Michael Jackson – Earth Song

Well... what should I say...? I don't think we should ask ourselves whether Hani's reworking of "Earth Song" is good or bad. My question is rather:

1. Who wants a remix of "Earth Song" at all, regardless of genre / style of music? The original 6:46 album version is probably one of the best songs Michael Jackson ever made. There is a reason why songs such as "Heal The World" and "Will You Be There" were not remixed when they were released as singles. I recall Trevor Horn saying back in 1984 that he utterly disliked the idea of doing a remix of FGTH "The Power Of Love". But ZTT thought the market was asking for it. This is the same thing. Let's look deep inside into the bottom of our hearts and minds. Nobody really wants a remix of "Earth Song".
I'm not saying Michael Jackson should not be remixed. The remixes of his singles from his "Dangerous" album were quite good. But "Scream" by Morales was already questionable. The backingtrack of the club mix sounds great but Michael's lyrics do not seem to match (I prefer the Naughty By Nature remixes of this). Frankie Knuckles reworking "You Are Not Alone" was okay, although Jon B captured the feeling better with his downtempo mixes.

2. Now that we have Hani's remix... who is supposed to play it? For me, most of those 15 minutes is musical background tapestry. Something that Michael does not deserve. The key-up and the vocal outburst in the original are missing; the remix keeps the G# tone setting of the first half of the original and after 4-5 minutes, all I hear is a collection of beeps, bleeps and faraway echoes of Michael's voice. An ambient rework would have done the song more justice... because you would actually have the feel of yourself standing on a planet with all lifeforms destroyed...
I recall myself looking at the clock of my CD player... it was on the 7-minute mark when I already had enough... while the remix was not even halfway.
Sometimes I wonder how the name Hani was linked to "Earth Song". Did Michael wanted it himself? Was it the record company's suggestion? We will probably never know. Maybe it's better we do not know.
Of course, no hard feelings against Hani, because his reworking of "Stranger In Moscow" is great! I prefer it to the Basement Boys / Todd Terry / Chris Roane remixes. He adds to the feeling of the song, making you actually feel estranged in a big city.