Customer Reviews

The Jacksons Story

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Music: 4.5 stars... Compilation: 3.5 Stars

There are a lot of Jackson 5/Jacksons compilations available, so the question is where does this one stack up? The answer is, not bad at all, but not the greatest either.

"The Jacksons Story" (20 tracks, 78 min.) tries to compile the Jackson 5/Jacksons in a single CD, and what a difficult task that is! The album starts off with the true-and-tried earliest Jackson 5 hits (such as "ABC", "I Want You Back" etc.), in remarkable remastered sound. It then jumps to Michael's earliest solo hits such as "Ben" and "Got to Be There". After that we go to the awkward mid-70s period, which for no apparent reason also includes Jermaine Jackson's only bona fide hit (1980's "Let's Get Serious", a great song actually), before we get to the late 70's streak of great Jacksons hits, including "Blame it on the Boogie", "Shake Your Body", "Lovely One" etc. Inexplicably absent from this compilation is "State of Shock", the huge hit featuring Mick Jagger. Instead, again for no apparent reason, 2 Michael monster solo hits ("Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" and "Billie Jean") are tagged at the end. What do they have to do with the Jacksons story?

In all, this CD contains a ton of incredible music, but the compilation is a hodgepodge that goes all over the map. Not a bad album by any measure, but just a weird compilation.

Everybody knows that The Jackson 5's hits have been recycled on hits compilation to death.But this is the first time the early hits are combined with their latter day CBS recordings which were finally compiled a few months earlier on The Essential Jacksons.
For casual fans, this is a great compilation to not only get the tried and true Motown hits,but also the underrated CBS recordings (Shake Your Body,Enjoy Yourself,Lovely One,Heartbreak Hotel ).But the collections biggest flaw is the inclusion of solo hits from Michael(especially two hits from his CBS albums) and Jermaine which would've made room for other hits and album cuts not included (Sugar Daddy,Maybe Tomorrow,Looking Through The Windows,Get It Together,Dreamer,Goin Places,Push Me Away,The Things I Do For You,Torture,Body).
A nice sampler of the Jacksons work,A two CD set would've really told the whole story.

The J5 existed in two separate realities. The hungry, soul driven group with a dynamic lead singer, and the pop princes fighting for the right to express themselves. The Jacksons Story tries and mostly succeeds in trying to tie these two realities together, but with an excellent anthology already on the market (Motown's 2000 J5 Anthology) and the recent Essential Jacksons on Sony, this new release seems redundant. It replaces the live "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" with MJ's studio version, as well as "Billie Jean" and adds Jermaine's solo hit "Lets Get Serious". Most of these tunes have been compiled to death already, but the set does ok at distilling the Jacksons story down to the hits. Noticably absent are "Torture", and "State of Shock" from Victory as well as some of Jermaine's solo hits on Motown, Arista and Laface.

Though slightly offset by the unnecessary inclusion of Michael and Jermaine's solo efforts, "The Jacksons Story" features the essential Motown and CBS hits on a 73-minute disc. Among the group's classic singles: "I'll Be There," "Mama's Pearl," "Never Can Say Goodbye," "Dancing Machine," "Enjoy Yourself," "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" and "Can You Feel It." Worth having if only for the unedited recording of "Show You the Way to Go" - a 1976 Philly Soul masterpiece written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

Wonderful compilation of the male Jackson musicians, though it makes me wonder why they left out tracks from VICTORY and the "2300 Jackson Street" song featuring Michael from 1989. Nonetheless, it covers all the Jackson 5 hits, the hits that started Michael out on his own (from "Got to be There" to the groundbreaking "Billie Jean"), the top Jacksons hits from 1976-80, and Jermaine's biggest hit "Let's Get Serious" from 1980. "Daddy's Home", Jermaine's song from 1973, is surprisingly missing. Worth the purchase, and especially worth it if you're a fan.

This 20 song sampler makes for a more consistent listen than the Essential Jacksons (Epic) or any of the various Motown Jackson 5 anthologies. By focusing on just the big hits, you get the group's best moments in one sterling package. There's also Jermaine's biggest and best solo hit, "Let's Get Serious", 2 ringers from Michael's Epic year's, "Don't Stop 'Til", and "Billie Jean", as well as 3 of his solo hits with Motown. The liner notes are real brief but effective. And there's enough pictures to satisfy old and new fans. By combining the big hits from Motown and Epic, this is the most effective rendering of the Jackson's legacy you can buy on one CD.

THE JACKSON 5-THE MILLENNIUM COLLECTION: THE JACKSON 5's reign exploded out of the gate with their incredible hat-trick of chart topping singles I WANT YOU BACK, ABC, and THE LOVE YOU SAVE, deliriously interchangable, undeniably irresistible sonic slabs of unfiltered bubble-soul...an obvious inspiration for the OSMOND BROTHERS' first sugar-smack of a hit ONE BAD APPLE. Sweet cream of soul ballads NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE and I'LL BE THERE followed along with their funkified final MOTOWN smash DANCIN' MACHINE, before a label jump and a name change to THE JACKSONS, resulting in the more sophisticated dance fare of SHAKE YOUR BODY (DOWN TO THE GROUND) and ENJOY YOURSELF. No single disc can hope to tell the whole tale, but this one offers up every important group effort, sprinkling in a few of MICHAEL's solo smashes for good measure. Pop music has had its share of mighty musical siblings, but none that aimed higher or sparkled brighter than the first family of soul.

RATING: 5 BROTHERS

THe product came in due time and in the quality that was described. I am very satisfied

I searched and searched for the Jackson 5 album with the most Jackson 5 hits and it turned out that this one had the most including some bonuses which I enjoyed. If you want the best then get this disc! Love it!

from the Jackson5,then to the Jacksons&then a Solo Career Michael Jackson has had a Incredible Career period. this Collection showcases the Entire Great Run.you get Jermaine Jackson's "Let's Get Serious".a tight Jam that Stevie Wonder wrote for Jermaine. but the Songs here showcase a very Talented Family let by the King of Pop.there is nobody like Michael Jackson.I Mean the Brother has had three different Careers&thrived.Genius.