Following are reviews, by Deseret News staff writers, of new music releases:
MICHAEL JACKSON; "Blood On the Dance Floor" (Epic). * * *The event that ultimately sealed the fate of the '80s was the fall of Michael Jackson.
No longer will he be remembered as the first artist who made the best-selling album in history for "Thriller." Instead he will be known as "Wacko Jacko" thanks to the papparazzi and court cases. And just to rub it in, the Eagles' "Greatest Hits 1972-1975" has tied "Thriller's" multiplatinum domestic sales of more than 21 million copies.
After releasing his "HIStory" album to mixed reviews in 1995 and surviving a load of personal trials - divorce, drug dependence, canceled tours, etc. - many people thought ol' Moonwalker would hide away for a while.
Not so. He's back, albeit relatively quietly, with a new release, "Blood On the Dance Floor: HIStory In the Mix." And as suggested in the title, the album contains eight "HIStory" remixes. "Money," "HIStory," "2 Bad," "Stranger In Moscow" and "Earth Song" have been redone, along with "This Time Around," "You Are Not Alone" and "Scream" (which is now called "Scream Louder").
As for new tunes, there are five: the single "Blood On the Dance Floor," "Morphine," "Superfly Sister," "Is It Scary" and "Ghost." They pack a danceable wallop, but, as with other recent Jackson tunes, they are filled with building anger and resentment. And that's not a bad thing.
"HIStory In the Mix" didn't come with the usual MJ-release fanfare, becoming one of the few albums from the former King of Pop that didn't debut in the Top 10. (In fact, this new album didn't even make the Top 20, topping out at No. 24.)
Fans, though, are in for the usual treat.
- Scott Iwasaki
VARIOUS ARTISTS; "Miramax Films Greatest Hits" (Miramax Records/Hollywood Records). * * * *
As film music samplers go, this is one of the best I've heard in some time. By simply gathering together 15 terrific theme songs from 15 of their movies, the folks at Miramax have come up with a highly enjoyable album.
Beginning with Luis Bacalov's lovely theme from "The Postman (Il Postino)" and ranging from the reflective (Leo Brower's "Like Water for Chocolate," Rachel Portman's "Smoke") to the urgent (Michael Nyman's "The Piano," Zbigniew Preisner's "Red") to the amusing (Stephen Edelman's "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain," Dick Dale's "Miserlou" from "Pulp Fiction"), there isn't a misfire in the bunch. And the booklet reproduces poster art for each title.
An excellent, first-rate collection that other movie studios could learn from.
- Chris Hicks
JILL SOBULE; "Happy Town" (Lava). * * *
Singer Jill Sobule will not settle down. Nor will she be content with a mediocre album.
"Happy Town" furthers Sobule's experimental pop. And if you read into the title and look at the album cover, depicting chemicals sprinkled over a community, you can see the target she's aiming for.
The album is fun, liberal, spunky and sarcastic. Women's issues, abortion, Prozac and dreams are all sung about in catchy refrains and biting lyrics.
This is a classic Jill Sobule album that appears to be a little closer to her heart than anything previous.
- Scott Iwasaki
RATINGS: four stars (* * * * ), excellent; three stars (* * * ), good; two stars (* * ), fair; one star (* ), poor, with 1/2 representing a higher, intermediate grade.