Making Michael: Inside the Career of Michael Jackson

If you want a book that treats Michael Jackson as a serious artist, musical mastermind, and corporate entity rather than a tabloid caricature, Making Michael is the absolute gold standard. Mike Smallcombe’s forensic approach strips away the media circus to focus on studio manifests, contracts, and engineering accounts, completely changing how you hear the albums when you put your headphones on. The book acts as a time machine, allowing you to rediscover the music layer by layer. It tracks the heartwarming, joyful creation of Off the Wall into Thriller, where Michael’s confidence grew and his internal musical genius truly began to shine. It details the funkier, rock-and-roll edge of Bad and the monumental Dangerous era where Michael completely took the reins of production, packed with brilliant studio anecdotes like the soundboard accident on the Dangerous demo. The HIStory chapter is a mesmerizing standout, showing how Michael weaponized a turbulent era into his most brilliantly angry, honest album, before flowing into an intense, intriguing defense of Invincible—a phenomenal album that deserved far more promotion than it received. Smallcombe doesn't paint a picture of a flawless saint or a helpless victim; he presents a complicated human being with an uncompromising agenda to create perfection. The book brilliantly captures how Michael's stubbornness and lack of compromise could work against him, while fiercely holding the industry accountable. It pulls no punches in showing how predatory management, labels, and handlers played him dirty, forensically exposing the math behind the corporate traps like the This Is It contract. Though the story ends in undeniable tragedy, it leaves you inspired by a creator who never stopped innovating right up until his final breath. He had an agenda to create the best music ever made, and he succeeded. His music will live forever. I am incredibly grateful to the author for this book and cannot recommend it enough.

love the book

Great book on Michael Jackson

as an mj and music fan really liked this book. deals mostly with music making without being too technical and has lots of facts u may not know. maybe with editing cud have been tightened up a bit but for non fiction no prob.

This book is written very well, albeit a couple of things were repeated it nonetheless offers an insight into the creation of songs and albums that no other book has ever touched upon. Interviews with those who worked so closely with Michael Jackson are informative and having read many books on MJ I discovered so much that's new. This book has you hooked right from the very start as you follow the superstar's career from start right through to his tragic early death with no stone unturned. A must read for any MJ fan and for those who have an admiration for a man so complex through his genius and perfectionism. Not so many photos and with such a detailed book there doesn't need to be. Great front cover image and the book has a great feel to it, good choice of stock.

Was hoping for a different kind of content. These were most recollections of Michael's life by others and I was hoping for more content from MJ himself.

This book is brilliant. Its so insightful and very detailed. Finally a book talking about the magic that was Michael Jacksons music and not his personal life. I've waited so long for a book talking about ONLY his music and how everything was created. From Off The Wall right up until Invincible, work on every album is extremely detailed & also detailed on songs that never made it onto any albums. highly recommend this book to any and every Michael Jackson fan! RIP Michael Jackson!

This is an amazing book for fans of Michael's MUSIC. Focusing on how the albums are made and all the technical aspects surrounding them. Incredible detail on sound design, how different versions of songs on the BAD album emerged etc. A couple of curious ommissions surrounding the Remixes and MJ's attitude towards them, but otherwise all the other allegations and gossip surrounding MJ takes a back seat and is only mentioned to establish his mindframe for when he made, say, the HIStory album. Amazing detail for anyone interested in the actual music.

This is one of the few books I wholeheartedly recommend to genuine Michael Jackson fans—far from the sensationalized tabloid material out there. It offers a deep and respectful look into his work, artistry, and creative genius, reminding us why he's considered the greatest entertainer the world has ever seen. If you truly admire MJ for his legacy and talent, this book is a must-read.

Excellent book. Jackson was a perfectionist visionary who worked with some of the talented people in the music industry. He developed sophisticated music videos ans broke the color barrier on MTV. This book is about Jackson’s artistry - brilliant, driven, and ahead of his time.

Well Written very interesting book about Michael Jackson. It says it is based on fact, and seems to be. It certainly changed my perception of Michael Jackson. I had some negative thoughts, and I thought he probably was guilty of child molestation, but after reading this book, I now see him as a very sensitive man-child who needed lots of therapy but seems "gentle", honest and hard working. I think he was taken advantage by a lot of people, and definitely extorted by the Chandler family who got $20 million from Michael. It is very sad and unfortunate that he was not followed properly by a doctor for most of his life and certainly at the end of it. I read a sample of Dr. Murray's book and it sounds pompous, narcistic and untrue. Mr. Smallcombe's book has made me think that Michael Jackson was a true genius, and indeed probably was a great father, as his children now attest. I think it is definitely worth reading and I enjoyed it a lot. Has a few photos.

So well researched and well put together with a chronology easy to follow, this book puts the focus where it should be: on the art, the music, from one of the great composers history has given us. This is one of the books that any fan of Jackson, or just a fan of art and great musicians, must have in their collection.

As MJ fan I am happy 😊. But there's no real price mentioned on the book.