HIStory - Past, Present and Future Book 1

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
HIStory'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", HIStory'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, HIStory 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 HIStory has the overblown vacuousness of a musician who knows his time is past, but is unsure as to how to react to the situation. --Steven Mirkin

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From Amazon.com
HIStory's 2 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," HIStory'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, HIStory 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 HIStory has the overblown vacuousness of a musician who knows his time is past, but is unsure as to how to react to the situation. --Steven Mirkin

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Customer reviews

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.
This album was Michael's answer to them.
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.
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.
I wouldn't like it, would you?

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review by: crouteru date: 2007-09-10 rating:
Four Stars For The Hits, Two Stars For The New Material
The first disc of HIStory is a reasonable collection of Jackson's hits from his first four Epic produced albums, Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad and Dangerous, though some popular songs have been omitted.

Unfortunately, the second disc of new material is a collection of five good songs accompanied by a miriad of forgettable filler. The five good songs are mostly the singles, Scream, They Don't Care About Us, Stranger In Moscow, You Are Not alone and the title track HIStory.

I don't like Earth Song because it's over produced and naieve, portraying Jackson as some kind of a messiah.

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review by: The Amazon Reviewer date: 2007-03-11 rating:
Strangely compulsive album
Firstly, I'll only review the new material on HIStory. You all know what CD 1 is about, it goes without saying.

The following words spring to mind when listening to HIStory; bleak, dark, scary, painful, apocalyptic, melancholy, thoughtful, sad, venomous...it really isn't a pretty picture.

Yet despite all this, it's a strangely compulsive album, not least because it's all delivered with such flair; a beat to dance to here, a chorus to sing (or scream) along to here, a soft string arrangement to tug at the heartstrings now and then.

Before HIStory, Michael was criticised for making music that was good, yet soulless and without conviction. Here, HIStory's themes are so close to Michael that he almost has the opposite problem - he really pours his heart into the music, seething with such anger that you fear you CD player could explode. But the music itself does seem to suffer as a result. Whoever listens to HIStory clearly has a liking for MJ; Micheal's audio-unloading of bile onto the listener kind of makes you feel 'hey what did I do wrong?'

Yet that's maybe where the power of HIStory lies. From the sheer fury of Scream and They Don't Care About Us, to the haunting beauty of Stranger in Moscow and Childhood, to the cool sneer of Money and 2 Bad, to the disturbing Little Susie and Smile, and of course Earth Song, Michael will grab you from start to finish, force you to listen to this, and whether you enjoy it or not, your opinion of Michael will have changed.

It must be heard to be understood.

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review by: Sakurashonen date: 2006-05-13 rating:
HIStory in the making...
Firstly, I'll only review the new material on HIStory. You all know what CD 1 is about, it goes without saying.

So, firstly, it must be said that HIStory doesn't make for a pleasant listen. Not a pleasant listen at all. But I don't necessarily mean that the music quality is poor.

The following words spring to mind when listening to HIStory; bleak, dark, scary, painful, apocalyptic, melancholy, thoughtful, sad, venomous...it really isn't a pretty picture.

Yet despite all this, it's a strangely compulsive album, not least because it's all delivered with such flair; a beat to dance to here, a chorus to sing (or scream) along to here, a soft string arrangement to tug at the heartstrings now and then.

Before HIStory, Michael was criticised for making music that was good, yet soulless and without conviction. Here, HIStory's themes are so close to Michael that he almost has the opposite problem - he really pours his heart into the music, seething with such anger that you fear you CD player could explode. But the music itself does seem to suffer as a result. Whoever listens to HIStory clearly has a liking for MJ; Micheal's audio-unloading of bile onto the listener kind of makes you feel 'hey what did I do wrong?'

Yet that's maybe where the power of HIStory lies. From the sheer fury of Scream and They Don't Care About Us, to the haunting beauty of Stranger in Moscow and Childhood, to the cool sneer of Money and 2 Bad, to the disturbing Little Susie and Smile, and of course Earth Song, Michael will grab you from start to finish, force you to listen to this, and whether you enjoy it or not, your opinion of Michael will have changed.

It must be heard to be understood.


review by: ilyich22 date: 2005-12-19 rating:
Hee Hee
Since the damaging accusations of 1993, Michael Jackson came back angry and passionate and produced this quality album full of emotion and great lyrics. It shows the true genius of Jackson and shows his range of vabratto in his vocal ability, Stranger and Moscow I ahve to hail as his best composition melodically.

If you want a different side to Jackson which is serious by all means purchase this album for 15 of his hit pre 95 and the 95 tracks u will not be diassappointed

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