With so many eyes lately fixated on the manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, it’s perhaps appropriate that Epic Records is turning the spotlight back where it belongs for fans of the late Michael Jackson: back on his music.
On November 21, the label will release Immortal, the “musical tapestry,” or soundtrack recording, to Cirque du Soleil’s touring production of the same name created by writer and director Jamie King. The most high-profile project to have emerged since Jackson’s 2009 death, Immortal received its premiere in Montreal, Canada last evening. In attendance were Jackson’s mother Katherine, three children Prince, Paris and Blanket, and siblings Tito, Jackie and Randy. The Montreal debut marks the launch of a tour that will take the show to at least 47 cities before it establishes a permanent residency in Las Vegas in late 2013. According to Cirque, The Immortal World Tour takes place in “a fantastical realm where we discover Michael’s inspirational Giving Tree—the wellspring of his creativity. The secrets of Michael’s inner world are unlocked—his love of music and dance, fairy tale and magic, and the fragile beauty of nature.”
Like The Beatles’ LOVE and Elvis Presley’s Viva ELVIS before it, features “reimagining[s]” of the most famous songs from all eras of the artist’s career. In Jackson’s case, the production and soundtrack incorporate material performed by The Jackson 5, The Jacksons and of course, Michael Jackson solo. The music of Immortal has been designed by Kevin Antunes (the Giles Martin of Immortal!), known for his work with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Madonna. Immortal features mash-ups, alternates and outtakes. Among this never-before-released material: an alternate take of the Jackson 5’s “ABC” and a choir recorded by Jackson but never used for his “They Don’t Really Care About Us.” Onstage, the soundtrack mixes vocal parts extracted from the original recordings with a live band led by keyboardist Greg Phillinganes.
The single-disc edition of Immortal boasts 15 tracks, while a two-disc deluxe edition includes 22. Among the songs present on the deluxe edition only are The Jacksons’ “Shake Your Body Down to the Ground,” Jackson’s early solo hit “Ben,” “Scream/Little Susie,” “Gone Too Soon,” the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There,” a mime sequence (this is Cirque du Soleil, folks!) set to a medley of “I Like The Way/Speed Demon/Another Part Of Me,” and a finale of “Remember the Time” and “Bad.”
Hit the jump for pre-order links and a complete track listing for both editions. Immortal hits stores on November 21 from Epic Records.
Michael Jackson, Immortal (Epic Records, 2011 – 1-CD/2-CD)
Single Disc Edition:
- Working Day and Night (Immortal Version)
- The Immortal Intro (Immortal Version)
- Childhood (Immortal Version)
- Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Immortal Version)
- Dancing Machine/Blame It On The Boogie (Immortal Version)
- This Place Hotel/Smooth Criminal/Dangerous (Immortal Version)
- J5 Medley: I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save (Immortal Version)
- Human Nature/Speechless (Immortal Version)
- Is It Scary/Thriller/Ghost/Somebody’s Watching Me/Threatened (Immortal Version)
- You Are Not Alone/I Just Can’t Stop Loving You (Immortal Version)
- Beat It/Jam/State Of Shock (Immortal Version)
- Earth Song/Planet Earth (Immortal Version)
- They Don’t Care About Us (Immortal Version)
- Immortal Megamix: Can You Feel It/Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough/Billie Jean/Black Or White (Immortal Version)
- Man In The Mirror (Immortal Version)
Deluxe Edition:
- Working Day and Night (Immortal Version)
- The Immortal Intro (Immortal Version)
- Childhood (Immortal Version)
- Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Immortal Version)
- Shake Your Body Down To The Ground (Immortal Version)
- Dancing Machine/Blame It On The Boogie (Immortal Version)
- Ben (Immortal Version)
- This Place Hotel/Smooth Criminal/Dangerous (Immortal Version)
- The Mime Segment: I Like The Way/Speed Demon/Another Part Of Me (Immortal Version)
- J5 Medley: I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save (Immortal Version)
- Human Nature/Speechless (Immortal Version)
- Is It Scary/Thriller/Ghost/Somebody’s Watching Me/Threatened (Immortal Version)
- You Are Not Alone/I Just Can’t Stop Loving You (Immortal Version)
- Beat It/Jam/State Of Shock (Immortal Version)
- Earth Song/Planet Earth (Immortal Version)
- Scream/Little Susie (Immortal Version)
- Gone Too Soon (Immortal Version)
- They Don’t Care About Us (Immortal Version)
- I’ll Be There (Immortal Version)
- Immortal Megamix: Can You Feel It/Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough/Billie Jean/Black Or White (Immortal Version)
- Man In The Mirror (Immortal Version)
- Remember The Time/Bad (Immortal Version)
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If they release this in a 5.1 mix like they did for The Beatles’ ‘Love’, then I’m in 🙂
I’ve heard rumors of a 25th Anniversary of Bad next year – any rumblings via your usual channels?
Haven’t heard much outside of a Billboard article indicating it could come out next year. The trick with a lot of MJ’s stuff – at least, since he died – is it seems to exist outside of Legacy’s work load and more with Epic itself. I would imagine a reissue of “Bad” would be a Legacy release, though.
Not at all sure what they would include (of course, there’s so much they COULD include), but as long as they don’t let will.i.am or Akon remix anything this time around, I’m in.
Should be 30th of Thriller as well
This actually looks really good. I like the “set list”, so to speak.
@ zs (@Gonzeux): the estate of Michael Jackson, Epic/Legacy are planning to re-release “Bad” as an newly expanded edition next year, most likely it will include 2 previously unreleased outtakes and previously unreleased demo recordings and also a DVD of the Bad World Tour( 2nd leg show) and it will consist of one of the Wembley dates filmed in july 1988.
If that pans out, I’m in. If it mirrors Thriller 25, I’ll pass. I will say, I’ve been curious to see a second leg Bad show for some time, even if that began MJ’s reliance on lipsynching. I don’t believe he lipsynched at all in the first leg (i.e. the much-circulated Japanese shows).
The “Human Nature”/”Speechless” blend could be pretty nice. I gotta say, I do find these official mashup releases pretty interesting.