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Michael Jackson VibeZ

Seventy-four tracks assembled as a thank-you rather than a greatest hits — and almost none of them are the songs you would expect.

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OneLove

Thanks Mike: a Michael Jackson collection

The most striking thing about this set is what is missing. There is no "Billie Jean", no "Beat It", no "Thriller". What there is instead is seventy-four tracks of Motown-era Jackson 5, Jacksons album cuts, ballads, and the quieter corners of the solo catalogue.

That is a deliberate curatorial argument. The received version of Michael Jackson is built almost entirely on four years in the eighties. This set makes the case for the other twenty-five — the extraordinary child singer, the Philadelphia-produced group records, and the adult ballads that get overshadowed by the spectacle.

Heard this way he sounds less like a phenomenon and more like a singer, which is the harder and more interesting thing to hear.

What to listen for

"Who's Lovin' You" is the most astonishing thing here. He was eleven, singing a Smokey Robinson song about losing a love he could not possibly have experienced, and the performance is complete.

"Never Can Say Goodbye" and "I'll Be There" are the other Jackson 5 peaks.

"Human Nature" is the one Thriller track included, and it is the right choice — the least characteristic song on that album and arguably the best.

"This Place Hotel" is the most important Jacksons record: written by Michael, structurally ambitious, and the clearest signpost towards where he was going.

"Show You The Way To Go" and "Enjoy Yourself" come from the Philadelphia International period, produced by Gamble and Huff, and that chapter deserves far more attention.

"Blues Away", "Push Me Away" and "Be Not Always" are the deep cuts that justify a seventy-four track set.

"Music And Me", "With A Child's Heart" and "Childhood" read differently now than they did, and the sequencing seems aware of that.

"Gone Too Soon" and "Smile" close the argument.

Go deeper

Destiny (1978) and Triumph (1980) are the two Jacksons albums that the solo career has buried, and both are excellent.

For the child recordings, the Motown singles collections are the place to go, and "Who's Lovin' You" is the one to play for anyone who thinks the talent was manufactured.

What the omissions argue: leaving out the four songs everyone knows is the whole curatorial point. The received version of him is built on about four years; this set makes the case for the other twenty-five, and heard this way he sounds less like a phenomenon and more like a singer — which is the harder and more interesting thing to hear.

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