Essential Michael Jackson" is no exception. And despite its (very few) limitations, "Essential" does an A+ job.

For starters, the amount of material in this package is quite staggering; it extends from the early #1's of the J5 under Motown up to Michael's latest solo work for a total of 38 songs. Ordered chronologically by single release date, "Essential" shows the impressive transformation of a child star into one of the most impressive musical forces in pop-music today. But despite the stylistic evolution and technological adaptions made along the way, the energy and emotion (neither insufficient nor overpowering) remain at the core of each and every song.

The first disc begins with the Jackson 5ive's first three number ones, as well as some of Michael's early solo work. Then, the J5 become The Jacksons, switching labels and becoming disco icons with hits like "Shake Your Body" and "Blame It On The Boogie". Of course, Michael finds the biggest success behind solo albums "Off the Wall" and "Thriller", which dominate the last half of this CD.

By disc number two, Michael is no longer splitting duty with his siblings and is 100% solo. "Bad" and "Dangerous" take up all but two tracks on this disc, which makes sense because those two LPs are both studio albums and greatest hits packages, considering the majority of the songs from those albums turned platinum. Lastly, the biggest hit of "HIStory" and "Invincible" round out the last two tracks.

Naturally, I didn't take the time to write out all of the tracks from "Essential", but just by the few I mentioned you can already grasp at the notion that this collection is pure platinum. If you're a casual Michael Jackson fan, this is a must buy. In a couple hours of listening, you'll understand why this man was the juggernaut he was.

"Essential" isn't perfect, however. If you own one or more of the "Big Four", then you're most likely better off skipping this. As those albums make up 90% of anything with "Michael Jackson" and "Greatest Hits" in the same title, you'd be better to just grab all four of those albums if you haven't done so already. There are a number of "Misses" that you'll be glad you shelled out extra for.

Also, the balance in "Essential" is great. Solo to group, ballad to dance hit, this is a very well constructed compilation. Where it fumbles the ball is in the source material. As said before, Michael's first four Epic solo albums have the lion's share of representation, which means that you now have another CD with "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and "Thriller". Meanwhile, the under-appreciated "HIStory" gets only 1 track, as does "Invincible". Granted, they didn't have quite the effect that the "Big Four" had on the music industry, but after doing such a great job of chronicling Michael's discography, the last decade of his career is basically glossed over.

Perhaps an additional disc was needed, which would allot more space not only for more recent songs, but also allow for additional songs in that didn't make the cut. Just a thought.

Regardless of the complaints, however, "Essential" does its job of presenting both 38 great tracks and providing a timeline of the most successful artist to date. And in focusing on the biggest hits, its only reasonable that some great undervalued songs aren't included. It's a shame, but can't diminish the value of this collection. If you're out for the ultimate Michael Jackson hits compilation, this is it.

Happy listening.

Truth is, Michael Jackson needed a 2-disc collection as much as anybody. Those single discs didn't quite do it for somebody who's still often called the "King Of Pop". So, the pros and cons. I personally don't need the Jackson 5 material myself, but some might. I also think this is a bit shy on his most recent work. I do miss "Earth Song" and the duet "Scream" with Janet too. However, many of his best songs came from "Thriller" and "Bad", and we get most of those here. In fact there are 7 of the 9 songs from the original "Thriller" album, and even more from "Bad". Plus we get the best of "Off The Wall", and again some of his earliest stuff. The fact is, after listening to this collection of Michael Jackson, you almost can't not like him. It's just "Human Nature".

...But it should be warned that if you already own "HIStory: Past, Present, and Future" then you're more or less paying for the same thing. However, the good news is that if you don't, this is by far the best collection of Michael Jackson's greatest hits!

Unlike HIStory, they actually have the goods. Not just the same old stuff we've all heard thousands of times (i.e. we get more than just "Billie Jean" "Beat It" and "Thriller"). Not only that, but we get to hear some classic Jackson 5 songs. And of coure, "Ben" which was one of his greatest.

If you take a look you'll notice that "Off the Wall" "P.Y.T. Pretty Young Thing" and "Human Nature" are here. And I was very impressed that this time, they remembered "Smooth Criminal" (the song everyone seems to think Alien Ant Farm did). They also threw in "Dirty Diana" and "Leave Me Alone".

Likewise, we can easily see that "Dangerous" was not a forgotten album. This time spawning more than just three songs, but actually seven. And what a fine seven they are, the ones we actually LIKED... well, maybe some of us could do without "Heal the World". But luckily, "Man in the Mirror" will save you from that.

Really, this is a great compilation. We get to see Jackson before he became a total nutcase in the media. Remember, it doesn't matter what he looks like now, or even how his music sounds now. It's all a matter of what his music can still bring to you now. You can't change the past, and the past was good! So let's keep it and remember it when we buy this.

Lastly, I still have to throw in that if you got HIStory and Number Ones, this might not perk you up right. However, for two CDs the list price isn't bad (HIStory debuted at about forty dollars). So if you want the GOOD Jackson songs, get this album. It's more than just his solo career, too. It's his career with the Jackson 5 as well.

Wow, no media attention at all. I just noticed this when I was trying to add a Michael Jackson to the Now Listening To part on my xanga site. This has definitely got to be one of the finest collections of songs by Michael Jackson. Includes songs from The Jacksons group as well, which is spectacular! Each of my 8 favorite songs are on this CD, it was amazing when I picked it up! The title of the CD says it well, it is essential for any Michael Jackson fan.