MICHAEL JACKSON/MUSIC & ME M767L (-73) US

 His third solo album. It recieved lukewarm rewievs and to today remaining his lowest selling. As the story goes he wished to include his own songs and play instruments at the recordings, but was put down by the Motown staff. He was also going through the puberty voice change at the time which hampered his ability to sing clean. This is the first time I'm hearing it, so I'm curious if that background adversely affected the result or if it's still ok Motown. Listening now I hear a very good production - arrangements, mix and audio all tophole. His voice can sound somewhat strained sometimes, but always in tune. The songs mostly very mellow, nothing  catches at first spin. I dig the more powerful "Johnny Raven" and "Euforia", but to me some of the rest come strangely unremarkable. Far from bad, just lacking that special edge you almost always get from a Motown LP. Fitting to have in the background for slow moments, but not very arresting. Still a keeper as it is the "king of pop" on my favorite label.  Issued and reissued all over the world on every possible format through the years. First UK on Tamla Motown (STML 11235). Japan 2013 remastered CD on Universal Music (UICY-75786). Early US had label as shown here in a fully structured cover. (YZÄ*)  (TÖMÖ*)