History: Past Present & Future

This is, just in case people are confused, 1-part greatest hits and 1-part new album. And it’s sort of a strange combination. With the greatest hits CD, you get the absolute best of Michael’s glory days. And the second CD, proves that Michael was on top of his game, after all the bad publicity and the hellish year that 93-94 was. His sister Janet, riding high on the third of her huge successes, the self-titled JANET- even comes to his aid here.

Now Michael Jackson has lead a very difficult life, and his music career has reflected his personal struggle. Some people say you hear the fight with the cynical public and hounding media and people who’ve turned on him in many of his songs. Some of the songs on the greatest hits disc reflect a toughness Michael adopted in his hit records toward the general misunderstanding of his actions and lifestyle (the lavish Neverland ranch / amusement park, young children for close friends, longing for fantasy and detachment from harsh reality).

The older songs on the first disc are just pop/R&B anthems of love of affection and love of dance. His two hit records of the ’80s were very interesting, I mean who would have thought he would score a humongous hit with a song so clearly intended to be a novelty- “Thriller”? Then Bad’s songs were a huge step down from the perfect production that the Thriller album was. Bad as an album was a bigger success of image and publicity than it was for it’s music. And then Dangerous was another publicity measure- the controversy of the video “Black or White”, and a song titled “In the Closet”, and over-the-top videos like “Remember the Time”.

This is why his music remains the strangest thing about him. And it probably always will be. But his best record since Thriller is here, comprising the 2nd disc. “Heal the World” from the Dangerous album doesn’t come close to the heights that “Earth Song” reaches. “Stranger in Moscow” and “You Are Not Alone” rate up there as the best slow jams of his career. And “Scream” is truly a success of it’s multi-million dollar budgeted music video, Janet’s added presence, it’s overall message, and the super-funky beat! Michael also proves he’s up to speed with incredibly hip jams like “2 Bad”, “This Time Around”, “They Don’t Care About Us”, and the ultra-smooth “Money”.

Unfortunately this album’s not perfect, and the proof is in the worst song Michael Jackson’s ever recorded - “Childhood Theme” for Free Willy 2. The song is every bit as bad as the film! Also “Little Susie” is creepy, and in the most disturbing way you can imagine- think “Thriller” times ten. So this is a 4-star affair rather than 5. That and the fact that excellent Jackson tracks are missing from the greatest hits, you knew there’d be some- “In the Closet”, and “Smooth Criminal”. I mean, “Heal the World” is really sacrifice-able!

But let’s talk about those classic Jackson songs- “The Way You Make Me Feel” from Bad is my favorite Jackson song of the ’80s, and a lot of people have said “Man in the Mirror” is a low point of Bad, but I feel it’s one of the highs. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” is one of the best disco songs of all time. This is how Jackson will always be remembered by me and the people who were bigger fans, the people who got me listening to him when I was a kid. I may always be much more rabid about following Madonna, and I may have grown up with Mariah Carey. But Jackson will always be the male King of Pop for me. This is a good way to immortalize him. Not great, but really good.