Blood On The Dance Floor: HIStory in The Mix - Commentary

Commentary

Jim Farber of New York Daily News labeled the albums theme, "Predatory women, jealous underlings and the evil media continue to obsess him. He's once again playing victim—the world's most powerless billionaire, it seems—mewling about forces conspiring against his heavenly self". He said of the lead single, " coughs up a series of strangulated mutters and munchkin hiccups in lieu of a vocal, while its chilly, faux-industrial music proves as appealing as a migraine". He contained, "'Ghosts' and 'Is It Scary', boast a few innovative sounds but no real melodies". Thor Christensen of The Dallas Morning News noted the album focused on "angry tales about a coldhearted 'Superfly Sister' or the back-stabbing women in 'Ghosts' and 'Blood on the Dance Floor'. Three of the five new songs on this remix album...involve mean, psychotic ex-lovers". He observed, "The dark, cryptic 'Morphine' is easily one of the most ambitious songs he's ever recorded. He fuels the song with narcotic industrial funk—look out Trent Reznor—but then dilutes it by sticking 90 seconds of goopy, string-laden balladry".

Neil Strauss of The New York Times gave the album a positive review, saying the record, "put Mr. Jackson halfway on the road to a very interesting concept album. There is real pain and pathos in these new songs... frets about painkillers, sexual promiscuity and public image. In many of them, Mr. Jackson seems like The Elephant Man, screaming that he is a human being...With beats crashing like metal sheets and synthesizer sounds hissing like pressurized gas, this is industrial funk". He favorably compared Jackson's performance of "Is It Scary" to rock singer Marilyn Manson and noted the lyrics, "If you want to see eccentric oddities, I'll be grotesque before your eyes". Strauss suggested that the predatory woman, "Susie", from the title track, was a metaphor for AIDS. Finally, he described "Morphine" as "chilling... Mr. Jackson sings seductively from the point of view of the drug itself...he intones sweetly". Roger Catlin of The Hartford Courant stated, "The most intriguing pairing is 'Ghosts' and 'Is It Scary' in which he asks those who've only read about him in tabloids if he seems monstrous". The Cincinnati Post described the lead single as a "lackluster first release...dated, played-out dance track", but gave the album an overall favorable analysis. The review described "Ghosts" and "Is this Scary" as "classic Jackson paranoia". The publication also thought that in "Superfly Sister", Jackson took inspiration from Prince.

Anthony Violenti of The Buffalo News said of the lead single, " laced with Teddy Riley's new jack swing sound and a pounding techno beat". Violenti added, "'Superfly Sister', 'Ghosts' and 'Is It Scary' are programmed plastic soul that makes you wonder how someone as talented as Jackson can churn out such tracks". He said of "Morphine", " has more synthesized beats and quickly fades into Jackson's current indistinguishable style". William Ruhlman of Allmusic said of the lead track, "'Blood on the Dance Floor' is an uptempo Jackson song in the increasingly hysterical tradition of 'Billie Jean' and 'Smooth Criminal' with Jackson huffing, puffing, and yelping through some nonsense about a stabbing...over a fairly generic electronic dance track". Stephen Thomas Erlewine, also of Allmusic, had a negative reaction to the record. He said that all five new tracks were, "embarrassingly weak, sounding tired, predictable and, well, bloodless". He described "Blood on the Dance Floor" as a "bleak reworking of 'Jam' and 'Scream'".

Chris Dickinson of St. Louis Post-Dispatch, noted, "'Superfly Sister' comes on like a classic Michael dance track, with Michael and Bryan Loren playing all the instruments...Blood On the Dance Floor is definitely a dance record. It's not Thriller or Bad or even Off the Wall and it's not trying to be". Jae-Ha Kim of Chicago Sun-Times, noted, "'Is It Scary' shows a darker side of Jackson than even the tabloids would have you believe...With the hypnotic 'Morphine', he sounds like a seductive cousin of Trent Reznor's". Sonia Murray of The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution gave the album a D grade. She claimed that, "'Ghosts' pounds with funk until Jackson's weak vocals come in". She described "Morphine" as an "overblown rock hiss". The Virginian-Pilot gave the album a positive review, the publication expressed the opinion that, "Morphine" sounded "eerily like 'State of Shock'", and continued, "'Scream Louder' a remix of his hit duet with sister Janet, is better than the original only because it takes away the overpowering guitar twangs". The Washington Post described "Superfly Sister" as "sex funk", adding, "'Morphine' apparently told from the drug's point of view and featuring both the Andrae Crouch Singers and an orchestra, alternates between hard-edged rock and operatic pop".