Ultimate Collection (w/ Bonus DVD) (2004)

Product Summary Label: Cbs/epic/wtg Records UPC: 00827969260029 Release Date: 11/16/2004 Buy.com Sku: 63910852 Item#: MJWQ5U Buy.com Sales Rank: 2010 Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. I Want You Back ~ Michael Jackson 2. ABC ~ Michael Jackson 3. I'll Be There ~ Michael Jackson 4. Got To Be There ~ Michael Jackson 5. I Wanna Be Where You Are ~ Michael Jackson 6. Ben ~ Michael Jackson 7. Dancing Machine ~ Michael Jackson 8. Enjoy Yourself ~ Michael Jackson 9. Ease On Down The Road ~ Michael Jackson 10. You Can't Win - (from The Wiz) ~ Michael Jackson 11. Shake A Body - (previously unreleased, early demo) ~ Michael Jackson 12. Shake Your Body ~ Michael Jackson 13. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough ~ Michael Jackson 14. Rock With You ~ Michael Jackson 15. Off The Wall ~ Michael Jackson 16. She's Out Of My Life ~ Michael Jackson 17. Sunset Driver - (previously unreleased) ~ Michael Jackson 18. Lovely One ~ Michael Jackson 19. This Place Hotel ~ Michael Jackson Disc 2 Song Title Sample 1. Wanna Be Startin' Something ~ Michael Jackson 2. Girl Is Mine, The - (featuring Paul McCartney) ~ Michael Jackson 3. Thriller ~ Michael Jackson 4. Beat It ~ Michael Jackson 5. Billie Jean ~ Michael Jackson 6. PYT (Pretty Young Thing) - (previously unreleased, demo) ~ Michael Jackson 7. Someone In The Dark ~ Michael Jackson 8. State Of Shock - (featuring Mick Jagger) ~ Michael Jackson 9. Scared Of The Moon - (previously unreleased) ~ Michael Jackson 10. We Are The World - (previously unreleased, demo) ~ Michael Jackson 11. We Are Here To Change The World - (previously unreleased, from Captain EO) ~ Michael Jackson Disc 3 Song Title Sample 1. Bad ~ Michael Jackson 2. Way You Make Me Feel, The ~ Michael Jackson 3. Man In The Mirror ~ Michael Jackson 4. I Just Can't Stop Loving You ~ Michael Jackson 5. Dirty Diana ~ Michael Jackson 6. Smooth Criminal ~ Michael Jackson 7. Cheater - (previously unreleased, demo) ~ Michael Jackson 8. Dangerous - (previously unreleased, early version) ~ Michael Jackson 9. Monkey Business - (previously unreleased) ~ Michael Jackson 10. Jam ~ Michael Jackson 11. Remember The Time ~ Michael Jackson 12. Black or White ~ Michael Jackson 13. Who Is It - (IHS mix) ~ Michael Jackson 14. Someone Put Your Hand Out ~ Michael Jackson Disc 4 Song Title Sample 1. You Are Not Alone ~ Michael Jackson 2. Stranger In Moscow ~ Michael Jackson 3. Childhood - (Theme from Free Willy 2) ~ Michael Jackson 4. On The Line ~ Michael Jackson 5. Blood On The Dance Floor ~ Michael Jackson 6. Fall Again - (previously unreleased, demo) ~ Michael Jackson 7. In The Back - (previously unreleased) ~ Michael Jackson 8. Unbreakable ~ Michael Jackson 9. You Rock My World ~ Michael Jackson 10. Butterflies ~ Michael Jackson 11. Beautiful Girl - (previously unreleased, demo) ~ Michael Jackson 12. Way You Love Me, The - (previously unreleased) ~ Michael Jackson 13. We've Had Enough ~ Michael Jackson This collection is the first complete career spanning retrospective from the King Of Pop, Michael Jackson. The set features 57 audio tracks spread over four discs plus a DVD with a 1992 concert from Bucharest, Romania, that was originally broadcast on HBO. The Ultimate Collection also includes demo recordings of previously unreleased songs "Scared of the Moon," "Cheater" and "Sunset Driver," plus demos of the No. 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," the title track to 1991's "Dangerous" and "Shake a Body," an early version of the Jacksons' 1978 No. 3 R&B smash "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)."   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info Personnel: Michael Jackson (vocals, percussion); Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Siedah Garrett, Diana Ross (vocals); The Notorious B.I.G., Vincent Price (rap vocals); Chris Tucker (spoken vocals); Larry Carlton, Michael Sembello, Tito Jackson, David E. Williams , Marlo Henderson (guitar); Jim Horn (saxophone); David Wolinski "Hawk" (electric piano); Michael Boddicker (synthesizer); John Robinson , Nathan Watts, Bobby Watson (bass instrument); Ollie Brown, Bill Bottrell (drums); Paulinho Da Costa, Randy Jackson , Richard Heath (percussion); Jim Gilstrap, Augie Johnson (background vocals); Seawind Horns. A year -- nearly to the day -- after Epic released the single-disc Number Ones compilation in November 2003, the long-awaited Michael Jackson box set finally saw the light of day. Entitled The Ultimate Collection, the 57-track set spans five discs -- four CDs and one DVD containing a live show in Bucharest shot on the Dangerous tour -- and runs his entire career, from the Jackson 5's early hits for Motown to Invincible in 2001. It's the first set to cover so much ground, which is eye opening. To hear Jackson evolve from the exuberant kid singing "I Want You Back" and "ABC" to the young adult behind the vibrant disco of "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is exciting and instructive; even if you're familiar with this material, it's different to hear the music change over the course of one disc. Unfortunately, The Ultimate Collection doesn't contain too many more revelations (although the early, radically different version of "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" is not only revelatory -- it's practically a different song -- it's also musically noteworthy). Since Jackson has had such a long career filled with so many hits, there are too many hits to fit into the four discs, and not all of them are nearly as invigorating or ageless as much of the music that comprises the first two CDs. These are the discs that are devoted to the Jackson 5, the Jacksons, and Michael's solo career through Thriller, and with only a few exceptions -- such as the ludicrous "Thriller" itself -- the music still sounds terrific. The set starts to downshift on the third disc, when Jackson's career started to wind into second gear, at least creatively. This covers Bad, a spotty but still effective gloss on Thriller that had several good singles, along with Dangerous, a similarly uneven record. Which leaves the fourth disc to chronicle Jackson's muddled '90s and 2000s, selecting hits and album tracks from the commercial disappointments HIStory -- the album of original songs included on that two-CD set, not the hits collection -- and Invincible. Throughout the four discs, there are a bunch of rarities scattered about, ranging from demos (including the original "We Are the World" featuring only Michael's vocals) and remixes to unreleased songs, selections from The Wiz, the Jacksons' duet with Mick Jagger on "State of Shock," "Someone in the Dark" from the hard-to-find ET's Storybook, the ridiculously stilted Captain EO theme "We Are Here to Change the World" (its production seems better suited for The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai than a Disney sci-fi flick), and "Someone Put Your Hand Out," an exclusive Pepsi-supported cassingle from the Dangerous tour. Some of this stuff is quite good -- "Sunset Driver" from 1982 and "Cheater" from 1987 are so funky, loose, and alive that it's hard not to wish that Jackson didn't fuss over his albums and just record like this all the time -- but a lot of this illustrates Michael's taste for MOR schlock (such as the children's tale "Scared of the Moon," a tie-in with his 1984 book of the same name). Since that schlock starts to surface halfway through disc two, it bogs down the set -- not enough to completely hurt it, but enough to make this pretty much the province of the hardcore fans, who will delight in the number and variety of rarities here (which is the primary attraction of the set, since the DVD is merely OK and the book is skimpy, offering only a Nelson George essay and a time line, along with many photos, most of which look fairly familiar). For the less dedicated, this is just a shade short of being definitive. It may be easy to carp about what's missing on any box set, but fans looking either for a concentrated dose of Michael at his best -- which would have been the Jackson 5 up through and including parts of Dangerous -- or a collection of all of his hits will find this somewhat unsatisfactory (for the record, the following hits are all absent on this set: "The Love You Save," "Never Can Say Goodbye," "Rockin' Robin," "Human Nature," "Say Say Say," "Another Part of Me," "Leave Me Alone," "In the Closet," "Will You Be There," "Scream," "This Time Around," "They Don't Care About Us," "Heaven Can Wait," "One More Chance"). Despite these problems, The Ultimate Collection comes close enough to getting it right to qualify as a successful box set. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine By 2004, Michael Jackson's bizarre image almost completely obscured the talent that had made him an international superstar. However, he became a musical icon by simply being the best at creating and performing pop songs. The opening moments alone of hits like "Rock with You" and "Billie Jean" would make them classic, but every aspect of these songs adds up to perfect radio pop. Jackson's THRILLER, after all, didn't simply luck into being the biggest-selling record of its time; each of its seven Top 10 hits had unique charms and drew from different elements of the pop universe. While there have been many previous Jackson hits collections, the four-CD/one-DVD ULTIMATE COLLECTION is just that--it represents Jackson's whole career, from his youthful days with the Jackson 5 to the early years of the 21st century. (The rare omissions--"Human Nature," "Heal the World"--show up live on the DVD.) Mixed in with his numerous hits are previously unreleased songs, demo versions of hits, album tracks, and odds and ends, most remarkably, one of the earliest versions of "We Are the World" with almost completely different lyrics. THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION expertly chronicles the career of one of the most important, if unusual, pop artists of all time. Producer: Quincy Jones; Michael Jackson; Babyface; David Foster; R. Kelly Musical Guests Diana Ross The Notorious B.I.G. Vincent Price Paul McCartney Mick Jagger Siedah Garrett   Compilation Appearances Vol. 2-Motown Singles Collection (1972-1992) Pippin Characters Ultimate Collection Diana: Princess Of Wales Tribute Center Stage Produced By George Martin Zoolander Musical Biography Vol. 1-Best Of Motown 1970s Full Moon Best Of Motown 1980s Vol. 1- Millennium Collection Vice City(box Set) 1002 Top Hits Of The Seventies: mega Hits Wcbs-Fm: Motown Soul & Great: Motown Wsni Fm - Motown Wods Fm - Motown K-Earth Oldies Radio Kfrc Oldies Radio: motown Wcbs Fm101.1: Motown Soul & Rock - Motown / V From Q With Love Express Yourself:soul In The 20th Cen Friends Reunited:music Of The Year 19 Voices From The Fifa World Cup Voices Of Motown Voices From The Fifa World Cup:offici More Motown Classics Gold Number 1's Now That's What I Call Music: 80's 100 Greatest Motown: The Complete #1's (Box Set) (Limited Edition) Motown 50 Complete Motown Singles Vol 11B:1971(Limited Edition) Motown 50 Fanthology Ultimate Christmas Collection   Associated Artists and Works Swingin' To Michael Jackson: A Tribute ~ Artists, Various A Tribute To Michael Jackson ~ Artists, Various Jackson 5 (The) Jackson 5 (The) Jackson 5 (The) Best Of ~ Jackson 5 (The) Jackson 5 (The) Jackson 5 (The) Original Soundtrack Michael Jackson's This Is It ~ Original Soundtrack A Tribute To Michael Jackson ~ Various Artists Smooth Sax Tribute To Michael Jackson's Thriller ~ Various Artists Various Artists Various Artists   Technical Info Release Date : 11/16/2004 Original Release Date : 2004 Catalog ID : 92600 Label : Legacy Recordings Number of Discs : 4 Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Stereo SPAR Code : n/a UPC : 00827969260029    Product Image