Search - Michael Jackson :: Greatest Hits - HIStory, Vol. 1

Excellent album--THANK YOU, MICHAEL !!!

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 06/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am truly struggling this evening with the news of Michael Jackson's untimely death and to be candid with anybody reading this I simply can't stop thinking about it. How sad. I was shocked beyond belief and my heart also goes out to his family and his children.



We get terrific music from Michael Jackson here; he's at the top of his game on every track. The selection of songs is quite good and the sound quality on this album is excellent. I like the artwork, too.



"Billie Jean" starts the album off with one of Michael's greatest hits--ever. "Billie Jean" has a great beat for dancing that's catchy as well; and Michael's excellent diction enhances his performance all the more. The musical arrangement is perfect for Michael's vocals and "Billie Jean" just plain sounds great. "The Way You Make Me Feel" has a pop flavor with just a slight twist of rock thrown in for a good effect; I really like "The Way You Make Me Feel." Those extra vocals make the number stronger, too. Listen also for another fine Jackson tune, "Black or White." "Black or White" is remarkably catchy and I could never tire of hearing Michael Jackson perform this song; he does it without ever letting go of a superfluous note! "Black or White" is memorable, too--this music is all THAT good.



"Rock with You" impresses me greatly; it has a softer pop flavor to it that it easy on the ear yet still quite good for dancing--and that's quite a feat! "She's Out of My Life" is clearly a masterpiece even if the lyrics aren't all that happy; Michael sings this with all his heart and soul. "Bad" is very strong; it's also great for dancing even today and Michael sings "Bad" faultlessly--awesome! "Bad" has great percussion and the beat is really something. In addition, there's another gem in "Man in the Mirror." I have fond memories of when "Man in the Mirror" was first released; I ran out to buy the 45rpm record and I played that record so much I must have worn the grooves off the vinyl!



"Thriller" is the title track from a blockbuster album if there ever was one; "Thriller" is a big, big highlight of this album. It's got an excellent beat and Michael does this one to perfection--and beyond! "Beat It" has another good beat and Paul McCartney joins Michael Jackson for "The Girl Is Mine," a softer pop song. "Remember the Time" takes the listener for a turn into a different type of ballad altogether; and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" still sounds just as good today as it did the day Michael first released it! "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" is another Michael Jackson song I love to hear and after a prelude to "Heal the World" we get the full version of this tune; and it leaves me stunned with its natural beauty.



Despite the fact that Michael is no longer with us, he will live on forever through his music and his artistry. I highly recommend this album for his fans; and this also makes an excellent starter CD for people just discovering the singular talent of The King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

"

Thank you for releasing this!

Matthew G. Sherwin | 11/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I always wanted to buy a MJ album, and when History was released back in 1995 as a double cd, I didn't buy it. It was expensive and I was only interested in the first cd with the big hits, not the second which had only new material. Well, they have finally released the first cd of big hits seperately and I'm extremely happy!I can't say that I'm a big MJ fan, like I said this is the first album that I own by him, but one can't deny that he's truly one of the all-time greats. This cd is full of classics, only a couple of other artists have as many hits (Beatles, Elvis, Whitney, Madonna, etc.). I love all the songs, the only complaint that I might have is the exclusion of "Smooth Criminal", and to a lesser extent songs like "Leave Me Alone". But it's understandable because if they put everything on this cd, then nobody would buy his older albums. So it's okay, the cd contains a lot of classics so it's no problem that a couple are missing. In my opinion, this is a cd that should be in everybody's collection. If you want to buy a MJ album, this is the perfect choice!"

Basically an unnescessary release, but of course superb.

Kasper Michelsen | Copenhagen, Denmark. | 10/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Basically, I simply can't see the need of this re-release of the first disc of the HIStory set - HIStory was certainly a release no-one should miss, and even if the second disc contained several missers or mediocre songs ('Smile', 'Chieldhood', 'Come Together', 'This Time Around', '2Bad') it did contain a fair share of classics proving that Michael has - or had at that time, Invincible might certainly question this - not lost his touch as the King Of Pop - take songs like 'Scream', 'They Don't Care About Us', 'Stranger In Moscow', 'Earth Song' and 'You Are Not Alone'.Instead, I think Michael should have waited a couple of years and grapped the opportunity to release a double CD with ALL his greatest hits - because there are SO many fantastic songs NOT included here - let me mention: 'Off The Wall', 'Workin' Day And Night', 'Human Nature', 'Say Say Say', 'Liberian Girl', 'Dirty Diana', 'Smooth Criminal', 'Leave Me Alone', 'Jam', 'In The Closet', 'Who Is It', 'Give In To Me', 'Will You Be There', 'Dangerous', the above mentioned HIStory songs, and from his recent Invincible release 'Cry' and 'Speechless'.All of these songs are masterpieces, and many of them MUCH better than some of material included on this CD, even if all these songs are excellent.I've seen listed - with no details - a forthcoming Cd and DVD combi-release titteled #1's - let's see what this brings, but probably not a complete collection of Michael's best works, unfortunately."