AMG Review of Michael Jackson's This Is It

Mark Deming
All Music Guide

In 1983, Michael Jackson recorded "This Is It," a song he composed with songwriter Paul Anka, and when rehearsal footage for Jackson's planned concert residency at London's O2 Arena was turned into a tribute documentary in the wake of his death, the previously lost tune became the movie's title number. Selections from Michael Jackson's This Is It is an EP drawn from the film's soundtrack album; it featured the single version of "This Is It," an alternate mix featuring an orchestra, rare demo recordings of "She's Out of My Life," "Beat It," and "Wanna Be Startin' Something," and Jackson reciting his poem "Planet Earth."