Michael Jackson, Xscape, review: 'A mediocre posthumous album'

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Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

Michael Jackson’s final years were marked by hubris, morally dubious behaviour and exhaustion.

Giving that life a zombie extension with a second posthumous album of out-takes, “contemporised” by current producers, seems an awful idea.

It turns out to be a mediocre one.

“Love Never Felt So Good”, a 1983 Paul Anka co-write, sweeps in on lush Philly strings, while never suggesting it should have been added to Thriller.

The boy-man who supposedly never grew up is elsewhere haunted by adult concerns. “Xscape” finds him spied on, resentful and judged. On “Slave to the Rhythm”, his voice flutters like a trapped bird.

His talent survives in these songs. So does its fatal fracture.

Download: Love Never Felt So Good, A Place With No Name, Xscape, Do You Know Where Your Children Are