In 2022, three songs—"Keep Your Head Up", "Monster" and "Breaking News"—were removed from streaming and physical versions of the album, after nearly 12 years of controversy concerning the authenticity of Jackson's vocals. Subsequent CD reissues have had the three songs removed.
Background
Announced on November 12, 2010, Michael initially featured 10 tracks.[1] "Breaking News" was the first song from the album to be released and was available for radio airplay. According to Sony, the song was recorded in the home studio of Jackson family friend Eddie Cascio in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey in autumn 2007 and had been "recently brought to completion."[2][1][3]
In the years prior to his death, Jackson was reported to be working with contemporary hitmakers such as singer-songwriter Akon and producer RedOne.[4] The first official single from Michael, "Hold My Hand", was a duet with Akon recorded in late December 2007 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.[5] Co-writer Claude Kelly told HitQuarters that it was the song's theme of friendship and togetherness that had struck a chord with Jackson.[6] A handwritten note from Michael belonging to his Estate indicated his desire that "Hold My Hand" be the first single on his next project. However, in its unfinished state, the song leaked on June 30, 2008.[7] Before the release, Akon stated that the final version would have more of Jackson's vocals. The song was released globally on Monday, November 15 at 12:01am EST.[8][9]
Prior to the album's release, a lawyer for Jackson's father Joe stated that Jackson was a perfectionist and "would never have wanted his unfinished material to be released".[10] Jackson collaborator will.i.am said it was "disrespectful" to release the material, as Jackson was not able to approve it.[11]
Composition
Musically, Michael contains a mixture of styles, including R&B, pop, rock, dance, hip hop, funk and gospel.[12][13][14][15][16][17] Thematically, the album features "inspirational, uplifting anthems" and "melodic, sweetly sung ballads" alongside more pointed songs levelling criticism at the news media, Hollywood and society in general.[18] Jackson wrote or co-wrote five of the seven tracks.[15]
The majority of the songs on the album were written and recorded during the Invincible (2001) era and onwards to the This Is It (2009) era. The album also contains two songs that were written during the Thriller (1982) era: "Behind the Mask"[19] and "Much Too Soon".[20] The latter features Australian musician Tommy Emmanuel on guitar.[21] The song "(I Like) The Way You Love Me" previously appeared on The Ultimate Collection (2004) as an unreleased track, under the title "The Way You Love Me", but was re-arranged for Michael with additional vocals.[22] The song "Best of Joy" is one of the last that Jackson recorded during his lifetime and was rewritten and recorded by him in November 2008 at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, California, the year prior to his death.[16][23][24]
Artwork
The album cover artwork, a 2009 commissioned oil painting by African AmericanartistKadir Nelson, features two putti (one black, one white) placing a crown on Jackson's head against a mural depicting the images of the singer at different stages in his career.[2] Nelson said that Jackson approached him several years ago to create a project detailing his life and career. The project stalled but was revived in 2009 by one of the estate's executors, John McClain,[4] who had worked with Michael's sister Janet during her time at A&M. "Michael wears a golden suit of armor and stares at the viewer as he is crowned by cupids," Nelson said. "He places his hand over his heart and looks directly at the viewer, a symbol of Jackson's big heart and strong connection to his fans and music. A monarch butterfly sits on his shoulder, another symbol of Jackson's metamorphosis as a singer and entertainer, as well as a symbol of royalty. His musical history unfolds behind him."[4][25] The original Sony publicity release of the album cover featured the Princesymbol in a bubble next to the tiger's head, which sparked discussion on the internet as to whether Prince was involved with any of the new songs. The official response from Prince's camp was "No permission was granted", and the symbol was subsequently removed from the cover on all official Sony websites.[26]
Promotion and singles
"Breaking News" was the first song from the album to be unveiled. On November 5, 2010, a video teaser for the song was released on Jackson's official website. It opens with a montage of various television journalists reporting breaking news about Jackson, followed by the musical introduction of a song.[27] The montage refers to the tabloid stories and legal troubles that plagued Jackson in the years leading up to his death.[28] On November 8, the full length version of the song was released,[29] and made available on MichaelJackson.com for one week.[2] The premiere of the song launched the public controversy about the authenticity of the vocals that plagued the album all the way through its promo campaign and ultimately resulted in lower than projected sales.[30][31] The rumored single of another controversial Cascio song, "Monster", was subsequently cancelled.
The album's first single, "Hold My Hand", was released on November 15.[8][2] The filming of the official video began on Saturday, November 20, in Tustin, California. A casting call was posted on Jackson's official website, stating that the filmmakers were "looking for his fans of all ages who want to be a part of this iconic event."[32] On November 30, the final version of "Much Too Soon" was unveiled, and it was announced that the song would be streaming on iTunes Ping for one week.[33] On December 3, talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres premiered the song "Hollywood Tonight" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[34] On December 6, talk show host Oprah Winfrey premiered "Keep Your Head Up" and "Monster" on The Oprah Winfrey Show.[35] On December 7, the final version of "(I Can't Make It) Another Day" was unveiled on iTunes Ping for one week.[36]
On December 8, the entire Michael album was released on Jackson's official website for preview.[37] On Friday, December 10, a 29,070-square-foot (2,701 m2) poster depicting the Michael album artwork was erected at the Rectory Farm in Middlesex, which broke a Guinness world record for the largest poster in the world, making it Jackson's fourth entry in Guinness World Records and the first record he broke posthumously. The poster, made of PVC and weighing one ton, took engineers three hours to install and was located less than 3,000 meters from one of Heathrow airport's main runways, making it viewable by all planes arriving and departing. The poster stayed at that location until December 23, after which it traveled via sea-container into continental Europe, where it was toured and displayed.[38] Sony Music had a listening party for the album at Roseland Ballroom on December 13.
"Hollywood Tonight" was the album's second official single,[39] released in Italy on February 11, 2011[40] and in Poland on February 14.[41] The third single, "Behind the Mask", was released in France on February 21.[42] The fourth and final single, "(I Like) The Way You Love Me", was released as a digital single in South Korea on January 18 and was formally released to Italian[43] and Chinese[44] radio stations in July 2011.
Controversies
Authenticity of vocals on three tracks
The authenticity of the vocals on the tracks "Breaking News", "Keep Your Head Up", and "Monster" is disputed.[45] The tracks, along with nine other unreleased songs leaked online ("Stay", "All Right" (a.k.a. "Everything's Just Fine"), "Black Widow", "Burn Tonight", "All I Need", "Water", "Fall in Love", "Ready 2 Win", and "Soldier Boy"), are known as the Cascio tracks.[46] They are attributed to Jackson, Eddie Cascio and James Porte and were allegedly recorded in the Cascios' basement in 2007, according to the documentary detailing the making of the album.[47][48] "Stay", "All I Need", and "Burn Tonight", were at one point considered for the album and mixed by Teddy Riley in 2010.[46] Doubts over whether the vocals were by Jackson have been raised by his mother Katherine Jackson, his children Prince and Paris,[49] his sister La Toya,[50] his nephews T.J., Taj, and Taryll,[51] music producer will.i.am,[52] and fans.[53] Jackson's brother Randy Jackson claimed that family members were not allowed at his studio where the album was being completed.[54] According to Randy, when producer Teddy Riley played him some of the tracks, "I immediately said it wasn't his voice".[54]
"@lmSoBlue Dude if you don't leave me the funk alone about this bullish. Funk off ninja...I didn't do the funking song I just mixed it. My work speak for itself. Now go to the funking Cascios. I'm sure they got a twitter. That goes for all of you. I was giving a problem that involved my bestfriend and sign a contract to remix what I had. It was too late for me to turn back so I finished out the project. Now if you want me to apologize for that, yes I'm funkin sorry I did it. Now leave me the hell alone. Ok!!!"
TwitLonger message from Teddy Riley from 31st August 2013 after being repeatedly questioned about the Cascio Tracks.[55]
Before the premiere of "Breaking News", Sony Music Group stated it had "complete confidence in the results of our extensive research, as well as the accounts of those who were in the studio with Michael, that the vocals on the new album are his own".[56] Producer Riley, Frank DiLeo and Jackson's estate defended Sony's claims that the song is authentic.[57] On December 6, 2010, the Cascio family appeared on Oprah, where Eddie Cascio insisted the songs were sung by Jackson, and showed the studio where he had allegedly recorded the songs. Riley, who had worked on "Monster" and "Breaking News", said that the confusion had come about as a product of processing Jackson's vocals using software such as Melodyne.[58] In September 2013, almost three years after the album release, Riley wrote on Twitter that his participation in the project had been "set up".[59][better source needed] In a September 2022 interview, Riley finally admitted that the Cascio tracks are fake and weren't sung by Michael, adding that he was "influenced and pushed to say the things that were said."[60]
Fans have suggested that Italian-American R&B singer Jason Malachi recorded vocals for the tracks, but this was denied by the Jackson estate's lawyer.[57] On January 16, 2011, a statement appeared on Malachi's Facebook page "confessing" to recording the vocals and aplogizing to Michael's fans;[61] however, Malachi later claimed on MySpace that his Facebook and website had been hacked. Malachi's manager Thad Nauden stated that "someone created a phony Facebook page in Jason's name. Jason wants everyone to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, he did not sing a single note on the album". Nauden later retracted the claim that the Facebook account wasn't Malachi's, but maintained that Malachi wasn't involved in the Michael album.[62]
On June 12, 2014, a consumer who had purchased Michael filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony Music, the Jackson Estate, MJJ Productions, Cascio and Porte for violation of consumer laws, unfair competition and fraud. The complaint was based on an expert report prepared by forensic phonetician Dr. George Papcun that contested the authenticity of the vocals. According to the lawsuit, the report had been peer-reviewed and supported by a second well-credentialed independent audio expert.[63] Sony, the Estate, Cascio and Porte raised First Amendment defense, claiming that regardless of the songs' authenticity, they had a constitutional right to attribute them to Jackson.[64] On June 30, 2016, the judge refused to grant defendants' motion and ordered that the case proceeds to class certification. On August 23, 2018, some sources reported that Sony had admitted in court that the vocals on the Cascio songs were not performed by Jackson. The next day, Sony lawyer Zia Modabber dismissed the reports, stating that "no one has conceded that Michael Jackson did not sing on the songs".[65]
On June 29, 2022, a spokesperson for Jackson's website reported that the three tracks would no longer be available on YouTube, Apple Music or Spotify, stating, "The Estate and Sony Music believe the continuing conversation about the tracks is distracting the fan community and casual Michael Jackson listeners from focusing their attention where it should be — on Michael's legendary and deep music catalog."[66]
Dave Grohl's album credit
The album credits Dave Grohl with drums on the track "(I Can't Make It) Another Day". Grohl confirmed that he had recorded for the track but said he was not contacted afterwards and that the final track does not feature his playing, The drums sounds present in the track were done by Lenny Kravitz.[67]
Michael received mixed reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 54, based on 19 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".[68] Despite media skepticism and some dissent within Jackson family ranks, reviews largely found Michael better than expected.[14] Joseph Vogel of The Huffington Post stated that "the bottom line is this: Michael contains some very impressive new material" and "His habits, his obsessions, his versatility, and his genius are on display at every turn. Who else could move so seamlessly from social anthem to floor burner, fleet hip hop to cosmic rock, vintage funk to poignant folk ballad?"[16]
Dan Martin of NME called the album "kind of enjoyable" but commented that "if this decent-enough album is the best of the bunch, things are going to get ugly from here on in".[17] Neil McCormick of The Telegraph called the album "a fine album" and stated that "It is certainly a great deal better than anyone had any right to expect. Jackson is finally about to get the comeback he craved."[18] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone thought the album was "not a Michael Jackson album", and Jackson "would not have released anything like this compilation, a grab bag of outtakes and outlines," but "it's a testament to the man's charisma that Michael can be compelling."[15] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly called it "certainly no great affront to his name", while The New York Times said it was a "miscellany of familiar Jackson offerings: inspirational, loving, resentful and paranoid."[71][14]
Kitty Empire in The Observer said Jackson sounded "paler, more emaciated, more effects-laden" than on his classic songs, such as "Billie Jean".[13] She characterized the album as a "hotchpotch of odds and sods that often make plain their co-authors" but singled out the "breezy" and "carefree" "(I Like) The Way That You Love Me" and the "pugnacious" "Hollywood Tonight" for praise.[13] The Reno Gazette-Journal gave the album 3 stars out of 4,[76] while the Toronto Sun gave it 3 stars out of 5.[77] Nima Baniamer of Contactmusic.com gave the album 4 stars out of 5 and stated that Jackson still seemed to hold the capability to effortlessly transgress music genres. Baniamer also commented, "It wouldn't be a decent Jackson record if it wasn't surrounded by controversy. 'Breaking News' is a great track that touches upon the media's obsession with the pop icon; ironically a track further surrounded by dispute as fans have claimed that it may not even be Jackson's own voice on the track."[12]
Commercial performance
The album was released by Epic Records and Sony Music Entertainment.[78][15] It debuted at number one in Germany, selling 85,000 copies in its first week.[79] The album also debuted at number one in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden.[79] In the United States, Michael debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 228,000 copies,[31] followed by 150,000 the next week, but in subsequent weeks, its total sales had shrunk to 27,000 units, 18,000 units and then 11,000 units for the week ending on January 16, 2011.[80] The album debuted at number five in France, with first-week sales of 26,689 copies.[81] In Germany, Michael was the biggest debut of the year, selling 85,000 copies in its first week.[82] In Denmark, the album debuted at number four, selling 4,936 copies in its first week.[83] On December 19, 2010, the album opened in the United Kingdom at number four with sales of 113,000, which was Jackson's biggest opening sales week in the United Kingdom since the release of Dangerous nearly 20 years before.[84] In its first five weeks, the album sold over 434,000 copies in the United States but failed to match sales of the previous year's soundtrack album Michael Jackson's This Is It, which sold 890,000 copies in five weeks.[85] In the same week, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA for shipping over a million copies.[86]
Michael received numerous gold and platinum certifications worldwide.[87]
As of June 29, 2022, "Keep Your Head Up", "Monster" and "Breaking News" are no longer available to download or stream on digital versions of the album. Sony Music Entertainment stated that this was due to the ongoing distraction that legal litigations over their authenticity was causing fans.[66] On September 9, 2022, a CD reissue of the album was released that also removed these three tracks.[88]
Personnel
Credits adapted from Michael album liner notes (2010 edition).[89]
Michael Jackson – lead vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10), arranger, background vocals (tracks 8, 9), conductor, programming
Kory Aaron – music recording assistant (track 1)
Alex Alvarez – bass (track 9), additional music programming (8), studio technician (8)
Christopher Austopchuk – creative director
Eelco Bakker – music recording assistant (track 1)
Dave Baron – drum machine, noise, synthesizer programming (track 8)
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Release history
List of release dates, showing country or region, record label, and format
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 02.Týden 2011 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
^"オリコン年間 CDアルバムランキング 2011年度" [Oricon Annual CD Album Ranking 2011]. Oricon (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
^ ab"Top 50 Albumes 2011"(PDF). Productores de Música de España (in Spanish). Archived from the original(PDF) on April 12, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
