Michael had considered following HIStory with a sequel album, HIStory Book II which engineer Rob Hoffman said would have followed a similar format, with both new songs and greatest hits. "It would have included more old hits because there were songs such as 'Human Nature', 'Dirty Diana', 'Smooth Criminal' and 'Dangerous' that weren't on part one, and then there were the big songs from HIStory, like 'You Are Not Alone' and 'Earth Song', that they were going to add.
But recording a whole new album at this stage would have been time consuming, and Michael was interested in a shorter project. "The HIStory Book II concept was talked about but never that big of an idea in Michael's mind," Brad Buxer said. "Michael's desire was for an album with a limited amount of new tracks and one that wouldn't be that complicated or take that long to do."