Michael Jackson Album: “The Ultimate Collection [Box]”

I bought this the day it came out as I counldn't wait to hear the unreleased tracks. I was dying to hear Sunset Driver and the P.Y.T. demo. I was NOT dissapointed at all. Sunset Driver is an excellent song. I think it was meant to be put on Off The Wall but the booklet says it was recorded for Thriller. Anyways, I dont know why the song was never put on an album, maybe Michael was just being too picky. Other notable songs on disc one are "You Can't Win". I was glad to hear they had the long version with "Can't Get Outta The Rain" on it. The "Shake Your Body" demo is very similar to the final cut version. Disc two has the demo of "P.Y.T". I was looking forward to hear. It is mid-tempo, I guess Quincy Jones wanted something faster for the album. I really like this demo a lot. It is very catchy for a demo. As far as the rest of the boxed set, all the hits are there. My only complaints are that "Human Nature" wasn't put on. And as for unreleased tracks, where is "Hot Street"? Put Hot Street and Sunset Driver on the cd and you got two excellent unreleased dance tracks. "Carousel" is also another track from thriller that is very good but was unreleased. Wish that was on there as well. The dvd concert is good but I would rather see a concert from the "Victory Tour" in 1984 or even the "Bad Tour". The unreleased material on disc's 3 and 4 are O-kay. I just feel that MJ's best music was from Off The Wall and the Thriller era so I just wanted to hear as much from that era than anything else. This boxed set is definitely worth the money.

If you've ever considered picking up an MJ release for your collection, this boxset is the one to buy! If you're already an MJ fan, then you have no excuse to walk away from this!

First -- you get all the biggest hits. ABC, I Want You Back, Ben, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller, Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Smooth Criminal, Black or White, Remember The Time, You Are Not Alone, Blood On The Dancefloor, You Rock My World... All the classics are on here.

Second -- you get most of the fan favorites! Some songs that are excellent, but that weren't hugely successful as singles... Songs like Wanna Be Startin' Something, Dirty Diana, Jam, Who Is It, Unbreakable, Butterflies... It's missing a few great songs, however, like Scream, Leave Me Alone, and Workin' Day And Night, to name a couple.

Third -- you get all new songs and demos. We've Had Enough, MJ's newest song, is excellent! Powerful and complex; the genius we've come to expect from MJ! In The Back, a groovy song with a sort of intricate simplicity. Fall Again, a beautiful ballad showing off Mike's vocal range. Sunset Driver, the funkiest track I've ever heard, all the way from the early 1980s! Beautiful Girl, On The Line, Someone Put Your Hand Out, all good ballads. We Are Here To Change The World, the theme song from the Disney 3D movie, Captain EO! It's upbeat and great to listen to! Cheater, Monkey Business, and even more! It's all amazing to hear!

Fourth -- The live concert DVD! One of the most energetic and mind-blowing concerts ever performed! My personal favorite out of all his tours! From the big bang of an opening with Jam, to the amazing Smooth Criminal, to the electric Workin' Day and Night, to the final, heart-stopping performance of Man In The Mirror, this is one concert not to be missed! You see some of Mike's best dancing and singing ever!

Fifth -- A beautifully designed booklet, featuring high quality pictures (some never-before-seen), a great text, and a complete chronicle of Mike's history up to this point!

So if you're thinking about picking this one up, I suggest to just go for it. Sure, it costs a bit more than a regular album, but you're not getting just one album... You're getting four, plus a DVD! And there's no better collection of Mike's material available than this boxset right here. Pick it up -- you won't be disappointed!

All the songs that you could imagine are on this! This man is a living legend, and has inspired many, as well as going on to be the biggest selling solo artist of all time, with over 380 million records sold to his name.

The best tracks are "We've Had Enough" and "The Way You Love Me"...which is obviously some of the new recorded songs on this. Others include songs from the Wiz Soundtrack, and unreleased songs: "Sunset Driver, Scared of the Moon, Cheater, Someone Put Your Hand Out, FAll Again, In The Back, Beautiful Girl, His Own Version of "We Are The World", Who Is IHS Remix."

The ultimate greatest hit is "Stranger In Moscow", which itself is enough to buy! Buy this. You won't regret it.

The market's been flooded with Michael Jackson product in the last year -- I don't even have any idea what that "The One" DVD was all about. I'll let the general public make up its own theories as to why.

Its bizarre timing aside, this boxed set was long overdue. It's been 10 years since HIStory came out (pretty amazing fact, isn't it?), and while Jackson's output since then has only consisted of one inferior album, HIStory itself was scanty to the point of being ridiculous anyway.

The music is a fascinating study in pop stardom. Jackson's music was so dominant in its own time that it now sounds somewhat dated. There's a reason why The Eagles's Greatest Hits record surpassed Thriller's sales in the U.S.: We are so familiar with Jackson's music that we now rarely shell out the bucks to buy it. That, however, is not to be counted as a negative towards the music itself. It doesn't pretend to be ambitious high art; it's immaculate, immensely enjoyable, catchy and commercial pop/R&B/dance music. And with the exception of the songs from the weak Invincible album (the first Jackson record not to score a number-one single), you're still guaranteed to pack a dance floor whenever you put these songs on. This boxed set does right to the Jackson catalogue by including his Motown years, and while those have been covered amply in the many Jackson 5/Jacksons collections over the years, to have a "comprehensive" Michael Jackson boxed set without this material would have been sacrilegious.

That leaves the fifth disc, the DVD of a live concert in Bucharest. The concert disc is flawed -- I like neither the shooting nor the editing, and it contains far too many audience shots. If I never have to see a Michael Jackson fan cry or faint on camera again, it would be too soon. But the concert disc is an incredibly fascinating case study in the midst of that Ashlee Simpson lip-sync scandal. I've never been to a Jackson concert, so I was very surprised to find that he does sing live -- just not all the time. The fact is, as early as the Motown anniversary special that had made Jackson into a legend, Jackson always gave a better show when he doesn't have to sing. However, it's even more illuminating when Jackson does attempt to sing live. On "Beat It" and "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", Jackson is clearly out of breath and offkey...and remarkably human, letting us poke through that artificial, perfectionist showman exterior to see a fallible artist doing his best. I always wished Jackson would allow more of this side of himself to show -- to humanize his music and persona, and let the flaws be. On this DVD, which was filmed during the Dangerous tour, you get a chance to see Michael Jackson's more ragged edges, and that is simply invaluable. And to see the grossly underrated Siedah Garrett (she wrote "Man in the Mirror", after all, and matched Jackson note-for-note on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You") and ultra-talented, platinum-haired guitar goddess Jennifer Batten brings a flood of memories...Batten's laser-lit guitar solo in "Beat It" is so over the top, it's perfect, even though the shaky editing ate into its effect.

If you're a Jackson fan, you probably would have bought this already and will like it. If not, however, this is still a good chance to snap up a large number of Jackson classics in one go. The concert DVD is also great if you've never seen a Jackson "live" performance,though Jackson stage shows have been captured far better in previous video clips like "Dirty Diana" and, even more so, "Come Together". And given the low price tag on this five-disc box, from a value-for-money front, this boxed set really can't be topped.

It doesn't matter what anybody says about this man, he is the epitome of a pop superstar, legend, performer, entertainer, songwritter & vocalist. His presence alone makes people cry & pass out, it's as if they're going through an exorcism. What other human being in this world has that kind of effect on people? You don't have to be a fanatic to see the phenomenal talent that this man has. All these popstars out there today: Justin, Usher, britney, beyonce, etc. are doing things MJ did 20 years ago yet people worship them & bash MJ. These people wouldn't even be here had it not been for him. This boxset is great, "Fall Again" & "We've had enough" show why Michael is the great music maker he is today. The 1992 concert? Truly amazing & Michael at his best. When doesn't he do a show stopping performance? From the time he first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show to Thriller to History & beyond, he has changed the world & revolutionized popular music & this box set traces that journey. Michael Jackson is the definition of an icon & I find it so unfair that people choose to pick him apart the way they do all because he's extremely rich & extremely influential & they're just too damn jealous to handle it! Michael broke? HA! That man has income coming in from a thousand & one different places. All he has to do is give one concert & that'll generate 10-15 million bucks right there & if he went on tour... well, I think you already know. Michael is the king of Pop & there will never be another like him. That man commands respect when he shows up at award shows & he knows that no matter what happens, his fans got his back!