After his death much was made of the archive of unreleased Michael Jackson songs and when they would be released.

several months on and its all gone very quiet.

anyone else starting to think the quality wasn't as high as they anticipated? or that the songs weren't as finished as they expected (poor quality or damaged recordings etc) or are they genuinely just taking their time to release a quality product?

This Is It was just released. They might be waiting. I hope they are.

Nah, I reckon they are just waiting for the perfect chance to fleece the fans of more cash

^ And how exactly would they be 'fleecing' fans with new music?

We are talking about Sony here so probabbly by releasing yet another greatest hits album with 2 or 3 new songs

In all seriousness i really hope they are going to take their time and release a quality product. God know us MJ fans have waited a very very long time for a new album and we all know they have tracks plenty of decent tracks away. New stuff will come our way eventually. Just a shame that they won't be accompanied by the music videos

I really do hope we've seen the last of the Greatest Hits and Best of's though

Depends. I missed the chance to pick up on the big best of compilations so i'd definately buy one if they re released them with some new songs.

they shouldn't release another greatest hits

there is already

History
Number Ones
King Of Pop
The Essential
This Is It

to name just a few.

its new music or nothing. Although a remix album could do ok, with the worlds latest producers bringing his old hits into the 21st century. I really like Kanye West's Billie Jean remix for example.

You can bet your last penny that Sony will release new songs on ANOTHER greatest hits album.

Agree. I think the only decent MJ compilation is the 3CD King of Pop.

Oooh a remix album would be pretty good. I actually liked all the remixes on Thriller 25 (even Fergie ). I really hoped they would do a 25 repackage of Bad but since he's died i'm not so sure

The Ultimate Collection is fab.

Oooooh i forgot about that Definately worthy buying. I remember when i bought my black copy it was becoming really hard to get hold of, but i see the white ones all over the place now for £25. Definately worth purchasing

Jimi Hendrix has only just got a 'new' posthumous album out. They're not going to rush when they can spread it out for YEARS.

They're not going to rush it out, its all rumours at the moment. We're going to have to wait for new music.

if they had an album of releasable new music it would have been out by now. there have been a ton of outtakes from the last 10 years leaked, and none of them are any good, all as crap as invincible

there have however been a load of decent quality outtakes from thriller etc. thriller 25 was an awful release, so maybe they could make amends by doing something like the marvin gaye 2cd reissues with a 2 disc ultimate edition with the full original album, plus b sides, 12"s and outtakes from the sessions. so the full version of lady in my life, the unedited versions from bad, and the full length versions of stuff like starlight. no god damn awful new remixes (although some of the new marvin mixes were excellent and in keeping with the original tapes)

the sessions from the last 10 years that have been leaked (ie. from seven) could be wrapped up along with a 2cd version of invincible

there were stories that he had 100s of unreleased songs tucked away, and instrumental albums etc, but then again there were stories that he slept in an oxygene chamber, owned elephant man bones and molested children, so who can tell if this is true. with all the money he owed, and the potential money that could have been made with a well timed quick release after his death, surely they would have put out something other than "this is it" if they had something of interest. motown put out a whole bunch of stuff from stripped to remixes etc to cash in

Where are they going to source new music though? The archives?

I wish they'd release the stuff he did with Freddie Mercury. One of the three songs they did, Victory, has never been leaked.

A lot of songs will not be mixed or mastered though. I'm sure hundreds of songs or bits and pieces of songs exist but they will not be able to release them. They will need to contact the other owners of the song ie. the producer, any other writers etc. The producer will need to finish mixing the music so that it sounds great. Then there is the job of EQing and mixing Michaels vocals of course.....he's dead so they will have to try and guess how Michael wanted his vocals to sound then they need to master the song so that it really does sound good. In some cases maybe other writers are dead or the producers are dead. Who knows but don't think it is just a case of Michael recording a song and then stashing it away. A lot of work needs to be done. A lot of producers need to be contacted to help finish off the song they want finished off and it will take time.

It's worth noting that Michael did a few sessions with RedOne, the producer/songwriter behind Lady Gaga's The Fame album. He also worked with Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) and others on material that was eventually going to form his next album. It's highly likely we'll hear the recordings at some stage. They just have to work out how to package and sell them for max impact.

Chances are there are enough MJ vocals recorded, even if they were just for demos, for a complete finished album to be constructed around them. Unless there are too many money/rights issues I think they would be stupid not to try and get this record out in time for this November/December. Maybe they could release a brand new song on the anniversary of his death?

There was an unreleased album, on the Interweb, which contained about a dozen tracks. Most, I'm told, were rather boring, saccharine sweet and sub-disco efforts. But, there was one fabled track, a fast-paced effort called Shout * which was described as very innovative, and a sure fire international number one hit.

* This is and original, not the song made famous by Lulu and the Isley Brothers.

Shout was never unreleased. It was a B side to 'Cry.'

i doubt you will hear anything til the sales of This is It have died down. the stuff will get released, rereleased, repackaged, etc for every anniversary celebrating jackson possible.

His back catalogue and unreleased material has milage stretching beyond the horizon and the people standing to make a profit want that goldmine to last for as long as they can

I agree.

This Is It album has sold nearly 5m copies worldwide since it's release in October, which is pretty amazing considering it's another compilation album with one new song and a couple of demos.

The Estate have made hundreds of millions on the back of TII at the box office and the dvd sales, plus with sales of his music from last year (he sold over 25m albums last year) so they are still making excelllent money and sales over his music.

Why the need to rush a new album of music, 8 months after his death? Just because the Estate / Sony are taking their time, doesn't mean there isn't much new music or the quality isn't good like some posters above have said.

One of favourite new MJ song in recent years is 'We've Had Enough', which is on the ultimate collection. A brilliant song!

A New Jackson album is penned for a Summer Release

The Album will consist of 12-16 NEW songs

Songs included will be dated from 2001 (Invincible Outakes) - 2009 Recordings

The Lead track is rumoured to be "Another Day" a track he recorded with Lenny Kravitz

Lenny Kravitz revealed in an interview that "Another Day" would be the lead single off Michaels new album

CANT WAIT!

Shout was the b-side to Cry, and to be honest it was awful. Not one i often listen too

We've Had Enough is fantastic. Was meant to be released but quickly cancelled after the allegations. Its a fantastic song.