NEW ALBUM MICHAEL AVAILABLE DECEMBER 2010

MUCH ANTICIPATED NEW ALBUM FROM THE KING OF POP
MICHAEL
TO BE RELEASED DECEMBER 14

Exclusive Teaser and Song to be Unveiled on MichaelJackson.com

New York, NY – The much anticipated album of newly completed recordings from Michael Jackson entitled MICHAEL will be released on December 14 by Epic Records in conjunction with the Estate of Michael Jackson. Tomorrow, an exclusive teaser for the project will appear on www.michaeljackson.com; on Monday, November 8th the world premiere of “Breaking News,” a full track from the album, will stream on the site for one week only.

The creative process never stopped for the King of Pop who was always planning for his next album; unbeknownst to many fans around the world Michael Jackson was writing and recording songs continuously everywhere from a friend’s home in New Jersey to studios in Las Vegas and Los Angeles with a small group of handpicked collaborators. Now, through the unique stories that will be told about the songs that comprise MICHAEL, fans will get mind-blowing insight into how this artist worked and a chance to hear the songs he most recently created along with tracks that Michael had a desire to bring to fruition.

“Breaking News,” a never heard before song by Michael that appears on the new album was recorded in New Jersey in 2007 and recently brought to completion. Fans can begin pre-ordering the album on www.michaeljackson.com in the next 24 hours.

The attached image of the album cover of MICHAEL was created by painter Kadir Nelson in 2009. In the oil painting, Kadir – who is known for story telling through his art – takes us on a journey through some key moments and important people in Michael Jackson’s life.

Stay tuned for the worldwide launch of the official first single from MICHAEL later this month.
www.michaeljackson.com

HIStory (1995)

Videos from History | Michael Jackson Discography
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Track listing

Disc one: HIStory Begins

1. "Billie Jean"
2. "The Way You Make Me Feel"
3. "Black or White"
4. "Rock with You"
5. "She's out of My Life"
6. "Bad"
7. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You"
8. "Man in the Mirror"
9. "Thriller"
10. "Beat It"
11. "The Girl Is Mine" Ft Paul McCartney
12. "Remember the Time"
13. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
14. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin"
15. "Heal the World"

Disc two: HIStory Continues

1. "Scream" Ft. Janet Jackson
2. "They Don't Care About Us"
3. "Stranger in Moscow"
4. "This Time Around" Ft. The Notorious B.I.G.
5. "Earth Song"
6. "D.S."
7. "Money"
8. "Come Together"
9. "You Are Not Alone"
10. "Childhood (Theme from Free Willy 2)"
11. "Tabloid Junkie"
12. "2 Bad"
13. "HIStory" Ft. Boyz II
14. "Little Susie"
15. "Smile"

Album Information

The first disc, (HIStory Begins) is a fifteen-track greatest hits (which was re-released in late 2001 as an only-compilation project, entitled Greatest Hits - HIStory Volume I). The tracklist included fourteen U.S. Top 10 singles (nine of which were number-one hits) plus the worldwide top 5 hit "Heal the World". The selections was criticized due to the fact that it includes only songs from Jackson's four albums with Epic. The second disc, (HIStory Continues) contains fifteen previously unreleased recordings, five of which were released as singles. The original projects for HIStory had been more modest: the intention was to release a single disc of Jackson's greatest hits back in late 1994 to be called Decade. However, that "best-of" album was cancelled and released along with the new studio material as a double-album in 1995. The versions included on HIStory Begins are the same as those on the studio albums.

HIStory was nominated for several 1996 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, which it did not win. It debuted at #1 in several countries, including the UK and the U.S. In America, HIStory had the best sales debut of 1995, selling over 390,000 copies in its first week. In October 1999, the RIAA certified HIStory at 7x Platinum, for shipments of 3.5 million in the United States. Thus far, HIStory has sold an estimated 18 million copies worldwide (36 million units) and is the greatest selling multiple-disc album of all time. The first disc of previously released hits was re-released in 2001 selling an estimated 3 million.

Despite the relative top 5 failure of the first single, "Scream", initial sales were strong, with the album debuting at #1 in most countries around the world. In the U.S., it outsold Dangerous's first weeks total with 391,000 copies sold as compared to 326,500. In the UK, it sold 100,000 in its first 2 days making it at that time, the fastest-selling album ever. It did not keep up these initial good sales figures however and only remained at #1 in the U.S. for 2 weeks and in the UK for 1 week. It remained at the top of other album charts around the world for an average of 2 weeks. Sony USA were hoping the album would stay at #1 all summer and the press started to brand it a flop.

Sales in the UK picked up during the huge success of the second single "You Are Not Alone" and particularly the only-European hit "Earth Song". Sales by the end of the year were just over 1 million copies making it triple platinum. The other successful HIStory singles and the tour helped HIStory to go onto sell over 1.5 million copies during its promotional period. This was not as good as Dangerous but in revenue terms much higher due to HIStory's price. In fact, HIStory was the second highest-grossing album during 1995 in the UK.

Sales in the U.S. picked up during the success of "You Are Not Alone" but the decision by Sony USA to not release a follow up single caused sales to start a decline from which it would never recover. "This Time Around" and "Earth Song" were released to radio instead in an attempt to get people to buy the album. The fact that Michael cancelled his One Night Only concert in New York City due to a health scare was a major set-back also. Nevertheless, the album would go on to be awarded a 7x Platinum award for 3.5 million copies sold by the RIAA. This was just over half of Dangerous's total sales of 7 million. In the UK, the album grossed more in revenue terms than Dangerous and most other albums released during 1995.

Worldwide, the album sold well in Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia - where it was certified 7x platinum (490,000 copies) in Australia by ARIA. It was Michael's best-selling album ever in Denmark, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium. With sales increased by the HIStory World Tour and successful singles, it went on to sell 10 million copies outside the UK and U.S. Total European sales as of late 1996 were 6 million copies. This was a similar figure to Bad but not as good as Dangerous.

Facts to note:

• If each disc was counted separately, it would be counted in the top 20 best-selling albums of all time.
• In revenue terms, it was the second highest grossing album after Thriller for Jackson.
  

Technical Credits

• Executive producer: Michael Jackson
• Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien
• Additional Recording and mixing by Eddie De Lena, Steve Hodge and W.J.R.
• Technical directors: Matt Forger and Brad Sundberg
• Additional engineering by Eddie De Lena, Bill Bottrell, Matt Forger, Brad Sundberg, Dan Wallin, Andrew Scheps, Steve Hodge, Peter Mokran, Rob Hoffman, Bobby Brooks, Felipe El Gueta, John Van Nest and Harry Maslin
• Assistant engineers: Rob Hoffman, Brian Vibberts, Tony Duino-Black, Gus Garces, Carl Nappa, Jeff DeMorris, Jeff Taylor, Trini Alvarez Jr., Glen Marchese, Chris Theis, Jim Champagne, Joshua Shapera, Ron Lowe, Calr Glanville, Ryan Arnold, Jamie Seyberth, Stephani Gylden, Ben Wallach, Rick Dasher, Gabriel Sutter, Bill Easystone, Peter Germansen, David Nottingham, Chris Roberts and Julie Last
• Production coordination: Rachel Smith
• Mastered by Bernie Grundman
• Computer programming and technical direction assistance by Craig Johnson
• Additional synthersizer programming and sound design by Michael Boddicker, Chuck Wild, Scott Pittinsky, Bobby Brooks, Roberta Swedien and Darry Ross
  

Overview

HIStory was the first album where Jackson showcased his instrumental abilities, playing keyboard and synthesizer, guitar, drums and percussion on the album, as well as lead and backing vocals. He was also more involved in the production of this album, collaborating with producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Dallas Austin, Bill Bottrell and R. Kelly.

Sony Music backed the album's promotion with a 30 million dollar promotion and marketing campaign, the largest budget set for an album at that time. The campaign included a full set of singles and music videos, television and radio advertising, an 82 concert world tour, and eventually a remix album. Reviews were mixed and Jackson was ridiculed in the press for his promotional campaign of erecting statues of himself around Europe and floating himself down the River Thames.

For the first time in his career, Jackson significantly utilizes coarse language on this album, the majority of which are still not allowed on network television in the United States. Michael also experimented with more genres on HIStory than on any other album, ranging from orchestral to adult contemporary rhythm and blues to "Gothic pop".

Blood On The Dance Floor (1997)

Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix is a remix album by Michael Jackson released in 1997. The tracks on the album included eight remixes of songs from Jackson's previous album HIStory - Past, Present and Future, Book I, and five original songs ("Blood on the Dance Floor", "Morphine", "Superfly Sister", "Ghosts" and "Is It Scary"). Jackson dedicated the album to Sir Elton John to thank him for the support Elton had given him during Jackson's struggle with addiction to prescription painkillers.

History

On April 2, 1997, the debut single from the album, "Blood on the Dance Floor", was released in Europe. The single peaked at #1 on the UK Singles Chart. The U.S. release of the single was less popular peaking at #42 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #19 on the R&B chart.

The second single from the album was "Ghosts", and included the official remix of "HIStory" as a double A-side track. On May 8, 1997, Jackson, in collaboration with director Stephen King, made a 40-minute short film titled Ghosts. The film premiered at the 50th Annual Cannes Film Festival. The short film was positively received by critics who attended the premiere screening. The short film helped propel the single to #5 in the UK.

"Is It Scary" was planned as a third single but was never officially released (as of 2006 only a few promo singles remain). The song was intended to be the theme song for Addams Family Values, but this didn't happen in the end. It was also featured in the Ghosts short film.

It has been rumoured that the track "Superfly Sister" is written about the abusive relationship between his sister LaToya Jackson and Jack Gordon.

On May 14, 1997, the album was released worldwide, and was given a platinum award from the RIAA in October 2000. Worldwide, the album has sold an estimated 6 million copies. It is listed as the biggest-selling remix album ever.

Track listing

1. "Blood on the Dance Floor" – 4:14
2. "Morphine" – 6:28
3. "Superfly Sister" – 6:27
4. "Ghosts" – 5:13
5. "Is It Scary" – 5:35
6. "Scream Louder (Flyte Tyme Remix)" – 5:26
7. "Money (Fire Island Radio Edit)" – 4:22
8. "2 Bad (Refugee Camp Mix)" – 3:33
9. "Stranger in Moscow (Tee's In-House Club Mix)" – 6:53
10. "This Time Around (D.M. Radio Mix)" – 4:04
11. "Earth Song (Hani's Club Experience)" – 7:55
12. "You Are Not Alone (Classic Club Mix)" – 7:37
13. "HIStory (Tony Moran's HIStory Lesson)" – 8:00

Chart Information & Sales

Highest Chart Position: UK #1 USA #24
Current Sales Award: UK Platinum USA Platinum
Current Sales Figure: Over 300,000 sold Over 1 million sold
Latest Official World Sales Figure: 4 million (as of late 1997).
Current Best Estimate World Sales: 6 million.

Chart Run

UK (top 75) & USA (top 100) chart run:
UK: #1,1,4,12,22,31,35,39,21,10,15,21,27,40,58,64,out
USA: #24,43,65,92,out

Other Countries sales figures:

Australia: 70,000+
Brazil: 100,000+
France: 325,000+
Japan: 180,000+

The Story behind the Success

Blood On The Dance Floor was released in May 1997, during the second leg of the HIStory tour. It's release was a bonus, as it was originally intended to be a promotion-only disc for radio stations. However it blossomed into a full album, and combined some of the best remix's from HIStory disk 2, with 5 new tracks.

The 'new' tracks were not all fully new however; Blood On the Dance Floor was recorded during the Dangerous sessions, and Is It Scary was recorded as (and was intended to be) the theme tune for the second Adams Family film. However due mainly to the allegations of 1993, this was not to be... Instead, this track, along with Ghosts (which actually shares some lyrics) featured in the short film, "Ghosts". Morphine, and Superfly Sister, were possibly recorded during the HIStory tour.

Early sales were strong, especially in Europe, where the HIStory tour was currently playing, and the album made #1 in the UK, Holland, France, Spain, Denmark, Turkey, India, and New Zealand. It reached #2 in Australia, Israel, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, Norway and Austria. As of late 1997, the album had sold 2 million copies in Europe (a good success for what was, primarily, a remix album). In the USA, due mainly to almost zero promotion, no tour, and poor radio performance of the single, the album stalled at #24 in the main album chart, and #16 in the R&B chart (it went on, however, to sell over a million copies in the USA, which is reasonable considering the total lack of promotion).

Long term sales were disappointing when compared to Michael's previous albums; the album did not stay in the charts around the world for long, due mainly to long-term lack of promotion. It sold around 5-6 million copies worldwide (extremely poor when compared to Michael's previous albums), but for a remix album, this made it the best seller of all time (one must realise that a remix album would generally only be bought by big Michael fans who wanted to enjoy remixes of HIStory's new material).

Could It Have Done Better ?

Blood On The Dance Floor had strong initial sales, but these declined rapidly due to only 1 or 2 singles being released around the world. Similarly, the "Ghosts" film had very little exposure, and in fact was never even seen by most of the record buying public.

It is a shame that more singles were not released, since both Blood On The Dance Floor, and HIStory/Ghosts did well in nearly all the countries where they were released (Is It Scary was a huge #1 radio hit in Africa). Is It Scary is generally accepted as the best new song off the album, and this could, surely, have been a huge success. Morphine could also have been a big hit.

One can only wonder what on earth Sony were thinking... These 2 extra singles could have kept Blood On The Dance Floor in many album charts for at least another 6 months.

Similarly, the stunning "Ghosts" film should have been made available for broadcast on TV stations around the world (it seems that Sony either did not want to put this out on general release, or were asking too much money for the broadcast rights). A real shame; Michael had clearly gone to huge efforts in making the film, for it then to be seen in it's entirety by only a handful of fans (who did buy it in the countries where it was available).

With proper promotion, this album could have, and would have sent Blood On The Dance Floor's and HIStory's sales rocketing. Blood On The Dance Floor could probably have hit at least 10 million copies worldwide.

However, it wasn't to be, and one can only hope that Sony (and, perhaps, Michael himself) learn from their mistakes.

The future of Blood on The Dance Floor

Unless Ghosts is put on general release at some point in the future, it is difficult to envisage Blood On The Dance Floor selling many more copies than the usual back-catalogue sales. It was not part of the back-catalogue re-release in 2001 (nor would one have expected it to be). The album is thus unlikely to enjoy a future large sales surge, although it will undoubtedly keep selling as Michael continues to make new fans around the world.

Thriller (1982)

Thriller is an album by pop singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on December 1, 1982. Widely considered one of the greatest albums ever made, Thriller established Michael Jackson as the most famous musician of the late 20th century and initiated a surge in the popularity of pop music that continues to this day. In 2007, the NARM and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ranked Thriller third on their "Definitive 200" list, a compilation of what they believed to be the greatest albums ever.

Track listing

Original release (1982)

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (Jackson)
2. "Baby Be Mine" (Temperton)
3. "The Girl Is Mine" featuring Paul McCartney (Jackson)
4. "Thriller" (Temperton)
5. "Beat It" featuring Eddie Van Halen (Jackson)
6. "Billie Jean" (Jackson)
7. "Human Nature" (Bettis/Porcaro)
8. "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (Ingram/Jones)

Special Edition release (2001)

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (Jackson) – 6:03
2. "Baby Be Mine" (Temperton) – 4:20
3. "The Girl Is Mine" featuring Paul McCartney (Jackson) – 3:42
4. "Thriller" (Temperton) – 5:57
5. "Beat It" (Jackson) featuring Eddie Van Halen – 4:17
6. "Billie Jean" (Jackson) – 4:53
7. "Human Nature" (Bettis/Porcaro) – 4:05
8. "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (Ingram/Jones) – 3:58
9. "The Lady In My Life" (Temperton) – 4:58
10. Interview with Quincy Jones #1 – 2:18
11. "Someone in the Dark" (Bergman/Bergman/Temperton) – 4:48
* From the "E.T. Storybook"
12. Interview with Quincy Jones #2 – 2:04
13. "Billie Jean" (Home Demo from 1981) (Jackson) – 2:20
14. Interview with Quincy Jones #3 – 3:10
15. Interview with Rod Temperton #1 – 4:02
16. Interview with Quincy Jones #4 – 1:32
17. Voice-Over Session from "Thriller" (Temperton) – 2:52
18. Interview with Rod Temperton #2 – 1:56
19. Interview with Quincy Jones #5 – 2:01
20. "Carousel" (Sembello/D. Freeman) – 1:49
21. Interview with Quincy Jones #6 – 1:17

According to the Guinness World Records, Thriller is the world's best-selling album of all time, with sales estimated at 104 million copies. The album is also notable for being one of only three albums to remain in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 for one full year (along with Falling Into You by Celine Dion and Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette), spending 80 consecutive weeks in the Top 10, 37 of which were at number one. "Thriller" is also the first album of only three in history to produce seven Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles, and the first and to date only album to be the best-selling album of two years (1983 and 1984) in the United States, according to Billboard.

Credits

• Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien
• Technical engineer: Matt Forger
• Assistant engineer: Steve Bates and Mark Ettel
• Additional sound sources recorded by Humberto Gatica and Matt Forger
• Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo on "Beat It" recorded by Donn Landee
  

Recording

Recorded between April and November 1982, Thriller was the second of Michael Jackson's solo albums to be produced by Quincy Jones, though this time showcasing Jackson in a more prominent position of control than the preceding Off the Wall album from 1979. Of the nine tracks that came to be on the final project of the album, Jackson wrote four.

The album's first single, "The Girl is Mine" (a poppy duet with former Beatle Paul McCartney) was a commercially successful, though critically maligned, song that was solely written by Jackson. "The album's second single, "Billie Jean", was a more definitive hit. Despite the controversy surrounding the lyrics, which dealt with illegitimacy, "Billie Jean" catapulted Jackson and Thriller to the top of the charts. Jackson then performed "Billie Jean" at the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special, showing off his signature dance move, the "Moonwalk", to an enormous audience.

From there, Jackson's already considerable success grew further. Jackson's reinvention as a crossover artist was complete with his third single, the rock number, "Beat It," which features guitar work by guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Several members of the Los Angeles band Toto contributed their musical talents.

Outtakes

• "Hot Street"
• "Nite Line"
• "Trouble"
• "Carousel" (also known as Circus Girl - a truncated version appeared on the Thriller Special Edition.)
• "Love Never Felt So Good"
• "Can't Get Outta The Rain" (featured on the Billie Jean single B-side)
• "Someone in the Dark" (song featured in the movie E. T. - The Extra terrestrial - Michael was awarded a Grammy Award for the song in 1984)
• "Got the Hots"
• "Who Do You Know?"

Bad (1987)

Track listing

1. "Bad" (Jackson) – 4:06
2. "The Way You Make Me Feel" (Jackson) – 4.58
3. "Speed Demon" (Jackson) – 4:01
4. "Liberian Girl" (Jackson) – 3:53
5. "Just Good Friends" (Duet with Jackson and Stevie Wonder) (Britten/Lyle) – 4:05
6. "Another Part of Me" (Jackson) – 3:53
7. "Man in the Mirror" (Ballard/Garrett) – 5:18
8. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (Duet with Jackson and Siedah Garrett) (Jackson) – 4:13
* The LP version includes a spoken intro omitted in the CD version
9. "Dirty Diana" (Jackson) – 4:40
10. "Smooth Criminal" (Jackson) – 4:16
11. "Leave Me Alone" (Jackson) – 4:37

Album Information

Bad is an album of recorded music by pop music icon Michael Jackson, released in 1987. After the monumental success of Thriller, Jackson and co-producer/collaborator Quincy Jones produced a slicker funk/pop confection. Bad achieved 8x platinum status in the United States, and has sold an estimated 32 million copies worldwide. Jackson set another record with this album, becoming the first (and currently, only) artist to have five songs to hit #1 from one album. In July 2006, it was announced by the The Official UK Charts Company that Bad was the ninth biggest selling album in British history. It turned out to be the last collaborative effort by Jackson and Jones, as Jackson moved on to write and produce more of his own records. The album was supported by an international tour that entertained over 4.4 million fans. The tour grossed in over 125 million USD.

Jackson originally wanted the album to be a multiple-disc set with 30 tracks in all. However, Quincy Jones cut it down to 10 tracks and made it a single-disc LP. The CD release contained an extra track, "Leave Me Alone". In one of the interviews with Quincy Jones - which appeared on the special edition of Bad - Quincy said that he wanted to make Bad with Prince, Quincy set up a meeting with Michael Jackson and Prince, but Prince finally said that Bad would be a hit without him. There have been numerous rumours that Jackson will release his multi-disc version of the album sometime in the future.

Outtakes

Known outtakes from Bad:

* "Streetwalker" (included on Special Edition, see below)
* "Fly Away" (included on Special Edition, see below)
* "Cheater"' (later appeared on The Ultimate Collection)
* "Al Capone" (unshared snippet)
* "Buffalo Bill"
* "We Are Here to Change the World" (from Captain EO, and later appeared on The Ultimate Collection)
* "Bumper Snippet"
* "Chicago 1945" (later became "Smooth Criminal")
* "Crack Kills" (with Run DMC)
* "Groove of Midnight"
* "Hot Fever" (later became "The Way You Make Me Feel")
* "The Price of Fame"
* "Tomboy"

There are over 30 songs actually recorded for Bad.

Chart Information & Sales

Highest Chart Position: UK #1 USA #1
Current Sales Award: UK 13 times Platinum USA 8 times Platinum
Current Sales Figure: Over 4.2 million sold Over 8 million sold
Latest Official World Sales Figure: 25 million (as of mid 1996).
Current Best Estimate World Sales: 29 million (includes new special edition sales).

Chart Run

UK: #1,1,1,1,1,2,3,4,11,14,15,14,12,6,4,2,2,3,2,5,7,12,10,9,9,9,12,15,25,28,30,31,26,29,32,38,46,46,39,29,34,42,46,30,
20,5,4,4,5,6,5,7,6,8,4,10,13,16,22,35,27,33,39,29,26,22,21,15,10,9,6,4,10,13,16,15,13,14,21,11,10,10,12,16,18,21,20,
26,33,34,36,37,42,42,48,49,40,31,30,35,37,37,38,47,50,57,59,62,out 1 wk,75,(out till 8/8/92),14,17,21,27,41,73, (out till
27/10/01),53,70,(out till 28/9/02),56,(out till 15/2/03),73,out 2 wks,68,38,50,(out till 18/1/04),75,61,66,out

USA: #1,1,1,1,1,1,2,3,3,2,2,2,2,2,2,3,4,4,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,4,3,3,3,2,2,4,5,5,4,3,4,5,10,14,15,16,20,22,24,27,27,26,30,34,36,
40,39,39,47,48,50,58,58,59,61,60,48,48,50,52,52,45,42,42,42,50,55,57,59,65,76,80,89,102,121,134,156,166,165,
168,187,out

USA R&B chart (top 100): #3,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2,1,1,1,1,2,2,2,3,3,3,4,3,2,2,2,1,1,1,4,4,6,6,7,10,10,12,15,14,16,16, 19,23,29,34,38,38,41,39,38,35,42,46,57,60,66,65,66,68,68,59,56,53,54,54,51,55, 60,59,62,70,83,86,out

Other Countries sales figures:

Australia: 350,000+
Brazil: 700,000+
France: 1,400,000+
Germany: 2,000,000+
Spain: 500,000+
Japan: 1,000,000+

Special Edition

A Special Edition of the album was released in November 2001, featuring three previously unreleased songs and spoken word material. The songs were:

• "Streetwalker" (previously unreleased)
• "Todo Mi Amor Eres Tu (I Just Can't Stop Loving You - Spanish Version)" (previously unreleased in the U.S.)
• "Fly Away" (previously unreleased)

The spoken word material appears interspersed between the bonus unreleased songs and features an interview with Quincy Jones about the recording and making of the album. The album also includes a new 20-page booklet with lyrics plus rare and unreleased photos not part of the original release.

Dangerous

Videos from Dangerous | MJ Discography
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Track listing

1. "Jam" featuring Heavy D
2. "Why You Wanna Trip On Me"
   
3. "In the Closet"
4. "She Drives Me Wild"
5. "Remember the Time"
   
6. "Can't Let Her Get Away"
   
7. "Heal the World"
8. "Black or White"
9. "Who Is It"
   
10. "Give In To Me"
11. "Will You Be There"
    
12. "Keep the Faith"
    
13. "Gone Too Soon"
    
14. "Dangerous"

Album Information

The Dangerous album was released on November 26, 1991, and became the fastest selling number one album, breaking the records by entering the charts at #1 only 3 days after it's release! It was also the first album released by Sony music that had a Thursday release date, rather than the traditional Monday release.

This was the first solo album by Michael Jackson that was not produced by Quincy Jones.
The album has sold over 21 million copies worldwide to date.
Guest appearances on this album were made by rapper L.T.B, Princess Stephanie of Monacco (credited as the "Mystery Girl"), and Slash.

Credits

• Executive producer: Michael Jackson
• Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley and Bill Bottrell
• Technical directors: Brad Sundberg and Thom Russo
• Additional engineering by Dave Way, Matt Forger, Jean-Marie Horvat, Richard Cottrell and Kevin Gilbert
• Assistant engineers: Brad Sundberg, Bart Stevens, Thom Russo, John Chamberlain, Rail Rogut, Dan Bosworth, Julie East and Elaine Anderson
• Mastered by Bernie Grundman
  

Outtakes

Known outtakes from Dangerous:

• "A Baby Smiles"
• "Bottle Of Smoke"
• "Dangerous" (early version, appeared on The Ultimate Collection)
• "Fever"
• "For All Time" (leaked online)
• "Girls Of Another Love"
• "If You Don't Love Me" (leaked online)
• "Men In Black" (unshared snippet)
• "Monkey Business" (appeared on The Ultimate Collection)
• "Planet Earth"
• "Pretty Faces"
• "Satisfy You" (Duet with Brian Loren, leaked online)
• "Serious Effect" (with LL Cool J) (leaked online)
• "Seven Digits"
• "She Got It" (snippet leaked online)
• "Someone Put Your Hand Out" (Released on Pepsi promo cassette, also later included on The Ultimate Collection)
• "Trust About Youth"
• "What About Us" (later became "Earth Song")
• "Work That Body" (snippet leaked online)
  

On a recent ITV documentary The One And Only Michael Jackson, collaborators stated that Jackson started Dangerous with 60 songs, suggesting that there are far more outtakes than those leaked online or released subsequently.

Other Information

In March of 1991, Michael Jackson signed an all new 15 year, 6 album deal with Sony; that November he delivered his first - Dangerous. Jackson ended his association with Quincy Jones, and enlisted the producing talents of new jack swing inventor Teddy Riley. The RIAA certified Dangerous at 7x Platinum, internationally the album has sold an estimated 30 million copies, tying it with Bad as the second best-selling album of Jackson's career. The album spawned seven top ten hit single's in the UK - Jackson's best in the UK. The album gained a total of 73x Platinum certifications throughout the world. The major hits included "Black or White", "Remember the Time", "In the Closet", "Heal the World", "Who Is It", "Jam", and "Will You Be There".

As was becoming the standard for Jackson, the album's music videos were among the most costly and innovative of their time. Several of the music videos taken from the Dangerous album had complex storylines and dance sequences, and featured cameo appearances by celebrities. The video for "Jam", directed by David Kellogg, showed Jackson and Michael Jordan playing basketball and dancing together, while "Remember the Time" was set in an ancient Egyptian palace, and starred Eddie Murphy and Iman as the pharaoh and his queen. The video also featured a cameo by NBA player Magic Johnson. "In the Closet" featured Jackson and supermodel Naomi Campbell as lovers. The director of the video was photographer Herb Ritts, who also photographed Jackson in a series of promotional shots for the release of the Dangerous album.

"Black or White" was originally over ten minutes long, it premiered simultaneously on November 14, 1991 on MTV, VH1, BET, and FOX. The video is extremely noteworthy for featuring one of the earliest examples of computer-generated morphing. The last four minutes of the video also induced much controversy, as it depicted Jackson smashing store windows and destroying a car with a crowbar. This destructive behaviour was intended to imply a message of anti-racism, however. MTV and the other music video networks decided to excise the last four minutes of the "Black or White" video for all subsequent airings, and Jackson issued a statement apologizing to anyone who had been offended, and explaining that he tried to interpret the animal instinct of panthers into a dance. The video featured Macaulay Culkin (among others) and was directed by John Landis, also the director of the "Thriller" short film.

The album cover was by Mark Ryden. On November 20, 1991, a group of armed men stole 30,000 copies of Dangerous from a terminal at Los Angeles Airport due to its immense popularity.

Jackson would not release another full-length album of only all new songs for 10 years, with Invincible in 2001. HIStory, released in 1995, did contain a full disc of new material, but was only available in a double-disc set, the first CD containing previous hits.

A Special Edition of the album appeared in 2001. The Special Edition was digitally remastered and included a slipcase, revised artwork and previously unseen photos. Because of the constraints of Dangerous' running time, previously unreleased songs were not included, however many of them were eventually leaked onto the internet along with various demos of other tracks that appeared on the album. In 2004, some of these leaked tracks were officially released on Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection (namely the Dangerous Demo and Monkey Business).

Invincible (2001)

Invincible is an album by Michael Jackson released on October 30, 2001. It was Jackson's first full album of all-new material since 1991's Dangerous (his previous album, HIStory, was sold with some of his greatest hits included as an extra CD). The cover art of this album was a simple design of just Michael's face. It was available in the standard silver edition, or four limited colours: red, green, yellow and blue. The singles released from the album include "You Rock My World", "Cry", and "Butterflies" (see Michael Jackson singles discography for chart positions). The album included guests performances by Carlos Santana, Brandy and posthumous appearances by The Notorious B.I.G. and Rod Serling. On Invincible, Michael Jackson expanded his vocal abilities as well as his instrumental involvement on the album, playing most of the instruments and performing much of the programming tasks in collaboration with producers Rodney Jerkins, Teddy Riley, and Dr. Freeze.

Track Listing:

1. Unbreakable | 6:25
2. Heartbreaker | 5:10
3. Invincible | 4:45
4. Break of Dawn | 5:32
5. Heaven Can Wait | 4:49
6. You Rock My World | 5:39
7. Butterflies | 4:40
8. Speechless | 3:18
9. 2000 Watts | 4:24
10. You Are My Life | 4:39
11. Privacy | 5:05
12. Don't Walk Away | 4:25
13. Cry | 5:01
14. The Lost Children | 4:00
15. Whatever Happens | 4:56
16. Threatened | 4:19

Chart Information

Highest Chart Position: UK #1 USA #1
Current Sales Award: UK Platinum USA 2 times Platinum
Current Sales Figure: 350,000 2.1 million

Latest Official World Sales Figure: 5.4 million (to end of 2001).
Current Best Estimate World Sales: 8 million.

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UK (top 100) & USA (top 200) chart run:
UK: #1,5,18,32,39,44,49,52,65,95,out for 9 months,84,96,out for 7 months,63,65,70,96,out
USA: #1,3,4,11,17,25,28,26,25,27,24,25,27,27,35,40,46,53,71,89,104,126,123,130,124,174,174,198,out
USA R&B chart (top 100): #86,1,1,1,1,3,5,5,5,8,7,5,6,6,10,13,13,14,24,34,40,44,50,49,54,69,55,61,67,71,69,87,80,81,out 1 wk,100,out

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Other Countries sales figures:

Australia: 70,000+
Brazil: 70,000+
France: 600,000+
Japan: 200,000+

Out takes

* "Another Day" (with Lenny Kravitz)
* "Ekam Satyam (The One Truth)"
* "Fall Again" - Demo appeared on Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection
* "Kick It"
* "Maybe We Can Do It" (with P. Diddy)
* "New Attitudes"
* "On My Anger"
* "Peaceful Journey"
* "She Was Loving Me"
* "Shout" - Later appeared on "Cry" single release 2001
* "Soldier's Entrance"
* "This Is Our Time"
* "True Life"
* "What You Do To Me"
* "What More Can I Give" - Later available as official download only)
* "Who Do U Be" - Later used on rapper Kurupt's album Kuruption!
* Untitled/Unknown track featuring Method Man produced by Swizz Beats

Other Information

Just before the release of Invincible, Jackson informed then Sony Music Entertainment head, Tommy Mottola, that he was not going to renew his contract, signed in 1991, which was about to expire in terms of supplying the label with albums of full-new material for release through Epic Records/Sony Music Entertainment. By 2002, sales and interest in the album had decreased rapidly, which prompted Mottola to cancel all single releases, video shootings and promotions concerning the Invincible album. Due to this, Jackson made allegations about Sony not supporting its African-American artists. Jackson referred to Sony Entertainment's head, Tommy Mottola, as a "devil" and a "racist" who used black artists for his own personal gain. Jackson also insisted that Mottola called Irv Gotti a "fat nigger",. Sony issued a statement saying that they found the allegations strange, since Motolla used to be married to pop star Mariah Carey, who is of Venezuelan and African-American descent, and was currently married with Mexican pop star Thalía.

There were seven singles and videos that Sony and Jackson wanted to release from Invincible. Initially, Jackson wanted to release "Unbreakable" as the debut single from the album, partnered with a 20-minute music video. However, Sony wanted Jackson to release "You Rock My World" instead of "Unbreakable" due to shorter production time of the video accompanying the single. "You Rock My World" was the only worldwide single release from Invincible and would reach the top ten position in 22 countries. Jackson had also planned to release "The Lost Children", "Break of Dawn", "Butterflies", "Speechless", "Cry" and "Whatever Happens" (with Carlos Santana).

In 2002, Jackson announced that Invincible would be his last studio album with Epic Records.

Story Behind The Success

Invincible debuted at number one in the majority of record markets around the world including Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and of course the UK & USA. Current sales are around 8 million which is a once in a lifetime achievement by most artists standards but a huge disappointment by MJ's previous record-breaking sales. The reason for this relative failure is as follows.

Up to the end of 2001 sales were at 5.4 million, (11th best seller worldwide) which was very good for 2 months of sales, but behind HIStory & Dangerous which had sold more in the same time period. The album was outselling HIStory in the USA & French markets however up until the early part of 2002. The album was absolutely huge in France where after release it was #1 for 3 weeks and top 10 for 2 months thereafter with sales to date of over 750,000 copies. The album was also doing very well in the USA, much to many peoples surprise, where it sold a million copies in just over a month but it dropped out of the top 200 mid 2002 due to no promotion/singles with sales at 2.1 million. It was also at the top of the R&B album chart for 4 weeks and remained in the top 10 for 14 weeks.

This showed that the album got off to a reasonable start but the album fell out of most international charts in early 2002 simply due to no promotion on Sony's part and the lack of an active singles. It was hoped the Cry single would help the album back up the chart in Christmas 2001 but due to it's chart failure it had little impact. The second single in the USA, Butterflies, had a much better effect in prolonging strong album sales, due to superb airplay, but the lack of a commercial release (and therefore #1 spot) inhibited its positive effect.

The album promotion/singles campaign halted in early 2002 due to Michael's problem's with Sony and his possible future departure from the label. The expected main commercial singles, Unbreakable & Whatever Happens, were crucial to the albums long-term success - but their releases were cancelled. Also in the USA all planned radio release singles after Butterflies were also cancelled. Due to this the album sales slowed to a trickle and it left most charts. It did however enjoy a brief re-entry in some world charts (inc an extra month in the UK) after the Bashir interview in early 2003 but the sales impact on Michael's other more well know albums was much greater.

The album had enormous potential for huge hit singles (and therefore sales) but Sony did everything possible so this did not happen. All Michael previous album have had strong or steady sales over a 2 year period due to multiple successful single releases and world tours. Tragically this has not happened with Invincible despite it containing some of the strongest tracks of his career.

Sony has now moved on and the only Invincible track's getting attention are You Rock My World and Break of Dawn which feature on the new 'Number Ones' compilation which in just 6 weeks sold triple the UK total sales of Invincible although in most other counties (especially the USA) Invincible's sales are still well ahead of Number Ones.

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Information is collected from MJinf, Wikipedia, Mjtunes.com, etc