For those that care, please find below my review of Bad (written today). Please read if you can & comment. Thanks.
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Michael Jackson; Bad – a review.
Some things seem impossible to follow up. What did Neil Armstrong do once he'd walked on the moon? What did Carl Lewis do after he won 4 gold medals in the '84 Olympics? What did Tolstoy do after writing War And Peace?
Historical events can be unfeasible to surpass. Michael Jackson's Thriller is one of them. How do you follow up the biggest selling album of all time? An album that became more than itself, an album that became an event, a piece of pop culture; it sold 40 million copies (at the time), created the modern day music video, broke musical and racial barriers and catapulted you to being the biggest pop star on the planet.
Simply put, the answer is Bad. Released over 4 and a half years after Thriller, Bad was to reunite Michael and producer Quincy Jones for the third and final time. As with the recording of Thriller, the making of Bad is full of rumour and folklore. Some say it was due to be a 30 track double CD epic, others say the title track was supposed to be a duet with the planet's other superstar at the time, Prince. Myths and legend aside, what you got - was another piece of history. An album that, although never matching its predecessor in terms of sales - was another record breaking, world changing musical event that would prove Thriller was no one off; no accident.
The recording of Bad started just after the 1984 Victory Tour and by the time Michael and Quincy had finished, they were spoiled for choice with the available material. At this time the CD was only just breaking out as the primary music medium and it was to be a while before the time of 14 and 15 track Michael Jackson albums. Bad, therefore, is only 11 tracks long. But what a selection of tracks they chose!
This time Michael really took control in terms of songwriting, penning all but two songs on Bad and it has his stamp all over it.
As soon as you press play on 'Bad', you are straight into it. A four note ascension of brass and like the opening predecessors on Off The Wall and Thriller, you are thrown straight into a killer hook that could only mean you are listening to a Michael Jackson album. If the listener was in any doubt that Michael would come back after Thriller and still be the world's biggest music star, he answers them in the first four words on the album – "Your butt is mine" - and for the next 48 minutes, he's right. The accompanying video took over where Thriller left off, at 18 minutes long, directed by the legendary Martin Scorcese and marking the acting debut of a young Wesley Snipes, the short film showcases Michael's acting skills as he struggles to balance his college life with his street background. The song and video left you in no doubt that Michael Jackson was back – tougher, stronger, badder.
The third single and second track is yet another classic. 'The Way You Make Me Feel' is a perfect pop song. Everything pop should be about; a killer hook, a sing along chorus, perfect vocals and above all else – fun, fun ,fun. How many times in Michael Jackson reviews have I spoken about the ad-libs? 'The Way You Make Me Feel' is yet another great example; "Ain't nobody's business but mine and my baby's". One of the ad-libs was go great, it got used as Michael's opening line to the song in the video and still send shivers today: "YOU KNOCK ME OFFA MY FEEL NOW BABY – WOOH!". Classic. The song was sung with a youthful exuberance and joy that regrettably is sorely missing now.
Like Thriller, the vast majority of Bad was released as singles so strong was its content. The third track, however, was one of two tracks not released. 'Speed Demon' nonetheless was included in the Moonwalker movie. I find Speed Demon a strange song. By rights it shouldn't be much good. Compared to its Bad brothers, there's not much to it. A couple of verses, a chorus, a bridge. And yet there must be some Jackson magic in there as it does work. It's not his best song by any means, but like Baby Be Mine on Thriller or She Drives Me Wild on Dangerous, even the weakest tracks are still great.
Speed Demon segues into the album's first ballad. Again, 'Liberian Girl' should only be an average track in all fairness, but it is extraordinary. 20 years on and I still don't know what makes this song so good. Like Demon, it is structured like a normal record, there's no great innovative production and there's no huge sing-along chorus. The only part of the song that is extraordinary is Michael's vocals, especially as they soar towards the end.
Next comes a curiosity for me. The meeting of two greats; Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. Comparable in their talent, longevity and the fact that they both started out as boy wonders on Motown. Surely they will produce a record of such greatness people will be talking about it for decades. Sorry no – not for me anyway. 'Just Good Friends' is such an average track it's almost heartbreaking. Maybe my expectations were too high but I felt a disappointment that was to repeated when Madonna and Prince collaborated on Love Song (on Madonna's Like A Prayer album). In retrospect and listening to it recently, its not actually a bad track (no pun intended) the playfulness in their exchanging ad-libs make it quite fun, but from two classic artists, a classic it ain't.
A fantastic track however follows, 'Another Part Of Me'. I'm in great danger of repeating myself here. But what makes song so damn good? Thinking about it now, I surmise this must be Michael Jackson's genius. The way he can write and record what one might deem to be an average song and make it into a classic. This is what's missing in modern music. People are getting the first part right but they're not doing the second. You see, you can't teach genius. The video was the closest Jackson fans have as a memento of the wondrous event that was the Bad Tour as Michael strutted his way around the stage singing the song live. Like the song itself, the performance has no embellishment or over the top production but it's spellbinding.
The majority of Michael's signature tunes and musical high points he has penned himself (Billie Jean, Earth Song, Heal The World). To this day, I find it hard to believe that he didn't write 'Man In The Mirror', for the record is an aural delight and indeed is a masterpiece. With a lyric so true that the world would indeed be 'a better place' if we made 'that change' we should all live by it and a melody so great it stuck in the listeners' mind for years, the song has become a Jackson classic and an anthemic live favourite. When Michael performs this track, the world stops for me. As on his other gospel tinged numbers, Michael lets the song do its own thing as nature and brilliance takes him over as he flies into a whirlwind of ad-libs, spins, yearning and energy. It makes for an astonishing performance that is beyond belief.
The Thriller campaign hadn't just fizzled out like most albums, which have singles released until they stop making much impact and sales diminish. It had finished with the Thriller single and ground breaking short film, leaving everyone wanting more. Michael made the risky decision of making the comeback very low-key. The first single 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You' was everything Thriller wasn't - a ballad with no video. Michael seems to enjoy launching his new albums with a duet (Thriller's The Girl Is Mine and HIStory's Scream), except this one was with lesser known artist Siedah Garrett. From her two contributions to Bad, her writing of Man In The Mirror is perhaps more ground breaking, but 'Loving You' is a charming, romantic all out love song. Like a lot of Bad, this song comes into its own on stage, especially when Siedah joined him on the Dangerous Tour. First pressings of Bad had this song with a spoken intro by Michael that he had favoured since 'Don't Stop til You Get Enough' and continued on P.Y.T., for reasons unknown this was omitted on further pressings.
From balladry to rock in one fell swoop, this has to be a Michael Jackson album. Continuing where Beat It left off, Bad has a full on rock track on it. I'm probably in the minority by preferring 'Dirty Diana' to Beat It, but I love the story and the melody. Like some other Jackson tracks (for example Earth Song), the chorus doesn't comprise of much, but the song doesn't suffer for it. When Steve Stephens' guitar kicks in together with Michael's vocals the song soars into a cacophony of brilliance. This was the fifth single from Bad, and like the previous four, hit number one in the US.
If anyone is reading this who bought Bad in it's first release, do you remember as I do being blown away by 'Smooth Criminal' the first time you heard it? Whether it was that first note blast that blew from the speakers, or the recorded heartbeat (Michael's own) that it led into or the killer hook, or the fact that he managed to rhyme the word crescendo. Smooth Criminal is quite possibly the first Michael Jackson track that really blew the concept of what a pop song could be like. From the hook, to the way Michael spits out the syncopated lyric to the strange 'Annie are you okay' chorus, the song is differently perfect and became even more so at the end with the two series of ad-libs; 'I don't know' and 'Dad gone it baby!' – Whatever that means!
If you thought Smooth Criminal the song was a masterpiece. Wait until you saw it in its cinematic glory. As part of the 1988 movie Moonwalker, Smooth Criminal was given its own 10 minute segment. Performing the song as a '30s style gangster movie, Michael was to enthral with a dance routine that perfectly personified the songs staccato rhythm. People talk about the Motown 25 performance or the Thriller routine, but for me the Smooth Criminal video encapsulates what is great about a Michael Jackson performance. Amazingly, Michael was even able to replicate the song live on the Bad & Dangerous tours including the renowned 45 degree lean to mesmerising and jaw-dropping affect.
If you were lucky enough to buy Bad on Compact Disc in 1987 you were privy to a bonus track. 'Leave Me Alone' was the first of what was to become a series of attacks on the press. Since Michael had become a global superstar, he had become subject to a series of weird and wonderful stories by the media. Looking back at these 20years later, they seem pale in comparison to later chronicles. Leave Me Alone the song seemed like a light hearted tale about a faded relationship, however the video related the 'just stop doggin' me around' lyric to hounding by the media, whilst showing false headlines of the day.
So, there you have it. The listener was in no doubt that musically Michael had done himself proud. The one thing that differentiated Bad from Thriller is that is wasn't so much of a shock. With Thriller we weren't expecting massive things from Michael. Off The Wall had been good but at the time hadn't set the world on fire. Audiences weren't expecting what Thriller had to throw at them. With Bad they were and thus expectation levels were massively increased. I'll equate again with Neil Armstrong, everyone remembers him walking on the moon and everyone who could watch it did so and marvelled. By the time of subsequent landings the novelty had worn off but it didn't make the achievement any less revolutionary.
Twenty years later, I feel Bad hasn't aged that well compared to other Jackson albums due to it's synthesised production and I feel it was an excellent creative move when Michael split with Quincy Jones to try other producers on the superb and career peaking Dangerous album. However, if you are reading this and haven't played Bad for a while, I urge you to revisit it. As with Thriller or Dangerous, it isn't just a Michael Jackson album but a greatest hits collection and the songs are everlasting and superb.
One of the things that differentiate Michael Jackson albums to ALL other artists is the fact that he doesn't believe in album tracks or B sides. Releasing 9 out of 11 tracks as singles may seem rather egotistical or pompous but it is merely a testament to the quality of music on here. Every song is it's own musical work of art, they nearly all have a proper beginning, middle and end, with as much work gone into the introduction and finish as in the choruses and verse. Together they form to make yet another blockbuster of an album.
In terms of sales, it was to prove impossible to match Thriller - but for a time Michael Jackson had the 1st and 2nd best selling albums in history. To date Bad has sold 32 million copies and like Thriller, has became an event in time. As well as the album, there was the movie (Moonwalker), the Bad tour (playing to over 4 million people) and the autobiography (Moonwalk). Like 1982-84, in 1987-89 Michael Jackson was ubiquitous and you could not turn without seeing his work or his influence everywhere, and what a great time that was.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Jackson; Bad – a review.
Some things seem impossible to follow up. What did Neil Armstrong do once he'd walked on the moon? What did Carl Lewis do after he won 4 gold medals in the '84 Olympics? What did Tolstoy do after writing War And Peace?
Historical events can be unfeasible to surpass. Michael Jackson's Thriller is one of them. How do you follow up the biggest selling album of all time? An album that became more than itself, an album that became an event, a piece of pop culture; it sold 40 million copies (at the time), created the modern day music video, broke musical and racial barriers and catapulted you to being the biggest pop star on the planet.
Simply put, the answer is Bad. Released over 4 and a half years after Thriller, Bad was to reunite Michael and producer Quincy Jones for the third and final time. As with the recording of Thriller, the making of Bad is full of rumour and folklore. Some say it was due to be a 30 track double CD epic, others say the title track was supposed to be a duet with the planet's other superstar at the time, Prince. Myths and legend aside, what you got - was another piece of history. An album that, although never matching its predecessor in terms of sales - was another record breaking, world changing musical event that would prove Thriller was no one off; no accident.
The recording of Bad started just after the 1984 Victory Tour and by the time Michael and Quincy had finished, they were spoiled for choice with the available material. At this time the CD was only just breaking out as the primary music medium and it was to be a while before the time of 14 and 15 track Michael Jackson albums. Bad, therefore, is only 11 tracks long. But what a selection of tracks they chose!
This time Michael really took control in terms of songwriting, penning all but two songs on Bad and it has his stamp all over it.
As soon as you press play on 'Bad', you are straight into it. A four note ascension of brass and like the opening predecessors on Off The Wall and Thriller, you are thrown straight into a killer hook that could only mean you are listening to a Michael Jackson album. If the listener was in any doubt that Michael would come back after Thriller and still be the world's biggest music star, he answers them in the first four words on the album – "Your butt is mine" - and for the next 48 minutes, he's right. The accompanying video took over where Thriller left off, at 18 minutes long, directed by the legendary Martin Scorcese and marking the acting debut of a young Wesley Snipes, the short film showcases Michael's acting skills as he struggles to balance his college life with his street background. The song and video left you in no doubt that Michael Jackson was back – tougher, stronger, badder.
The third single and second track is yet another classic. 'The Way You Make Me Feel' is a perfect pop song. Everything pop should be about; a killer hook, a sing along chorus, perfect vocals and above all else – fun, fun ,fun. How many times in Michael Jackson reviews have I spoken about the ad-libs? 'The Way You Make Me Feel' is yet another great example; "Ain't nobody's business but mine and my baby's". One of the ad-libs was go great, it got used as Michael's opening line to the song in the video and still send shivers today: "YOU KNOCK ME OFFA MY FEEL NOW BABY – WOOH!". Classic. The song was sung with a youthful exuberance and joy that regrettably is sorely missing now.
Like Thriller, the vast majority of Bad was released as singles so strong was its content. The third track, however, was one of two tracks not released. 'Speed Demon' nonetheless was included in the Moonwalker movie. I find Speed Demon a strange song. By rights it shouldn't be much good. Compared to its Bad brothers, there's not much to it. A couple of verses, a chorus, a bridge. And yet there must be some Jackson magic in there as it does work. It's not his best song by any means, but like Baby Be Mine on Thriller or She Drives Me Wild on Dangerous, even the weakest tracks are still great.
Speed Demon segues into the album's first ballad. Again, 'Liberian Girl' should only be an average track in all fairness, but it is extraordinary. 20 years on and I still don't know what makes this song so good. Like Demon, it is structured like a normal record, there's no great innovative production and there's no huge sing-along chorus. The only part of the song that is extraordinary is Michael's vocals, especially as they soar towards the end.
Next comes a curiosity for me. The meeting of two greats; Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. Comparable in their talent, longevity and the fact that they both started out as boy wonders on Motown. Surely they will produce a record of such greatness people will be talking about it for decades. Sorry no – not for me anyway. 'Just Good Friends' is such an average track it's almost heartbreaking. Maybe my expectations were too high but I felt a disappointment that was to repeated when Madonna and Prince collaborated on Love Song (on Madonna's Like A Prayer album). In retrospect and listening to it recently, its not actually a bad track (no pun intended) the playfulness in their exchanging ad-libs make it quite fun, but from two classic artists, a classic it ain't.
A fantastic track however follows, 'Another Part Of Me'. I'm in great danger of repeating myself here. But what makes song so damn good? Thinking about it now, I surmise this must be Michael Jackson's genius. The way he can write and record what one might deem to be an average song and make it into a classic. This is what's missing in modern music. People are getting the first part right but they're not doing the second. You see, you can't teach genius. The video was the closest Jackson fans have as a memento of the wondrous event that was the Bad Tour as Michael strutted his way around the stage singing the song live. Like the song itself, the performance has no embellishment or over the top production but it's spellbinding.
The majority of Michael's signature tunes and musical high points he has penned himself (Billie Jean, Earth Song, Heal The World). To this day, I find it hard to believe that he didn't write 'Man In The Mirror', for the record is an aural delight and indeed is a masterpiece. With a lyric so true that the world would indeed be 'a better place' if we made 'that change' we should all live by it and a melody so great it stuck in the listeners' mind for years, the song has become a Jackson classic and an anthemic live favourite. When Michael performs this track, the world stops for me. As on his other gospel tinged numbers, Michael lets the song do its own thing as nature and brilliance takes him over as he flies into a whirlwind of ad-libs, spins, yearning and energy. It makes for an astonishing performance that is beyond belief.
The Thriller campaign hadn't just fizzled out like most albums, which have singles released until they stop making much impact and sales diminish. It had finished with the Thriller single and ground breaking short film, leaving everyone wanting more. Michael made the risky decision of making the comeback very low-key. The first single 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You' was everything Thriller wasn't - a ballad with no video. Michael seems to enjoy launching his new albums with a duet (Thriller's The Girl Is Mine and HIStory's Scream), except this one was with lesser known artist Siedah Garrett. From her two contributions to Bad, her writing of Man In The Mirror is perhaps more ground breaking, but 'Loving You' is a charming, romantic all out love song. Like a lot of Bad, this song comes into its own on stage, especially when Siedah joined him on the Dangerous Tour. First pressings of Bad had this song with a spoken intro by Michael that he had favoured since 'Don't Stop til You Get Enough' and continued on P.Y.T., for reasons unknown this was omitted on further pressings.
From balladry to rock in one fell swoop, this has to be a Michael Jackson album. Continuing where Beat It left off, Bad has a full on rock track on it. I'm probably in the minority by preferring 'Dirty Diana' to Beat It, but I love the story and the melody. Like some other Jackson tracks (for example Earth Song), the chorus doesn't comprise of much, but the song doesn't suffer for it. When Steve Stephens' guitar kicks in together with Michael's vocals the song soars into a cacophony of brilliance. This was the fifth single from Bad, and like the previous four, hit number one in the US.
If anyone is reading this who bought Bad in it's first release, do you remember as I do being blown away by 'Smooth Criminal' the first time you heard it? Whether it was that first note blast that blew from the speakers, or the recorded heartbeat (Michael's own) that it led into or the killer hook, or the fact that he managed to rhyme the word crescendo. Smooth Criminal is quite possibly the first Michael Jackson track that really blew the concept of what a pop song could be like. From the hook, to the way Michael spits out the syncopated lyric to the strange 'Annie are you okay' chorus, the song is differently perfect and became even more so at the end with the two series of ad-libs; 'I don't know' and 'Dad gone it baby!' – Whatever that means!
If you thought Smooth Criminal the song was a masterpiece. Wait until you saw it in its cinematic glory. As part of the 1988 movie Moonwalker, Smooth Criminal was given its own 10 minute segment. Performing the song as a '30s style gangster movie, Michael was to enthral with a dance routine that perfectly personified the songs staccato rhythm. People talk about the Motown 25 performance or the Thriller routine, but for me the Smooth Criminal video encapsulates what is great about a Michael Jackson performance. Amazingly, Michael was even able to replicate the song live on the Bad & Dangerous tours including the renowned 45 degree lean to mesmerising and jaw-dropping affect.
If you were lucky enough to buy Bad on Compact Disc in 1987 you were privy to a bonus track. 'Leave Me Alone' was the first of what was to become a series of attacks on the press. Since Michael had become a global superstar, he had become subject to a series of weird and wonderful stories by the media. Looking back at these 20years later, they seem pale in comparison to later chronicles. Leave Me Alone the song seemed like a light hearted tale about a faded relationship, however the video related the 'just stop doggin' me around' lyric to hounding by the media, whilst showing false headlines of the day.
So, there you have it. The listener was in no doubt that musically Michael had done himself proud. The one thing that differentiated Bad from Thriller is that is wasn't so much of a shock. With Thriller we weren't expecting massive things from Michael. Off The Wall had been good but at the time hadn't set the world on fire. Audiences weren't expecting what Thriller had to throw at them. With Bad they were and thus expectation levels were massively increased. I'll equate again with Neil Armstrong, everyone remembers him walking on the moon and everyone who could watch it did so and marvelled. By the time of subsequent landings the novelty had worn off but it didn't make the achievement any less revolutionary.
Twenty years later, I feel Bad hasn't aged that well compared to other Jackson albums due to it's synthesised production and I feel it was an excellent creative move when Michael split with Quincy Jones to try other producers on the superb and career peaking Dangerous album. However, if you are reading this and haven't played Bad for a while, I urge you to revisit it. As with Thriller or Dangerous, it isn't just a Michael Jackson album but a greatest hits collection and the songs are everlasting and superb.
One of the things that differentiate Michael Jackson albums to ALL other artists is the fact that he doesn't believe in album tracks or B sides. Releasing 9 out of 11 tracks as singles may seem rather egotistical or pompous but it is merely a testament to the quality of music on here. Every song is it's own musical work of art, they nearly all have a proper beginning, middle and end, with as much work gone into the introduction and finish as in the choruses and verse. Together they form to make yet another blockbuster of an album.
In terms of sales, it was to prove impossible to match Thriller - but for a time Michael Jackson had the 1st and 2nd best selling albums in history. To date Bad has sold 32 million copies and like Thriller, has became an event in time. As well as the album, there was the movie (Moonwalker), the Bad tour (playing to over 4 million people) and the autobiography (Moonwalk). Like 1982-84, in 1987-89 Michael Jackson was ubiquitous and you could not turn without seeing his work or his influence everywhere, and what a great time that was.
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