In This Corner...

First, I never believed and still don't believe that he was guilty of anything, and I don't believe he was treated that way by the police. That said, I think it's about high time Mr. Jackson actually came out fighting. HIStory is a great album that get the Brass B*lls Award of 1995. Never you mind all the controversy surrounding the self-promotion Hitler-like commercial or the controversial lyrics - if you fell for it, then you get what you deserve! (I mean, who still falls for 'hype' these days?)

At any rate, HIStory is probably Michael Jackson at his best, at least by my measure. He covers more ground musically here than he does on any other album in his past, and he actually makes some intriguing statements about the media and the police. The record starts out in the right direction with Scream, and is a great duet with sister Janet. They Don't Really Care About Us is a very eager and percussive experimentation with that minimal effect that I prefer to hear in a song. Stranger In Moscow is a sad song that moves you, despite its lofty lyrical style - imagine what you would feel like if you were in the same circumstances). This Time Around is a funky dance song with an actually pallatable rap from B.I.G., and is another example where Mike has the courage to say a profane word here and there.

Earth Song is a crowning-jewel of a ballad and is a wailing cry to humanity to love each other. D. S. is a tale about his run-in with the law (perhaps the ones who gave him that body search?) and has a great guitar solo by Slash. Money, another minimal dance song is a nod back to early 80's Prince-style dance songs. Come Together could've easily been left off of this album, because it doesn't help the message along if you really think about it.

You Are Not Alone is a great love ballad as long as you don't mind that the lyrics don't make sense. Childhood is a passionate plea from Mr. Jackson to not be judged so harshly by EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING that we learn about him, and it makes me a little 'verklempt' when I listen to it. Tabloid Junkie has a great lyric but musically is a weak link, and again it has too much of Michael's weird little beat-box type noises. I can't even understand half of the words in this song.

2 Bad is another jab at all the haters and has a great rap by Shaq. HIStory, the title track, is a very interesting opus indeed, and is the central them of the album - despite all the B. S. that people try to pile on, don't let them get in your way. Make your own history.

Little Suzie (with it's intro Pie Jesu) is a neat story and I love to sing along with it whenever I hear it, as well as with the final song, Smile. His tribute to Charlie Chaplin is a wonderfully sentimental way to close this album and he puts a new spin on the song and makes it even better, and I think really says something about Michael Jackson - with all the he'd had to endure in the year or two before this album was released, he can still find it in his heart to 'smile'. That, my friends, is the what life is really all about.

HIStory as a whole does have a few flaws, however. First, it loses its focus early on in Side 2 - this is because he made the mistake of putting ballads back to back, and the album loses it momentum, and second - I really do have to ask this: Why is it that each and every single word (including adlibs) is printed in the lyrics. For example:

Dom Sheldon is a cold man
Dom Sheldon is a cold man
Dom Sheldon is a cold man
Dom Sheldon is a cold man

Dom S. Sheldon is a cold man
Dom Sheldon is a cold man...

Get the message? Who cares?

Otherwise, this album gave me new respect for Michael Jackson, and I have to admit that I am quite curious about this album that supposedly will get released this year.