As promised, the previously unreleased Michael Jackson song, “This Is It,” taken from the much-anticipated concert film of the same name, premiered at midnight EST.

Based on the title alone (well, that and all the stories I’ve read of how committed Jackson was to pulling out all the stops for his comeback tour), I was expecting a more forceful statement of purpose, something grander. Instead, “This Is It” is the musical equivalent of a carousel, nice enough as it goes round and round, but never building to a grand climax. Jackson’s in good voice, but there’s something about the song’s instrumentation that seems off, the strings in particular:

The soundtrack to This Is It will feature a second version of the track in addition to this one. Because the released take sounds like nice exit music for a film (fitting if that is indeed its role), I’m hoping the other take is an uptempo remix with a lot more life.

Still, I’m totally looking forward to seeing This Is It in theaters at the end of the month, if I can nab a ticket.