In an attempt to explain what makes this album worth purchasing, I will break it down to 5 simple words: "It's all about the Sound." While it is true that the first CD of this album is a compilation of MJ's greatest hits, it needs to be pointed out that the majority of these songs have been remastered. In order to discern the difference, I took the original and remastered versions of these songs, and played them side-by-side on the same audio equipment with exactly the same settings. The difference is clear and easy to detect. As good as the originals are, once you hear the remastered versions, the originals sound flat and dull. The remastered versions are crisper, deeper, and fuller. It is simply wonderful to be able to hear how much more amazing these classic songs can sound. I have heard these songs hundreds of times over the years, and yet, after listening to these remastered versions, I felt like I was really hearing them for the first time. To all those who love MJ's music, please don't discount this album simply because these songs have been available for years in their earlier versions. These new versions are absolutely fantastic!

As for the demos on the 2nd CD, they are absolute treasures. Hearing the early versions of these songs takes you inside MJ's creative process, which is a rare and special treat. While the song, "This Is It" isn't a towering achievement like "Thriller," it is a lovely song with a catchy tune that will stick in your head.

Regarding the spoken poem, "Planet Earth," MJ released a book back in 1992 called, "Dancing The Dream." This book was a compilation of poetry and short essays that MJ wrote. The poem "Planet Earth" is one of the poems from this book. Despite the fact that I had read the poem many times, hearing MJ himself actually reading the poem was both beautiful and heart-wrenching. MJ was a visionary, and this is readily apparent when you hear the emotion and depth in his voice as he reads his love poem to the Earth. Do yourself a favor--buy this album, and treat yourself to the wonderful, creative genius of the greatest entertainer who ever lived, Michael Jackson--the King of Pop.

This is a great collection of hits from MJ, and if you take a close listen, you will see that almost all of the songs he selected for his concert have a message. They are not all number ones, but the majority of them tell us something about his philosophy. The exceptions are Thriller and Billie Jean, which were included of course because they are the bestsellers and great dance hits.

Regarding the demos - worth buying the whole album for these. I bought both the CD from Amazon for a keepsake and the iTunes unbundled selection that includes only the demos and poem.

She's out of My Life - "unplugged" version sung to acoustic guitar. Can't wait to get the booklet so I can find out who was playing guitar. It's amazing and so moving.

Wanna Be Startin Something - great to have for the ending, which in this demo has even more energy than the final version because you can hear the individual instruments. What a treat.

Beat It - this shows you the architecture of MJ's song building where he lays down his own vocals to show how the instrumentation should sound.

Planet Earth - gives me goosebumps. It's incredibly intimate, very sensual and unique. MJ had a brilliant mind and this gives you a glimpse. Plus I love hearing his spoken voice.

This is It - I've heard all the critics, but I LOVE this song and even though it was written years ago, the lyrics are like a tribute to MJ's legacy. The vocals are wonderful, especially considering it was an out-take and has minimal production. This is raw MJ.

I was hoping this would have been actual recordings from the staples center and movie but its just re-releases from the past. The second disc has barely anything on it , they could have filled it with out-takes and other stuff from the past ... clearly a rush job , I expect a more definitive cd collection with rarities and remixes that never made the other albums will be available but this cd really has nothing to do with the movie ... not one track is from the actual rehearsals before his death..... they could have made the second cd the rehearsal while the first cd the masters and I would have been ok with that as well... but this is just a get something out there now disc and really brings nothing new other than the Paul Anka stuff.

I was expecting a little more from a two disc set.

I just got back from seeing This is It, I bought the CD yesterday, at first I thought the same thing as everyone else, that the cd was just a whole bunch of songs I already own, which it is actually. I guess it is just the powers that be way of making the fans feel as if the were a part of the concert experience? Every song that is on the cd is in the same order in the film.

P.S.

This is It was AMAZING!...MJ was in rare form he was going to explode on that stage in London!...R.I.P -M.J.J.

I have most of the songs on this CD in mp3s. But the CD has wav quality music in it and I really appreciate the clarity of the songs. This disc has a lot of "new upcoming" MJ fans in mind who never bought his old albums or best of albums. The extras on the disc were marvelous. I generally am happy with this. The booklet is great too.

I miss MJ.