HIStory - Past, Present and Future Book 1

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
iHIStory/i's two CDs (one hits, the other new) were Jackson's attempt to connect his glorious past to a dodgy present and--given it's commercial and artistic performance--cast a shadow on his future. Conceived as his formal coronation as the "King of Pop", iHIStory/i's second disc instead presents Jackson as an epauletted, single-gloved Richard III. By turns paranoid, angry, bitter, sentimental, and, in one instance, possibly anti-Semitic, iHIStory/i was less a collection of songs than a case history. A few tracks--mostly those produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis--are sleek, modern pop/soul, but too much of iHIStory/i has the overblown vacuousness of a musician who knows his time is past, but is unsure as to how to react to the situation. i--Steven Mirkin /i

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Customer reviews

review by: Northolt_John date: 2009-07-03 rating:
Half an album!!
I did not see the point in marrying up old hits with the new offerings as a bulky double CD package at the time (1995) and still don't to this day, book 1 gave some hint that MJ was going to follow up with another compilation perhaps from the 'BAD' era of his career, that said, disc 2 contains some surprisingly punchy, catchy and eclectic tunes, Stranger in Moscow it has to be said is sublime in it's melody and tempo and worked well with the BW video promo of a rain-soaked New York Avenue (not Moscow), 'They Don't Care About Us' shows what can be done with some Rio drum rhythms mixed with some rudimentary synth sounds, even MJ's rendition of 'Come Together' is the best version I've heard outside of the Beatles, I think MJ had a lot more inside the locker to give, but obviously family commitments and contractual problems did not allow him to pursue this until 2001.

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review by: date: 2009-05-29 rating:
best
bought as present for family member updating from cassette as fan and has tickets to see at 02

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review by: mattysettle date: 2009-05-01 rating:
Jackson at his BEST!
Easily my favourite album out of his whole catalogue br / br /Cd1: Most of his greatest hits, and the songs aren't shortened like most of his other compilations that have been brought out recently. Wanna be startin somethin is just the icing on the cake :) br / br /Cd2: Another fantastic studio album! Michael had to deal with a lot of beef going on in his life at the time and some of the songs from it; scream, money, DS, this time around, really dealt with it well and let his feelings be known! br / br /ALways has been my favourite album of all time. If you want to look for some of his collection that is different to all his classic albums then this is the one to buy!

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review by: date: 2009-01-01 rating:
This album will always go down in HIStory as one of his greatest
Having only just got into Michael Jackson, and enquired four of the greatest albums ever made ("Off The Wall", "Thriller", "Bad", and "Dangerous"), a long with his mix album, "Blood On The Dance Floor" and "Invincible", and loving every single one of them, I realised I still had one more album to get, his great double album ("HIStory"), perhaps one of the greatest double albums of all time, up there with the Beatles "White Album". br / br /As most people know the album contains two CDs - the first one is entitled "HIStory Begins", and every single one of these 15 songs needs no introduction because most people have heard them since they have first been able to turn on a radio. All the great songs from his past career are here, ("Billie Jean", "Bad", "Black Or White", Man In The Mirror", "Thriller", "Beat It" and "Heal The World"). Every single one of these songs are fantastic in their own right and stand up on their own as some of the greatest songs ever recorded. The only complaint I have of this greatest hits section is the fact that they have left off one of his greatest songs ever, "Smooth Criminal". Apart from that, this a real 5-star album. br / br /The second disc on this CD ("HIStory Continues") is the most interesting as they are a collection of totally new songs, except of course "Come Together" which was done in 1987 for the "Bad" album. All of these songs are amazing and showcase Michael's great genius and ability to produce songs outside the barrier of being great and take them into a whole new world. br / br /To hear him singing a duet with his sister, Janet, is wonderful and shows how great his voice goes together with other artists. Like a lot of the other songs on this album, the lyrics, music and vocals seem to portray an idea of anger that came from Jackson's experience with the tabloid press. "They Don't Care About Us" is one of his most angry songs ever and is very upsetting to hear a man who has brought the world nothing but happiness pour out all of his anger and emotion into this song, but Jackson does it in a way so that we will always follow him and stand by him. br / br /There are of course his two great number ones presented here: "You Are Not Alone" and "Earth Song". Both showcase Jackson's great vocal ability and "Earth Song" is one of his most powerful songs ever, with the chrous being one of the best in the history of music. Other songs that deserve a mention are "Childhoood", which is very heartbreaking to listen to because anyone who knows about Jackson knows that he missed out on a lot of his childhood because of the Jackson 5. br / br /My favourite song on this album and perhaps one of my favourite Michael Jackson songs ever is the title track. This is genius personified. Everything is in here. There is a lot to take in, but because it is Jackson, you don't mind going on the journey with him. The song also presents a major theme with Michael - the idea of peace. The line from the song "how many children have to die before we start loving our brothers?" is one we all should ask every day because how many more people do have to die before we all stop trying to kill each other. br / br /This a long with his other albums are some of my favourite records in music. There is nothing bad about this album, and despite the fact that a lot of people don't seem to like the angry Michael Jackson, I think it was a great path for him to go one, a journey he started in his "Dangerous" album. Buy this album and like his other albums, you will not be dissapointed.


review by: Gary Wobby date: 2008-03-10 rating:
Michael Jackson is angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At the time of recording this album Michael Jackson was a very angry man, the Chandler case had been going on and other people in authority were trying their best to ruin him. This was the biggest selling black artist of all time and he was living in Neverland Ranch in a purely white community, people were jealous and wanted his musical career finished. br /This album was Michael's answer to them. br /The songs Scream, They don't care about us, Stranger in Moscow, This time around, D.S, Money, Childhood, Tabloid Junkie and 2bad all relate to Michael's life at that time, which is why i've given this album 5 stars, this isn't his best album by a long shot but it is still a fantastic and very personal album and the people who give this a low score should sit back with headphones on and really listen to the lyrics which Michael wrote most of and then come back and correct their reviews. br /All in all this is another classic album by Michael Jackson and more auto-biographical than any of his previous work. If, like me, you believe in Michael's innocence then I suggest you buy this album and see for yourself how angry a man can get through lies and gossip being constantly spread about him. br /I wouldn't like it, would you? br /

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