but looks can be deceiving. I suppose it's understandable that devoted fans of Michael Jackson would automatically assign 5 stars to a release with two discs from Epic/Legacy (Sony) containing 38 tracks and, admittedly, one of the better pictures of him taken before things started to droop.

And, certainly, it delivers quite a package in terms of his biggest hits as a solo artist. However, in view of the fact he had close to 50 of those, why did they feel it necessary to include seven tracks from his days as part of The Jackson 5/The Jacksons? (these are tracks 1 to 3, 7 to 9 and 14 on disc 1). It's not as if there aren't already enough compilations covering that aspect of his career from the same distributors!

In taking that approach they omitted some significant solo efforts such as I Wanna Be Where You Are (# 2 R&B/# 16 Hot 100 in 1972), Just A Little Bit Of You (# 4 R&B/# 23 Hot 100 in 1975), Jam (# 3 R&B/# 26 Hot 100 with Heavy D in 1992); Scream (# 2 R&B/# 5 Hot 100 in 1995 with Janet), and They Don't Care About Us (# 10 R&B/# 30 Hot 100 in 1996). The added omission of the late 1983 # 1 Hot 100 (for 6 weeks) and # 2 R&B duet with Paul McCartney, Say Say Say, is simply due to the fact that that came out on Columbia, and this covers mostly his Epic releases (although some Motown cuts are here as well).

The 8-page fold-out insert also has plus and minuses. On the plus side is the discography and sessionography of the contents covering four full pages and, on the reverse, the four pages of photographs showing him performing, including a kind of neat one of a very young Michael decked out in a suit and fedora holding onto a lamp post which, of course, will conjure up memories of Frank Sinatra. But I think a couple of those pages could have been sacrificed in order to extend the rather meagre one page of liner notes, written by the noted author/music critic Nelson George.

It's a very good compilation that could just as easily have been turned into an excellent one.

This cd was the bomb and i love both disks! Even the one with the group on it. "Blame it on the Boogie" is my number one song. I love to dance and i get down on that song. Great condition..I love it and thanks again.

This is an excellant product for those of us who grew up with Michael Jackson. The selections take you from his years with Jackson 5 up until the present.

I'm one of the great '69 babies. I purchased this c.d. last year and gave it to a friend of mine who lives on the west coast before I had even listened to the second disc, and before I had a chance to load it on my Itunes. This c.d. is priceless. I procrastinated and life got hectic, as it does sometimes. But I was driving to work last week and all of a sudden "Can You Feel It?" popped into my head! I remember when my brothers and sisters came home from The Jacksons concert. They couldn't stop talking about it! And last week I could not get that song out of my head. I was immediately remorseful for having taken so long to repurchase The Essential Michael Jackson. I jumped on Amazon and had it in my hands two days later (courtesy of Amazon Prime). I have NOT stopped playing it. I've seen people driving next to me looking into my car as I'm singing to the top of my lungs, moving my hands and my body. This is what good music is all about. Thanks Mike, and thanks to the whole Jackson family for giving us consistently good music for decades. My c.d. player honors you.

When I first saw this CD, I just rolled my eyes and thought how sad it was that ANOTHER Michael Jackson greatest hits album was made. I mean, wasn't HIStory, Number Ones, and The Ultimate Collection enough?

However, two years after that, I was convinced to buy this CD and I was blown away! All those previous greatest hits albums that I mentioned are fine, but failed to include some of my favorite songs that are (in my opinion) better than a lot of the songs that made it into the Top 10. ALL of my favorite songs are on here! And most of them weren't even included in the "Ultimate Collection" box set! "Will You Be There", "In The Closet", "Heal The World", "Leave Me Alone", "Another Part Of Me", "Can You Feel It", "Blame It On The Boogie", "Rockin' Robin", plus the original versions of "Who Is It" and "Dangerous."

I'm telling you, even if you have all the MJ greatest hits albums out there, GET THIS ONE!!! It's the best one yet! Your money will not be wasted.