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Channel 24 offers first impressions of the "new" Michael Jackson song, which is available for listening at www.michaeljackson.com. Take a read, take a listen, and tell us what you think.
Anton Marshall: The announcement of the album a few weeks ago did smack of cynicism – that's natural and to be expected. But the single itself adds a strange element of self-awareness on top of a difficult sell. It isn't the first time Jacko sang about the constant attention and dissection of his life by the public ("Why You Wanna Trip on Me" and "Leave Me Alone" come to mind as fine previous examples), but this posthumous offering is harder to admit to being a fan of. I mean – do you agree with him? And how do you respond to that accusation? "The paparazzi would not leave him alone!" goes an opening sound byte. Neither will we, it seems...
Annel Malan: This is enough to make Michael return from the grave. I think this song wasn't released because Michael probably thought it wasn’t good enough yet. Something was still missing. Something the producers are now trying to cover up with the over-use of drum machines and sound effects.
Shaheema Barodien: To my ears, this does not even sound like Michael Jackson. I've heard enough impressionists to know that there are a thousand Michael Jacksons out there. I don’t want to get into a conspiracy theory about this (Michael’s been body-snatched/cloned/digitally exhumed!) but something significant is missing from this song. The vocals and production sound too smooth, too clean, utterly soulless. And such blatant third person references in the song ("They want to write my obituary") smack of cynical posthumous marketing. I guess when we all said Rest in Peace, we didn’t really mean it.
Sam Brighton: Even if it is his voice, I don’t think it’s the type of song he’d release anyway. This is a direct and obvious comment on the public’s over-infatuation with him – in fact, this whole song has the effect of portraying him as another Lady Diana.
Watch the video below to see a promo of the song, or listen to it on MJ's official website.
Anton Marshall: The announcement of the album a few weeks ago did smack of cynicism – that's natural and to be expected. But the single itself adds a strange element of self-awareness on top of a difficult sell. It isn't the first time Jacko sang about the constant attention and dissection of his life by the public ("Why You Wanna Trip on Me" and "Leave Me Alone" come to mind as fine previous examples), but this posthumous offering is harder to admit to being a fan of. I mean – do you agree with him? And how do you respond to that accusation? "The paparazzi would not leave him alone!" goes an opening sound byte. Neither will we, it seems...
Annel Malan: This is enough to make Michael return from the grave. I think this song wasn't released because Michael probably thought it wasn’t good enough yet. Something was still missing. Something the producers are now trying to cover up with the over-use of drum machines and sound effects.
Shaheema Barodien: To my ears, this does not even sound like Michael Jackson. I've heard enough impressionists to know that there are a thousand Michael Jacksons out there. I don’t want to get into a conspiracy theory about this (Michael’s been body-snatched/cloned/digitally exhumed!) but something significant is missing from this song. The vocals and production sound too smooth, too clean, utterly soulless. And such blatant third person references in the song ("They want to write my obituary") smack of cynical posthumous marketing. I guess when we all said Rest in Peace, we didn’t really mean it.
Sam Brighton: Even if it is his voice, I don’t think it’s the type of song he’d release anyway. This is a direct and obvious comment on the public’s over-infatuation with him – in fact, this whole song has the effect of portraying him as another Lady Diana.
Watch the video below to see a promo of the song, or listen to it on MJ's official website.
