The Consensus about This Time Around?

I've heard some people call this song weak and not one of MJ's finest. I, for one, think this song is great. Great rhythm,great melody, poignant lyrics and an Amazing rap. It flows perfectly following the three opening songs of the album.

Also I'm not an advocate of using the N word but I think that MJ was trying to prove a point or rather make a statement with that utterance. He could have easily omitted that word out of BIG's verse or bleeped it out but it he choose to include it.

What are your opinions about the song?

[youtube]ZchFrLogMqA[/youtube]

I love This Time Around. MJ was deep in the well of inspiration with the HIStory album and this song is no exception.

On one hand, as a collector, this song was always something special to me as there were all those ultra rare promo-only 12" and CD single releases with lots of official remixes of this song. Back then, basicly before internet, before ebay it was really something special to own those.

But the original song itself is weak indeed. Totally lame music production which sounds like a filler on some boy groups album. Biggie part is best.
Actually some of the urban/hiphop style remixes are more interesting than the original, imo.

[youtube]W1M6vJKwcJc[/youtube]

Electro said:

On one hand, as a collector, this song was always something special to me as there were all those ultra rare promo-only 12" and CD single releases with lots of official remixes of this song. Back then, basicly before internet, before ebay it was really something special to own those.

The original song itself is weak indeed. Totally lame music production which sounds like a filler on some boy groups album. Biggie part is best.
Actually some of the urban/hiphop style remixes are more interesting than the original, imo.

[youtube]W1M6vJKwcJc[/youtube]

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Woooooooow! That is like the best remix of a MJ song i have ever heard! Do you mind sharing a download link for this song through PM?

I love the remixes for TTA. we missed out on a lot of cool adlibs cause they cut the song short. I hadn't heard this one before though.

I'm one of those who thinks it's one of MJ's weakest songs.

Love it. One of the best tracks on HIStory and one of my favourite MJ songs.

It's hard to compete with classics like Earth Song and TDCAU, but I'd say it's in Top 5 HIStory tracks for sure.

Too bad it was only promo single and not actual 4th single from HIStory.

Definitely one of the weakest on HIStory, in no way does it stand up to being single material. It really goes on too long also.

In fact I think this was the first time I thought MJ was capable of making a below average track.

I'm really surprised reading some of the posts here. I always thought this song was unanimously loved among fans. Really surprised with such polarized opinions.. and little disappointed actually.

I like the lyrics.

I neither love nor hate it.

I imagine sometimes how much a live performance would elevate it

Ok song but one of the weakest on HIStory. I don't like the chorus.

''This time around I'll never get bit
Though you really wanna get me
This time around I'm taking no shit
Though you really wanna fix me
Somebody's out
Somebody's out to use me
They really want to use me
And then falsely accuse me''

Very powerful lyrics, Michael was taken advantage of and lied about many times throughout his life.

Thumbs down for me.
(Although I liked the production of the background of that urban remix that was posted.)

Electro said:

On one hand, as a collector, this song was always something special to me as there were all those ultra rare promo-only 12" and CD single releases with lots of official remixes of this song. Back then, basicly before internet, before ebay it was really something special to own those.

But the original song itself is weak indeed. Totally lame music production which sounds like a filler on some boy groups album. Biggie part is best.
Actually some of the urban/hiphop style remixes are more interesting than the original, imo.

[youtube]W1M6vJKwcJc[/youtube]

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Wow, those adlibs in the end are really great, never heard them before! I like his deep gritty voice

Zakk said:

''This time around I'll never get bit
Though you really wanna get me
This time around I'm taking no shit
Though you really wanna fix me
Somebody's out
Somebody's out to use me
They really want to use me
And then falsely accuse me''

Very powerful lyrics, Michael was taken advantage of and lied about many times throughout his life.

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Agree, lyrically it's very powerful & deserves its place on HIStory for that reason, as it's an autobiographical album. But it's let down by the chorus.

I love This Time Around! The lyrics are very clever and powerful... It's not a hit song, but not every song has to be a hit song. I don't feel there's a consensus...

I think it's musically brilliant. Lyrics are powerful too, but the song has to be good musically to win me over. I always first listen to music and then lyrics.

I like the chorus. Many of the songs on HIStory seem to have chant-type choruses, which remind me of old slave songs.

It's not a favourite but I do like it, it's a good song to play loud if I'm feeling angry I think. Love the lyrics

I love it. Powerful and hard hitting. Actually HIStory is my favourite album and I can honestly say there isn't one song on that album I don't like.

Love it. Vocally and lyrically it's great.

SarahJ said:

Powerful and hard hitting.

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Good way to describe it. I feel the same.

I didn't know so many people felt indifference for the song, I think it's bloody brilliant. Onir made an excellent observation, it gets a bit lost because it's between some of the greatest songs MJ has ever written in his career.

InvincibleTal said:

I love This Time Around! The lyrics are very clever and powerful... It's not a hit song, but not every song has to be a hit song. I don't feel there's a consensus...

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What's funny is that in the book Moonwalk, Michael said that he didn't believe in Album tracks and that every song should be able to stand on it's own as a hit single. Maybe he changed his mind later on

analogue said:

What's funny is that in the book Moonwalk, Michael said that he didn't believe in Album tracks and that every song should be able to stand on it's own as a hit single. Maybe he changed his mind later on

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Well an album track doesn't necessarily mean it isn't of the same quality as a single. I doubt MJ recorded Little Susie or Morphine and expected them to be monster chart hits, but it's pure art at the end of the day. Some of that art has a broad appeal and some of it is more niche. And as he developed more as an artist and a songwriter, a lot of the songs he recorded wouldn't have worked that well as singles even though some of it is amongst his very best work.

analogue said:

What's funny is that in the book Moonwalk, Michael said that he didn't believe in Album tracks and that every song should be able to stand on it's own as a hit single. Maybe he changed his mind later on

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You have to understand the context of what he said and the history of music releases, I don't think he really changed his mind as he later repeated it on his Ebony interview in 2007 but while some things are right at one point and when you talk about it in hindsight you still think they're right, in the present you have other things to consider.

I think Michael had a vision to make albums that worth people's time and money and take the experience to the max. If you listen to albums from the 70's and 60's, a lot of them sound like the artists had 1-2 songs that could appeal to the audience and the rest are fillers and B-side songs that kind of feel like they had to make them because a record can fit around 8-10 songs. Michael thought that's why albums don't sell that well and a 8-10 tracks album should be more than two songs. In my opinion 10 tracks albums don't have room for fillers. But see, not every song on OTW, Thriller and Bad are single material and/or radio friendly but all of them are top quality and fit the MJ standard, they still stand on their own and it's the same for his later works most of the time.

When the CD revolution started Michael again gave the people the maximal experience and decided to release as many songs he could on one album, he didn't have to do that but that gave him more room to more personal or trying something different. How many hit songs or potential singles he got on his later studio albums? Dangerous got 9 singles (+Dangerous), HIStory was his most personal piece and still you got 7 singles (+2 Bad on Ghosts, Come Together) - How many Bad and Thriller got? Same numbers. Now I know some people may think of some songs on HIStory as fillers but I disagree as every song on this album has its purpose. I think we can agree HIStory has a whole different concept than Bad so I don't take the succesful singles for granted. I'm going to leave Invincible out because it didn't get a fair treatment.

MattyJam said:

Well an album track doesn't necessarily mean it isn't of the same quality as a single. I doubt MJ recorded Little Susie or Morphine and expected them to be monster chart hits, but it's pure art at the end of the day. Some of that art has a broad appeal and some of it is more niche. And as he developed more as an artist and a songwriter, a lot of the songs he recorded wouldn't have worked that well as singles even though some of it is amongst his very best work.

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I wholeheartedly agree with this. Most of Michael's songs can stand on their own, some as singles, some as pure art.

Agree with the points above. On History, although I felt tracks like TTA, Money & Childhood weren't amongst his best work. They were chapters that had to be told in the "story".

It's like reading a book. Some chapters may not be as strong but without them you're not getting the full picture.

analogue said:

Maybe he changed his mind later on

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He did not. This Time Around can stand on its own. Without a doubt.

MattyJam said:

Well an album track doesn't necessarily mean it isn't of the same quality as a single. I doubt MJ recorded Little Susie or Morphine and expected them to be monster chart hits, but it's pure art at the end of the day. Some of that art has a broad appeal and some of it is more niche. And as he developed more as an artist and a songwriter, a lot of the songs he recorded wouldn't have worked that well as singles even though some of it is amongst his very best work.

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This!

But This Time Around definitely has single potential.

"The track had a good chart performance on music component charts in the United States. The song charted on music charts based solely on radio airplay throughout the country. It charted within the top 40 of the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 chart in 1995, peaking at number 36. The song peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles music charts in 1996. In 1996, the track also peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart." - without being released as an actual single. It was released as a promotional single only in US.

OnirMJ said:

It was released as a promotional single only in US.

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There was also a european promo-only CD (SAMPCD 3598). But I don't think the song went anywhere here.
They released it in the US because of the back then huge black music / r&b / hiphop market.