Michael Jackson's Xscape: Album review

Michael Jackson is one of the very few Pop singers I really like, and one of the few who had genuine talent, and who was once a true innovator. I had and still to this day by and large ignore popular music culture, but I still remember watching the 'You Rock my world' video and being wowed by it. From then on I bought all of his albums and watched all of the other videos, which were a lot better. My personal favourites are Thriller and Smooth Criminal.

The first half of Michael Jackson's solo career, from around 1979-90 was when he was at his creative peak, when he was rightly the King of Pop. From this period we had Off the wall in 79, Thriller in 82, and Bad (my personal favourite) in 87. What made these albums so great other than the songs themselves was that they felt pure, the music was instrumental. Unlike most modern pop songs which just sound like a bunch of noises strung together.

But from the early 1990s Jackson's career was mixed at best, both critically and commercially. In 1991 Dangerous was released, gone was Quincy Jones as the principal producer, and in come a number of others. The Album was good with a few highlights such as 'Heal the world' and 'Black and white', but it was nothing special, his music began to get angrier from here on.

Then there was the History album (greatest hits included), most of the songs were dull and dreary, but there was a few gems, 'Stranger in Moscow' is very underrated and widely unheard of by non fans, and then there is 'Earth Song', while pretentious, it is a well written and a beautiful piece of meaningful music.
In 97 there was Blood on the Dance floor, a predominately re-mix album, but included the wonderful title song of the same name. It was arguably the last really good song by Jackson, and the last to achieve any great chart success.
And in 2001 we got Invincible, it was clear that by this stage Jackson was more focused on what was influencing music at the time rather than the other way round. Which is why like Dangerous it was produced by multiple people. It was a very average and over long album.

Xscape is the second album since the singer's death, the first Michael was very forgettable. And while the second album is an improvement it's nothing special, it's no surprise to me that none of the songs made it onto a commercially released album while he was still alive. Like many of his albums since the 1980s, the songs sound over produced and by his own previous standards, formulaic.
So here is my track by track review,

1. Love never felt so good
The first single from the album, you can tell this was originally recorded in 1983, it would have fit well on the Thriller album if it had been picked. And while the music is catchy and it will play well in a club or disco, after a few listens it really grates. 6/10

2. Chicago
Recorded during the Invincible sessions, and it shows. Over produced and repetitive, parts of the music reminded me of a possible soundtrack to a Sonic the Hedgehog level. Which might work in a video game but not a Michael Jackson album 5.5/10

3. Loving you
Recorded in 1987, the newly produced version sounds nothing like Jackson's music of that time, so it might have been interesting to see how it would have sounded if it did get onto the Bad album, although it does remind me of 'Liberian girl', a little. While Jackson's voice is good and it has a semi catchy tune, it's very forgettable 6/10

4. A place with no name
Lyrics are very similar to the song' A horse with no name'. Incredibly cheesy, but the thumping beat through the song is rather effective. Might be a hit if released 6.5/10

5. Slave to the rhythm
Boring and repetitive. A Dangerous album reject, the Justin Bieber version is even worse. 5/10

6. Do you know where your children are
A rather strange name to a song, but I really liked this song, because it was one of the few on the album that combines the vocals and the over produced music in harmony with one another. The song and lyrics stuck in my head for a very long time after listening, and there is a good guitar riff in the middle somewhere. It is also the only song on the album that has replay value. 8/10

7. Blue Gangsta
Invincible reject, another case of an over produced song, neither bad nor good. 5.5/10

8. Xscape
Should have been included on the Invincible album, because it sounds exactly the same as the first three songs on that album, which is not saying much. Like most of this album, it's rather forgettable 6/10

So there you have it, Xscape is not a bad album but it is certainly a bad Michael Jackson album, I would say that it is worse than Invincible. Which at least had a little variety to it. Xscape does not have one mellow or soft song, songs similar to 'She's out of my life', 'The girl is mine', 'I just can't stop loving you', and 'Speechless' are just not here. Because of this none of his vocals are explored and never really feel natural. Maybe it's because the album has been launched on a new Sony smartphone.

The album is just about average, I only gave it a six because it's not a bad album. It's no surprise to me that Jackson decided to leave the songs in the cutting room, and apart from a couple of them I do not think the man would have used these remastered versions in any of his albums.

If you love Michael Jackson it's worth having in your collection, there is some joy in it. For those who don't like Jackson will find nothing that will change your mind.

Verdict: 6/10