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Michael beat the media with HIStory

analogue

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He really did. I think the main reason why so many people in the media gave HIStory a bad review is because they were incredibly threatened by it. Michael didn't pull any punches on that album and told the truth and that's something the media couldn't handle. If they could handle it then they never would have tried to bully him into keeping quiet. HIStory really hit a nerve with the media and all those negative and mean spirit reviews show that. The media just really came off as a bunch of sore losers with those reviews.
 
Completely agree! He came back with, sonically his best sounding album with beautifully written songs full of intelligently wriiten and poetic lyrics. A lot of people thought he was finished after 93 and he comes back with this album full of substance and some of his biggest hits. The double A-side lead single Scream (MJ calling out the media: stop fu#king with me!) and Childhood (MJ explaining who he was AGAIN to people who failed to understand him) and the single going to #1 in some european countries, aswell as the U.S Billboard charts. You Are Not Alone-#1, Earth Song-#1, They Don't Care About Us-#1 on the German Singles Charts, top 5 in lots of countries, top 10 in lots of countries also. Stranger In Moscow-#1 in the Italian and Spanish charts, #4 in the UK. That single should have been #1 everywhere! One of his greatest lyrical compositions of all time. Most of the videos were all amazing.

The World Tour broke his previous records, shutting alot of critics up. Numbers don't lie. The tour included a total of 82 concerts and was attended by approximately 4.5 million fans, beating his previous Bad Tour with 4.4 million. The tour was the largest concert tour ever by a solo artist in terms of attendance at the time grossing a total of over $238 million!!

For me, this was his real invincible period. Coming back bigger and stronger. Whilest on Tour (the record company) released Blood On The Dance Floor and MJ released Ghosts, one of his greatest short films of all time. Even more singles from Blood, with remix singles! Lots of TV performances, Britt Awards, VMA's, Wetten Dass etc. Lots of TV Interviews- ABC News with Diane Sawyer, Primetime with Lisa Marie, interviews in the various countries he performed.

The media, could not comprehend the strenght of this man and totally underestimated him. He came back bigger, stronger and louder than ever with More of everything!!
 
What amazes me is how the media bashes the fact that Michael made an angry album. After what happened in 1993 what did they expect? For him to sing harmless pop songs like Rock With You as if nothing ever happened?
 
Joe Vogel quotes some of those critics in his book.

"Jim Farber labeled it "whiny Jackson jive about his perceived mistreatment." In his reductive, condescending review, he writes: "Let's see a show of hands. How many of you out there were forced to cancel your last world tour and suffered the loss of a multi-million-dollar endorsement deal from Pepsi because every media outlet in creation trumpeted accusations that you molested a young boy? If this describes the last two years of your life, the new Michael Jackson album is for you. Everyone else may feel a bit shut out. In 11 out of 15 new Michael Jackson songs on HIStory, the singer uses his music as a payback to a world of accusers."
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Totally missing the point and totally cynical. Acting as if this is a problem that only MJ's problem and thus noone else should even care about these subjects. Well, actually it affects all of us. The media's morals, or rather lack of, affects each and every one of us! It's not just MJ's problem as the News of the World scandal showed last year. It's also eceryone's problem that people have become so brainwashed sheep that they can be easily led by the nose by the media in any direction they want to. People should wake up and become much more critical thinkers!

And why is it "whiney" when you get accused of a horrible crime in front of a whole world and you find outlet for your frustration about that through your art? By this standard 90% of art is nothing but "whining" because much of art is an expression of pain and what you are not satisfied with. Why should Michael have remain unaffected by what has happened to him? Especially that he was innocent. These critics should learn a bit of empathy and think about how would they feel if they got falsely accused for something they didn't do. In front of their family, their friends, their colleagues and their community. How would they feel?

Another critic Vogel quotes wrote Michael was "paranoid" and "vindictive". Well, how is it "paranoia" when you get falsely accused and you complain about that? How is it paranoia when you complain about greed, when you got accused because someone wanted your money?

Why doesn't Michael Jackson have the right to express frustration about what happened to him?

And yes, the problem of these critics was that they were part of this corrupt system that is the media and so they were the defenders of it.
 
^ Great post. Yes, their lack of empathy is stark. To have every single person on the planet aware that you have been accused of child m*lestation, and to have it debated, argued over, written about, judged in newspapers, magazines, tv shows, on radio, in books, for year after year after year, is too traumatising for me to think about, never mind live through. Only someone 100% innocent could possibly be able to survive that, and probably it was his burning sense of anger and injustice that got him through. You can really sense this anger on 'history'.
 
Bonnie Blue said:
^ You can really sense this anger on 'history'.
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I totally agree!

I listen to my HIStory album quite often, and I'm still moved afterwards every single time. After all these years I still get hit by the anger of the album and be overwhelmed. At the same time I love the album and it's energy, but it still hurts to listen to it because of all the horrible things Michael had to go through. I think he channeled all the hurt on that album and it became a great masterpiece of art. I'm glad he did it, but I wish he wouldn't ever have to experience so much evil that fueled this art.
 
I wish we had a TV outlet, because this is what the WORLD needs to here
 
I agree. Michael really punched the media hard in the face with HIStory and I can't applaud him enough for doing so. Some of his greatest songs are on this album.

The media is just pissed off because Michael put them in their place.
 
I think it was Joe Vogel that said after Thriller/Bad and especially after 1993 - alot of the reviews focused on everything BUT his music, they'd always leave snarky comments on his percieved weird behaviour, surgery and of course the allegations. I think they basically wanted to reinforce the notion that he didn't make a good album after Thriller. Yet Stranger in Moscow was on the HIStory album, and i'd says this song is one of his best. They don't care about us is another example. Dangerous Album is one of my faves and now that i'm older it's definately the album I listen to most.

I get that a lot of people would want Mike to release a couple more Thriller-esque and Bad-esque albums, and Mike had a lot of material from those sessions (For all time, streetwalker, etc) so i'm sure he probably could have. However I think he grew as a person and as an artist and wanted that to be reflected in his work. If you listen to the Dangerous album, it is very personal compared to his previous albums, so obviously he felt he needed to address other things. I think people need to understand that.

For arguments sake, if we look at Madonna (and I have nothing against her) some of her albums have not been great, but a lot of the reviews don't reflect that fact.

Regarding HIStory, it was a catch-22 situation, if he didn't address the allegations in the album, he would have been criticised for it. Also, it was his only forum to do so, he needed to give his side of the story because up until that point, the public had only heard the family's side of the story.
 
The media tried to portray him as paranoid and angry, but what he sang about on HIStory was the TRUTH. Nothing less. That's why I'm extremely happy when I see flash mobs and immortal performances of They Don't Care About Us, cause that song is still valid.
 
Courtney said:
I agree. Michael really punched the media hard in the face with HIStory and I can't applaud him enough for doing so. Some of his greatest songs are on this album.

The media is just pissed off because Michael put them in their place.
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I so totally agree with you.


I was 15 when the HIStory album came out. And I was so happy and excited over this album coming out. Even though I knew what this album was going to be about. And I just so totally L.O.V.E. the album. It was the album alone that made me become the hardcore MJ fan that I am now. Because the media so deserve it at the time. I can still remember just how upset I was 2 years before that. Over those allegations. Always having to hear about it on the tv. And then having to start 7th grade and having to really hide the fact that I was MJ fan. Out of total fear that I might not leave my school alive. Over what those other kids might do to me if they knew I was a fan of Michael's. Back then I had this crazy obsession over taping every single piece of news story there was about Michael. And I still every single piece of news story there was about Michael. Going all the way back to 93 when I started to tape those MJ news stories. I even have all of the controversy over TDCAU. I just could not believe how the American media just would not shut up about it. It was like every single day I came home from school. There was always some kind of news story about it. When I just could not see what the big deal was. Maybe it was because of my learning disabilities that I was not seeing it. But all Michael was doing was telling the truth with that song and the album. And the media just could not handle it. Especially the media in my country.
 
HIStory is amazing and Scream had one of my favourite videos ever, if not the favourite!!!

To all those smart... people, who claim he was paranoid and angry while writing those songs - well what do you aspect? After 1993/94 and after years of being mistreated by the media this seems to be quite a normal reaction in my opinion. If he hadn't done it and if he came out with some sweet candy pop they would have said that he wasn't able to grow up and to express adult feeling of a normal adult human being. Someone who can't express "anger" like the rest of people can't be normal.
For Michael life in the last 20 years were a period where he simply wasn't able to do the right thing (for everybody!) because he got to damm huge!!! Don't ever be fooled into believing the opposite, Michael was to damm huge and he was bound to be criticized whatever he did.
 
I agree with all of the posts in this thread.Even though I was born months after the HIStory album came out,and I never discovered Michael up until late 2005,I still believe that HIStory was one of his greatest masterpieces.In fact,this was the first Michael album I had ever listened to around late 2006.It's depressing how people had to judge him because he was an actual real artist who tackled real issues about the world,the state of our environment,the media,and every other subject under the sun.The fact that some "reporters" had to build their careers on Michael's life(Diane Demon,Uri Geller,Martin Bashit,Nancy Disgrace,etc.)and put him in a negative spotlight just irked me horribly.It's the most painful afterwards though that even three years after his death,some "reporters" will never leave him alone.That's why this album is so powerful,because he lashed out at the media/the allegations/misjudging him in a musical form,which no musical artist had done up to that point,and the lyrics and messages that came out of this album were actually purposeful for the time period and now.
 
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Good post, and exactly what I feel the entire HIStory era is about. Defiance. Pointing back at his critics. Rising up from what some believed were his ashes.
The entire album, tour, promotion and collection of songs is just an incredible statement of Michael Jackson not wanting to back down and give up, but being courageous, indestructible, and at the same time, a vulnerable human being. It's incredible.
 
Another thing i want to point out about the HIStory era are those huge statues that Michael used. Many people (Sadly even some fans) say that it was just Michael's ego that was out of controll but i never looked at it like that. For me the statues were more of a statement than an ego trip. With those statues Michael was saying ''No matter how many nasty things you say about me i'm not going away and people will always love me''

So for me those staues were never a huge ego trip. They were a giant middle finger to tabloid media
 
After what happened in 1993 what did they expect?
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I know right! of course he was pissed he was accused of doing something he DID NOT DO and yet the media just wanted to keep on with their "mj is a child molestor" crusade. Im glad he sang angrily in that album and i remember thinking bck then "god i hope he sings his heart out bout how hes feeling with all this ish happening"
 
Dangerous and HIStory are my fave MJ albums, they're musically superior to his 3 previous albums and lyrically meaningful but with HIStory, Mike definitely raised the volume.
The only reason media didn't like it was because Michael insulted them and was singing the truth about their tricks and deceit, portraying him as a criminal monster. After 2005 I was expecting an angrier and sadder record than HIStory, if it was the case, I wish those songs can see the light.
 
After 2005 I was expecting an angrier and sadder record than HIStory, if it was the case, I wish those songs can see the light.
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Yeh if mj was gonna make a brand new album i was hoping he was gonna do more songs like he did with the history cd
 
Some people complain they wanted him to do 'happy songs' more often. But it has always been clear Michael used music to channel all his emotions, and he had a lot of anger in him. Anger at how he himself and the entire world were treated by some people. And to put that on a record meant to reach such a wide audience... That just takes a lot of guts. :)
 
And the ironic thing is on this 'angry' album is that Michael sang the song 'Smile on it!!! Genius

I think what he was saying with that was ..... After everything I've been through I can still Smile.
 
SkyWalk said:
And the ironic thing is on this 'angry' album is that Michael sang the song 'Smile on it!!! Genius

I think what he was saying with that was ..... After everything I've been through I can still Smile.
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This. I first heard the album when I was eleven and I had no idea what the lyrics meant and I thought it was a great album. When I was old enough to put it in context and to understand it, I loved it even more. MJ was so brave in his choice of words and choice of sound effects. I think that was his ''screw you'' record and his most sincere album ever. He showed he was hurt, he showed he was sick and tired of the media hype, of lies and jealousy and he showed his class and strenght. Of course the media didn't respond to it because they want to see everyone at their worst and he just wouldn't let them have it. I love him for that. Plus, D.S. - need I say more?
 
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History is my favourite album, and yeah it was so personal that it reflected Michael's feelings and anger, media ruined Michael, i have to say it, they were, they were soooooo against him, i still hate them so much
 
I really like this thread. I appreciated all the posts, I agree with all of them. I get the impression that everything I wanted to say has already been said. For the moment, I have nothing to add, except to say that HIStory album that I bought the day of its release is my favorite album with all my memories at these days.
 
Great thread! He really showed what he was made of with History.

I just wanna say that the History album has taught me so much about strength, perseverance and authencity. Here we had a man that was basically ridiculed, mocked, tarnished and humiliated (not only by the media but from alot of other outlets aswell). On paper, there is no way someone can bounce back from that, but surely they didn't know Michael Jackson. He retaliated harder than ever and alot of people just didn't know how to respond. He attacked so wisely and with accuracy. In Songs like They Dont Care About Us, he shows us how he wasen't just targeting the media BUT the Whole System!

This album and Michaels mindset during this time has helped and inspired me throughout my life. It taught me to never be a victim and if you are misstreated you have to demand to speak and make your voice heard! Sometimes you just have to spell it out for people to understand like Michael did in scream, ''Stop F with me!".

Michael at his finest :)
 
I love the HIStory album, and it makes me so happy that They Don't Care About Us and Earth Song became the big "go to" songs for many tributes, etc. after his passing -- TDCAU because of the drill obviously, but I think ES was often chosen because it (maybe subconsciously) just felt natural to a lot of people. Especially for non-fans, who may only have understood what he was really about after they saw the This Is It movie...

Anyway -- both those songs deserve the attention and appreciation they're getting now. And so does the rest of the album. Stranger In Moscow is amazing, This Time Around, Tabloid Junkie and 2 Bad are funky as hell, Money is awesome, Childhood and Little Suzie are just absolutely beautiful songs and melodies... Brilliant music and without a doubt MJ's most personal album, and yes, he beat the media with it for sure.
 
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