I think it's one of the best, if not THE best MJ release. It seems like other people knew how to present him better than he knew how to present himself. It's like if you let a little kid do whatever they want, they wreck everything. I listened to Xscape a lot and it's sad to me that this collection of songs he never released is better than whatever he put out over the last years of his life. The beats & overall production was great, the mix was perfect, the songs are catchy and memorable. I think it's the next best thing to "Thriller". I think fame really got to this guy. I don't know if he molested kids or not, but even if he didn't he should have at least had the sense to stop inviting kids to his house without parents. It's really all his fault he got such a bad rap. What grown man wants to hang around a bunch of little boys unless he's a fucking weirdo pervert? Idk... The guy was a musical genius but he sucked at acting liek a normal human being and seemed to just creep everyone the fuck out more and more as the years went on. I'm glad they released this and brought a tiny bit of dignity to him. This album made me forget the scandals and allegations and remember how great and magical he was back in the day.

Eh.... I'm not too sure about all that. Me and many other guys I know grew up working and doing chores and stuff constantly, sure I got a little time here & there to play NES or draw some pictures of cartoons I liked, but for the most part I was helping my Dad in the restaurant or doing chores & schoolwork. My point is this: I had a very TIGHT schedule growing up and I had to do ALOT of chores and pretty much started working by the time I was 10. I wasn't performing in front of thousands of people, hearing my awesome songs on the radio, being worshiped like a god or chilling out with celebrities. So ya think MJ had a really tough childhood? Aw Boo-Fucking-Hoo to that bullshit nonsense.. I got hit too, HARD, with belts and hands and I never cried about it, I'm glad my rents smacked me around once in awhile, because I was most likely acting like a little whiny shithead at the time and deserved it. Michael Jackson grew up singing and dancing with millions of people all over adoring him and then, as he matured into one ugly ass teenager, he had millions of dollars already so he could afford to re-make himself into a pretty good looking dude (pre-1991) and buy mansions and circus animals and whatever the fuck his little heart desired. There are plenty of celebs who had terrible, nightmarish childhoods that would make MJ's look like a picnic in the park by comparison and they didn't spend their free time cuddling with young boys late at night....alone.....with all the doors locked, they went out and made awesome records & got tons of chicks (Idk, Korn's Jonathan Davis comes to mind, although he only really made 2 good records IMO). But what I'm trying to get at here is that I think MJ's life was mostly a sing-song-dancey-thrill ride-carnival of magic and fun (aside from the few years he spent getting smacked around by his dad) and using 'getting the belt' as an excuse to have sleepovers with small boys is just plain nonsense. I love MJ's music (some of it) but he was a really fucked up dude and unless your a mindless superfan you can clearly see that he needed a lot of help & that he most likely had some sort of sexual attraction to young boys.

Hm. Ok..

(A) I don't know if MJ was really abused or not, just like I don't know if he touched kids or not. I have heard some of his siblings (or his mom?) say he exaggerated about that stuff. I'm sure he got the belt when he acted up (so did many other people growing up) and I don't feel bad for him if he did.

(B) I obviously fucking know that working for your parents everyday and doing chores is different than being in a famous supergroup and making all kinds of money touring and recording hit songs. What I was trying to say is that MOST OF HIS LIFE was spent singing, dancing, recording music, hanging with celebs, getting surgery, purchasing wild animals, amusement park rides, jewelry, movie theaters, homes, statues etc.... AND THAT AIN'T TOO FUCKIN' SHABBY!!!!!!!

--Compared to a lot of other people who have had worse childhoods and never got to do any of the shit above I mentioned. That being said, I loved MJ's music and the 'Moonwalker' movie/videogame as a kid and I still think he was one of the greatest entertainers the world has ever seen. I hope he didn't molest anyone though, and seeing him cuddling and holding hands with one of the kids who accused him ON NATIONAL TV didn't help the 'MJ is innocent' theory out one bit... I'm sure he was innocent and nothing BAD "went down", but we won't really ever know the truth. Unless a videotape surfaces or something and then eww...... Just ewww.....

Syd Lexia wrote:

Black Zarak wrote: Dude, having "a lot of chores" is quite a bit different from being in the fucking Jackson Five. Indeed, plus his dad was a total dick. He had this stack of giant rocks he used to make them move from one end of their yard to the other, for no good reason. It's not like he was mowing the lawn, raking leaves, or cleaning dishes or some shit. It was, move these heavy fucking rocks because I said so. Oh you're done? Great, now move them all back. That's not a chore, that's abuse.

Yeah but maybe he wanted him to become a stonemason in case the shoopidy-doop-bop, tee-hee-owww! stuff didn't take off!

Plus, he looks like this: