As the first single from the album, it let the public and critics know that the artist was not passively accepting of the controversies surrounding him. Where Michael was now – as a phenomenally successful artist in his mid-thirties – was exemplified on the opening track of Disc 2 – “Scream”, the duet with his sister Janet.
“This is where we left things, and this is where we are now”, Jackson seems to be saying. Jax suggests that the contrast between the nostalgia of “HIStory Begins” – which concludes with “Heal the World” – and the new material on “HIStory Continues”, bolsters the story element of Jackson’s narrative. As Jax explains, “the sessions were now centralised around creating a host of new music to accompany the Greatest Hits.” These were the songs that would comprise Disc 2: “HIStory Continues” – some of the most powerful songs Jackson ever recorded. Here, a reinvigorated Jackson expanded on his original plans to record just two or three new songs.
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Initially, as Jax explains, the intention in releasing a greatest hits collection was “to celebrate success to date, keep his name in the press for the right reasons, and allow his previous music take the pressure off of delivering a full album of new material.” However, following the 1994 Northridge earthquake which caused considerable damage in LA, Jackson and his recording team headed off to New York City. This would eventually be shelved for “Dangerous” and the greatest hits (some of them) would comprise Disc 1 of “HIStory”, titled “HIStory Begins”. It is a story that begins back in 1989 when, two years after the release of Jackson’s “Bad” album, Michael began work on a greatest hits collection to be called “Decade”. “The Story of HIStory” is primarily a book for fans of Jackson who enjoy discovering the minute details of their icon’s creative output, for anyone interested in popular culture and the 90s, and pop music history generally. However, there are some quotes for which sources are not provided, which slightly diminishes their integrity from an academic perspective. While the text throughout is not footnoted, there are pages of Notes at the rear of the book, listing the author’s sources for the contents of each chapter. Beck has also written the Foreword to the book. He relays the insight gained from his interviews with some of the personnel who worked for and with Jackson on the project, including Dan Beck, who was Jackson’s product manager at Epic Records from 1991 to 1996 inclusive. The new material on “HIStory” makes this Jackson’s most biographical album while also being his most socially (and vocally) reactive.Īuthor Pez Jax provides an informed view of the events that inspired some of the 15 tracks on Disc 2 of the “HIStory” package, called “HIStory continues”. Some of those songs, which Jackson subsequently performed on his HIStory World Tour, remain popular anthems in times of social or environmental unrest, or speak to the emotionally isolated who suffer their loneliness in silence. Much of what he went through in the years between, inspired the songs he chose for Disc 2 of the album – which has sold more copies than any other double album set. The period between the release of his “Dangerous” album (1991) and its mammoth successor, “HIStory: Past, Present and Future – Book 1” (1995) was a tumultuous one for Michael Jackson. ĪCADEMIC BOOK REVIEW: “The Story of HIStory” by Pez Jax. REFERENCE AS: Hennigan, Kerry, “Academic Book Review of ‘The Story of HIStory’ by Pez Jax,, The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies, 7, no.
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Michael Jackson blogger and Editor of A Candle for Michael Newsletter, a free monthly electronic newsletter for Michael Jackson fans. Review by Kerry Hennigan, co-editor of The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies, and MJ Studies Today columnist. Available in both English and French editions from and Abstract: Academic book review of “The Story of HIStory” by Pez Jax, Forward by Dan Beck.
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