Ultimate Collection, The (+DVD) [Digipak] - Michael Jackson

...
●WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION●

This Ultimate Collection is a 4 CD set of all Michaels singles, with bonus demos and previously unreleased singles. There is also a DVD with the collection, which is a completely unreleased DVD of Michael Jackson's Dangerous Tour live DVD.

There is also a booklet which comes with the collection, which includes Photos, Memorabilia, Timeline and Discography.
...
...folder has Michael Jackson The Ultimate Co9llection written in gold and silver, with an imprint of Michael Jackson in the centre, of the Smooth Criminal dance signature, with the hat.

When you open up the folder, there are 2 discs on the left side, and the right side has an imprint of Michael Jackson from his 'Bad' days. When you open up the right side of the folder, there are 2 more discs on the right side.

The 5th ... more

I love Michael Jackson! I know everyone has their opinion of him. Most people I have spoken to have said they love him, can't make their mind up, or hate him. I think he is a brilliant singer, songwriter, dancer and producer. He's one of the most talented people in the world today.

(I usually write a lot about each song in my Album reviews, but I wont write about each song in this case, as it will go on forever and ever as there is nearly 60 songs! I will write about the Demo's and Unreleased singles only)

Anyway, on with the CD's.

●WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION●

This Ultimate Collection is a 4 CD set of all Michaels singles, with bonus demos and previously unreleased singles. There is also a DVD with the collection, which is a completely unreleased DVD of Michael Jackson's Dangerous Tour live DVD.

There is also a booklet which comes with the collection, which includes Photos, Memorabilia, Timeline and Discography.

The CD's and DVD come in a black folder. The front of the folder has Michael Jackson The Ultimate Co9llection written in gold and silver, with an imprint of Michael Jackson in the centre, of the Smooth Criminal dance signature, with the hat.

When you open up the folder, there are 2 discs on the left side, and the right side has an imprint of Michael Jackson from his 'Bad' days. When you open up the right side of the folder, there are 2 more discs on the right side.

The 5th disc is hidden in the centre by the booklet which comes with the collection. There is a pocket for the booklet to go in, so it doesn't fall out when you put the folder on display.

All of the discs, including the DVD are white, which have a golden shadow of Michael doing a certain dance move printed on the right of every disc. All the songs are written on the discs in black, and all discs are clearly marked which disc they are, e.g., disc 1 had the number 1 on it! Even though the songs are written on the front of the CD's, there is a leaflet you get which has all the songs written on it, so you don't have to open your CD player and look for the song you want on the front of the CD.

●DISC 1●

This disc is all of Michael's earlier singles from when he was with his brothers in the Jackson 5 and The Jackson's. There are 19 songs on this disc altogether, and one or two demos are included on this disc. There are also a couple of Michaels' earlier solo songs on this disc too.

1 - I Want You Back (with Jackson 5)
2 - ABC (with Jackson 5)
3 - I'll Be There (with Jackson 5)
4 - Got To Be There (with Jackson 5)
5 - I Wanna Be Where You Are (solo)
6 - Ben (solo)
7 - Dancing Machine (with Jackson 5)
8 - Enjoy Yourself (with Jackson 5)
9 - Ease On Down The Road (Soundtrack for 'The Wizz' - with Diana Ross)
10 - You Can't Win (Soundtrack for 'The Wizz' - solo)

11 - Shake A Body (Demo/Previously Unreleased - with Jackson 5) - This is an early demo for 'Shake Your Body' which was released by the Jackson 5. This version of 'Shake Your Body' is much, much slower than the released version. It hasn't got as much of a beat as the released 'Shake Your Body' had. It isn't a good version of the song, and I think the released version was much better. This version is a more chill out R'n'B sound rather than the 70's upbeat sound like the 'Shake Your Body' which was released.

12 - Shake Your Body (with Jackson 5)
13 - Don't Stop Till You Get Enough (solo)
14 - Rock With You (solo)
15 - Off The Wall (solo)
16 - She's Out Of My Life (solo)

17 - Sunset Driver (Demo/Previously Unreleased - solo) - This song is like Dancing Machine, with the same sound with the 80's dance beat to it. It isn't very catchy and you can't really tell what the song is about, as he sings fast on this song and it is quite blurry, but what I can make out, the song is about dancing, and somebody living on Sunset Drive, going to work and loving a girl! Not a good song.

18 - Lonely One (with Jackson 5)
19 - This Place Hotel

This disc, as said earlier, is all of the Jackson 5's earlier singles and some of Michael's earlier solo singles. This isn't a disc that I would listen to, though I like the Jackson 5 and The Jackson's songs; I much prefer Michael's later releases. If you are older and still like listening to Mowtown, then you would probably like to listen to this disc.

●DISC 2●

This disc is all Michael's earlier solo career songs like 'Billie Jean', mainly songs of when his 'grown up' solo career started. This disc has 11 songs on it, including 3 demos.

1 - Wanna Be Starting Something (solo)
2 - The Girl Is Mine (with Sir Paul McCartney0
3 - Thriller (solo)
4 - Beat It (solo)
5 - Billie Jean (solo)

6 - P.Y.T - Pretty Young Thing (Demo/Previously Unreleased - solo) - This is a slow chill out song, which is all about a 'Pretty Young Thing', obviously, a girl who Michael is after in the song. It has a simple beat in the background, with just a piano and a beat of a drum now and then. It isn't that catchy at all, but is ok to listen to when you want to chill out. The chorus is very annoying, as Michaels voice sort of echos. Not a good song/demo.

7 - Someone In The Dark (solo)
8 - State Of Shock (with Mick Jagger)

9 - Scared Of The Moon (Demo/Previously Unreleased - solo) - This is a very, very slow song. It is like a fantasy song. It is a bout a woman who watches the moon at night times, but she feels like the light is sucking her in, and that she is scared of the moon. Michael is telling her in the song that she shouldn't be scared, it's only a child's mind wondering and imagining all the usual things that children imagine. It is kind of a lullaby song, very calming. The beat is just a piano and no other instruments, so it is a soothing song!

10 - We Are The World (Demo/Previously Unreleased - solo) - This is all about 'we' are the world and everything in it. If you have heard 'Heal The World', it is near enough the same as that. If you haven't heard 'Heal The World' then basically it is all about what goes on in the world is wrong and we need to look after it and each other. This is just the same as 'Heal The World', the same sound and beat, again just a piano, so it is another slow, soothing song. It is something you would imagine a children's church choir to sing. It is a good song.

11 - We Are Here To Change The World (Soundtrack to 'Captain EO' - solo)

This disc, again, as said above is of Michael's earlier solo songs and some of the most famous Michael Jackson ones, such as Billie Jean, now famous for the Moonwalk and of course Thriller. I listen to this disc, as this has some of the best songs on it.

●DISC 3●

This disc is just like Disc 2. It has some more of Michael's more famous solo singles, such as 'Bad', 'Smooth Criminal' and many more. This disc takes us from the 80's and leads us into the 90's with his early 90's songs like 'Black and White'. There are 14 songs on this disc, including one or two demos.

1 - Bad (solo)
2 - The Way You Make Me Feel (solo)
3 - Man In The Mirror (solo)
4 - I Just Can't Stop Loving You (solo)
5 - Dirty Diana (solo)
6 - Smooth Criminal (solo)

7 - Cheater (Demo/Previously Unreleased - solo) - Michael actually released this single last year, but wasn't out as a single, just as a music video, so I'll describe it as most of you probably haven't heard it. The song starts of in a Jazz style with the saxophone and finger clicking, then the beat starts up into an upbeat Jazz sound. I love this song. It is all about Michael's 'girlfriend' is cheating on him. It's a great song. The bridge and chorus are very catchy and the sound is a typical Michael song. The chorus is like 'Beat It'. It's a very up beat song which is also easy to listen to, not a song to dance to. It is very catchy.

8 - Dangerous - (solo)

9 - Monkey Business - (Demo/Previously Unreleased - solo) - This starts off with monkey sounds at the beginning of it. Then a beat starts up, with the monkey sounds being used as part of the beat/tune. This is another slow song, which has the echo sound to Michael's voice. It's about somebody 'stalking' him, and about people cheating on people, in other words, that's the monkey business. This isn't that good of a song, but is ok to listen to.

10 - Jam (solo)
11 - Remember The Time (solo)
12 - Black Or White (solo)
13 - Who Is It (solo)
14 - Someone To Put Your Hand Out (solo)

This is the disc that I would listen to more, as it has some of my favourite Michael Jackson songs on this disc, such as 'The Way You Make Me Feel' and 'Smooth Criminal'. It also has some of Michael's more famous songs on it, just like disc 2, such as 'Bad' which is famous for the launching Wesley Snipes' acting career, and also 'Jam' which Michael teamed with Michael Jordan with for the video. There is also 'Black and White' which is one of the first Michael solo songs which I knew as a child, and one of my favourite. I think this disc is more for my age, 16, but is for all Michael fans, obviously. This is my favourite disc of the collection.

●DISC 4●

This disc is the 90's and 00's singles from Michael, so this disc is again, more of the songs that I was familiar with as a child. This disc has 13 songs on it, with 2 or 3 demos.

1 - You Are Not Alone (solo)
2 - Stranger In Moscow (solo)
3 - Childhood (Soundtrack for 'Free Willy 2' - solo)
4 - On The Line (solo)
5 - Blood On The Dance floor (solo)

6 - Fall Again (Demo/Previously Unreleased - solo) - This song is a sort of country sound to it. Again, it is another slow, chill out song. Michael's vocals on this are very high. This is all about Michael wanting to 'fall' in someone, meaning fall in love with somebody again. It isn't a very good song but is decent enough to sit down and listen to when you are chilling out. This is another song that you would imagine a choir to sing.

7 - In The Back (Previously Unreleased - solo) - This starts with an up beat 90's sound to it. You can't tell what Michael says on this song, as his voice is quite low and blurred out by music, so I couldn't tell you what the song was about. The beat is another simple beat, but loud. It is a drum and is quite annoying. Michael only sings the chorus, the verses are just, 'da, da, da, hum, hum, dum, dum'. Not good.

8 - Unbreakable (solo)
9 - You Rock My World (solo)
10 - Butterflies (solo)

11 - Beautiful Girl (Demo/Previously Unreleased - solo) - This song is all about Michael being in love with a 'beautiful girl'. This is another slow, chill out song, and Michael's voice is very high again. Not a good song.

12 - The Way You Love Me (solo)
13 - We've Had Enough (solo)

This is another disc that I listen to a lot as it has most of the late 90's songs and early 00's songs, so it's more of my time songs, and a lot of the songs that I like such as 'You Are Not Alone' which I loved as a kid, and also 'Man In The Mirror', which is one of my favourite Michaels songs of all time.
I think this disc is more of my age range and people younger than me as they will be familiar with most of these songs, but also older people, and big Michael Jackson fans, as you will know most of these songs no matter what age you are.

●DISC 5●

This is the DVD, which you get with the collection. This DVD is of the Dangerous live tour from 2002, in Bucharest, which has never been released, and never before seen.

Here are the songs that Michael performs on this DVD.

Jam
Wanna Be Starting Something
Human Nature
Smooth Criminal
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
She's Out Of My Life
I Want You Back/The Love You Save
I'll Be There
Thriller
Billie Jean
Working Day And Night
Beat It
Will You Be There
Black Or White
Heal the World
Man In The Mirror

This DVD is great. If you are a massive Michael Jackson fan then you'll love this DVD. It starts with showing the audience, and then Michael come out and looks to his right for about 5 minutes. Just stood still, he looks like a statue he's that still. During those 5 minutes about 16 people in the audience faint. Then, Michael turns his head to the left, and everyone on his left side goes absolutely crazy, and more and more people faint by the minute. The camera goes to the audience a few times, and it shows all the EMT's and security guards getting all the passed out people. Fans carry people over on their shoulders to the front so the EMT's can get them. Michael stares to his left for around 5 minutes, again, like a statue, then the music for 'Jam' starts up, and he begins to do his 'Jam' dance.

There isn't much to explain about this DVD. Michael performs all songs to a brilliant standard, all live singing and excellent dancing. When 'Thriller' starts, he sings the whole song with a big massive wolf mask on, and does the very famous 'Thriller' dance. He also does the famous 'Beat It' dance, and of course, the Moonwalk for 'Billie Jean'. He also does the great dances, which I love, for 'I Want You Back', and 'The Love You Save', and the hat throwing signature move for 'Smooth Criminal' is thrown in. It doesn't let anybody down. All the dance moves are there.

The dancing is superb, along with the singing. The DVD is great.

●THE BOOKLET●

The booklet is black, with a picture of Michael in the 'Smooth Criminal' signature clothes - Black sequined jacket, black hat, and of course, the silver sequined glove on his right hand.

When you open up the book, there are 2 pictures of Michael, and the title, 'The Songs'. The next few pages list all the songs in this collection. Each song is listed with their writer, producer, recording date, arranger, executive producer and so on. All the 'musical' stuff. They don't have the lyrics.

After this section, there are a few pages about Michael Jackson, written by Nelson George. He begins explaining where Michael was born, and a small bit about his childhood. After this, Nelson writes about Michael first few years with Mowtown, and tells us a bit about how they came around releasing their first single ('their' meaning Jackson 5). Nelson then writes a bit about Michael's early solo career. He also tells us all about Michael's talent at singing, dancing, arranging, producing, and writing and so on. A good read if you want to know a small bit about Michael.

After this is a 'Time-Line'. This is a brief time-line of Michael and his brothers. It starts with a picture of Michael as a child, and it says underneath 1958, 'Michael Joseph Jackson born in Gary, Indiana'. This goes on up until 2004, where Michael released his latest album. The time-line is also mixed with a discography. For example, when we get to 1969, it tells us about what happened in that year, but this is the year where they released their first single, so it lists the singles from that year, the chart positions, awards, and albums. This goes on up until 2004, where the time-line/discography ends.

After this, is the 'Thank Yous' which you get on all albums. After the 'Thank-Yous', there are 2 pages of small pictures from Michael at all different ages, with different people ranging from Liz Taylor, Bubbles, Michael Jordan, Sir Paul McCartney, His Father and so on.

This is all that's in the book. It is a good thing to have if you are a fan, as it has a few pages with a brief explanation of Michael's life, discography and so on. The booklet is good, and goes well with the collection.

Oh, there is also a quote from Liz Taylor about Michael Jackson on the final page.

●MY OPINION AND OTHER INFO●

This is a great collection to have if you are a Michael Jackson fan. Not ALL his songs are on the disc with this collection such as 'Cry' and 'Earth Song', but there is 57 songs ion total which is quite enough. The fact that you get a few previously unreleased songs as a bonus, you also get a booklet with some good info in, and also a bonus DVD of a live concert, is just great. I would recommend this to buyers, and especially if you are a Michael or Jackson 5/Jacksons fan.

I got this Ultimate Collection from Play.com on offer just before Christmas 2004. It was £50 reduced to £28, which is now the permanent price on play.com. Free delivery.

£28 is a great price for 4 CD's and a DVD in my opinion. You would probably buy 2 albums in a shop for that, never mind 4 CD's and a DVD! I think this is a great price.

Obviously, there is no parental advisory on this collection!

Good keepsake for a Michael Jackson fan. Also, the folder style is a good way to have this collection as you can stand it up on a shelf, or on the side for display, rather than have a 4 CD, CD case.

Great Buy!

Thanks all for reading!
xx Staz xx
 

...less