Michael Jacksons History Album, MJ Wrote 12 Songs on HIStory

The HIStory album was released on June 20, 1995, and was Michael's first solo album to contain a greatest hits package along with new tracks!

In total the two-disc album contains 30 songs adding up to over 150 minutes of music! Special editions of the HIStory album were released in Canada, Germany, Holland, and France in which Michael spoke directly to his fans of these countries thanking them for their support over the years and promising to tour their countries soon.

The first disc "HIStory Begins" of this album contains 15 of Michael's number one hits - songs that made him the 'King' of the entertainment industry.

The second disc "HIStory Continues" of this album contained 15 brand new songs, 12 of which were composed and written by Michael himself. The second disc of the 'History' album also credited Michael for the first time with playing the keyboards, Synthesizer, drums and percussion, and guitar.

Special appearances on the album were made by Janet Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, the late Notorius B.I.G, Boyz II Men, and Slash.

The album was controversial, with many angry songs - Michael's reply to the press and allegations that had been plaguing his life and career over the previous few years, as well as had a softer edge with ballads such as "You Are Not Alone", "Earth Song", "Stranger In Moscow" and "Smile". Shortly after it's release the 'HIStory' album was pulled from the shelves due to the the controvercial lyrics in the song "They Don't Care About Us", and new copies of the album were released with a formal apology written by Michael to those who may be offended by the lyrics.

5 singles were released off of this album; "Scream", "Earth Song", "You Are Not Alone", "Stranger In Moscow", and "They Don't Care About Us". The album hit #1 in 19 countries around the world, with world wide sales of over 15 million. The "You Are Not Alone" single broke a world record when it became the first-ever single to debut at #1 on the Billboard music charts.

The track listing of 'HIStory' is as follows:

DISC ONE:

1. Billie Jean (written by Michael Jackson)
2. The Way You Make Me Feel (written by Michael Jackson)
3. Black Or White (written by Michael Jackson)
4. Rock With You (written by Rod Temperton)
5. She's Out Of My Life (written by Tom Bahler)
6. Bad (written by Michael Jackson)
7. I Just Can't Stop Loving You (written by Michael Jackson)
8. Man In The Mirror (written by Siedah Garrett & Glen Ballard)
9. Thriller (written by Rod Temperton)
10. Beat It (written by Michael Jackson)
11. The Girl Is Mine (written by Michael Jackson)
12. Remember The Time (written by Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley & Bernard Bell)
13. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (written by Michael Jackson)
14. Wanna Be Startin' Somthin' (written by Michael Jackson)
15. Heal The World (written by Michael Jackson)

DISC TWO

1. Scream (Duet with Janet Jackson) (written by Michael and Janet Jackson, James Harris III & Terry Lewis)
2. They Don't Care About Us (written by Michael Jackson)
3. Stranger In Moscow (written by Michael Jackson)
4. This Time Around (written by Michael Jackson)
5. Earth Song (written by Michael Jackson)
6. D.S (written by Michael Jackson)
7. Money (written by Michael Jackson)
8. Come Together (written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney)
9. You Are Not Alone (written by R. Kelly)
10. Childhood (Theme from Free Willy 2) (written by Michael Jackson)
11. Tabloid Junkie (written by Michael Jackson, James Harris III & Terry Lewis)
12. 2 Bad (written by Michael Jackson)
13. HIStory (written by Michael Jackson, James Harris III & Terry Lewis)
14. Little Susie (written by Michael Jackson)
15. Smile (written by John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons)

Michael Jackson, Blood On The Dance Floor Album

BLOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR
'Blood On The Dancefloor' came just 2 years after 1995s 'HIStory', not unusual for most artists perhaps, but this was Michael 'It takes me 5 years to make an album' Jackson we are talking about. So why the relatively quick release? Well it isn't a proper album of sorts, for the most part its a remix album of 'HIStory's hits front loaded with 5 'original' tracks. The first question on most peoples minds was almost certainly why? 'HIStory' whilst a very successful album by almost anyone elses standards was a fairly hit and miss affair in the most part, paling in comparison to his previous 4 albums ('Off The Wall', 'Thriller', 'Bad' and 'Dangerous'), so why on earth would it deserve a remix album? Well to put it bluntly it didn't, but I'll elaborate...

The album begins with the title track and only real single. In typical Jackson fashion it has a surging beat drawing you in from the get go finally breaking in a catchy, if slightly odd lyrically, chorus. The style is very reminiscent of the New Jack Swing style of 1991s 'Dangerous', and nor is this a coincidence- The song was written, and almost certainly recorded aswell during the in credibly creative 'Dangerous' sessions in 1990 ('Earth Song' was also recorded then), almost 7 years before. The fact that it still hit number 1 in the UK says something about how ahead of his times Jackson had been on that album. However the fact that he was bringing out old material also perhaps suggests he was losing his touch musically (something that was also apparent on 'HIStory' and I would theorize is linked to the 1993 incident).

The other 4 'new' songs on the album are also very likely other off cuts from the 'Dangerous' sessions also, certainly 2 or 3 had existed as demos in the early 90s. Unfortunatly none are anything as good as 'Blood On The Dancefloor'. 'Morphine' and 'Ghosts' share very aggressive, angular verses that don't really endear themselves to your ears, 'Morphine' does contain one moment of absolute genius (around 3.00)- a beautiful piano interlude with Jackson pining 'Oh God hes taking demorol' (a reference to the fact that he had recently checked out of rehab) that really should have formed the main structure of the song. 'Is It Scary?' on the otherhand comes off as a lame attempt to recreate 'Thriller', though its still probably the second best of the new songs.

The remix section, which constitutes the main body of the album, is as I said made up of 8 songs from 'HIStory', all mixed by different DJs. Ive never been a big fan of the many Jackson remix songs around, however there is one here that is not only a great song but actually massively improves upon the original. 'HIStory' mixed by Tony Moran is an example of how remixes should be done. Gone are the irrritating sound bites of news clips from the original song, instead the verse and chorus lyrics (which are actually very strong) are set to an infectuous dance beat. Ive never been fond of straight up dance songs in principle but this is the exception. Unfortunatly the other remixes don't come anywhere close to this, most simply taking Jacksons original song and adding a fast paced drum beat to it eg 'You Are Not Alone' or 'Stranger In Moscow'. Some do, however, add some interesting instrumentation to the songs, like the swing of 'Scream Louder' or the fairly effective guitar/hip-hop version of '2 Bad'.

Overall is without a doubt Jacksons weakest album (yes even worse than 'Invincible'), although personally I don't really view this part of Jacksons official cannon considering it is mostly remixes and outtakes from previous albums. There is little indication even of how much part Jackson, a notorious perfectionist, had in throwing together the ramshakle collection of material. It is probably best viewed as a companion piece to 'HIStory'. Sony, however, clearly did see this as any other Jackson release since its 'poor' sales (6-7million- still the second biggest remix album) resulted in him being demoted from top class priorities. But nevertheless, this is truly a poor collection of material with only the title track and the 'HIStory' remix worthy of purchase (or download). Even as a massive Jackson fan I havent bought it. Hope you enjoyed the read, but avoid this one like the plague unless you are an avid fan.

This 13 track album was released in May, 1997 and contained 5 new songs in addition to 8 remixed tracks from the HIStory album.

Due to the fact that Michael was touring at the time of recording the album, many of the tracks were recorded and mixed in countries around the globe such as Sweden, Switzerland and Germany.

The album was originally planned to be a promotional tool for the European leg of the HIStory tour, and for this reason was not widely publisized in most of the world. The album ended up being widely successful around the globe, despite the low promotions, with the album and/or the title single reaching #1 in over 10 countries.

There were two singles released for this album. The first one 'Blood On The Dance Floor' was released around the world, and the second single 'History/Ghosts' was released in Europe and Australia.

To date the Blood On The Dance Floor album has sold 4 million copies world wide.

The track listing of 'Blood On The Dance Floor' is as follows:

1. Blood On The Dance Floor (written by Michael Jackson)
2. Morphine (written by Michael Jackson)
3. Superfly Sister (written by Michael Jackson)
4. Ghosts (written by Michael Jackson & Teddy Riley)
5. Is It Scary (written by Michael Jackson, James Harris & Terry Lewis)
6. Scream Louder - Flyte Time Remix (written by Michael and Janet Jackson, James Harris & Terry Lewis)
7. Money - Fire Island Radio Edit (written by Michael Jackson)
8. 2 Bad - Refugee Camp Mix (written by Michael Jackson)
9. Stranger In Moscow - Tee's In-House Club Mix (written by Michael Jackson)
10. This Time Around - D.M Radio Mix (written by Michael Jackson)
11. Earth Song - Hani's Club Experience (written by Michael Jackson)
12. You Are Not Alone - Classic Club Mix (written by R. Kelly)
13. History - Tony Moran's History Lesson (written by Michael Jackson)

Blood On The Dance Floor Single