Michael Jackson SMOOTH CRIMINAL Original Studio Multitracks (Listening Session & Analysis) 

The greatest MJ song ever

Can you please breakdown the track "Lovely One" by The Jacksons.

Hey Chris, awesome video thank you for uploading. Have you seen this Smooth Criminal AMV? You really have to check this out seriously I've watched it a hundred times myself ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IDdcA0IPxXg.html

You might have misunderstood what I was asking. I was not asking about MJs music specifically. or the legalities of why you had to present it as you did. it's a technical question, not a legal one. I was asking generally whether record companies ever make track recordings available for sale that have not been mixed. Suppose I wanted to isolate the guitar track from stairway to heaven so I could practice playing it without the bass and drums.mixed in Do I call up Led Zepplin's record company? How do these you-tube producers acquire solo tracks for analysis. Is there a secret producers club? Or how do artists get a copy of the vocal track to do remixes? Is there a secret club? Do you contact the record label? Are they available for sale like sheet music is? Are they eq'ing out the tracks somehow?

@@jpvoodoo5522 Why does your comment have a Side-Scroll bar?

agreed

@@chrisliepe love your passion man, I feel the same about music. Loved the Minerva breakdown too.

Facts

well just because someone is a great artist doesnt mean he wasnt a pedophile i think you people are just blind

@@SotPSotPSotPThe evidence says he was innocent. I recommend the podcast “Michael Jackson - the case for innocence”.

He's like a one man band you'd see on the street. He definitely had an energy about him that you can't portray without moving and grooving like he did.

@IsaacInfernape2000 Underrated opinion: You've been drinking straight kerosene and it's going to your brain

@IsaacInfernape2000 (Raman) siivagunner (big i) video game rips youtube super mario world athletic theme but its witch doctor

Genius - no question. But I'd also give some credit to the producer GOAT, Quincy Jones.

@@bAvt_xyz no doubt! Quincy Jones is a genius of the same caliber what an eclectic engineer!

Oh yes ! well spotted

My EXACT thought

oh it’s actually true

i was just thinking it

Oh wow that's incredible 😅♥️

You’re so right. His foot always kept perfect time.

I love the London symphony orchestra version

QJ also hated "Billie Jean" and did not want it included on Thriller, MJ had to put his foot down to let QJ know who was boss.

@@rhuiden4086 that's a myth that has been debunked numerous times. Quincy didn't like how long the intro was but Michael insisted it was 30 seconds because it made him want to dance.

@@Priapus212 its not myth its fact. QJ hated billie jean and thought the subject matter in the song was inappropriate. I also heard QJ say with his mouth in an interview insinuating that he believed the beats from Billie jean were stolen from Oats and Halls hit, completely untrue as Oats and Hall said in a recent interview on youtube that they didnt think it was stolen but the beats were inspired by their song "i cant go for that".

@@rhuiden4086 Not true. He hated thr long intro saying 'You can shave on an intro so long". What convinced him to keep it was MJ saying "That's what makes me wanna dance". You talk rubbish this time. It's a fan-made fake myth. Q himself said many times (one interview is on the Thriller 25 album...) they all knew Billie Jean was to be the cornerstone of the album, which is why they had to pick different songs, it gave such an edge. That's why Q made Rod Temperton re-write Starlight into and Edgar Allen Poe-influenced story. That's why Carousel wasn't fit. And so on.

I'm like crying throughout 🤫 lol So, in Mike's words (though, actually written by R. Kelly), U are not alone

Lucky You

Sortudo viu 👏😩

I couldn’t have said it better 🥲 if music could be put in museums, Michaels songs would be the Starry Nights and Mona Lisas of music.

Same tho

:D Yeath but it is Michael, so he is right :D

😂😂😂😂

Absolutely he is the master of rhythm.

There wasn't an instrument to make that sound, so he made it himself. I suppose if they had the tech to recreated that sound or series of sounds, they might have done. Even now i wonder how that rythmic pattern would have sounded translate into reproduced sound, and then transposed as a counter point to those rhythms we heard.. its no less than a counter rhythm.

@@chrisliddiard725 I think the magic is that’s its spontaneous

If you listen the song from a 80's version of the album you can listen clearly that beatboxing compared to the 2000' remastered CDs

Anyone who knows Michael jacksons work knows he's a very skillful beatboxer. He's been doing this for most of his adult solo career. He's the whole package 👑🎯🔥💞💖✨️✍️🏽😇

very well said ! Totally Agree wit u

today they make music for money. Back then, artists like MJ, Freddie Mercury, and many others would sing even if they were broke.

These days, you can find stuff like that in EDM and more experimental genres that aren't as popular as main stream music.

​@@V.D.2230:16 They all make music for money. But agreed the level of attention to detail and artistry is gone. Its too produced and mechanical today. And something has been lost. It all sounds generic without personality today. I hear a modern song. And I've forgotten it as soon as it stops playing. In the 80s you heard a great song. You couldn't get it out of your head. That's the difference now.

110%

chammone

List en my mus ic..

couldnt agree more! what a recording, love how ive learnt something else GREAT video too!! love this video.

👍👍👍 very well said, I think same

Its incredible isn't it. The musicians were MJ's instruments. He guided them on what to play and how to play it. MJ was a true producer of magical music.

He was a genius...all of us miss Him..:((

This It's when you have rhythm, note it down and run otherwise natural rhythm is like a dream .

Smooth Criminal is my favourite video - Number 1 The part where you get the extra lyric on the stairs i always buzzed off that The amazing breakdown, recorded on set, all improvised then into the fooookin Dance! such a cool style, so many types of dance reinterpreted by MJ in one new style the god dam clothes!! the whole thing is just sick!! what a video Peace

He not only wrote but also composed Smooth Criminal and instructed the musicians how to play the rhythm and melody of the song. He reveals this in his book Moonwalker.

@@rhuiden4086 been decades since I read Moonwalker. Really should pick it up again.

Can I get in contact with you ?

@@Emceezesings with who? :) which person on the thread

Walking instrument.. Or music personified

*Moonwalking percussionist 😉

MJ was and is a lot of things. He was/is truly the king of pop with his style and vision he brought

Aren’t most actual percussionists walking percussionists?

@@jasper24601 yeah that's why I said walking instrument

I had tears in my eyes too

Oooooo, some Prince analysis would be incredible!!!

Don't forget to praise the writers and producers then. Michael Jackson was just one part of the whole thing, although the most important. But without his writers and producers what would he have sung?

@@klamin_original he would have sung the songs he wrote lmao . Go listen to the original demos of his music before producers even heard of them. They are 99% finished. Michael Jackson was inducted into the songwriters hall of fame for a reason. Dude was a phenomenal songwriter. Obviously he had a team around him that helped as well. But MJ was the driving force behind his songs. Most of the songs were his vision, his sound, his lyrics.

@@travisdemaria9027 I didn't mean that he didn't compose the songs in his head, I knew he did that and that he made clear instructions to instrumentalists and producers. But he couldn't play instruments well enough so he couldn't have realized his visions without other professionals and as we know really talented people as well.

@@klamin_original Michael would've sung the songs he WROTE. Smooth Criminal is lyrically written and composed by Michael Jackson. No body else. In fact, he wrote the whole BAD album, except for 2 songs. So, I don't know what you're talking about. And nearly every major writer in the business have instrument players. Not every can play every single instrument like Prince and Stevie Wonder could.

I didn't realize how much production work MJ did until i heard home demos of the hit songs he had written and composed. It just goes to show that being able to play a variety of instruments doesnt make someone a hit producer. Only a composer can create harmonies and melodies. MJ knew how to compose harmonies and melodies on an unreal level. MJ was the composer and the musicians were his instruments

His song is timeless ❤

The most polarising man in the music business

thats because he was THE MAN

Haha... Me too. provided I am a high tenor

@@naiel18 tbh I don't remember what I was when I was a kid🤣

@@ghosttaki8547 not as a kid.. I am telling about mine voice after it changed during teenage

Folks have told me I should try singing tenor; "tenor" fifteen miles away from them. 🤣

List en my mus ic..

Yes! I think we relate to him while enjoying music.

I agree. This is my first time watching a video on the channel but sure won’t be my last. The passion was undeniable here

It's a really interesting track that stands out for many reaons. A thing that puzzles me to this day is the bad intonation. I mean, he/they perfected every track in any way, and here's a vocal track with false notes..?

As a *who is it legit* fan i agree with you.. its an easter egg.... 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

100% the same! crazy

It's so great ❤❤

Michael Jackson did absolutely nothing but sing the drivel others wrote. Stop it.

The producers are the geniuses, Michael had a great voice, but his talent lies only in his voice.

@@Junkwave_ dude, educate yourself. Mjs home demos are on yt, you must be an idiot to believe listening to those, that MJ was just a singer... In fact MJ and his 3 member team he worked with at Hayvenhurst did 99% of the Bad album... Check out interviews on MJ cast, where his former team members talk about how. Q actually took, literally took MJs private studio work and just put his name on it.

@@Junkwave_ What are you talking about? Surely you know that he wrote tons of songs?

@@Junkwave_ Boo hoo. Another immature prince or beatles fan. Keep telling that to yourself. :D

I don't think Michael thought about half of this ..it's just innate soul, talent, genius and greatness.

Please explain what Michael did other than sing words other people wrote?

Absolutely correct. Almost everybody takes a song for granted, not having any clue about the complexity in production. Spot on. This stuff is GENIUS. Truly genius.

@@Junkwave_ troll

@@Junkwave_ He wrote a lot of his best/most popular songs, was involved in every aspect of the production of his albums, he co-choreographed his dance performances and came up with most of the original ideas. He was the best and probably most influential dancer of the 20. Century. (Nijinsky might be close second..) He was so good technically as a dancer that he made the classically trained, professional dancers that were on stage with him look like clumsy teens first time on a dance floor on prom night. His movements - in his best performances - were so perfectly executed that it almost looked unreal and animated. He had a natural elegance and accuracy that no other dancer ever had. In addition to all that: he was as good as a singer as he was as a dancer. Unbelievably versatile and could get every emotion across. He could sing everything. Perfectly. The ONLY songs that I wouldn’t recommend anybody who participates in these competitions on TV to EVER sing are MJ songs. There is just NO WAY you can make it sound remotely decent, when everyone has heard Michael Jackson sing the song before. I could carry on, but I think that’s enough for the moment. I on the other hand always wonder why this southern hillbilly icon who really just sang other peoples stuff and imitated black artists (with a little Dean Martin mixed in) throughout his career is called “King of Rock’n’Roll”. That’s a mystery to me 🤷🏻‍♀️

What else did he say?

You sound like a vegan.

Was “Hold on me” an unreleased song?

I totally believe you

Yes, exactly. It has probably to do with Bruce Swediens "Acusonic" recording process, where he tended to record sources with more than one microphone.

Yes, Bruce Swedien recorded everything with two mics. Jackson’s vocals were recorded on two SM7s on Thriller and Bad

@@sambroxguitar Right, but, don't you mean SM7s? That's what I've heard.

@@thepeterhallin ahhh sorry, you’re right! I remembered incorrectly! I’ve edited the original comment. Thanks

In the "original" (1987) recording which was sold as a (single) there was the ~double bass drum kick~ intro before Michael starts to sing, that was later removed and it's the version that's been released for decades, not to mention other obvious sounds that differ from the original (The album version) is very different from the music video/short film, but it's still a masterpiece nevertheless. 👊🏾✨️💖🎭💯🎶

I can't help to watched it 2 times 😂. I know this arrangement is out of the world

You get minor pops sometimes and they show up in some of the biggest recordings ever (go listen closely to Kiss From a Rose, for example) -- but in those cases, as here, they don't detract from the performance. Interesting!

He did use lip sync live, at least later in his career.

sadly, i think not enough stamina...i think was really NOT easy to be, and to do MJ for decades. pls excuse my eng

I used to think the same thing ian - If you put some dedication, time and most of all believe in yourself, you might be surprised how you can use your instrument! Try my free vocal course to learn some of the basics it might really help you discover your voice!