#36: Michael Jackson - Michael

Hold My Hand (Thiam, Tuinfort, Kelly)
Hollywood Tonight (Jackson, Buxer, Riley)
Keep Your Head Up (Jackson, Cascio, Porte)
(I Like) The Way You Love Me (Jackson)
Monster (Jackson, Cascio, Porte, Curtis Jackson)
Best Of Joy (Jackson)
Breaking News (Jackson, Cascio, Porte)
(I Can't Make It) Another Day (Kravitz)
Behind The Mask (Jackson, Mosdell, Sakamoto)
Much Too Soon (Jackson)

Akon - guest on 'Hold My Hand'
Taryll Jackson - guest on 'Hollywood Tonight'
50 Cent - guest on 'Monster'
Lenny Kravitz - guest on '(I Can't Make It) Another Day'
Dave Grohl - guest on '(I Can't Make It) Another Day'
Shanice - guest on 'Behind The Mask'
Produced by Michael Jackson, Akon, Tuinfort, Teddy Riley, Theron "Neff-U" Feemster, C "Tricky" Stewart, Angelikson, Brad Buxer, Lenny Kravitz and John McClain

Label: Epic

The first of two posthumous releases that made it into this list, Michael digs up music recorded over around a 25-30 year period to give fans a taste of the Michael Jackson we'd never gotten to hear before now.
The first track, 'Hold My Hand' gives you a dark sense of foreboding. Is this really all they've got? Luckily, that track was originally intended as an Akon release with Michael guesting, before getting delayed indefinitely and then having it marketed as a Michael song with Akon guesting after his death. Therefore it's not at all representative of the rest of the tracks.
I didn't think I'd ever get to hear the up-beat, hip-hop styled tracks from MJ's 'Dangerous' and 'HIStory' eras again... he appeared to have changed his focus to increasingly sappy ballads that weren't worthy of his legacy by the time of 2001's 'Invincible', but 'Michael' showcases plenty of the type of thing that I was hoping for, beginning with 'Hollywood Tonight' and reaching its height in 'Monster', featuring a rap recorded after-the fact by 50 Cent. There are those balladic type tracks as well, but they work better than on 'Invincible' almost entirely because there is a bit of variety in the tracks, making 'Hold Your Head Up' and '(I Like) The Way You Love Me' genuinely interesting tracks to listen to rather than just more of the same.

Ever since the release of 'Thriller' there was a tradition on Michael Jackson albums to have at least one track featuring some heavy rock guitar featuring the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Steve Stevens and Slash. Well, 'Michael' manages to uphold this tradition, with the guitar this time supplied by Lenny Kravitz, who also wrote, produced and sings backing vocals on '(I Can't Make It) Another Day'. Though nowhere near as impressive as 'Beat It', 'Dirty Diana' and 'Give In To Me', it's nice to hear a guitar solo on the record, as well as have Dave Grohl playing drums. It's not exactly as much of a rock track as I was expecting, but it's a very good song nonetheless.

The two stand-out tracks from the album were actually recorded during the 'Thriller' era. 'Much Too Soon' is heartbreaking, and 'Behind The Mask' - a reworking of a track by Japanese group The Yellow Magic Orchestra - features a melody that Michael brought to the song that showcases just how strong of a vocalist Michael was. In the end, this was never going to be a focused and cohesive album, and is not a great Michael Jackson album. However it is a good Michael Jackson album, which is a lot more than I was expecting. And that it's better than 'Invincible' is a very nice surprise to have.

There was a lot of talk before the albums release - from who I perceive to be self-serving members of his family - that the three tracks co-written and produced by Eddie Cascio were not in fact Michael singing the lead vocals, but soundalikes brought in to sing over barely audible backing vocals that he'd recorded before his death. Well, I was raised on this man's voice, and it's his throughout. Some people are just looking for publicity any way they can by exploiting their family name.
Listen Here: Michael Jackson – Michael