Customer Reviews

Visionary: The Video Singles

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Am I the only one who has noticed that every hits package or box set from Jacko always excludes "Scream?" Not that it is my all time favorite MJ track, but it was a big single and a duet with Janet so it makes sense from a marketing standpoint to include it in these types of collections; especially this box since the whole reason it even exists is to cull all of Jackson's singles with their original packaging and video. This set is called, "The Video Singles." Was "Scream" not both? So what gives? There must be some issue between Michael and Janet's record companies or Michael and Janet themselves. Or perhaps not a royalty dispute, per say, but just a way of saving money, not having to pay any at all, by simply deleting the track from these kind of collections. Whatever the reason, I don't miss the song a ton, but its constant exclusion is suspicious and, in the interest of having these things being truly complete, it is a bit of a rip off to have a box that boasts it has collected all of Jackson's singles AND videos in one box, and have an unexplained exclusion of a big hit, and popular video, such as "Scream." There are others missing here too ("Who Is It?," "Give In to Me," "You Rock My World," "Cry," etc - actually, MJ is touted as having 40 "hit singles," they may not all have coresponding videos, but there are plenty that do not represented here), but "Scream" is ALWAYS MIA on MJ compilations.

Anyway, on to the item itself; not that it needs much of a review: either you want all of Jackson's singles, with packaging replicated in their original form, their original b-side mixes and their corresponding videos; or you don't. Personally, I think it is a very clever idea and a cool thing for die hard fans. It's also a gorgeous set. BUT it is pricey! Yes, its 20 discs, and they are all dualdiscs, and there is a lot of artwork and packaging so it wouldn't be cheap; but is it worth it? That depends. Jackson's video are mostly all available on DVD collections and there are plenty of singles collections out there (The best, and the one that has all of these tunes on it, is "The Essential..." from last year which is jam packed with nearly every hit (even the lesser ones you may have forgot about) on a tight, but robust, great-looking 2-Disc package; the worst is "Number Ones," with its shabby edits and a song selection that omits so many hits you wonder what the point was of even releasing the thing in the first place. "History" is good if you only want the ultimate, biggest hits; but with MJ that is a broad category - a one disc hits set really doesn't do justice to any artist or group that has as many hits as Jacko - and, again, none of them include "Scream."). So for the songs and videos by themselves, there are cheaper alternatives than this box. But THE ULTRA HUGE fans will cherish having the original artwork of all these singles (I remember having a lot of these on .45 records back in the day when I was probably 5 years old - great to see some of the pictures on those jackets again) and the spiffy, show-offy box to display them in. The quality here, visually on the videos at least, also rivals past releases.

I don't think Sony expects anyone other than true fans to pick this up anyway. Especially at that price! But even if it were half that price, this is the kind of thing that is produced solely for a completist collector of the particular artist. If that's you, you need this set.

The idea of compiling Michael Jackson's singles/videos is an excellent one, but this compilation is a mixed bag.

Firstly, each disc comes with the single version of the song plus a remix of the single (or B-side) and the video itself. Sounds good, but why not include all remixes available for each song? Especially since fans will be shelling out quite a bit of money for either the full box set or the individual singles (which are not cheap).

For example, both "Black & White" and "Remember the Time" had a number of mixes, but on their respective singles, you only get a radio remix for B&W and a so-so mix for RTT, when there were so many mixes to choose from. It would also have been nice to include some bonus MJ megamixes that were released on the "You are Not Alone" and "Earth Song" singles years ago.

Also puzzling is that some videos come in long form ("Thriller",
"Black & White") but others are truncated ("Bad", "Smooth Criminal"). It's especially puzzling that "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal" would be shortened since they are considered two of MJ's finest videos.

Still, as an MJ fan, this is a treat. I love the original artwork, and the sound quality is top-notch. But I predict this will be of interest to hardcore MJ fans only.

It's nice that they did this for Michael Jackson but to have a video box set with videos and singles and not include all his videos and singles, to include "Speed Demon", "Scream", "Human Nature", "The Girl Is Mine", "Just Another Part Of Me", "Will You Be There" just to name a few is underminingg the price alone. Then there's no booklet to go with it, just a box and some sleeves. The Dual-disc idea was pretty smart but to have on the audio CD side only two-three editions of the single is a waste of a whole CD. why not include dance mixes and more remixes and the video edits of the singles?

Worth every penny,
Beautifully packaged,
Beautiful films,
and so much FUN!

You can buy the COBY dvd player, there is one that cost only $twelve dollars and twenty five cents at Frys electronic, other range around under $fifty bucks. All the COBY brand will play both NTSC and PAL.

Ok since Mj died everybody has hiked their prices up to try and make a small fortune of fans!!! This is a great box set but DO NOT be fooled into buying one for $275 -$500 on here of the private sellers.. There are many on ebay for a buy it now price of $50.
Private sellers should be ashamed of yourselves trying to rip people off.
GREAT SET though highly recommended

This was hard to find, but the package was worth it, its a rarity and its awesome to be able to get a hold of it!

very good condition
this is really difficult to find out. thanks so much
it is a very good collection as MJ' fans

i bought my visionary set about 1 month after he passed, i must say i got LUCKY.. i got it used at fye.. i couldnt find it anywhere.. then went back to fye and the girl said they got the item in that i was looking for, it was really crazy how i came across it, so anyway there are some videos that i wish were included in the set, but however it came out in the uk, not the usa. it is a limited item and there are not millions of them made, i will never sale mine.. I AM A TRUE FAN/SUPPORTER of MJ.. he is truly the greatest of all time no matter what anyone thinks. i paid about $90.00 for the one i have. it just sucks that people are gouging the price to $200.00 to $600.00 ... thats too high, the most i would have paid is about $150.00 .. R.I.P MJ LOVE YOU ALWAYS

This is a must-have item for a MJ's fan, even though you owned the songs and videos already~