For the hardcore Michael J. fans

Michael Jackson. Although he hasn't been too popular in recent years, his music has always been awesome-- from the days of the Jackson 5 to being the 'King of Pop'.

This two CD album is a collection of his hit songs with a few others added at the end. The first CD is fantastic, with hit after hit. "Billie Jean" starts it off, with the first hit to reach #1 on the charts. The songs pour out one after another after it: "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Black Or White," "Rock With You," "Bad," "Thriller," "Beat It," "The Girl Is Mine" (duet with Paul McCartney), "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough," and "Man In the Mirror."

Some of the songs really project Michael's love for the world and its children, such as "Heal the World" and "Earth Song." For some, it gives them even more of a reason to love him, while for others it gives them another reason to make fun of him. A lot of the lyrics are hard to decipher but show the pain poor Michael has been through. "With such confusion don't it make you want to scream/Your bash abusing victimized within the scheme/You try to cope with every lie they scrutinize/Somebody please have mercy cause I just can't take it." (Scream)

I think these CDs are arranged in chronological order, which was a mistake. It seems to show how Michael's music became a little more (I hate using this word, but...) disappointing as the years wore on.

Disc 2 is not a total disappointment. "Scream," "They Don't Care About Us," and "You Are Not Alone" salvage it enough. It would have been smartest to put those songs on Disc 1 or figure something out. Or, even better, would have been to sell the two CDs separately. Then the hardcore fans would be able to buy all of his songs and those who only like his music could invest in Disc 1.

Some awesome songs can't be found on either album, like "Will You Be There," "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," and "Smooth Criminal." Why? I have no idea. Okay, so maybe "Will You Be There" was released a year before "HIStory" was released, but the other two songs should be on the album somewhere.

"The Girl Is Mine," "Thriller," "Beat It," and "Billie Jean" are all on his Thriller CD from 1982. If you are just getting into his music, start off with Thriller and go from there. I personally would not buy HIStory if you don't LOVE Michael Jackson, but invest the money in Thriller. It contains the best songs, and hey, you can save $17 in the process. (HIStory is quite a hefty price- about 30 bucks, maybe 20 or 25 bucks used.)

One word of advice: it has to grow on you.

"Before you judge me/Try hard to love me/Look within your heart/Then ask/Have you seen my childhood" ~MJ