Recently a posthumous (after death) album of entirely new Michael Jackson songs was released. “Michael” is the first of what many believe to be several “new” Michael Jackson albums to be released in the coming years. The album already has a lot less material than many of his other albums. Also people believe the songs were released in ways that Jackson himself would not have necessarily approved of. This raises the question of whether this is a way to release music for listeners all over the world to enjoy or simply a rushed attempt at making a profit off of the death of one of the most influential and controversial artists of recent years. It is not possible to know how Jackson himself would have went about releasing a new album but it is clear that the material he recorded that was used for “Michael” has been edited and toyed with, obviously without his approval. “Michael” is considered beneath the level of many other Michael Jackson albums. With that Sony, the company who now holds a lot of unreleased Jackson recordings and rough edits, is faced with a decision. Either they can release the versions that Jackson personaly weighed in on while he was alive, or they can continue to mix and edit as they please. Personally I think they should not mess around with what he did while he was alive. Imagine if someone painted over the Mona Lisa because they thought it would make it better. We all learned the rule as kids, if it’s not yours don’t touch it without permission.
To read the New York Times article check here.
There are a number of Classical composers who left major works unfinished at their death. Completing these is as controversial as this Michael Jackson completions. The classical composers in this category include Mahler, Schubert and Berg.
I’ve heard about those and I understand how finishing the pieces would be a hard decision to make. My problem with this is, Jackson supposedly finished the recordings in a way he liked and now Sony is editing, cutting, adding, etc. If people want to complete a composition in a similar style to a composer, like an alternate movie ending, I can understand that more than taking something that is complete and messing around with it. Also since Jackson’s death was fairly recent I think it is, unfortunately, more about the money.
Oh and while we’re on the subject of posthumous fame I felt I needed to post this because it is from one of my favorite shows and I crack up laughing every time I see it.
I still can’t figure out how to post videos so click here to see Dave Chappelle’s take on Tupac’s posthumous career. I don’t think it’s edited for language :\. Sorry about that.