I am a baby from the 80's and not saying that if you grew up in the 80's ( 83 is my birth year) you have to like the King of Pop but lets be honest, at the time he was basically killing it and he has the grammy's to show for it. Growing up with having a mother that loved James Taylor, Carol King and a father that loved The Beatles, The Doors I had some diversity in my musical up bringing.
First and foremost, I am a HUGE Michael Jackson fan but I love music and if it sounds like crap I have no problem telling it how it is.
...And away we go....
From the very first song I was intrigued. Michael usually grabs you with some huge hooks and rocking beats. But the first tack "Love Never Felt So Good" its just him and a piano. I honestly had to step back and really take it in. The song is really beautiful in away that you just get sucked in, but not all the way since the clapping/snapping sound like most of it was recorded in a few takes and they were going to come back and fix it before going on to a record then decided to leave it.
"She Was Loving Me" is not the best or the worst song on the album but it made me chuckle because at one point in the song there is a keyboard solo and it makes me think of what you would hear if you walked into a Nordstroms.
The next song makes me think of MJ at his best. "I Was The Loser" has that classic Michael Jackson sound. Simple beat, strings and the awesome backup vocals that I cannot get enough of when I listen to his older records. There is that off set clapping/snapping in the song that kind of pulls you out of it at the end, but one of the better tacks on this record.
There is not much that musicians can do to make me more angry then to take a very classic song and destroy it. "A Place With No Name" is not even close to doing the back tack which is the classic song "Horse With No Name" by America. If you skip any track, it would be this one.
Like the songs "We Are The World" and "Man In The Mirror" Michael Jackson has always been one to try to bring people together and spread a good message about peace, love and hope. "Do You Know Where Your Children Are" is, kind of like that but is talking about sex trafficking. Not a hit.
"Slave To The Rhythm" is a dance song that is fantastic. I'm a huge synthesizer fan so this song fills me with positive emotion and make me want to jump up and start doing my horrible MJ impersonation.
What can I say about "Blue Gangster" that isn't ultra positive. I really cant say anything bad about thing song. Once again, huge backing vocals and horns that drags me right back into this album. Michaels voice sounds like how I used to remember him on Thriller or even Bad. I guess the only thing I could say that I don't like about this song is the title, just sounds a bit to corny for me.
"Xscape" is the best track, hands down on this album. Deep bass, that classic 80s snare hit and the rich vocals that I grew up with. If you were a Jackson fan and not so much anymore, this track might bring you back around to loving this amazing artist once again.
"All You Need" is banking off of the older fans. With a horn and piano intro, right before the vocals are introduced "You Are Not Alone" is played on a horn. The music is really good, but lyrics are lacking and I know its Pop music, but, its just horrible, even the children's quire cant save this track.
"I Have This Dream" is the last track and is yet another so-called "Hopeful" and "Inspiring" songs that is just misses its mark by a lot.
When I read that they were taking songs that were recorded from the mid 80s' to the early 90's I was thrilled, but looking back at it as a whole, it was not that fantastic and some-sort of a let down. I will keep listening to it since its nice to hear new songs by the King of Pop, even if they are not that good, I can't get enough.
In summation:
Michael Jackons :Xscape gets 7/10
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