There are just as many ways to exploit the dead as there are to
honor them. This 12-song collection of Michael Jackson’s Motown-era
hits remixed by mostly B-list producers falls somewhere in between.
Some songs (like “I Wanna Be Where You Are,” reworked by Dallas Austin
as a glowing ray of pop sunshine) thrive within their new formats; some
(like Akon’s clunky “Ben” remix) don’t. The best cuts on The Remix
Suite are the ones that don’t mess around too much with the
original recordings by Jackson and the Jackson 5: “Never Can Say
Goodbye” and “Maybe Tomorrow” are still powered by Jackson (who was
barely in his teens) and his powerful voice. And do we really need two
remixes of the way-too-obvious “Dancing Machine”? Depends on how you
feel about posthumous money-grabbing projects like this. —
Michael Gallucci
This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2009.
