Wow. Michael Jackson couldn?t have bought the publicity he is getting for “Ones,” his greatest hits album, which was released the same week that he was forced to turn himself in on child molestation charges.

In almost every article, the bizarre timing of this album is mentioned. In a statement by Jackson, he even says these charges are surfacing to hurt this album.

Had there been no charges, it is possible that nobody would have ever knew this album existed. After all, most of these songs already appeared on his other greatest hits album released in the 90s, “History.” There is a new track called “One More Chance,” but radio stations have had the opportunity to play this for sometime, and chose not to. (The song was produced by R. Kelly, who has charges of his own to deal with.)

First week sales should be around 100,000, but they probably would have been much lower if the album was released a week ago, before the seemingly 24-hour-a-day Jackson coverage.

With the stories aside, the music can stand alone and there is no denying Jackson’s influence on music. Ask any mainstream artist who their biggest music influence is, and chances are they will say Jackson.

Call it a coincidence, call it a conspiracy, but don’t call it a comeback.

Epic/Sony






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