Michael Jackson "HIStory" Appreciation Thread...

[Formerly known as...]

If a lesser artist made this album, it would be considered a classic.

I love how raw this album sounds while still being really polished. Michael usually spent years on his albums but this one only took nine months. He was taking his anger out on almost every song. You can hear the paranoia and frustration throughout the entire album. Also, his vocal performances here are fantastic. He was pushing himself in the booth so you could feel every emotion. On some songs ("Scream," "Earth Song," "D.S.," "2 Bad"), he almost sounds possessed.

I agree with @Busby that the sequencing could have been rearranged. I always liked "Come Together," but I wonder why he put the song on this album when it was obviously meant for Bad. Also, I think most of the angrier tracks should be in the beginning, then you move to the softer ones, and you could mix it up after that. You could have "2 Bad," "You Are Not Alone," and "Earth Song" ending the album.

Yeah I get you.

Mastering on all MJ albums are solid too. Wearing good headphones and listening to Stranger in Moscow for example is

Albums these days overall lack good engineering and mastering compared to back in the day.

 

[Dave24]

 

[I'm Blackman]

Dope project and he was touching on some real shyt.

 

[JustCKing]

When we look at Michael Jackson, he's judged differently because his music is so iconic. Any filler on a Michael Jackson album brings down the value and could make people look at the album as weak when compared to his other work.

 

[Busby]

If a lesser artist made this album, it would be considered a classic.

I love how raw this album sounds while still being really polished. Michael usually spent years on his albums but this one only took nine months. He was taking his anger out on almost every song. You can hear the paranoia and frustration throughout the entire album. Also, his vocal performances here are fantastic. He was pushing himself in the booth so you could feel every emotion. On some songs ("Scream," "Earth Song," "D.S.," "2 Bad"), he almost sounds possessed.

I agree with @Busby that the sequencing could have been rearranged. I always liked "Come Together," but I wonder why he put the song on this album when it was obviously meant for Bad. Also, I think most of the angrier tracks should be in the beginning, then you move to the softer ones, and you could mix it up after that. You could have "2 Bad," "You Are Not Alone," and "Earth Song" ending the album.

The album opened with Mike screaming (“Scream”) and it closes with Mike laughing (“Smile”) which is perfect imo

Apparently he recorded so much for the album that they had to cut tracks. And some of them ended up on “Blood On The Dance Floor.” Honestly if he would have incorporated some of those tracks on the album I feel this album would have been right up there with “Dangerous.”

Here is my version of the album:

1. Scream
2. They Don’t Care About Us
3. Earth Song
4. Stranger In Moscow
5. You Are Not Alone
6. This Time Around
7. D.S.
8. Childhood
9. Morphine
10. Tabloid Junkie
11. Is It Scary
12. 2 Bad
13. HIStory
14. Smile

 

[Busby]

Never heard no one call this a bad album. The only thing is I wish he woulda dropped the Disc 1 "greatest hits" joint separately after this, with tracks from this one. Disc 2 (the original drops) is more than strong enough to stand on its own...

Apparently “HIStory” was suppose to be just a greatest hits album with one or 2 original records. But Mike kept recording and recording and then he just said “fukk it ” and made it a separate disc.

 

[ArchStanton]

"Money" is getting hated on a little too much here. The verses aren't the best, but he floated over the hook.

 

[OmegaK2099]

"Money" is getting hated on a little too much here. The verses aren't the best, but he floated over the hook.

Slept on, it was mike's attempt at rapping and he pulled it off

 

[Complexion]

This was MJ getting his Pac on. The whole album was filled with his anger and rage, straight up venting and letting everyone have it. The man was in a zone with this one as he dropped a gem on Tom Sneddon, the Feds, press, everyone, anyone - handing out 2 pieces with a free biscuit like come get some:

Just in case people forgot who the real Blue Gangsta was... Album was like a fully loaded clip and nearly every track was a hot one because he knew they wouldn't play him fair so he went straight for the neck and let em have it.

Such a raw, raw album with the timeless beats, unique delivery, subject matter, content, mixing - everything. Definitely one of his best and its been in rotation from then to now and beyond.

Wish he'd stay off that dope and kept in this lane because he was moving into a whole other stratosphere that felt so authentic and real. Not pop appeal, just him being him and letting the chips fall where they may without chasing the charts.

 

[Complexion]

Also people don't realize that even though MJ was a "nice guy" he had way realer beefs than the clowns with gold teeth, filled with lean, killing their own kind. Listen to the lyrics, don't just bob your head to the beat because MJ laced this entire album with game so tight that it flew over peoples heads unless their 3rd eye was live and on point.

Why you think he had that style of delivery on so many of the songs? He knew it would bypass the censors/watchdogs at Sony and get his message out there as he intended because they wouldn't be able to crack the cypher because they couldn't feel him in their soul.

This album was chess, not checkers because MJ was fighting battles like most people wouldn't believe behind the scenes with a team full of snakes, fake friends, backstabbers, money grabbers and con artists as far as the eye could see. He literally broke down the truth about so many things, both concerning him and you as well as the world at large as he'd been through the mill. Truth be told you could see the shift started from Bad because that in and of itself was a coded message but I'll let you figure it out because it was a test for the minds optics:

MJ was beyond a GOAT if you knew what you were witnessing:

 

[K.O.N.Y]

yo stranger in moscow may very well be his best song

 

[Dave24]

yo stranger in moscow may very well be his best song

What about earth song?

 

[Dave24]

@Complexion that was deep breh! What do you consider the best book on Michael Jackson?

 

[DreadBrown]

nikkas don’t know, or they just don’t listen. The writing on Dangerous and HIStory is phenomenal.

Mike dropped so many gems on those songs

As a producer, Stranger in Moscow is my all time favourite piece. shyt is like a blockbuster movie score.

 

[patscorpio]

Out of all of MJ’s albums, HIStory is the album with the most skippable tracks.

This is how I feel about it..out of all the albums mike released in his lifetime...this is the one i least revisit. It had classic songs but not a classic album feel like the previous if that makes any sense.

Shaq being on this album and Ill Al Skratch being on the maxi single for they dont care about us...talk about a come up for them