Forever, Michael

Forever, Michael
Studio album by Michael Jackson
Released January 16, 1975
Recorded March – December 1974
Genre R&B, pop, soul, pop rock[1]
Length 33:36
Label Motown
Producer Edward Holland, Jr., Brian Holland, Hal Davis, Freddie Perren, Sam Brown III
Michael Jackson chronology
Music & Me
(1973)		 Forever, Michael
(1975)		 The Best of Michael Jackson
(1975)
Singles from Forever, Michael
  1. "We're Almost There"
    Released: February 1975
  2. "Just a Little Bit of You"
    Released: April 1975
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[2]
The Village VoiceA–[3]

Forever, Michael is the fourth studio album by Michael Jackson, released by Motown Records on January 16, 1975. Forever, Michael was generally well received by contemporary music critics. Unlike Jackson's previous studio albums, the album was not commercially successful worldwide. Except for the peak position of number 101 on the Billboard 200 and number 10 on a Billboard component chart in the United States, the album did not chart on any music charts. The album has reportedly sold over one million copies worldwide since its release.[4]

The album, with the length of over 30 minutes, is credited as having songs with R&B, pop, soul and pop rock material. Edward Holland, Jr., Brian Holland, Hal Davis, Freddie Perren, Sam Brown III served as producers to Forever, Michael. As part of promotion for the album, three singles were released from Forever, Michael, all of which were moderate commercial successes on the Billboard Hot 100 and other music charts worldwide. Songs from the album were reissued in 2009 after Jackson's death in June of the same year as part of the 3-disc compilation album entitled, Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection.

Album information

The album was Jackson's fourth as a solo artist and would end up being his final album released with Motown before he and his brothers (The Jackson 5, save for Jermaine, who would remain with Motown) left for CBS Records a year later. This album displayed a change in musical style for the 16-year-old, who adopted a smoother soul sound that he would continue to develop on his later solo records for Epic Records.

Most of the tracks were recorded in 1974, and the album was originally set to be released that year. However, because of demand from the Jackson 5's huge hit "Dancing Machine", production on Jackson's album was delayed until the hype from that song died down.

The album helped return Jackson to the top 40, aided by the singles "We're Almost There" and "Just a Little Bit of You", both written by the Holland Brothers (Eddie and Brian) of Holland–Dozier–Holland.

In 1981, Motown released "One Day in Your Life" as a single, coupled with the One Day in Your Life compilation album release, to capitalize off Jackson's Off the Wall success on Epic. The single went to number one in the UK, becoming the 6th best-selling single of 1981 in the UK. This is the only Jackson studio album that doesn't share a name with one of the songs on the album.

The compact disc version of the album removes the white border around the photograph of Jackson from the album cover, and instead makes the image larger so that the background can not be seen. Furthermore, the "FOREVER, MICHAEL" text is changed to more simple text which lists both "MICHAEL JACKSON" and "Forever, Michael" in a different font.

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "We're Almost There" (recorded December 1974)Edward Holland, Jr., Brian Holland 3:41
2. "Take Me Back" (recorded October 1974)Edward Holland, Jr., Brian Holland 3:29
3. "One Day in Your Life" (recorded October – December 1974, at the Motown Studio, Los Angeles, California)Sam Brown III, Renée Armand 4:15
4. "Cinderella Stay Awhile" (recorded November 1974)Mack David, Michael Burnett Sutton 3:11
5. "We've Got Forever" (recorded October 1974)Mack David, Elliot Willensky 3:12
6. "Just a Little Bit of You" (recorded October 1974 & January 1975, at the Motown Studio, Los Angeles, California)Edward Holland, Jr., Brian Holland 3:14
7. "You Are There" (recorded November 1974)Sam Brown III, Randy Meitzenheimer, Christine Yarian 3:23
8. "Dapper-Dan" (freestyle) (recorded November 1974)Hal Davis, Royce Esters, Don Fletcher 3:08
9. "Dear Michael" (recorded December 1974, at the Motown Studio, Los Angeles, California)Hal Davis, Elliot Willensky 2:37
10. "I'll Come Home to You" (recorded December 1973)Freddie Perren, Christine Yarian 3:05

Personnel

Chart positions

Album

Charts (1975) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[6] 101
US Billboard R&B Albums[6] 10

References

  1. 1 2 Ruhlmann, William. "allmusic ((( Forever, Michael > Overview )))". Rovi Corporation. Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  2. ↑ Greenblatt, Leah (2009-07-03). "Michael Jackson's Albums". Entertainment Weekly. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  3. ↑ Christgau, Robert (March 17, 1975). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  4. ↑ Chery, Carl: XXL: Michael Jackson Special Collecters Edition, page 100. American Press.
  5. ↑ "allmusic ((( Forever, Michael > Credits )))". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
  6. 1 2 "allmusic ((( Michael Jackson > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
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