Customer Reviews

Very Best of the

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At the same time that Hip-O in the U.S. released a cross-label Jackson 5/Jacksons compilation (called "The Jacksons Story"), Sony and Universal in the UK issued this title. The differences between the two titles are considerable. First off the Hip-O collection is only one disc, so it obviously does not include many of the tracks that are available here. The first disc of this collection (track list below; Amazon's description only shows the tracks on disc two of this collection) focuses on the Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson's years at Motown. It has all of the big hits that the Hip-O disc has but also contains some album tracks and the hit "Lookin' Through the Windows." The one omission is the Jermaine Jackson hit "Let's Get Serious," available on the Hip-O collection but not here.

Disc two focuses on the Jacksons' Epic years. It's here that this disc really trumps the Hip-O compilation. Included here is "Torture," mysteriously missing from both the Hip-O disc and the "Essential Jacksons" disc that Sony issued in the U.S. last year. Also included here are popular Jacksons tracks like "Goin' Places," "Dreamer," and "Even Though You're Gone," the latter two also being missing from Epic's earlier "Essential Jacksons." What's also great about disc two of this collection is that, apart from "Lovely One," it contains the original 45 rpm single edits. (The "Essential Jacksons" disc contains the full length album versions.)

I am giving this collection only 4 instead of 5 stars because the track selection on disc one could have been better. Instead of the Jackson 5 singing "Doctor My Eyes" or "Ain't No Sunshine," it would have been nice to have had other hits like "Maybe Tomorrow," "Little Bitty Pretty One," and "I Am Love" or the popular b-side "I Found That Girl" or the stand-out early Michael Jackson-led "Who's Loving You." It also would have been nice if they had used the original mono mixes for the Motown tracks (they are all stereo here). The stereo versions are much easier to find on cd. Given the focus on single edits on disc two, it's curious that the compilers did not pay attention to using the original singles mixes on disc one.

you know Michael Jackson truly did something incredible in 3 phases of His career. first starting out as a Member of the Jackson 5&also as a Adult Member of the Jacksons&we aren''t even gonna talk about His Greatness as a Solo Artist.this is a truly Ultimate Collection of the Jacksons Work on Motown through sony. you gotta get this ASAP if you are a Jacksons Fan.

The Very Best of The Jacksons is one of the better retrospectives of their work together; we get terrific music from them all the way through. The Jacksons are no longer a group, of course; and Michael has left us. However, this two CD set allows their identities to live on through their music and that's wonderful. The quality of the sound on these two CDs is excellent and I like the artwork.

The first CD begins with an awesome track, "I Want You Back." "I Want You Back" features Michael front and center; his vocals are awesome and the others do a fantastic job, too! "ABC" is a great tune that's infectiously catchy; I love it. "The Love You Save" is also another classic Jackson 5 tune; Michael sounds perfect on this track and the rest of the group performs this with panache. These three numbers make a stunning beginning for the first CD--and ""I'll Be There" shines equally bright--what a good number this is! "I'll Be There" uses the percussion rather well and they harmonize faultlessly. "Mama's Pearl" is also catchy; and I really love their original rendition of "Never Can Say Goodbye" by Clifton Davis. "Never Can Say Goodbye" again has Michael in the spotlight and it all holds it all very well. "Dancing Machine" has a strong disco beat that gets my feet tapping to the beat even all these years later; and "Doctor My Eyes" gets the royal treatment from these artists who deliver it without letting go of a single superfluous note! "Got to Be There" charms me with its beauty; and wow, how the music fits in perfectly with their vocals! "Rockin' Robin" is cute; and a rather young Michael Jackson outdoes even himself on the classic hit entitled "Ben."

The second CD continues the hits. "Can You Feel It" is a fast paced hit that sounds wonderful--this ought to get you up on the floor and dancing practically wherever you are! "Blame It on the Boogie" continues in the same vein; and "Enjoy Yourself" is a masterpiece by The Jacksons that proves they had a singular talent--awesome! "Let Me Show You the Way to Go" is also very well done; this just plain sounds good. In addition, "Goin' Places" is another major highlight of this two CD set--this music is all THAT good. The Jacksons also perform "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" flawlessly; this leaves nothing to be desired and that percussion makes the music just right for their vocals. "Lovely One" has great vocalizing and the beat is catchy yet again; and I always enjoy hearing them do their usual best on "This Place Hotel (aka Heartbreak Hotel)." "Walk Right Now" from their album entitled "Triumph" has a flavor that almost sounds like a pop number mixed with a touch of disco and The Jacksons do "Walk Right Now" to perfection--and beyond! The Jacksons also do a great job on a live track of Michael's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" which was recorded when they were touring.

The Jacksons deliver so much good music on these two CDs it hard for me to truly single out just two or three songs that are sublime. Indeed, their work was nothing short of untouchable genius and when I listen to these songs I can easily understand why they are remembered so fondly. I highly recommend this for their fans; and perhaps fans of Michael Jackson will want this for their collections as well.

IF YOURE LOOKING FOR A COMPLETE COMPILATION FROM THE JACKSONS THIS IS THE ONE YOURE LOOKING FOR, CD ONE CONTAINS THE HITS FROM THEIR MOTOWN YEARS INCLUDING SOME SOLO RECORDINGS BY MICHAEL, CD TWO THE EPIC YEARS, THE DISCO SONGS "CAN YOU FEEL IT" & "SHAKE YOUR BODY (DOWN TO THE GROUND)" WERE A LITTLE LONGER AND THIS CD CONTAINS THE RADIO EDITS OF THEM, SOUNDS GOOD. HIGHLY RECOMENDABLE.

Below you will find a lengthy analysis of the opening song on this record "I want you back." If a single song can generate this kind of response, imagine the musical content of the entire 21 song record.

This song obliterates me. All the performances are incredible, including, to quote a friend, Michael's astounding, dumbfounding lead vocal.

The bass part sounds to me as if it came straight from the composer and arranger, but in any matter it's stuffed full with inventive ideas and super fonky! Given the calculated nature of this recording I would expect the arranger to have worked out the bass part note for note. The recording is a careful tapestry of many sounds that blend together to give the overall effect. The intro is a good example. The melody played by the bass is wonderful, but that melody is doubled by other instruments plus other things are woven around that melody, all indicating that the arranger wrote it all out note for note, the bass player serving to faithfully play the arrangement.

(Un)fortunately, any excellence in other portions of this song is obscured by Michael's unbelievable vocal. So much stuff, so much soul, so much range and flexibility. This vocal is way in the unbelievable range for any artist. But to come from a brand new 11 year old is, as my friend put it so well, "dumbfounding." (Look at other Jackson 5 albums here on Amazon for the mentioned sound snippets.)
*He sounds a little hoarse and that increases the authority.
*The way he uses subtle, rhythmic vibrato on the word "me" in the phrase "won't you please let me back in your heart." (Hear this on the Amazon snippet.)
*The pause and surprise attack on the word "back" in the same phrase. (Hear this on the Amazon snippet.)
*The screaming with 100% authority.
*The drifting out of tune on the words "now, baby, yeah" in the phrase "Yes I do now, Oh oh baby, yeah yeah yeah yeah, Nah Nah no no." (Is there a technical term for this "drifting out of tune" vocal technique?) (Hear this on the Amazon snippet.)
*The authority and inventiveness and soul of the scatting on that same phrase and other scats in the song, including the various fun "Huh"s.
*The natural way he does the call and response sections with his brothers.
*The perfect timing all over the place, including jumping on some of the responses a little early.
*The exciting vocal build on the phrase "All I want, all I need, all I want, all I need!" with the fantastic atonal exclamation on the second "all I want."
And on and on. You could almost analyze every single note the guy sings. The fact that this guy could do this at 11 years old shows beyond any question that singing at this level requires talent given to you directly by God. You can't get it and you can't learn it. God either gave it to you or He didn't. My guess is that some genius worked out most of this stuff and recorded a track for Michael to sing along with during the session. I mean God given talent or not, Michael could not have come up with that stuff on his own, atonal, drifting out of tune, etc. But to even sing along and get these results....incredible. Plus, who was that singing genius that came up with all that stuff?

Other great parts of the song are the pervasive background vocals, the excellent call and response, the subtle, almost inaudible use of strings and background vocalizing, and the various guitar parts that weave an interesting tapestry.

One thing that I think is ground breaking but at the same time takes away from this arrangement is the calculated, restrained drum part. The drum part sounds completely canned, written out and played note for note. It's not exuberant; instead it's carefully restrained. To my ears it sounds too mellow for this joyous, raucous romp. But it's groundbreaking because this style of drumming became prevalent later and today in the 2000s you rarely hear any drum pyrotechnics in favor of a steady drum beat that does not break the flow of the song.

I wonder if all the vocals on this recording are Jacksons? I assume they are and that shows the talent of this family and the quality of this product.

Excellence and analysis of each individual part aside, the real value of this song, besides Michael's vocal which you simply can not retire to the background, is the overall sound. Each part is carefully calculated and blended to create a unique, exuberant, joyful, new, and instantly recognizable sound that's unlike anything that had been heard before. Though each part is worthy of study, perhaps the best way to listen to this song is with a 6 inch speaker through an AM radio in your car. And isn't that the way it was meant to be?

Larry Brown

This is great! It took me back to when Michael was very young up until the group disbanded.

"Can You Feel It" and "Looking Through the Window" are my favorites.

I'm not a Jackson 5 fan,, but did enjoy most of this CD. I prefer to just listen to Michael, but it is nice to occasionally hear him at that young age, such a super talent!

I really enjoyed what I consider the Very Best of the Jacksons. It combined a litany of music that they made after the name-change. It was definitely worth purchasing and a listen to it all the time, especially when I'm driving.

Great CD. I listen to it all the time in my car. I am glad I got it

The entire 2nd disc is all "The Jacksons" (CBS generation) totalling 16 tracks. That's actually more than the "Essential Jacksons" or any other compilation has. I did a lot of research and from what I found there's no compilation of the CBS recordings with more tracks than this one. All 7 albums by "The Jacksons" are represented. My favorite is 'Torture.' The first disc has 10 "Jackson 5" songs representing 7 albums as well as 6 Michael Jacksons solo tracks representing 4 albums. Please beware when importing into iTunes, the default has "Ain't No Sunshine" as by "Jackson 5." This is incorrect, it's actually Michael Jackson solo so be sure to modify that. Excellent compilation!