| The Essential Michael Jackson |  | Artist: Michael Jackson
Label: Sony
Category: Music
List Price: $15.99
Buy New: $9.03
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New (42) Used (14) from $4.84
Seller: megahitrecords
Rating:  193 reviews
Sales Rank: 240
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
UPC: 827969428726
EAN: 0827969428726
ASIN: B0009XNUK0
Release Date: July 19, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | I Want You Back | | • | ABC | | • | The Love You Save | | • | Got To Be There (Single Version) | | • | 5. Rockin' Robin | | • | Ben (Single Version) | | • | Enjoy Yourself | | • | Blame It On The Boogie | | • | Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) (Single Edit) | | • | Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (Single Version) | | • | Rock With You (Single Version) | | • | Off The Wall3:45 | | • | She's Out Of My Life | | • | Can You Feel It (Single Version) | | • | The Girl Is Mine | | • | Billie Jean (Single Version) | | • | Beat It (Single Version) | | • | Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (Single Version) | | • | Human Nature | | • | P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) | | • | Thriller (Single Version) |
Disc 2
| • | Bad | | • | I Just Can't Stop Loving You | | • | Leave Me Alone | | • | The Way You Make Me Feel (Single Version) | | • | Man In The Mirror | | • | Dirty Diana | | • | Another Part Of Me (Single Version) | | • | Smooth Criminal (Radio Edit) | | • | Black Or White (Single Version) | | • | Heal The World | | • | Remember The Time | | • | In The Closet (Single Version) | | • | Who Is It (7" Edit) | | • | Will You Be There (Single Version) | | • | Dangerous | | • | You Are Not Alone (Single Version) | | • | You Rock My World (with intro) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
The 2CD The Essential Michael Jackson takes you on a journey from budding star, to iconic legend and allows you to immerse yourself in the musical and emotional development of each track defining the story of a global superstar. Michael Jackson needs no introduction, as part of the Jackson 5 he helped make up a remarkable musical family and one of the biggest pop phenomenons of the early 70s. The Jacksons' infectious brand of funky soul and now iconic stage presence reached out globally and made them and Michael international stars. As the success of the band grew, Michael branched out with his own solo career first launching with "Got to be There" and then "Rockin' Robin". The momentum started to grow with the release of more successful singles and, as the hype surrounding the Jackson 5 slowed down towards the late 70s, Michael continued to develop and grow as an artist. With the release of Off the Wall, an immaculately crafted set of funky disco-pop, smooth soul, and lush, sentimental pop ballads, Michael cemented his place as a global star. The 1980s were a career-defining period with his instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility, and loads of sheer star power Michael Jackson was unstoppable. The 1982 album Thriller became the biggest selling album of all time and combined his musical genius with an exceptional and ahead of its time music video epic. Bad (1987) was released with enormous public anticipation and spawned another succession of hit singles with "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Man in the Mirror."
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 193
 Tbe best compilation on Michael Jackson yet July 25, 2005
Paul Allaer (Cincinnati)
96 out of 102 found this review helpful
Whoa!!!!! Where did this come from? Without any hype or media attention, Sony has just released "The Essential Michael Jackson" (37 tracks, 157 min.), perhaps the ultimate Michael Jackson compilation.
CD 1 (20 tracks, 79 min.) cover the period up to and including the "Thriller" album, starting with the best known Jackson 5 singles such as "ABC" and "I Want You Back", then shifting to the Jacksons. It would have been better to include "State of Shock" or "Lovely One" instead of "Enjoy Yourself". CD1 finishes off with 7 of the 9 "Thriller" album tracks (the other 2 being "Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady in My Life"; it's still hard to believe how successfull that album really was, and how many hits were relased from it, in the days when "radio tracks" meant actual vinyl single releases). This was of course Michael at his absolute best, now 23 years ago.
CD2 (17 tracks, 78 min.) compiles 8 tracks from "Bad" and 7 from "Dangerous", and finishes off with "You Are Not Alone" from HIStory and "You Rock My World" from Invincible. In other words: only 2 tunes from the post-1992 era, and rightfully so, even though the HIStory and Invincible albums are not nearly as bad or mediocre as many would like you to believe. The only track that arguably should be on here (but, at 78 min. already, at the expense of what other track then?) is "Scream", the No. 1 duet with sister Janet.
In the end, this "essential" compilation is better than any other compilation available (HIStory Vol. 1; Number Ones, etc.) as it covers both the Jackson 5/Jacksons era and his solo output. It's very strange to me that this was released without any hype or advertizing campaign, but the main thing is that it's out and available. Hihgly recommended!
It's the CD to own for this American icon. June 26, 2009
Robert G. Martinez (Brooksville FL)
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
Thjere are many Michael Jackson CD's on the market. This is the one to own however since it captures all of his big hits and well represents my two favorite albums "Off The Wall" and "Thriller". His best songs are all here" Rock With You, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Beat It, Billie Jean,The Girl Is Mine, Human Nature, etc. as well as his early hits with the Jackson Five and the great later albums like "Bad" and "Dangerous". THIS IS THE BEST SOUNDING representation of these hits I have ever heard. There are 37 cuts. Michael was indeed an American tragedy and a pop music icon. If you can only own one CD, this is the most logical choice. My only quibble is the omission of "Never Can Say Goodbye" which was my favorite Jackson Five song. At one time, he was selling over one million albums-CD's a day (1983-84). He changed the course of pop music history and his legacy will live on despite the cynics. Highly recommended!
SIMPLY THE BEST!! A GOOD FINAL TRIBUTE TO MJ's LEGACY! June 30, 2009
N. Newman (McMinnville, TN)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I agree with an above poster. I didn't buy this album to "drool" over. I wanted to listen and enjoy his music not analyze his life or even think about his passing. Just enjoy the tracks on this record. 2 songs I liked weren't included they were , The Jacksons "Torture" and MJ's 2001 song "2000 Watts". But I got most of those from the net. I liked some of MJ's songs but only knew the most popular ones prior to his passing. Since his passing and thanks to a tribute of MJ songs played on XM Satellite Radio. I now enjoy more songs than ever before. I know most think that people like me ONLY bought this record because of the hype. That isn't true if you never liked MJ's music than regardless of the hype you won't all of the sudden like his music. You have to be a fan of some sort prior to his passing. Sad that it takes MJ passing for fans bring his music to a level that he never saw when he was alive. I like most (if you never owned a MJ album) wanted to have at lease one ACTUAL record of MJ's to remember the good music he did. I'll add that listening to "You are not alone" is very hard now knowing that MJ is gone. Knowing that he meant so much to so many! It was like his way of leaving a final message! RIP MJ
Comprehensive collection July 19, 2005
Tom (Toronto)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
There are a number of MJ compilations out there, but this is by far the best one. It features a nice sampling of Jackson 5 and 70s Jacksons hits, as well as all the major solo hits. The only major omissions are the Jackson 5 hits "I'll Be There" and "Dancing Machine", the Jacksons "State of Shock" and the duet with Janet Jackson, "Scream", but considering this is a Michael Jackson compilation it's not that detrimental.
I'm impressed at the scope of this collection, and all of MJ's major albums, "Off The Wall", "Thriller" and "Bad" are well-represented here. The underrated "Dangerous" is also well-represnted including songs that were not on "HIStory" or "Number Ones", including the hypnotic "In the Closet" and "Who Is It".
Invincible is only represented by "You Rock My World", although I think "Butterflies" and "Cry" would have been good additions.
But, it's hard to complain when you have 30 years of some of the most incredible pop music ever made.
Excellent Compilation! June 28, 2006
Don Giovannia
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Greatest Hits albums are always difficult to rate. Realistically, no compilation will ever be able to gather every last "hit" from a particular artist, and "The Essential Michael Jackson" is no exception. And despite its (very few) limitations, "Essential" does an A+ job.
For starters, the amount of material in this package is quite staggering; it extends from the early #1's of the J5 under Motown up to Michael's latest solo work for a total of 38 songs. Ordered chronologically by single release date, "Essential" shows the impressive transformation of a child star into one of the most impressive musical forces in pop-music today. But despite the stylistic evolution and technological adaptions made along the way, the energy and emotion (neither insufficient nor overpowering) remain at the core of each and every song.
The first disc begins with the Jackson 5ive's first three number ones, as well as some of Michael's early solo work. Then, the J5 become The Jacksons, switching labels and becoming disco icons with hits like "Shake Your Body" and "Blame It On The Boogie". Of course, Michael finds the biggest success behind solo albums "Off the Wall" and "Thriller", which dominate the last half of this CD.
By disc number two, Michael is no longer splitting duty with his siblings and is 100% solo. "Bad" and "Dangerous" take up all but two tracks on this disc, which makes sense because those two LPs are both studio albums and greatest hits packages, considering the majority of the songs from those albums turned platinum. Lastly, the biggest hit of "HIStory" and "Invincible" round out the last two tracks.
Naturally, I didn't take the time to write out all of the tracks from "Essential", but just by the few I mentioned you can already grasp at the notion that this collection is pure platinum. If you're a casual Michael Jackson fan, this is a must buy. In a couple hours of listening, you'll understand why this man was the juggernaut he was.
"Essential" isn't perfect, however. If you own one or more of the "Big Four", then you're most likely better off skipping this. As those albums make up 90% of anything with "Michael Jackson" and "Greatest Hits" in the same title, you'd be better to just grab all four of those albums if you haven't done so already. There are a number of "Misses" that you'll be glad you shelled out extra for.
Also, the balance in "Essential" is great. Solo to group, ballad to dance hit, this is a very well constructed compilation. Where it fumbles the ball is in the source material. As said before, Michael's first four Epic solo albums have the lion's share of representation, which means that you now have another CD with "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and "Thriller". Meanwhile, the under-appreciated "HIStory" gets only 1 track, as does "Invincible". Granted, they didn't have quite the effect that the "Big Four" had on the music industry, but after doing such a great job of chronicling Michael's discography, the last decade of his career is basically glossed over.
Perhaps an additional disc was needed, which would allot more space not only for more recent songs, but also allow for additional songs in that didn't make the cut. Just a thought.
Regardless of the complaints, however, "Essential" does its job of presenting both 38 great tracks and providing a timeline of the most successful artist to date. And in focusing on the biggest hits, its only reasonable that some great undervalued songs aren't included. It's a shame, but can't diminish the value of this collection. If you're out for the ultimate Michael Jackson hits compilation, this is it.
Happy listening.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 193
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