A couple of months ago, I posted a review Michael Jackson: The Remix Suite III. It seems like there has been a little confusion on my part, and here is my attempt to clarify it.

First of all, what I reviewed wasn’t The Remix Suite III, but rather the entire Remix Suite. The label decided to launch the album of remixes in a series of waves rather than in one shot. I was meant to review the collection of five songs that comprised The Remix Suite III; however, I was sent the entire 12 songs of the album and mistakenly thought that those 12 were part of the The Remix Suite III. Consequently, I reviewed the entire collection.

Simple yet confusing, isn’t it not?

In any case, a copy of the actual CD came across my desk a couple of days ago, and I decided to add a little bit to the review.

As a reflection of the titles that were remixed in it, which all span Michael Jackson’s early career, the album’s design prominently features the 1970s. On the cover sits a young Michael on a throne (a reference to his later status as King of Pop, perhaps?), while inside, he is singing and dancing, oftentimes sporting the big grin which made him so endearing. The colour scheme is an interesting combination of retro rainbows in hues of yellow, oranges, and red with a more modern taming down of sorts.

The songs themselves are just as great as my initial review mentioned. However, I don’t think purchasing the CD is worth it, as it doesn’t give you much more than the digital copy (I was hoping for a secret track), and the quality of the digital copies are just as good as that of the CD (with the added bonus that no scratches will ever diminish their quality). But if you really are hankering for more pictures of Michael Jackson or another physical copy of a CD to add to your collection, then by all means, you should buy this CD.

I personally hope that the label considers continuing with this idea, and than more Michael Jackson songs are remixed in the close future. It seems that, now more than ever, artists are touched by the passing of an icon and are producing remixes that come from the heart more than they are by their potential to fill wallets. Have you heard for example, of the amazing CD recently released by DJ Jazzy Jeff, He’s the King, I’m the DJ? Definitely worth purchasing, and a must in any Michael Jackson collection.

And I also hope that the label considers focusing on his lesser known yet just as good songs. I find it rather sad that Michael Jackson’s career is often limited to his bigger hits, rather than spanning the entirety of his songs. For example, the way too underrated Invincible, released in 2001, includes a couple of tracks which are absolutely incredible, including “Whatever Happens” and “The Lost Children”. I would love to hear what inspired artists can remix these into.

First posted here on Blogcritics.