Hello World - The Motown Solo Collection

Jackson, Michael

Genre: music4me > Pop > Pop

Format: 3 CD

Released: Tue 21 Jul 2009

Catalogue Number: HPOSB001242102.2

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Price:

AUD$68.51

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Description:
Released only a matter of days after Michael Jackson's tragic June 2009 passing but in the works long before that, Hip-O Select's Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection collects the entirety of his solo recordings for Motown in a triple-disc set. Although Michael had some major hits during this period -- notably "Got to Be There," "Ben," and "Rockin' Robin," all Top Five hits on both the pop and Black Singles charts -- it's fair to call these years Jackson's awkward adolescence, perched partway between the preteen dynamo of the Jackson Five and the cool, confident entertainer of Off the Wall. Certainly, Jackson wasn't in artistic control on these four albums -- Got to Be There and Ben, both from 1972; 1973's Music & Me, 1975's Forever, Michael -- not picking the songs or having a hand in the arrangements, a point hammered home on Farewell My Summer Love where the vocal tracks of unreleased cuts were set to new, modern backing tracks in 1984 at the height of Thriller mania. Farewell in all its awkwardness is here, along with the original superior mixes of nine tracks and Looking Back to Yesterday, another Motown cash-in of unreleased recordings released at the peak of Jackson's popularity. Motown effectively emptied their vaults of rare Michael Jackson material during this time so there's nothing new here for collectors, but much of this material has been out of print for a long time, so it's useful putting the somewhat forgotten recordings of a major artist back in circulation even if the music doesn't hold any new insights. Essentially, these three discs confirm the basic narrative of Michael Jackson's career to be correct: he was drifting at Motown as a solo artist, trapped both by his adolescence and the unwillingness of the label to give him anything to do other than follow shifting trends from bubblegum soul to disco (in this sense, the stiff synthesized productions on Farewell don't seem out of line, they're merely another step in Motown's continued march through fashion). Naturally, the aforementioned big hits retain their power and there are some gems scattered throughout each of the discs -- and those gems come entirely from Jackson's pure, natural charisma -- which may be reason enough for serious fans to get this handsomely produced set, but this is more interesting as a history lesson than it is as entertainment. Stephen Thomas Erlewine.

Details:

Distributor: Universal Music
Discs: 1
Release Year: 2009
Weight (g): 282

Track Listing:

Disk 1
1.	Ain't No Sunshine
2.	I Wanna Be Where You Are
3.	Girl Don't Take Your Love from Me
4.	In Our Small Way
5.	Got to Be There
6.	Rockin' Robin
7.	Wings of My Love
8.	Maria (You Were the Only One)
9.	Love Is Here and Now You're Gone
10.	You've Got a Friend
11.	Ben
12.	Greatest Show On Earth
13.	People Make the World Go 'Round
14.	We've Got a Good Thing Going
15.	Everybody's Somebody's Fool
16.	My Girl
17.	What Goes Around Comes Around
18.	In Our Small Way
19.	Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day
20.	You Can Cry On My Shoulder
21.	Don't Let It Get You Down
22.	You've Really Got a Hold On Me
23.	Melodie
24.	Touch the One You Love
Disk 2
1.	With a Child's Heart
2.	Up Again
3.	All the Things You Are, Are Mine
4.	Happy (Love Theme from "Lady Sings the Blues")
5.	Too Young
6.	Doggin' Around
7.	Johnny Raven
8.	Euphoria
9.	Morning Glow
10.	Music and Me
11.	We're Almost There
12.	Take Me Back
13.	One Day in Your Life
14.	Cinderella Stay Awhile
15.	We've Got Forever
16.	Just a Little Bit of You
17.	You Are There
18.	Dapper Dan
19.	Dear Michael
20.	I'll Come Home to You
21.	Girl You're So Together
22.	Farewell My Summer Love
23.	Call On Me
Disk 3
1.	When I Come of Age
2.	Teenage Symphony
3.	I Hear a Symphony
4.	Give Me Half a Chance
5.	Love's Gone Bad
6.	Lonely Teardrops
7.	You're Good for Me
8.	That's What Love Is Made Of
9.	I Like You the Way You Are (Don't Change Your Love)
10.	Who's Looking for a Lover
11.	I Was Made to Love Her
12.	If N' I Was God
13.	To Make My Father Proud
14.	Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
15.	Twenty Five Miles
16.	Don't Let It Get You Down
17.	You've Really Got a Hold On Me
18.	Melodie
19.	Touch the One You Love
20.	Girl You're So Together
21.	Farewell My Summer Love
22.	Call On Me
23.	Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
24.	To Make My Father Proud

Availability
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