Easily the best of the of posthumous
Michael Jackson-related collections released in 2009,
I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters unearths 12 cuts from the Motown vaults that have somehow managed to not see the light of day despite many repackagings and reissues. To an extent, this is an indeed a collection of odds and ends, items that never saw release because they didn't fit elsewhere or, in the case of backing tracks for live TV performances of "Never Can Say Goodbye" and a medley of "I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save," they were never meant to be heard in this fashion. These two cuts have good, safe vocals from
Michael, but they're not as bracing as a considerably different vocal arrangement of "ABC" -- an arrangement not nearly as good as what wound up on the release, but it's fascinating to hear the music being worked out. The other alternate here is an extended version of "Dancing Machine" -- enjoyable, but not that different -- but it's eclipsed by the previously unreleased cuts here: the creamy
Stevie Wonder original "Buttercup," two terrific pieces of bubblegum-soul from the Corporation ("That's How Love Is," "Love Comes in Different Flavors"), some cinematic soul from Bobby Taylor ("Listen I'll Tell You How"), and bright, snappy funk on
Willie Hutch's "Love Call." Compared to the classic
Jackson Five singles, these do pale slightly, but taken on their own merits -- and seen in the wake of strained pieces of product like
Michael Jackson's
The Stripped Mixes -- they're dynamite, proof of how joyous and irresistible the
Jackson 5 were at their peak. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine