Forever, Michael
Occupation
- Vocals / Backing Vocals: Michael Jackson
Forever, Michael was the fourth solo album of the then sixteen -year-old Michael Jackson and the last official album, which he recorded for the record company Motown Records.
Background
After Michael Jackson's 1973 Meisel 's third solo album "Music and Me " was commercially unsuccessful as the previous two albums, Michael was in 1974 together with the Jackson 5 in Las Vegas and came with these on in the evening shows. Between the second album Ben and Forever, Michael also Michael's voice altered by changed from slightly high-pitched sound in a clearer and finer, a little deeper tone. Motown had already tried on the third album, Music & Me, to group these voice broke through the Trick, four new pieces of music by two older to conceal the new voice of Michael. Since you can not imitate the boyish timbre, he has never lost that. In January 1975, he released his last published at Motown Records album Forever, Michael. All publications of Motown Records who followed this album were no longer published in cooperation with Michael Jackson.
In advance of the publication, and then, there had been a dispute between the Jackson family and Motown Records as the Jacksons did not see enough supported by the record company and its founder Berry Gordy. Gordy had hitherto always taken care of its artists personally, however, tried for some time to withdraw from the field of music and to move into the film business. These differences further provided that neither the Jackson 5 were published yet Michael self-written and self-produced songs, because you would rather leave the label's own songwriters and producers this with Motown. Gordy's view, the Jackson 5, and thus Michael, not the potential for song writing and producing had. Michael Jackson himself stated that he was deeply unhappy that the Jacksons could not write their own songs and produce them because the music that they did not like it. On the other hand he held Gordy for a genius and admired him as a brilliant man. Next owe him great thanks Michael, as he had predicted, the Jackson 5 and Michael's life without Gordy would have been different.
So the album of LT horn was mixed and recorded, Russ Terrana also took over part of mixing, Jim Britt contributed the photograph for the album cover on. Composers of the songs were Holland & Holland, Armand, Brown, Sutton, Willensky, Yarian, Meitzenheimer, Davis and Perren.
Michaels had solo albums with Motown musical contrast to the publications of the Jackson 5 that they let him sing ballads preferably, since it was felt that the slow music would bring the euphony of his " pathetic " voice to full advantage. Furthermore, were increasingly used to Michaels albums melody instruments such as violins, flutes and " prancing " keyboards.
After the failure of Forever, Michael, the Jacksons Motown Records decided to leave, because their rights were severely limited in the label. Therefore, they looked around for a new, more suitable contractors. With the members of the CBS Epic Records, a contract was negotiated, which should be valid after the separation of Motown. Motown published in May 1975, the Jackson 5 album Movin Violation and Joe Jackson explained only on June 30, the change of the Jacksons to Epic Records, where he was before too timid to make the change public.
Artistic Assessment and commercial success
Chart position of the album
While the album never rose above the 101 place in the pop charts, it was much better placed in the American Black charts and reached there in tenth place.
Chart positions of singles
Six years after the release of the album was released with "One Day in Your Life " a staged Motown and produced by Quincy Jones compilation of several songs of Michael Jackson. The third single from the album Forever, Michael was eponymous for the re-release and was also re- released as a single. She arrived in the British charts first place in the singles charts; Number 42 in the American Black Charts and number 55 in the American Pop Charts.
The album was once again released in 1994 in CD format and 2001 as a compilation of two CDs ( Got to Be There / Forever Michael ).
Style
Stylistically, the individual pieces of music are still heavily based on former Motown classics, they had no danceable style and lacks the by this time popular disco style.
Title list
Further use of the individual securities
View all tracks by Forever, Michael and the three previously released solo albums also appeared singly or in groups on various other compilations that contain either only Michael Jackson recorded at Motown songs or are mixed with Jackson 5 songs, as well as various best-of compilations.