Best Of Michael Jackson & The Jackson Five, The - Michael Jackson/Jackson 5 (The)

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Great tracks, fun and lively, nice track variety
Disadvantages:	Some tracks I did not know

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Well I was not a fan of the Jackson Five when they first made an appearance on the music scene as I was not actually born in the 70’s! I have to say that thanks to my Dad bringing me up on the music of this decade I do actually enjoy groups like this and especially the music which they play.

WHO ARE THEY?

The Jackson Five were from Gary in Indiana, they were all from the same family and the group consisted of

Jackie
Tito
Jermaine
Marlon
Michael

Randy - he joined the family group later on in their career when Jermaine decided to leave the group as he wanted to stay with the Mowtown record label which the group had just left.

The groups career spread over several decades and stared in 1964, they were popular right up until 1989. They were mainly successful and at their highest point in the 70’s when they took the music world by storm and saw the majority of their records making the top 10 of the music charts.

THE CD

This CD is a compilation of the best of the Jackson Five’s songs. There are a total of 20 songs on the CD which include:-

I want you back
The Love You Save
ABC
I’ll Be There
Mama’s Pearl
Never Can Say Goodbye
Got To Be There
Rockin’ Robin
Ain’t No Sunshine
Lookin’ Through the Windows
Ben
Doctor My Eyes
Hallelujah Day
Skywriter
Happy
One Day In Your Life
We’re Almost There
Farewell my Summer Love
Girl You’re So Together
I Want You Back (remix)

The cover of the CD is dark blue and has a faint picture of 4 of the Jackson’s sitting down with Michael standing up behind them. The title of the album is across the middle in white writing. The back cover of the album id again dark blue and has the track list in white writing so it does stand out and is very easy to read. The inside of the cover does open up to again have the track list and details about the songs, like their running time and writer and producer. I think I would have liked this to have been a bit more detailed and have some photos of the group and some words about their career like some CD’s do.

OPINION

Considering that this CD is supposed to be the best of the Jackson Five then I have to say that there are quite a few tracks on here which I have never heard before and was not aware of until I listened to this CD. Out of the 20 tracks I have to say that I really only knew 11 of them! Also this CD does not contain tracks which were all sung by the group, 9 of the songs are only sung by Michael which I think is slightly unfair to the rest of the group.

The songs featured are all a great mix and we have the really lively ones which include, Rockin’ Robin and ABC and then we also move to the other end of the scale and have the soft ballad of Ben. I like the variety available as it means I can just choose the tracks I want to listen to depending on the mood I am in. Personally a favourite in my house is Rockin’ Robin and me and my youngest do have a good dance around the kitchen to this one! (only when we are in on our own though!)

I managed to find this CD in Tesco for just £5 which was a fluke as I was not in fact looking for this but just had to get it when I saw it, much to hubby’s disapproval and then I made him suffer me singing at the tip of my voice to the songs when driving in the car! The CD was produced by Universal in 2001 and I think it has just been re-released as it now has a sticker on the cover advertising 50 years of Motown and 50 years of Island Records.

I do definitely recommend this CD to all fans of the Jackson Five’s music and especially if like me you are not familiar with the tracks as it has opened up a whole new side of the group to me and I have to say I am impressed with each and everyone of the songs featured.

More information on this CD can be found at www.umtv.co.uk