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Album Review: Michael Jackson - Xscape

Bryget Chrisfield

"You’d be much better off reaching for a best-of containing MJ-approved songs"



Have you seen Michael Jackson's This Is It? The documentary/concert film shone a light on the late artist's meticulous attention to detail and impossibly high standards. Xscape is the second posthumous MJ release (the first, Michael, was widely canned) and it farms material that was originally recorded between 1983 and 1999. If Jackson wanted these demos to see the light of day, wouldn't he have released them back then? This album clocks in at just over half an hour and single Love Never Felt So Good (the album version is minus JT's bit and loses nothing) is the clear standout, but you'd be much better off reaching for a best-of containing MJ-approved songs.