Michael Jackson: HIStory - Past, Present And Future: Book 1 Poll

the five top-placing songs on this poll are all v. good though

Not "They Don't Care About Us", no. Not too keen on "Scream" ether, even though the production on it is cool.

Oh my god Geir you are so wrong. 'They Don't Care About Us' is an insanely good song in every single respect.

Love the results of this poll. '2 Bad' is brilliant but was probably the second or third choice of a load of people.

God, this is such an angry and, in places, depressing record.

"Strangers in Moscow" = gorgeous.

*Stranger

Yeah, it's without a doubt the best song on here for me.

'Childhood' is a bit of a grim listen.

Anyway, why was this put out with a greatest hits collection attached? Were Sony worried that the LP would tank without the added bonus of the hits?

This era of UK chart success fascinates me.

I did not expect an otm darraghmac first response when I clicked on this thread

I thought the extra disc was MJ's idea? Perhaps suspecting that it otherwise would only sell like...5 million otherwise

"Strangers in Moscow" is my favorite song on here by a mile, maybe my favorite MJ tune full stop. Plus it's got that bizarre Sonic 3 connection to it.

God, this is such an angry and, in places, depressing record.

no kidding. I never would have believed as a kid that the words "stop fucking with me" and "I'm taking no shit" would appear on a Michael Jackson album, although given the timeframe, not at all surprising.

so many wonderful moments, though definitely an uneven album. "Scream" is still a favorite of mine.

"Strangers in Moscow" = gorgeous.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, May 7, 2016 3:06 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I probably prefer the Book 1 disc here to Invincible by a fairly wide margin, even with its missteps

I seem to remember Invincible doing very little here... I couldn't name a single track off the record at this point!

"You Rocked My World" was the lead single, but other than that it was mostly known for its ballads.

it starts out p good but just gets bogged down in blandness.

Thats all on u wins, all on u

Giving this another spin today because for some reason I felt like hearing 'Stranger in Moscow' (which at this stage is my favourite thing he ever did) and I decided to flick through the booklet that comes with the CD edition... it's quite, uh, something!

I remember buying this album on its release date and little else about it.

One thing that still sticks out was being absolutely stunned and totally geeked that he had gotten the Notorious B.I.G. to rap on it. I just thought that was the coolest thing ever.

'Stranger in Moscow' has obviously become the highlight over time.

I don't remember anything about the booklet except for thinking that the printed lyrics to 'D.S.' didn't match up with what he actually singing.

I decided to flick through the booklet that comes with the CD edition... it's quite, uh, something!

image of the kid with the bandaged head for some reason really seared itself in my memory

Yeah, there's that, and the picture of Jacko kissing that kids head etc.

But also, the crowd photos and pictures of big banners saying "King of Pop", details of virtually every award the guy has won, celebrity testimonies, and instead of doing a long thank you list and then signing his name at the end, each "thank you" has "love, MJ" or "Michael Jackson" at the end...

Also, all the "this is dedicated to all the children of the world" stuff.

When you combine the packaging with the lyrical content of the tracks, factor in the greatest hits and think about what was happening at the time, the whole package is just...

I never took it as anything other than a big PR move. Even at fourteen, it was really obvious to me.

There's big PR move and there's ridiculously OTT PR moves!

*moves

Like, it's part "remember how successful I was/am?", part "I'm a good guy, and here's some words from my celebrity friends to prove it", part "heal the world", part "I'm still the King of Pop, dammit!" and part "fuck you!"

"and I'm a stranger in Moscow."

I'm sure the 'Come Together' cover is only there to make up the numbers - it's an old recording from the '80s and feels like an exercise in "might as well cover this since I own the publishing for it anyway" - he fucks up the words, too.

yeah there is no need for the "come together" cover; it's taken from moonwalker iirc

i put together a sequence of my favorite tracks from history and blood on the dance floor and it's the album i wish he had put out

Yeah, Blood on the Dancefloor has some really underrated stuff on it!

Wasn't there a story about how MJ wanted Bad to sell twice as many copies as Thriller? Kinda puts his whole career into perspective, that...

I think if you're going to even try to follow-up Thriller, then Bad was probably the best outcome possible.

I think among the things lacking in Bad (leaving the quality of the songs aside) are some joy and smooth, exhilarating moments that his best work has imo.
With the exception of "Liberian Girl" for the smoothness... and "Just good friends" for the fun (one of the reasons I like that song although it's not really good).
so you're only left with paranoid anger.

It's not an issue for me, but I get the impression that many don't get on board with the more "programmed" nature of Bad. Off the Wall and Thriller were both meticulously produced but were more organic.

I'm not sure it's the "programmed" aspect that I like less since there are lots of "programmed" records which sound I love.
But clearly, I much prefer the choices made about the "sound" for OTW and Thriller (these two records simply sound fantastic).
Whereas from Bad and on, the music sounds more metallic and thin. and that was a choice he made, obviously.

As for the joy/smooth moments, there's a recent example that struck me : when they released the new version of "Love Never Felt So Good", I realized that one of the reasons I enjoyed that song so much was because it reminded me of how nice and fun MJ could sound (of course it was written/recorded circa 84... but the instrumentation was all new).

plus, you can barely hear the necromancy!

i put together a sequence of my favorite tracks from history and blood on the dance floor and it's the album i wish he had put out

did you by any chance do this on spotify?

^^^^^ this

I think among the things lacking in Bad (leaving the quality of the songs aside) are some joy and smooth, exhilarating moments that his best work has imo.
With the exception of "Liberian Girl" for the smoothness... and "Just good friends" for the fun (one of the reasons I like that song although it's not really good).
so you're only left with paranoid anger.

"The Way You Make Me Feel"? "Another Part of Me"?

hum. I see how you could consider these songs but to me, they're not joyful/smooth like most things on OTW or "baby be mine", "PYT"...

but I understand that it's a totally subjective feeling.

Yeah, 'The Way You Make Me Feel' is pretty joyful, I think!

Stranger In Moscow is up there with Human Nature for me. def Top 5.

Probably his best '90s song.

can't think of one remotely close

lol My 2nd favorite is probably "Give In To Me" but "Stranger In Moscow" is one the the alltime greats.

"who is it" is his best '90s song and his best song

"stranger" is up there though

"Who Is It" is so good.

oh wait, I forgot about Dangerous, lol

There's still one of those MJ statues stood outside a McDonald's in The Netherlands, apparently.

It got temporarily taken down in 2012 (warning: disturbing video), but only for restoration.

A company from Eindhoven has taken great care of Jackson and polished it.

Dom Sheldon is a cold man