Xscape
Released: May 9, 2014
Recorded: 1980 through 2001 (Original Songs) 2013 through 2014 (Reworked Songs)
Length: 34:25 - Standard Edition | 38:30 - Vinyl Edition | 73:43 - Deluxe Edition
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Album Details
Track Listing
Love Never Felt So Good
Chicago
Loving You
A Place With No Name
Slave To The Rhythm
Do You Know Where Your Children Are?
Blue Gangsta
Xscape
Album Singles
Love Never Felt So Good — May 2, 2014
A Place With No Name — August 12, 2014
Limited Release & Promo Singles
Chicago — May 5, 2014
Slave To The Rhythm — May 9, 2014
Do You Know Where Your Children Are — 2014
Loving You — May 9, 2014
Blue Gangsta — May 9, 2014
Album Summary
Xscape is the second posthumous album by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on May 9, 2014, by Epic Records, MJJ Music and Sony Music Entertainment. Xscape is the tenth release by Sony and/or Motown since Jackson's death in 2009. L.A. Reid, chairman of Epic Records, curated and served as executive producer for the album, enlisting Timbaland to lead a team of record producers, including Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, and John McClain, to remix and contemporize the eight selected tracks. The album was #1 in its first week of release in worldwide sales.
The standard version of Xscape features eight tracks, each reworked from 2013 to 2014, whilst the deluxe version also includes the original versions of the songs which were recorded from 1980 to 1999, a bonus track and two videos. Xscape was promoted across the Sony group of companies; Sony Mobile used a snippet of Slave To The Rhythm in their advertising campaign for the Xperia Z2 mobile phone. A Pepper's ghost illusion of Jackson performed Slave To The Rhythm at the Billboard Music Awards in May 2014.
Xscape debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States. The album was preceded by the release of its lead single, Love Never Felt So Good, which includes a newly recorded version featuring Justin Timberlake. It reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, giving Jackson his first posthumous top ten and his first since You Rock My World in 2001. Additionally, Love Never Felt So Good became Jackson's highest charting single on the Hot 100 since his final number one, You Are Not Alone, in 1995. A second single, A Place With No Name, was released later that year. Xscape received generally positive reviews and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Album Editions
Original
Released 2014
Music
Love Never Felt So Good
Chicago
Loving You
A Place With No Name
Slave To The Rhythm
Do You Know Where Your Children Are?
Blue Gangsta
Xscape
Sony Xpiria Lounge Bonus Track
Chicago (Papercha$er Remix)
Edition Notes: Features the reworked songs only, and a remix through Sony's Xpiria Lounge service.
Deluxe Edition
Released 2014
Music
Love Never Felt So Good
Chicago
Loving You
A Place With No Name
Slave To The Rhythm
Do You Know Where Your Children Are?
Blue Gangsta
Xscape
Love Never Felt So Good (Original)
Chicago (Original)
Loving You (Original)
A Place With No Name (Original)
Slave To The Rhythm (Original)
Do You Know Where Your Children Are? (Original)
Blue Gangsta (Original)
Xscape (Original)
Love Never Felt So Good (Duet Version)
DVD
Xscape documentary
Xscape documentary outtakes
Edition Notes: Features reworked and original versions of the songs, the duet version of Love Never Felt So Good, and a documentary on DVD.
LP Version
Released 2014
Music
Love Never Felt So Good
Chicago
Loving You
A Place With No Name
Slave To The Rhythm
Do You Know Where Your Children Are?
Blue Gangsta
Xscape
Love Never Felt So Good (Duet Version)
Edition Notes: Features the reworked songs only, and the duet version of Love Never Felt So Good.
Short Films
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Love Never Felt So Good
Duet Version
Solo Version
Director: Rich Lee and Justin Timberlake
Premiered: May 14, 2014
The music video for the duet debuted in the morning on May 14, 2014, which was regarded as "a careful visual tribute of the late pop singer's lasting legacy on future generations." It was directed by Rich Lee and Justin Timberlake. A crowd of young dancers lip-synced and Justin Timberlake sang along and made some memorable moves from Michael Jackson's classic music videos or live shows.
A month later, a music video for the solo version was uploaded to the official Michael Jackson YouTube channel. The audio track, although very similar, is not the same as the album version of the track. It features a different bass track, a different guitar track, an electric piano, a flute, reworked snaps and claps, and slight changes in mixing in regards to audio panning. Minor changes to the song's form were also done including the harmony to the second verse being altered.
Clips from the following music videos appeared in the Love Never Felt So Good duet version music video, in order of appearance:
Black Or White
The Way You Make Me Feel
Jam
Speed Demon
Billie Jean
Smooth Criminal
Bad
Remember The Time
Beat It
In The Closet
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Liberian Girl
Another Part Of Me
Thriller
ABC (Live)
Blame It On The Boogie
Blood On The Dance Floor
The solo version music video featured clips from the duet version, as well as clips from other Michael Jackson music videos, such as Dirty Diana and You Rock My World, along with some of Jackson's live performances, such as Billie Jean.
A Place With No Name
Original Version
Michael Jackson One Version
Director: Samuel Bayer
Premiered: August 13, 2014
On August 13, 2014, A Place With No Name marks the first time a music video has ever debuted exclusively on Twitter. Along with its tweet premiere, A Place With No Name was also shown on the Sony video screen in Times Square on Wednesday night at 10PM. It was uploaded to Michael Jackson's VEVO page the following day. In line with the desert theme featured in the lyrics of America's A Horse With No Name, the video stars dancers Alvester Martin, who worked with Jackson for ten years, and Danielle Acoff in new dance sequences in a desert. Also featured are rare clips from Jackson's In The Closet video shoot. The music video was directed by Samuel Bayer.
A second music video was released on Michael Jackson's VEVO page on August 28, 2014, with choreographed dances performed by the dancers from Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson: One world tour. It was filmed at different places in Los Angeles, but most of the video was shot inside the Michael Jackson: One Boutique inside Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas.
Related Videos
Slave To The Rhythm — Awards Show Performance
The infamous live performance of a "hologram" Michael Jackson (which is actually a Pepper's Ghost illusion) during the 2014 Billboard Music Awards show.
Michael Jackson "Hologram" Effect — Behind The Scenes
A behind the scenes look at how the infamous Michael Jackson "hologram" effect (which is actually a Pepper's Ghost illusion) was made for the 2014 Billboard Music Awards show.