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HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I

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Untitled
For the song, see HIStory/Ghosts.

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (usually abbreviated to HIStory) is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth album. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the exception of "Come Together", which was recorded in 1987.

HIStory has been cited as the best-selling multiple disc album ever released, with worldwide sales of 20 million (40 million in terms of units). It is the top grossing album of Jackson's career behind Thriller. The album won one Grammy for Best Music Video - Short Form for Scream. The first disc of greatest hits was reissued in 2001 as a single disc under the name Greatest Hits: HIStory, Vol. 1.

History

Recording

Recording started in September 1994 and would carry through the early spring of 1995. Jackson wrote the majority of the songs attacking the press for "scandalizing" him and gave messages to fans to not "feed into the tabloids". One of the songs included "Scream", a duet between Michael and sister Janet, who had agreed to do a duet with her brother after she felt that she "had made it to the top" and she didn't fear that she'd "had to ride Michael's coattails". Other songs that attacked the tabloids included "Tabloid Junkie" and "This Time Around". The Michael and Janet duet was the first of several tunes Jackson produced with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis ("2 Bad", "HIStory", "Tabloid Junkie") but not without additional help from the likes of Dallas Austin ("This Time Around"), R. Kelly (the lone ballad, "You Are Not Alone"), Charles Chaplin ("Smile") and Jackson himself ("They Don't Care About Us", "Earth Song", "Stranger in Moscow", "D.S.", "Money", "Little Susie" with Jackson-arranged variation of Maurice Duruflé's Requiem as prelude). Jackson, in fact, dominated the production of the album though not fully incorporating serious issues into his music including racism, the ecology and his own personal travails ("D.S.", in particular, was an attack on the district attorney of Jackson's case, Thomas Sneddon, in which he is heard singing in the chorus despite the lyrics reading "Dom Sheldon", possibly used to escape a lawsuit). Like on previous albums, Jackson wanted to feature guest stars. Other than his sister Janet, rapper The Notorious B.I.G. put down a rap verse in "This Time Around", soul group Boyz II Men sung background vocals on "HIStory" and basketball star and sometime rapper Shaquille O'Neal put down a verse on "2 Bad". While fourteen of the songs were new recordings, Jackson included an older recording of his cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", which he had recorded during the Bad era. The version included on the album is an early fade of the original version.

HIStory was originally to be called "Decade", which would include several previous Jackson hits and several new songs from the later part of his career. This was shelved and HIStory was eventually expanded into a two-disc set.

Promotion

To promote the album, Jackson embarked on the successful HIStory World Tour,[1] which was attended by more than four and a half million people. Jackson also made a promotional "teaser" music video showing him marching with thousands of military personnel as well as shipping statues of himself on boats around Europe[2] and $30 million was spent on its promotion by Sony.[3]

Controversy

HIStory remains Jackson's most controversial album as seen by a number of events.

  • The music video for "You Are Not Alone" was controversial in that it featured an almost nude Jackson and his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley. Additionally, two Belgian songwriters, brothers Eddy and Danny Van Passel, claimed to have written the melody in 1993. In September of 2007 a Belgian judge ruled the song was plagiarized from the Van Passel brothers and the song was subsequently banned from airwaves in Belgium.
  • Controversy arose when a verse in "They Don't Care About Us" ("Jew me/sue me/everybody do me/kick me, kike me/don't you black or white me") raised suspicion that the singer was anti-Semitic, charges Jackson denied. To make up for it, he edited the verse on later issues of the album.
  • HIStory and Blood on the Dance Floor are the only albums by Jackson using vulgar lyrics in some parts of several songs, such as "Scream" and "This Time Around." Blood on the Dance Floor did not have as much swearing, but some songs were more sexually suggestive.
  • The original music video for "They Don't Care About Us" showed Jackson singing the song in a prison.[4] MTV took the video off its playlist because it showed scenes of violence.[4] Jackson and video director Spike Lee released another version of the video set in Dona Marta, a shanty town in Brazil, which was actually shot before the "prison version".[4] However, because of the filming location, one Brazilian politician accused Jackson of exploiting poverty to make money. The politician also alleged that Jackson needed and was given permission by drug traffickers to shoot the video.[5]
  • At the BRIT Awards in 1996, Jackson was given a special "Artist of a Generation" award. At the ceremony he performed "Earth Song" with a grandiose stage show, with Jackson portrayed as a Christ-like figure surrounded by adoring children. Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker mounted the stage in protest at the act. Cocker ran across the stage, lifting his shirt and pointing his (clothed) bottom in Jackson's direction. Cocker was subsequently questioned by the police on suspicion of causing injury towards three of the children in Jackson's performance, although no criminal proceedings followed. The performance saw the song and album rise back up the charts.

Critical response

"This Time Around"
Excerpt of the U.S. radio only release "This Time Around".
"Tabloid Junkie"
Excerpt of the song, "Tabloid Junkie".
Problems playing these files? See media help.

The album received 5 Grammy Award nominations and won one,[6] these were:

HIStory, arguably Jackson's most conflicting album, revealed a "furious" pop icon worn by years of superstardom,[7] with Jon Pareles of the The New York Times writing that "It has been a long time since Michael Jackson was simply a performer. He's the main asset of his own corporation, which is a profitable subsidiary of Sony".[7] Some reviewers commented on the unusual format of a new studio album being accompanied by a "greatest hits" collection, with Q magazine saying "from the new songs' point of view, it's like taking your dad with you into a fight."[8]

In relation to "This Time Around", James Hunter of Rolling Stone described it as a "dynamite jam...done with Atlanta R&B hotshot Dallas Austin that's ripe for remixes".[9] Jon Pareles of The New York Times believed that Jackson "muttered" lyrics such as "They thought they really had control of me".[7] Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times said of "This Time Around", "a tough, rhythm-guitar-driven track co-written and co-produced by hit-maker Dallas Austin that sports one of the album's better grooves".[10] Fred Shuster of the Daily News of Los Angeles described "This Time Around", "Money" and "D.S." as "superb slices of organic funk that will fuel many of the summer's busiest dance floors".[11]

Singles

Sales of HIStory were down from his previous albums Dangerous and Bad (although unit sales were higher). This has been attributed to the high purchase cost of HIStory and critics believe that the public purchased the singles over the album. The single sales of HIStory were collectively 10.45 million units,[12] which was higher than those of Dangerous at 8.36 million units[12] and Bad at 10.03 million units,[12] even though the latter albums had more singles released from their track lists (eight and nine releases respectively, against the five from HIStory). Only the singles from the Thriller at 19.55 million units[12] sold better than those released from HIStory.

  • "Scream/Childhood" - Released as a double A-side the first single released from HIStory was "Scream", sung and performed with his sister Janet Jackson. The single had the best ever debut at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and had a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals"[13]. The music video for "Scream" is one of his most critically acclaimed winning three MTV awards in 1995 and a Grammy in 1996.[1] "Scream" is currently the most expensive music video ever made.[14] It sold 2 million copies worldwide.[12]
  • "You Are Not Alone" - was the second single released from HIStory and would become the first song ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100,[15] (beating his previous single "Scream"). It reached #1 in various international markets, including Britain. It was seen as a major artistic and commercial success and received a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance".[16] It sold 3 million copies worldwide.[12]
  • "Earth Song" - was the third single released from HIStory, and was accompanied by a well received expensive music video that was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1996 but lost to his earlier video "Scream".[17] The song topped the UK Singles Chart for six weeks over Christmas in 1995 and sold one million copies there, making it his most successful UK single, surpassing the success of "Billie Jean". It sold 3.15 million copies worldwide.[12]
  • "This Time Around", a U.S. only radio release, peak at #23 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and #18 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart purely off radio airplay.[18][19]

Chart performance

"HIStory" debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts selling over 391,000 copies in its first week.[20][21] The album was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on October 22, 1999 in recognition of 3.5 million shipments in the United States.[22] Multi-disc albums are counted once for each disc within the album if it is over 100 minutes in length, in this case "HIStory" is 148:50 minutes long. It is counted twice meaning each album was certified platinum after 500,000 copies were shipped. The Canadian Recording Industry Association certified it 5× platinum after shipping in excess of 500,000 units.[23]

In Europe, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry certified "HIStory" six times platinum, denoting six million shipments within the continent. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number-one on the official albums chart and was certified four times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of 1.2 million copies.[24] In France, "HIStory" became Jackson's fourth diamond-seller album after Dangerous (1991), Bad (1987) and Thriller (1982), denoting sales of over one million units.[25] In addition, Germany was the European country where the double-disc set sold the most, over 1.5 million copies, being certified three times platinum by the IFPI.[26]

"HIStory" has sold over twenty million copies worldwide[27] and, according to Access Hollywood, is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time.[28]

Charts and certifications

Charts[29] Peak
Position 		Certification Sales/Shipments
Argentina Platinum[30] 200,000[30]
Australia 1 7× platinum[31] 490,000[32]
Austria 2 2× platinum[33] 80,000[34]
Belgium 1
Canada 5× platinum[23] 500,000[35]
Europe 6× platinum[36] 6 million[37]
Finland 3 Platinum[38] 61,352[38]
France 1 Diamond[25] 1 million[25]
Germany[39] 1 3× platinum[26] 1.5 million[40]
Netherlands 1 3× platinum[41] 240,000[34]
New Zealand 1
Norway 1 Platinum[42] 40,000[34]
Sweden 3 Platinum[43] 60,000[34]
Switzerland 1 3× platinum[44] 150,000[44]
United Kingdom[45] 1 4× platinum[24] 1.2 million
United States[20] 1 3× platinum[22] 3.5 million

Track listing

All tracks are written by Michael Jackson, except where noted

HIStory Begins (Disc 1)
No.TitleWriter(s)Featured artistLength
1."Billie Jean"  4:54
2."The Way You Make Me Feel"  4:57
3."Black or White"Jackson; Bill Bottrell 4:15
4."Rock with You"Rod Temperton 3:40
5."She's out of My Life"Tom Bahler 3:38
6."Bad"  4:07
7."I Just Can't Stop Loving You" duet with Siedah Garrett4:12
8."Man in the Mirror"Glen Ballard; Siedah Garrett 5:19
9."Thriller"Temperton 5:57
10."Beat It"  4:18
11."The Girl is Mine" duet with Paul McCartney3:41
12."Remember the Time"Teddy Riley; Jackson; Bernard Belle 4:00
13."Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough"  6:02
14."Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"  6:02
15."Heal the World"  6:24
HIStory Continues (Disc 2)
No.TitleWriter(s)Featured artistLength
1."Scream"Harris; Lewis; Jackson; Jacksonduet with Janet Jackson4:38
2."They Don't Care About Us"  4:44
3."Stranger In Moscow"  5:44
4."This Time Around"Rene Moore; Dallas Austin; Bruce Swedien; Jackson; Wallacerap by The Notorious B.I.G.4:20
5."Earth Song"  6:46
6."D.S." Guitarsolo by Slash4:49
7."Money"  4:41
8."Come Together"Lennon/McCartney 4:02
9."You Are Not Alone"R. Kelly 5:45
10."Childhood (Theme from "Free Willy 2")"  4:28
11."Tabloid Junkie"Harris; Lewis; Jackson 4:32
12."2 Bad"Harris; Lewis; Jackson; O'NealRap by Shaquille O'Neal4:49
13."HIStory"Harris; Lewis; Jackson 6:37
14."Little Susie"  6:13
15."Smile"Chaplin 4:56

Credits

Production credits

  • "Scream" produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson
  • "They Don't Care About Us", "Stranger in Moscow", "D.S.", "Money" and "Little Susie" produced by Michael Jackson
  • "This Time Around" produced by Dallas Austin and Michael Jackson, co-produced by Bruce Swedien and Rene
  • "Earth Song" produced by Michael Jackson and David Foster, co-produced by Bill Bottrell
  • "Come Together" produced by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell
  • "You Are Not Alone" produced by R. Kelly and Michael Jackson
  • "Childhood" and "Smile" produced by Michael Jackson and David Foster
  • "Tabloid Junkie" and "History" produced by Michael Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
  • "2 Bad" produced by Michael Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Bruce Swedien and Rene

Album credits

  • Lead and Background Vocals: Michael Jackson
  • Background Vocals: Zedric Williams, James Ingram, Siedah Garrett, Andrae and Sandra Crouch and the Andrae Crouch Singers; Carol Dennis, Jackie Gouche, Gloria Estefan, and Linda McCrary
  • Child soloists:
    • "HIStory": Leah Frazier
    • "Little Susie": Markita Prescott
  • Rap performances by R. Kelly, Boyz II Men: Nathan Morris, Wayne Morris, Shawn Stockman, Michael McCrary; The Notorious B.I.G. and Shaquille O'Neal
  • Arrangements by Michael Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Dallas Austin, Bruce Swedien, R. Kelly, Rene, Jeremy Lubbock, Brad Buxer and Johnny Mandel
  • Vocal arrangements by Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
  • Orchestral arrangements by David Foster, Elmer Bernstein and Bill Ross
  • String arrangements by Michael Jackson
  • Keyboard arrangements by Michael Jackson
  • Orchestras conducted by Jeremy Lubbock
  • Horn arrangement by Michael Jackson and Jerry Hey
  • Pianos: David Paich and John Barnes
  • Keyboards and synthesizers: Randy Kerber, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, David Foster, Steve "Yada" Porcaro, David Paich, Bill Bottrell, Dallas Austin, Glen Ballard, Rene, Brad Buxer, Simon Franglen, Greg Phillinganes, Lafayette Carthon, Michael Boddicker, Chuck Wild, Rob Arbitter, Gary Adante, John Barnes and Randy Waldman
  • Synthesizer programming: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Simon Franglen, Steve Porcaro, Brad Buxer, Peter Mokran, Michael Boddicker, Chuck Wild, Andrew Scheps, Rick Sheppard, Rob Hoffman, Bobby Brooks, Jeff Bova, Chris Palmero, Jason Miles, Arnie Schulze and Gregg Mangiafico
  • Drum programming: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Peter Mokran and Andrew Scheps
  • Synclavier programming: Andrew Scheps and Simon Franglen
  • Guitars: Eddie Van Halen, Slash, David Williams, Larry Clayton, Dean Parks, Eric Gale, Tim Pierce, Dann Huff, Paul Jackson Jr., Steve Lukather, Bill Bottrell, Jeff Mirinow, Rob Hoffman, Jen Leigh, and Trevor Rabin
  • Drums: Ndugu Chancler, Jeff Porcaro, John Robinson and Bryan Loren
  • Percussion: Michael Jackson, Ollie E. Brown, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Bill Bottrell, Buddy Williams, Bruce Swedien, Simon Franglen, Rene, Chuck Wild, Paulinho Da Costa, Nannette Fortier and Bobby Brooks
  • Bass: Steve Lukather, Colin Wolfe, Louis Johnson, Nathan East, Terry Jackson, Doug Grigsby and Guy Pratt
  • Synth bass: Bryan Loren
  • Horns: Larry Williams, Jerry Hey, Gary Grant, William Reichenbach and Kim Hutchcroft

Technical credits

  • Executive producer: Michael Jackson
  • Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien
  • Additional Recording and mixing by Eddie De Lena, Steve Hodge and W.J.R.
  • Technical directors: Matt Forger and Brad Sundberg
  • Production coordination: Rachel Smith
  • Mastered by Bernie Grundman
  • Computer programming and technical direction assistance by Craig Johnson
  • Additional synthersizer programming and sound design by Michael Boddicker, Chuck Wild, Scott Pittinsky, Bobby Brooks, Roberta Swedien and Darry Ross

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Michael Jackson
  2. ^ Michael Jackson HIStory Teaser
  3. ^ Yahoo! Movies biography
  4. ^ a b c "Micahel Jackson > Videography". JacksonAction.com. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  5. ^ Mirabella, MarinaMichael Jackson struts stuff in shantytown, February 17, 1996
  6. ^ Michael Jackson, The Ultimate Collection booklet.
  7. ^ a b c Pareles, Jon (1995-06-18). "POP VIEW; Michael Jackson Is Angry, Understand?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Q Magazine, June 1995. Retrieved on August 2, 2008.
  9. ^ Hunter, James (1995-08-10). "Michael Jackson HIStory". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-07-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Willman, Chris (1995-06-18). "POP REVIEW Hits and Missives Michael Jackson takes off the glove and rails at attackers with new songs that take the King of Pop from `Bad' to sad-very sad". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-08-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Shuster, Fred (1995-06-18). "Jackson attempts to rewrite 'history'". Daily News of Los Angeles. Retrieved 2008-11-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Michael
  13. ^ Michael Jackson, The Ultimate Collection booklet.
  14. ^ Guinness World Records (2005). Guinness World Records 2006. Guinness. ISBN 1-904994-02-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2004). The Magic and the Madness. Headline. ISBN 0-330-42005-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  16. ^ Michael Jackson, The Ultimate Collection booklet.
  17. ^ Michael Jackson, The Ultimate Collection booklet.
  18. ^ George, p. 48
  19. ^ "Artist Chart History - Michael Jackson". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-11-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ a b Allmusic (1995). "Billboard charts". Retrieved 2008-11-25. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  21. ^ Todd Martens (November 8, 2001). "Jackson Leads Eight Top-20 Debuts". Billboard magazine. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  22. ^ a b Recording Industry Association of America (October 12, 1999). "U.S. certification". riaa.com. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  23. ^ a b Canadian Recording Industry Association (November 30, 1995). "Canadian certification". cria.ca. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  24. ^ a b British Phonographic Industry (February 1, 1996). "U.K. certification". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  25. ^ a b c Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (1995). "French certification". chartsinfrance.net. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  26. ^ a b International Federation of the Phonographic Industry — Germany (1997). "German certification". musikindustrie.de. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  27. ^ Putti, Laura (2001-08-24). "Il nuovo Michael Jackson fa un tuffo nel passato". La Repubblica. Retrieved 2009-05-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ Access Hollywood (November 2, 2006). "The return of the King of Pop". MSNBC. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  29. ^ Hit Parade (1995). "European charts". Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  30. ^ a b Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (1995). "Argentinian certification". capif.org.ar. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  31. ^ Australian Recording Industry Association (2004). "ARIA Charts — Accreditations". aria.com.au. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  32. ^ Australian Recording Industry Association. "Criteria". aria.com.au. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  33. ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry — Austria (December 19, 1996). "Austrian certification (search)". ifpi.at. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  34. ^ a b c d Recording Industry Association of Japan (2005). "Standard for Certifying Awards of Countries" (PDF). riaj.or.jp. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  35. ^ Canadian Recording Industry Association. "Criteria". cria.ca. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  36. ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (1996). "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards". ifpi.org. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  37. ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. "Criteria". ifpi.org. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  38. ^ a b International Federation of the Phonographic Industry — Finland (1997). "Finnish certification". ifpi.fi. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  39. ^ "German Albums Chart (Search)". charts-surfer.de. 1995. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  40. ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (1995). "Criteria" (PDF). musikindustrie.de. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  41. ^ Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld-en geluidsdragers (1996). "Dutch certification (search)". nvpi.nl. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  42. ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry — Norway (1995). "Norwegian certification (search)". ifpi.no. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  43. ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry — Sweden (1995). "Swedish certification" (PDF). ifpi.se. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  44. ^ a b HitParade (1996). "Swiss certification". Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  45. ^ Every Hit (1995). "UK Albums Chart". Retrieved 2008-11-25. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

References

See also

Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
July 8 – July 21, 1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK number one album
June 24, 1995 – June 30, 1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
July 2 – July 25, 1995
December 1 – December 7, 1995 		Succeeded by
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