Michael Jackson was already ‘king’ as a singing young boy.

They’re the opposite of late bloomers. Their stars shone early in their life when they’re not yet pressured by the real world to prove their worth. Below are two classic examples of child excellence. One is a group enlightening the world through heavenly harmonies. The other was a genius of the past who went on to become the pop king as adult.

MJ’s “Stripped Mixes” showcases a striking voice bound to be King.

It can be argued that minus Michael Jackson’s pre-Off The Wall career, he could still have achieved his status as the King of Pop. But one thing is sure, it would have been a big miss if the world didn’t hear his voice as a pre-teen.

The MCA-released MJ tribute “The Stripped Mixes” is one album that his die hard fans and doubters (if there’s any) should hear if they want to get goosbumps hearing how arresting his voice was even as a boy. Here his vocal is more “in front” than it was in the old Motown recordings. The idea is to let his “unplugged passion” slip through with more emphasis, sometimes with just bass accompaniment. Listening to the opening song “I’ll Be There” is like hearing MJ confidently auditioning his voice for a crack to be known as the greatest entertainer ever. His voice is too naturally powerful and moving it can’t be doubted he was really spectacular like no other.

The 11-track CD includes his solo classic “Ben” and those he did as lead singer of Jackson 5 such as “ABC,” “I Want You Back,” “Never Can Say Goodbye,” and “Who’s Loving You.”

The grown-up version of this tribute collection is Sony Music’s “This Is It.” This two-CD package features the original album masters of some of MJ’s hits as a moonwalker which appeared in the concert rehearsal movie of the same title. If you have seen it on theaters, this is an accompanying piece of remembrance where the song sequence is similar to how it is on the film.

The first disc ends with two versions of the song “This Is It” which is soundtrack to the closing credits. Second disc boasts of never-heard demo versions of “She’s Out Of My Life,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” and “Beat It.” Plus a spoken word poem by MJ called “Planet Earth” which appeared on the sleeve of the album “Dangerous.”

The collector’s item has likewise a 36-page commemorative booklet with photos from the now widely-watched show rehearsal. It’s a timely buy as “This Is It” is still in movie houses, wowing audiences around the globe as it is essentially regarded as MJ’s “final curtain call.”

Angelic voices and faces of Libera

Members of the young, handsome vocal group “Libera” were in town last month and did a couple of shows including one at the PICC. Their two CD-greatest hits should sound a good purchase for Filipinos who have seen and heard them sing live.

EMI released a double CD of their greatest hits, understandably because they’re world-renowned particularly in the US, Great Britain, Japan, and Korea. For pop listeners, it is a treasure-found hearing their version of Enya’s “Orinoco Flow.” The mood of the track which opened Disc 2 didn’t deviate from the popular take, but it is even more exciting considering that the voices have come from very young people.

Running through the repertoire is super relaxing to the ears, especially with the beautiful harmonies coming from a boy group globally recognized for its live act. One of the kids stressed that deep passion is what drives them to excellence. “The traveling and filming is fun but even if we didn’t go anywhere I’d still want to do it because I just love singing.”

“The Best of Libera” has new numbers namely, “You Were There,” “Mother Of God, “Gaudete,” “Sempiterna” – the remix, “How Can I Keep from Singing?,” and “Heaven.”