The Myserious Melodies Of Michael Jackson

The facts are these:

1. Michael Jackson is dead.
2. Michael Jackson has a new album coming out in December.

The first single from that album has been released and it's creating quite a stir. But not for the obvious reasons.

Many are saying that it's not Michael singing on the record--including his two children, his nephews, and LaToya. Reps from the Sony, who is releasing the record, say that they have "complete confidence" that the singer is indeed the late King of Pop.

Posthumous records are nothing new. Tupac released many albums after his demise, which people thought to be fake. The truth is Tupac recorded non-stop and left enough material to create those albums. So it's possible that Michael Jackson did record an unfinished album in 2007, which is just seeing the light of day now. But one can't deny that this track doesn't have the feel of an MJ song. Is the over-dubbing and over-processing of the music a result of not having the singer available to finish the track, or is it a bunch of people trying to cash in on the late singer's valuable name?

Take a listen and weigh in below.

48 Hours Of Halloween 2010: Hour Twenty-One

Here's the video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller:"

Michael Jackson Invades The Wii And New York

Zombies dancing to Michael Jackson music isn't anything novel for anyone who's seen the "Thriller" video. But how about a Storm Trooper? Or Spider-Man? How about Chewbacca? I was amongst those who saw these glorious sights when first entering the convention floor of this year's New York Comic Con.

Later this fall, Ubisoft is coming out with "Michael Jackson: The Experience" video game that does for Michael Jackson fans what Rock Band did for Guns N' Roses fanatics. They took over a section of the Con with a giant booth demonstrating the game.

In the game, players hold the Wii-mote in their hand and the object is to mimic the moves of the virtual Michael on the screen. From the looks of it, they've covered most of Michael's songs and his styles from each era. (Though the emphasis appears to be on the earlier stuff when Michael was less... um... creepy.)

I'll never tell if I ended up demoing the game myself. But here's a peek at others in action from the floor of NYCC:

Better Album: Thriller vs. Purple Rain

Hello and welcome to our first installment of Criss Cross Counter Punch. Today, Archphoenix and Chag debate which was the better album: Thriller or Purple Rain.

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Archphoenix: Don't get me wrong, I love me some Prince, especially Purple Rain. His purple funkness is quite a talented musician. But Thriller remains, for me anyway, the best pop album, pretty much ever.

Thriller is the best selling album of all time. Seven of the album's nine songs were released as singles and all seven songs hit Billboard's top ten list. The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy awards. I know, I know, just because it sells doesn't mean it's necessarily good (i.e. Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Nickleback, etc.). But in this case, the fact that it still sells ridiculously well 25 years later is a testament to the longevity of the album.