the CLUES we may have missed on MICHAEL Album Cover

[fatalkiss26]

ahhh here we go....


found this on MTV:


When Michael hits shelves next month, the world will get the first of a promised flurry of posthumous releases from late pop superstar Michael Jackson. While we don't know yet what songs will appear on the album, Jackson's label, Sony Music, did release the cover art, a Kadir Nelson painting that takes fans on a fantasy ride through the greatest moments of the King of Pop's solo career.

(Check out our side-by-side analysis of the visual references on the Michael cover and the original moments in his career.)

The painting by Kadir Nelson features a montage of classic MJ images, from his Off the Wall-era tux to looks from the "Thriller" video. At the center is a a somber, Renaissance-like of Jackson in royal gold and burgundy vestments, a golden crown hovering over his head.

Let's break down the references:

Almost as iconic as the cover photo on Thriller is the pensive image of Jackson from the front of another one of his smashes, 1987's Bad, which sold more than 30 million copies.

Jackson's video for "Beat It" is one of the most beloved of all time. His signature red leather jacket with the acres of unnecessary zippers, the bright blue t-shirt and the legion of pirouetting bad boys are all present in the painting's representation of that clip.

One of the other Thriller-era looks that's cemented in the minds of fans during is the custom-made tuxedo jacket, pink shirt and red bowtie that Jackson wore in the "Billie Jean" video.

The cover of 1991's Dangerous portrayed Jackson as a mystery man hiding among a circus of bizarre, sideshow attractions. Here, Nelson has isolated a part of the cover that pays homage to the rollercoaster scene from the 1989 video for "Leave Me Alone."

Jackson appears, under a cluster of cameras, in the silver spacesuit he wore in his 1986 3-D space flick "Captain EO." The 17-minute film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, debuted at the Disneyland EPCOT amusement park and went offline in 1998; it began screening again in 2010 following Jackson's death.

The spaceship from one of Jackson's favorite fantasy movies, Steven Spielberg's 1982 film "E.T.," floats in the painting's sky. Jackson contributed the song "Someone in the Dark" to the movie's Grammy-winning storybook, which he also narrated.

Another scene from the "Leave Me Alone" video isolating the rocketship the singer flies around in during the clip.

This detail from the "Leave Me Alone" video depicts a goldfish swimming in a bowl, another likely reference to Jackson's feeling of being constantly scrutinized. An interesting detail is the addition of a crown to the fish's head, which is likely another reference to Jackson's status as pop royalty.

One of the key scenes from the 1987 video for "The Way You Make Me Feel" — in which Jackson prepares to unleash some of his classic dance moves in silhouette — is also depicted.

MTV's Moonman makes an appearance, a reference to the fact that Jackson's legendary videos were instrumental both in the development of the channel and the art form itsemf.

As we float above the royal image of Jackson — which is similar to a number of paintings the singer commissioned during his life in which he was placed into historical settings — we arrive at the menacing robotic face in the corner from Jackson's 1988 movie "Moonwalker," which co-starred Joe Pesci.

If there is a single moment in MJ's career that can be considered ground zero for his superstardom, it might be his 1983 performance on "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever." There, he unveiled his signature dance move, the Moonwalk, for the first time.

With the sun setting behind him, we see a 21-year-old Jackson sporting his late-'70s afro and a tuxedo, an homage to the cover of his breakthrough solo album Off the Wall.

Some of Jackson's most gravity-defying moves popped up in the Prohibition-themed clip for 1987's "Smooth Criminal."

The best-selling video of all time, "Thriller" is, to this day, thought of as the "Citizen Kane" of music videos. Here we see Jackson backed by some of the ghouls from the werewolf-themed mini-movie, which was shot by "Animal House" director John Landis. A classic scene from the "Thriller" video during which Jackson does his spotlight dance with the undead.

In addition to being one of the best-selling artists of all time, Jackson was also a humanitarian involved in many causes. He co-wrote and performed on 1985's legendary "We Are The World." Here he's depicted alongside some of the other stars from that once-in-a-lifetime charity single, including co-writer Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper.

Hidden just behind Jackson's get-up from the "Smooth Criminal" video is a mirror with a reflection of the singer, which Nelson likely included as a sly reference to one of the Jackson's most beloved ballads, "Man in the Mirror." But also hidden in the image, just above the elephant's head, is a bubble containing singer Prince's signature male-female glyph. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Jackson and Prince had a contentious, competitive relationship and the inclusion of the diminutive Minneapolis star's logo could be intended as a playful tweak.



Decoding The New Michael Jackson Album Cover Art (We're Almost There)
10:30 am

November 9, 2010

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by JACOB GANZ and FRANNIE KELLEY


michaeljackson.com
We saw this cover and we almost couldn't help ourselves. At first it seemed weird that the cover of the first new posthumous album of unreleased material by Michael Jackson would be a collage of images taken from his old songs and albums. But then we got caught up in trying to figure out what every little thing on the cover was. Why are there policemen over there? Is that Bob Dylan? What's the deal with the UFO?

As Kanye West might say, it's not an album cover, it's a painting. And it actually is. The image on the cover of Michael is by an artist named Kadir Nelson, and it manages to incorporate an astonishing number of highlights from the golden age of Jackson's career, starting with 1979's Off the Wall and running through Dangerous in 1991.

Take a close look at the cover and join us after the jump for a guided tour of Michael's hall of mysteries.

 

The 16 Michaels

Off the Wall Michael
"Thriller" Michael with zombies
Dancing "Thriller" Zombie Michael
"Billie Jean" Michael
"Beat It" Michael
"Whole New Generation" Pepsi Commercial Michael (image 1)
"We Are The World" Michael
Robot Michael from the end of Moonwalker
Captain Eo Michael (credit for this catch belongs to NPR Music's Amy Schriefer) (image 2)
Dangerous Michael
Rocket roller coaster-driving "Leave Me Alone" Michael
"Leave Me Alone" Sideshow Dancing Michael with Elephant Man's bones (image 3)
Bad Michael (image 3)
"Smooth Criminal" Michael (image 3)
Silhouetted "The Way You Make Me Feel" Michael (image 3)
"Michael" Michael




Images from Videos or Songs

From "We Are The World"

Cyndi Lauper
Bob Dylan
Bruce Springsteen (image 1)
From "Leave Me Alone"

Weekly World Something Or Other tabloid cover (image 1)
From Moonwalker

Claymation rabbit on a motorcycle, possibly the single strangest image on the cover. (hold on, we'll get to the naked interracial coronation cherubs in a minute.) (image 3)
From "Remember The Time"

Explosion of light/sand near upper right corner (at least, we think that's where this is from).
From "Man In The Mirror"

Behind "Smooth Criminal" Michael, a mirror with a reflection of "Smooth Criminal" Michael (images 3 and 4)

Metaphors or Expressionistic Images Signifying Important Moments Or Events In the Life of Michael

The central image of Jackson is being crowned by two cherubs, one black, one white. A particular song comes to mind. (images 5 and 6)
The crown being placed on the central Michael figure suggests Jackson's "King of Pop" nickname.
Bubbles fill the bottom left of the image. This seems like a nod to Jackson's pet chimp, but confusingly, some of them the bubbles seem to be filled with other significant items of Jacksoniana, such as these sunglasses, fingertips of a white glove, and a "Smooth Criminal" hat.
In the upper left quadrant, an MTV Moon Man crowns "Michael" Michael's right temple. Probably a reference to Jackson's groundbreaking videos rather than his mistaken belief, in 2002, that MTV had decided to present him with an award for "Artist of the Millennium." (image 5)
A Few Items We Identified But Whose Importance We Could Not Place

In the upper left corner, a UFO. Definitely not the sleek space ship from the "Scream" video, but we're not sure of its provenance. (image 5)
What looks like candy at the bottom of the "Leave Me Alone" roller coaster.
Tiger, Elephant, Lion, Bear and Butterfly — perhaps these are animals kept at Jackson's Neverland Ranch? If so, the connection is rather opaque. (image 4)
Above Bad Michael, a pair of dogs. We thought these might be the "Just stop doggin' me around" dogs from the "Leave Me Alone" video, but they're not wearing suits. (image 2)
A couple of police officers, above the image from the cover of Dangerous.
The bank of cameras in the upper right quadrant. Presumably signifying Jackson's rocky relationship with the press, but we couldn't come up with anything specific here. (image 6)
A goldfish in a bubble. (image 3)
Two Items Which We Could Not Identify At All

In the upper left corner, behind Off The Wall Michael, you'll see half of a ghostly face. No idea who this is, unless it's a character from Jackson's grotesquely overblown longform video for Ghosts, from 1996. Mysteriously, the figure appears in one — but not both — of the cover images on this page.
In the lower right quadrant, hidden inside one of the bubbles, is a small golden object that's just too small to identify, but we're sure it's vitally important. (images 3 and 4)

[fatalkiss26]

from Wiki


Authenticity
The authenticity of "Breaking News", "Keep Your Head Up", and "Monster", tracks attributed to Jackson, Eddie Cascio and James Porte and purportedly recorded in the Cascios' basement in 2007, has been questioned.[39][40] Doubts over whether the vocals were actually by Jackson have been raised, reportedly by Katherine Jackson and Jackson's two eldest children,[41] as well as Jackson's sister La Toya,[42] his nephews T.J., Taj, and Taryll,[43] Will.i.am,[44] and many of his fans.[45] His brother Randy Jackson posted a series of messages about the album on his Twitter account stating that family members were not allowed at his studio where the album was being completed.[46] According to Randy, when engineer Teddy Riley played him some of the tracks, "I immediately said it wasn't his voice".[46] In a statement, Sony Music Group countered that it had "complete confidence in the results of our extensive research, as well as the accounts of those who were in the studio with Michael, that the vocals on the new album are his own".[47] Producer Teddy Riley, Frank Dileo and Jackson's estate have since defended Sony's claims that the song is authentic.[48] Teddy Riley who worked on the songs "Hollywood Tonight", "Monster" and "Breaking News", claimed that he had to do "more processing to the voice, which is why people were asking about the authenticity of his voice".[49] Riley also claimed that "With the Melodyne we actually move the stuff up which is the reason why some of the vibrato sounds a little off or processed, over-processed. We truly apologize for that happening, but you are still hearing the true Michael Jackson".[49]
Jason Malachi, who has been noted as the possible vocalist on "Breaking News", "Keep Your Head Up" and "Monster" as well as the recently leaked tracks "All I Need" and "Stay", has said he was not involved in the recording.[48] On January 16, 2011 a statement appeared on Malachi's Facebook page noting he was the vocalist of the songs in question, calling it his "confession".[50] He later claimed on MySpace that his Facebook and official website were hacked. Malachi's manager Thad Nauden later that day told TMZ claiming that "someone created a phony Facebook page in Jason's name. Jason wants everyone to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, he did not sing a single note on the album".[51]
[edit]Release of material without Jackson's consent
Ahead of the album's release, a lawyer for Jackson's father Joe said Jackson was a perfectionist and "would never have wanted his unfinished material to be released."[52] Will.i.am, who collaborated with Jackson prior to his death,[53] also criticised the release, saying it was "disrespectful" to release the unfinished material because Jackson was not able to give it his blessing.[54]
[edit]Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one in Germany, selling 85,000 copies in its first week.[55] The album also debuted at number one in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden.[55] In the US, Michael debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 228,000 copies,[56] followed by 150,000 the next week, but in subsequent weeks, its total sales have shrunk to 27,000 units, 18,000 units and then 11,000 units for the week ending Jan. 16, 2011.[57] The album debuted at number five in France, with first-week sales of 26,689 copies.[58] In Denmark, the album debuted at number four selling 4,936 copies in its first week.[59] On December 19, 2010, the album opened in the UK at number four with sales of 113,000, which is Michael Jackson's biggest opening sales week in the UK since the release of Dangerous nearly 20 years before.[60] In its first five weeks the album sold over 434,000 copies in the United States, but failed to match This Is It, which sold 890,000 copies in five weeks.[61] In the same week the album was certified platinum by the RIAA for shipping over a million copies.[62]
The platinum status for album has now grown to 17 countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, France (2x), Italy (2x), Spain, Denmark, Poland, Russia(2x), Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic (5x), Canada, India (2x), China, Taiwan, Korea and the Middle East. Michael is now Gold in 18 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.[63]
[edit]Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source   Rating
Metacritic   54/100[64]
Review scores
Source   Rating
Allmusic   [65]
The Boston Globe   (favorable)[66]
Chicago Tribune   [67]
Entertainment Weekly   (B)[68]
The Guardian   [69]
Los Angeles Times   [70]
NME   (5/10)[71]
Rolling Stone   [2]
Slant Magazine   [72]
Spin   (6/10)[73]
Michael received mixed reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 54, based on 19 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".[64] Despite media skepticism and some dissent within Jackson family ranks, reviews largely found Michael better than expected.[74] Joe Vogel of Huffington Post stated that "the bottom line is this: Michael contains some very impressive new material" and "His habits, his obsessions, his versatility, and his genius are on display at every turn. Who else could move so seamlessly from social anthem to floor burner, fleet hip hop to cosmic rock, vintage funk to poignant folk ballad?"[75] Dan Martin of NME called the album "kind of enjoyable" but commented that "if this decent-enough album is the best of the bunch, things are going to get ugly from here on in".[71] Neil McCormick of The Telegraph called the album "a fine album" and stated that "It is certainly a great deal better than anyone had any right to expect. Jackson is finally about to get the comeback he craved."[76] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone thought the album was "not a Michael Jackson album", and Jackson "would not have released anything like this compilation, a grab bag of outtakes and outlines," but "it's a testament to the man's charisma that Michael can be compelling."[2] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly called it "certainly no great affront to his name", while The New York Times said it was a "miscellany of familiar Jackson offerings: inspirational, loving, resentful and paranoid."[68][74] Kitty Empire in The Observer said Jackson sounded "paler, more emaciated, more effects-laden" than on his classic songs such as 'Billie Jean'.[77] She characterized the album as a "hotchpotch of odds and sods that often make plain their co-authors" but singled out the "breezy" and "carefree" '(I Like) The Way That You Love Me' and the "pugnacious" 'Hollywood Tonight' for praise.[77] The Reno Gazette-Journal gave the album 3 stars out of 4.[78] Nima Baniamer of Contactmusic.com gave the album 4/5 and stated that Jackson still seems to hold the capability to effortlessly transgress music genres. Baniamer also commented, "It wouldn't be a decent Jackson record if it wasn't surrounded by controversy. 'Breaking News' is a great track that touches upon the media's obsession with the pop icon; ironically a track further surrounded by dispute as fans have claimed that it may not even be Jackson's own voice on the track."[79]




Brooke Shields, Lisa Marie Presley, Tatum O’Neal, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and the Jackson 5 are among the many celebrities featured in a mural included with the new Michael Jackson album, “Michael.”
I told you months ago that Jackson co-executor John McClain had commissioned the mural from artist Kadir Nelson. Originally it had included drawings of Jackson’s legal team and other miscellaneous participants in the Jackson saga. But now it’s just celebrities. Here’s the full mural for the first time, with Naomi Campbell, Janet Jackson, animals from Neverland, and even a little ad for Cirque du Soleil. There are also pictures of Berry Gordy, the Temptations, James Brown, Bubbles the Chimp, Liza Minnelli, and some Motown artists.
There are no portraits, however, of some key Jackson players: Debbie Rowe and Macaulay Culkin. Too bad. In 2005, their testimony helped save Michael from going to to jail. Also, no Liz Taylor or Marlon Brando.

[Mish1981]

That is a good question, I wonder why Liz Taylor isn't in the portrait?

[Australian MJ BeLIEver]

does anyone know who the person is (side profile and covered by hair) next to janet? seems like their identify is delibreately concealed. unless of course, im not recognising someone that i should...

[Andrea]

does anyone know who the person is (side profile and covered by hair) next to janet? seems like their identify is delibreately concealed. unless of course, im not recognising someone that i should...

That person looks like Elvis...hard to tell for sure though.

[encarna]

hello all: I am a frequent visitor of this site, although I do not connect it entered daily and always believed that MJ is with us, especially when the tribute was made, staple center.he seen many times this cover and if that there are interesting things, I noticed a while ago on the left at the end of the cover that are catherine and joseph and behind all the children in a circle I count 10 mj is at number 8, although there was a twin who died at the few hours after birth, there is no baby in this image who is the person number 10? .
 One more interesting I've seen is on guitar, there is a continuation of catherine and joseph has a broken string, that could mean guitar joseph tito broke as a teenager? or perhaps it means that without tying thread?.
 Best wishes for all

[Its her]

The gavel inside a bubble is interesting. I think bubbles represent captivity, or bondage, or, CONTROL. Maybe everything inside a bubble is hoax related, that is, ALL under MJ's complete control, as a fiction would be under complete control of its Author...Just a thought.
These bubbles remind me of this painting, entitled "VICTORY".  bounce/ 8-)
 
(viewtopic.php?f=59&t=14639#p265383 Apparently this one altho correct, doesn't work, sorry)
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[Australian MJ BeLIEver]

i thought that the fish in the bubble might represent michael feeling like he in trapped inside a fish bowl with the world looking in on him. no privacy, no where to turn run or go. your trapped with no option but for people to stare at you.

but could be just making that up and forcing it to fit... as in chinese culture, gold fish also represent a symbol of surplus and wealth, and a gift of goldfish is a blessing in the hope of good fortune.

so unsure on my initial thoughts on the goldfish in bubble.

[anewfan]

Yesterday I went searching for info on the album cover and there is a video of the artist explaining some of the things. He said that the box in the bubble represents the apple box that Michael had to stand on to reach the microphone. He also said that the broken string on the guitar does represent when Tito broke a string on Joe's guitar.

[Australian MJ BeLIEver]

anewfan. anychance of posting this video here. pleeeeeease (battering the eyelashes as i type)

[anewfan]

anewfan. anychance of posting this video here. pleeeeeease (battering the eyelashes as i type)

Yes....here you go! It's interesting how Jackie says it's an "Airline" guitar.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T2GVJA2fmc[/youtube]

[Snoopy71]

hello all: I am a frequent visitor of this site, although I do not connect it entered daily and always believed that MJ is with us, especially when the tribute was made, staple center.he seen many times this cover and if that there are interesting things, I noticed a while ago on the left at the end of the cover that are catherine and joseph and behind all the children in a circle I count 10 mj is at number 8, although there was a twin who died at the few hours after birth, there is no baby in this image who is the person number 10? .
 One more interesting I've seen is on guitar, there is a continuation of catherine and joseph has a broken string, that could mean guitar joseph tito broke as a teenager? or perhaps it means that without tying thread?.
Best wishes for all

I think the broken string represents when the Jackson 5 was first realized. If you remember (as it was told) in the movie "The Jacksons, an American dream", Tito broke the guitar string on Joseph's guitar.  Joseph whipped Tito (the belt is wrapped around in the mural) said he wanted to know what was going on when he wasn't at home and told Tito to play.  Tito played, and the other boys joined in singing along (Katherine said the kids had alot of talent) and that's when Joseph got the idea to start a group with his kids (poor little Michael didn't get to sing then cause he was too small...but eventually he became the lead) :lol:

As far as the 10 children...the Jacksons have a 1/2 sibling--->JohVonnie (Joseph's daughter born in '74)(possible)...or it could represent a "spiritual child" Marlons twin(also possible). Not sure which.

[YouRnotAlone7]

Does anybody know what the tree (with what looks like parts of a snake going through it) represents?  It takes up a big space in the painting.

[Snoopy71]

Does anybody know what the tree (with what looks like parts of a snake going through it) represents?  It takes up a big space in the painting.

You know, I've wondered about that too...

I wondered if it has a "spiritual" signifigance (Genesis and the fall of man)

...or if maybe it was suppose to be his "Giving Tree" that he had at Neverland...and the snake is Muscles (but why would the snake be represented twice?) It's also shown with Michael on the rocket ride.

...or is it about the rainforest and preservation of the planet?

....or maybe all three!  :lol: Good question!

[Australian MJ BeLIEver]

the snake represents deception. the story goes, the snake who was actually satan transformed, decieved eve into believing that if she ate the fruit she would become like god. but really that was deception. when eve ate the fruit, she lost perfection and the chance of living forever, and threfore grew old and died.

when i first saw the snake I thought of the deception (although for good reason) of the DH...

dunno if i am just trying to 'make' it fit though.