Another Day (Michael Jackson song)
Encyclopedia
" Another Day" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

, released onto the posthumous album Michael
Michael (album)
Michael is a posthumous album of previously unreleased tracks by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released from December 10, 2010 - January 14, 2011 by Epic Records and Sony Music Entertainment and features guest performances by Akon, 50 Cent, Lenny Kravitz and Dave Grohl...

which as of April 2011 has sold 3 million globally. Initially leaked as a 90-second snippet, it was referred to as "Another Day". Shortly after the leak, singer-songwriter Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...

 confirmed that he had produced and composed "Another Day"; he stated that although he did not leak the song, he would like to have the full version of the song—in which he also features—officially released. Kravitz later referred to the song as "(I Can't Make It) Another Day" on Facebook prior to the release of the Michael album. The song was recorded for the album Invincible, but dropped from the final tracklist. It was later re-written and re-titled "Storm", a collaboration between Kravitz and rapper Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...

 which is featured on the former's 2004 album Baptism
Baptism (Lenny Kravitz album)
Baptism is the seventh studio album by American rock musician Lenny Kravitz, released on May 17, 2004, by Virgin Records America. It reached #14 on the Billboard 200 and #74 on the UK Albums Chart...

.

Shortly after the leak, both Jackson's estate and record label, Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....

, revealed that they were in the process of removing "Another Day" from the Internet for copyright reasons. Despite successful attempts, the song has continued to be re-uploaded to the Internet and listened to thousands of times. "Another Day" is the second Jackson track to be posthumously leaked, as it follows "A Place with No Name
A Place With No Name
"A Place with No Name" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. A 24—second snippet of the full song was released posthumously by website TMZ.com in July 2009, three weeks after the singer's death. The track resembles "A Horse with No Name", a hit song by rock band America...

", which was unofficially released in July 2009.

Background

In June 2009, singer Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

 died
Death of Michael Jackson
On June 25, 2009, American singer Michael Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication after he suffered a respiratory arrest at his home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles. His personal physician, Conrad Murray, said he found Jackson in his room, not breathing, but with a faint pulse,...

 at the age of 50 following cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...

. Three weeks after Jackson's death, celebrity news website TMZ.com
TMZ.com
TMZ.com is a celebrity news website that debuted on November 8, 2005. It was a collaboration between America Online and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. However, it is still affiliated with AOL News and has the AOL News logo affixed in...

 (who were the first media outlet to report his death) obtained a 24-second snippet of a song entitled "A Place with No Name", and released it on the Internet. At the time of the leak there were news reports that there was a "vast vault" and "dozens and dozens" of unreleased Jackson songs that could be issued for several years to come. The curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

, Jim Henke, commented that any future Jackson releases would receive a significant amount of attention, stating, "What we have seen happen in the last three weeks is that the albums that are out here right now are selling in amazing numbers. I think we are going to see amazing interest in any released Michael Jackson material that will come out in the future or a year from now on."

After Jackson's death, rock musician Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...

 wrote a letter about the late singer that was published by AOL Music's website Spinner.com
Spinner.com
Spinner is an AOL Music property, which bills itself as "the ultimate music blog for free MP3s, free CD listening, [and] discovering new artists."...

. In it he spoke of collaborating with Jackson on an unspecified song: "I got to work with Michael on a track that has not been released and it was the most amazing experience I've had in the studio. He was funny. Very funny and we laughed the whole time." Kravitz added, "He was a beautiful human being."

On December 10, 2010, the song was officially released on the posthumous album Michael
Michael (album)
Michael is a posthumous album of previously unreleased tracks by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released from December 10, 2010 - January 14, 2011 by Epic Records and Sony Music Entertainment and features guest performances by Akon, 50 Cent, Lenny Kravitz and Dave Grohl...

. It features more vocals and instrumentation.

Leak and music

A 90-second snippet of a song called "Another Day" was leaked onto the Internet in January 2010. It features the vocals of Michael Jackson and Winnipeg Free Press stated the song originated from TMZ.com. At the beginning of the leaked snippet, two DJs, one calling himself Kels, are name-checked. The full song is said to feature both Jackson and Kravitz, with the Huffington Post insisting that while the latter does not appear on the snippet of "Another Day", the song is a duet between the two musicians.

Gil Kaufman of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 spoke of the snippet's composition, proclaiming that it had a "thumping R&B beat and soaring strings". She stated that "the tune rides a grinding R&B beat" as Jackson sings in a "plaintive falsetto": "My life has taken me beyond the planets and the stars/ And you're the only one that could take me this far/ I'll be forever searching for your love." Kaufman noted that Jackson became more forceful during the chorus, when he sang, "You're the one that makes me strong / I can't make it another day / You're the fire that keeps me warm / I can't make it another day." The journalist also noted the lyrical and melodical similarities between "Another Day" and "Storm", which features Kravitz singing, "I walked away but I was wrong / You're the one that keeps me strong / You're the fire that keeps me warm / How will I get through this storm?"

Response

The song had not been intended for release and Jackson's record label Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....

 gained the support of the late entertainer's estate and its lawyers in their endeavor to have the track removed from the Internet on the basis of copyright infringement. Some of their attempts at removal were successful, though individuals continued to upload the audio, one clip garnering 20,000 views within hours.

Following the leak, Kravitz discussed the song in a video he uploaded to the social networking site Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

. He confirmed that he had written, produced and played instruments on the song, as well as record it with Jackson. Kravitz stated that he was not responsible for the unofficial release, as his copy "has been locked up in a vault". He noted that the two DJs on the snippet were not involved in the recording process, stating, "I don't know what their purpose is, but that person has nothing to do with the track." Kravitz reflected that working with Jackson had been "one of the most amazing musical experiences" that he had ever had. "It was done by two people who had respect for each other and who love music — that was it." The singer-songwriter concluded that "Another Day" had not been mixed or completed but added that he hoped the full song would be released and heard "the way me and Michael intended it to be".

Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews. Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

said the song "galvanizes him further", yielding the album (Michael
Michael
Michael is a given name that comes from the , derived from the Hebrew question מי כמו אלוהים? meaning "Who is like God?" In English, it is sometimes shortened to Mike, Mikey, or, especially in Ireland, Mick...

)'s "most genuinely fierce moment". Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

review the song as "a faint echo of vintage rock-oriented Jackson tracks such as Dirty Diana
Dirty Diana
"Dirty Diana" is a song by American songwriter and recording artist Michael Jackson that is featured on Jackson's seventh studio album, Bad. The song was released by Epic Records on April 18, 1988 as the fifth single from Bad. The song presented a harder rock sound similar to that of "Beat It" from...

 and Beat It
Beat It
"Beat It" is a song written and performed by American recording artist Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones . It is the third single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller . Eddie Van Halen was hired to add the song's distinctive overdriven guitar solo, but was prevented by his...

". , "but the song, featuring Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...

 on drums, wouldn't feel out of place on one of his own records." Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

also draw a comparasion with this song and Dirty Diana. Jason Lipshutz with Gail Mitchell and Gary Graff from Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

said the song developed an industrial rock groove that was a bit reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...

, "Jackson bellows on the chorus, as guitars envelop his voice and Kravitz repeats the song title like a lullaby," and the song "highlighted by some spectacular percussion courtesy of Dave Grohl."

Negative reviews came from Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, he said "of exactly the standard you might expect from a track that failed to make the cut for his worst solo album." Huw Jones of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...

thought the song "a gutless rock track with dull guest spots from Lenny Kravitz and Dave Grohl."

Personnel

  • Written and produced: Lenny Kravitz
  • Co-produced: Michael Jackson
  • Lead and Background vocals: Michael Jackson
  • Background vocals: Lenny Keavitz
  • 12-String Electric Guitar: Craig Ross
  • Drums: Dave Grohl (credited but did not actually perform)
  • Electric Guitar, Bass, Mini Moog, String and Horn Samples, Timpani, Gong: Lenny Kravitz
  • Drum Programming and Noise: David Barron and Lenny Kravitz
  • Synthesizer Programming: David Baron
  • Programming: Craig Ross
  • Mixed: Lenny Kravitz
  • Arranged: Lenny Kravitz
  • Studio Technician and Additional Synthesizer Programming: Alex Alvarez

See also


External links

  • Lenny Kravitz discusses the song at his official YouTube
    YouTube
    YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

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