Unreleased Tracks Bolster Jackson Box Set
More than a dozen previously unreleased tracks plus a host of rarities will be found on the career-spanning Michael Jackson box set, “The Ultimate Collection.” Due Nov. 16 via Epic and executive-produced by 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.
Making their debut on “The Ultimate Collection” will be demo recordings of the 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).”
Jackson has also dusted off his solo demo of “We Are the World,” a No. 1 hit recorded by the all-star gathering USA For Africa as a benefit for African famine relief. In addition, five previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1994 and 2004 can be found on disc four: “Fall Again,” “In the Back,” “Beautiful Girl,” “The Way You Love Me” and “We’ve Had Enough.”
Other rarities include the Diana Ross duet “Ease on Down the Road” from “The Wiz,” a song written for the out-of-print “The E.T. Storybook” titled “Someone in the Dark,” “We Are Here To Change the World” from the 1986 IMAX 3-D film “Captain Eo,” an edit of the Teddy Riley collaboration “Someone Put Your Hand Out” from a Pepsi-sponsored promo cassette and the soundtrack collaborations “Childhood” (from “Free Willy 2”) and “On the Line” (from “Get on the Bus”).
Rounding out the box will be Jackson’s biggest hits, dating back to such Jackson 5 classics as “I Want You Back” and “I’ll Be There” through to solo smashes like “Thriller,” “Beat It,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Black or White” and “You Are Not Alone.”
Journalist Nelson George has penned liner notes for a 64-page booklet featuring rare photos and a discography.
As for the DVD, it chronicles a Sept. 19, 1992, show as part of the tour in support of that year’s “Dangerous” release. Beyond album tracks like “Jam,” “Will You Be There” and “Black or White,” the performance includes “Man in the Mirror,” “Beat It,” “Human Nature,” “Smooth Criminal” and a medley of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and “The Love You Save.”
Here is the track list for “The Ultimate Collection”:
Disc one:
“I Want You Back,” Jackson 5
“ABC,” Jackson 5
“I’ll Be There,” Jackson 5
“Got To Be There”
“I Wanna Be Where You Are”
“Ben”
“Dancing Machine,” Jackson 5
“Enjoy Yourself,” the Jacksons
“Ease on Down the Road” with Diana Ross (“The Wiz” soundtrack)
“You Can’t Win” (12″ U.K. single, from “The Wiz”)
“Shake a Body” (unreleased early demo), the Jacksons
“Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground),” the Jacksons
“Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”
“Rock With You”
“Off the Wall”
“She’s Out of My Life”
“Sunset Driver” (unreleased demo)
“Lovely One,” the Jacksons
“This Place Hotel,” the Jacksons
Disc two:
“Wanna Be Startin’ Something”
“The Girl Is Mine” with Paul McCartney
“Thriller”
“Beat It”
“Billie Jean”
“P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”
“Someone in the Dark” (from “The E.T. Storybook”)
“State of Shock,” the Jacksons with Mick Jagger
“Scared of the Moon” (unreleased demo)
“We Are the World” (unreleased demo)
“We Are Here To Change the World” (from “Captain Eo”)
Disc three:
“Bad”
“The Way You Make Me Feel”
“Man in the Mirror”
“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”
“Dirty Diana”
“Smooth Criminal”
“Cheater” (unreleased demo)
“Dangerous” (unreleased version)
“Monkey Business” (unreleased track)
“Jam”
“Remember the Time”
“Black or White”
“Who Is It” (ISH mix)
“Someone Put Your Hand Out” (Dangerous tour/Pepsi promo cassette)
Disc four:
“You Are Not Alone”
“Stranger in Moscow”
“Childhood” (from “Free Willy 2”)
“On the Line” (from “Get on the Bus”)
“Blood on the Dancefloor”
“Fall Again” (unreleased demo)
“In the Black” (unreleased track)
“Unbreakable”
“You Rock My World”
“Butterflies”
“Beautiful Girl” (unreleased demo)
“The Way You Love Me” (unreleased demo)
“We’ve Had Enough” (unreleased track)
Disc five, “Live in Bucharest”:
“Jam”
“Wanna Be Startin’ Something”
“Human Nature”
“Smooth Criminal”
“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”
“She’s Out of My Life”
“I Want You Back”/”The Love You Save”
“I’ll Be There”
“Thriller”
“Billie Jean”
“Working Day & Night”
“Beat It”
“Will You Be There”
“Black or White”
“Heal the World”
“Man in the Mirror”
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