Michael

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Michael is a posthumous compilation album of previously unreleased tracks by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on December 10, 2010 by Epic Records and Sony Music Entertainment. Michael was the first release of all new Michael Jackson material in nine years since Invincible in 2001. Production of the album was handled by several producers such as Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley, Theron "Neff-U" Feemster, C. "Tricky" Stewart, Eddie Cascio, among others and features guest performances by Akon, 50 Cent and Lenny Kravitz. Michael is the seventh Jackson album to be released by Sony and Motown/Universal since Michael Jackson's death in June 2009.

The album produced four singles: "Hold My Hand", released on November 15, 2010, which reached number 39 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Hollywood Tonight", released on February 11, 2011, and "Behind the Mask" released on February 21, 2011. The music video for "Hold My Hand" was directed by Mark Pellington, and had its worldwide debut on December 9, 2010. The music video for "Hollywood Tonight" was directed by Wayne Isham, who also directed the video for Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" in 1995 at one of the very same locations where he filmed it—the Pantages Theatre near the famed corner of Hollywood and Vine. The video had its worldwide debut on March 10, 2011. " (I Like) The Way You Love Me" released in Korea as a digital single on January 18, 2011, and released in Italian and Chinese radio stations in July 2011.

On Friday, December 10, 2010, a 29,070-square-foot (2,701 m2) poster depicting the Michael album artwork was erected at the Rectory Farm in Middlesex, England, which broke a Guinness World Record for the largest poster in the world.

(wiki)

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by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

As the first excavation of Michael Jackson’s vaults, Michael carries the weight of expectation it cannot possibly bear to support. After Jackson split with Quincy Jones following 1987’s Bad, he had a revolving door on his studio, letting in all major producers for a track or three, sometimes selecting these songs for a finished album, sometimes not. Michael rounds up ten of these leftovers, relying heavily on cuts he was tinkering with in the years after Invincible, but apart from cameos by Akon and 50 Cent, there’s precious little here that sounds modern. Perhaps it’s the heavy presence of Teddy Riley, but much of this recalls the cacophonic clutter of Dangerous, heavy on rhythms but not melody, so desperate for relevance that every overdub is overworked. Tellingly, the exceptions to the rule are the oldest tunes here -- “Behind the Mask” and “Much Too Soon,” both dating back to Thriller, and “ (I Like) The Way You Love Me,” an outtake first aired on the 2004 box The Ultimate Collection and reworked somewhat extensively here. Much of this has likely been tweaked extensively to prep it for release, but it’s impossible to discern exactly what overdubs were added after Jackson’s death, particularly because this so heavily recalls his last decade of released records, right down to the recurring theme of MJ’s persecution, which sounds quite bizarre in the wake of his passing. That and Akon’s self-aggrandizing salvo to the opening “Hold My Hand” are the only ghoulish touches here: Michael is often tacky but considering how garish Jackson’s taste could be, it winds up seeming almost respectful. At the very least, the album doesn’t tarnish his legacy, although it adds nothing to it either.