“HIStory: Past, Present And Future, Book I” came in 1995 as a double album from the late Pop superstar Michael Jackson. It found that in it he brought together all of his old classics (from “Off The Wall” to “Dangerous”) on the first half before delivering some all-new material to continue where he was seen to left off on “Dangerous” in 1991.
Disc 1:
1. “Billie Jean”
Getting the album going in perhaps the best way, this one has him showing just how strong his song writing is here, this song is one of the greatest songs which Michael left the music world with as he gets on some empowering beats and managing to hit through with probably the biggest hit of his career. It is one you can’t possibly have missed out on in your lifetime and is the artist working at his best.
**Five Stars**
2. “The Way You Make Me Feel”
He keeps the momentum with this one as you see that in it he is able to show just how well he ca do things as he makes the turn towards the seductive side of his music and sings towards a girl who he is interested in and let’s her know to what extent this is and just how it is affecting him and his actions as a result of clocking eyes on her.
This one came as the first single from the artist on this record and so made a massive impact as the apparent transformation that the artist had gone through once he released with “Bad” was going even further here and with it he chose to come with a track which hits back at racism as he returned looking whiter than ever before. He was joined by the then-Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist, Slash and he also gets some more raps (from Bill Bottrell) too.
**Four Stars**
4. “Rock With You”
This was second single from the artists’ breakthrough “Off The Wall” record and saw that he continued the same sort of high standard when it came to the freaky, energetic material. It was like nothing else he had done up to the point as he gets into the grooves and is seen to combine watered-down Funk and Disco to come up with a massive Pop hit.
**Five Stars**
5. “She’s Out Of My Life”
This was the biggest ballad from the “Off The Wall” album and one of the most significant singles that he delivered here as he goes back to his early years as part of The Jackson 5 and shows that he’ s just as capable of these emotive, slower songs as with the funkier material. It is a powerful song and he pulls everything out of his
vocals to get his point across as he breaks ties with his partner.
**Five Stars**
6. “Bad”
This was a highly significant one as t had him burst out with the titular track of his 1987, in which it is seen to get him making massive changes as he comes through with a completely newly-revamped image and chooses to go about thing with a powerful statement as he hits at the thing with a funky of-the-time Pop song, which really defined what this phase in his career was about.
**Five Stars**
7. “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”
Here is a duet, and in this case you find that rather than going for an established name (as he had in the past), this one has Michael getting a fresh face in Siedah Garrett taking on the role of the guest vocalist on a rather popular tune as they do the calm production justice with an impressive effort as they work towards the ballad material.
**Four Stars**
8. “Man In The Mirror”
Really the first of many socially-conscious songs from Michael and it found that with this one he would go out there to address all of the main issues which plagued the world (such as Apartheid in South Africa) and other massive problems which forced him to take the time to construct (along with a couple of others) an inspirational song for the masses.
**Five Stars**
9. “Thriller”
This came as the titular track from the best-selling album of all-time and also the final single from it. It is much more known for its iconic music video Rather than the song) but still gets him working incredibly well in a very contemporary style as the themed music of the decade was in full effect, and he played up to this with a dark song.
**Five Stars**
10. “Beat It”
Keeping things flowing through here this one get Michael getting down to a massive jam as he brings through some of what was found on the first track from the album as he get down to a rough tune (contrasting from the light vocals which have defined the sound of his music) and with it powering out with a massive Pop jam.
**Five Stars**
11. “The Girl Is Mine”
Michael is seen to get into a killer tune here as you find that he is taken into a one of the most significant of the slower tracks on the record as he is seen to make full use of the incredibly strong vocals which he possessed. It is a powerful one from him and is really bound to affect those who were well into his ballad material.
**Five Stars**
12. “Remember The Time”
When it comes to Michael and New Jack Swing, this is the most popular song which was done in this style and it has him performing this better than at any other time with him showing the strength of his vocals at the same time that he can work in a much more funky style and get everyone moving again.
**Five Stars**
13. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”
This is a killer jam, in which you find a song which was seen as the massive breakthrough point for him as he showed that, post-The Jacksons, he could still come with the a killer joint to get the clubs jumping and to lift spirits with the most significant tune for him as a solo artist up to this point. You can’t hate on this tune, it is a classic.
**Five Stars**
14. “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”
You find that here you have a massive hype built up for everyone here as gets into a funky little jam which really gets people going as he is seen to throw together a killer joint as he sings in a rather ominous and intimidating song (not to be brought back in his until he returned with “Bad”). It gets him riding some authentic Funk and showing progression from the Disco of his that record.
**Five Stars**
15. “Heal The World”
I thought that it was a shame to end the disc in this way as you see that here Michael shows that “Man In The Mirror” wasn’t a one-off track form him and so chooses to do one which has him calming done the R&B in order to get into one where he sings a ballad about how many things in the world need putting right, and he needs everyone’s support in order to carry it through. I personally idn’t like the song, but I can see the appeal.
**Two Stars**
Disc 2:
1. “Scream”
You see that here you have the album kicking off with a massive cut, in which you see that after many years, the most successful members of The Jackson family came together with this banger of a joint as Janet comes to help out on a powerfully-impactful song where he simply shouts out to backlash against any criticism he faced.
**Five Stars**
2. “They Don’t Care About Us”
In this cut you see that the artist appears to bring in all of the socially-conscious material which was found (especially) in the album before this, however here he is seen to take things a stage further with an intense and in-your-face song where he uses shocking language to engage with the listeners as heavy Hip Hop beats are used.
**Five Stars**
3. “Stranger In Moscow”
The artist is seen to beatbox in this one as he shows more of how the Hip Hop influence (which came through heavily on ”Dangerous”) has seeped through here. This one has to be considered as one f the most overlooked singles from him as he really does well to bring back something which takes you back to “Human Nature”.
**Four Stars**
4. “This Time Around”
With the album prior to this one having raps on every other tune and not actually having any real names, Jackson showed that he knows what’s hot in the game as he recruited The Notorious B>I.G> to assist him as he performs a tune which is more into the Hip Hop side of his music than perhaps any other point. This all comes through in his deliver and the harsh way he chooses to word things.
**Five Stars**
5. “Earth Song” This is a song that you either love or hate, and so I don’t really think its worth commenting on as it finds him doing a conscious track where he uses as few actual words as possible.
With Michael’s own personal composition, you hear that with this one tha the music is clearly a progression from the album which came before it as you see that with it the production is quite similar to what you get from “Black Or White” and has the fast lifted to force you to take notice. It sits nicely here as a strong one.
**Five Stars**
7. “Money”
With this one you seem to have the artist progressing what was brought on the tune prior to it and in this case you see that things progress significantly as he is seen to get right down to proper Hip Hop in this cut (complete with samples, raps and all) as he once again is behind it all and chooses that this is a direction that he needs to fully-explore.
**Five Stars**
8. “Come Together”
You a banger of a joint here as Michael Jackson is seen to make his own personal adaptation of some classic Beatles material. He does so with a more up-to-date Rock approach and the inclusion of his turn towards Hip Hop too to give it that extra something as he seems to explore the Rock Ballad more.
**Five Stars**
9. “You Are Not Alone”
This is seen to really stand out on the album as one of the biggest tunes as you see that here he clams things right down and gets into one of the most popular ballads of his career. It is a massive cut and a highly-emotive tune which was written by the R&B superstar R. Kelly, at a time before he started to sings these for him self.
**Five Stars**
10. “Childhood”
He is seen to continue through with what came in the song prior to this as with it Michael comes with another moving ballad, but here things seem a lot more personal for his as it plays out as a biography which concentrates on his own childhood and what occurred within it to make him become what he is today.
**Four Stars**
11. “Tabloid Junkie”
H hits back with the hardcore, Hip Hop-inspired music once more as he gets down to even more of the contemporary R&B material. It appears that he has taken on the support of Teddy Riley on the album prior to this to come up with one which really makes the best use out of this and for Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to make all the added changes to make it such a banger. The content of the song refers to how rumours have affected his life.
**Five Stars**
12. “2 Bad”
Here you get a tune, in which you find him working alongside (of all people) Shaquille O’Neal in one of his early rap efforts and I felt that although things weren’t of the best standard, you can’t really argue when Michael is a part of things and so with it he hits hard with some more of the same sort of thing which stuff which came through from the “Dangerous” LP.
**Five Stars**
13. “HIStory”
With this one you have one of the funkiest grooves that you’ve everheard in a Michael jam juxtaposed with him performing in the style of his much softer Pop material and I felt that with such contrasts and a mix of these two popular sides of his music made for a killer uen from him which keeps on giving.
**Five Stars**
14. “Little Susie”
Moving things on quite a bit hear, you have a chilling song from the artist as he sings in a powerful manner able a young girl who has been murdered. It’s composition is completely unlike him and so really stands out, but if it wasn’t for the tragedy of the narrative, I wouldn’t have bothered with this one.
**Three Stars**
15. “Smile”
He is seen to perform another cover here and this time around you have him performing a tune which was most popularly done by Nat King Cole. I felt that it was a fitting end to the album and shows how well he can make great things form pre-existing material and not lose its original intension as he does it in a style which is typical of him.
**Four Stars**
Obviously as they first disc contains all of the killer hits which he released, I shouldn’t have to concentrate on this side when the original side had so much more to say (at this time). It gets him coming with a variety of strong songs, an although not all of them did what they should have, his decision to include more Hip Hop was valued, and it also made for great contrasts for some of his best ballads.
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Michael Jackson'sGreatest Hits Vol 1is in fact the first disc from his previous ... more
greatest-hits collection,HIStory: Past Present&Future, which was half compilation, half new material. Despite missing a few okay songs that were included on the latter half...
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Michael Jackson's Greatest Hits Vol 1 is in fact the first disc from his previous ... more
greatest-hits collection, HIStory: Past Present & Future, which was half compilation, half new material. Despite missing a few okay songs that were included on the latter...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 6 to 12 days...
Billie Jean The way you make me feel Black or white Rock with you She's out of my life Bad ... more
I just can't stop loving you Man in the mirror Thriller Beat it The girl is mine Remember the time Don't stop 'til you get enough Wanna be startin' somethin' Hea...
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Jun 29th, 2009
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