Thriller, BAD, or Dangerous?

FortéFord

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Which one do you choose between the three? My favorite is Dangerous, but I'm interested in hearing other MJ fans opinions. Also...(Please don't start arguments about which album is better...It's just an opinion)
 
Dangerous is technically his best album (Who is it, will you be there, in the closet etc), but my personal favourite is BAD. Every song on it is incredible, it has the pop edge of Thriller and a mix of the grown up funk and soul of Dangerous. Plus it has classics like Bad, Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal, The Way you make me feel, Leave me alone, Just Good Friends and Dirty Diana along with Another part of me. I love the sound and his whole look of the time. Michael was under pressure to bring a follow up to Thriller and I honestly thought he surpassed Thriller in every way with this album.

I don't think I need to say anymore about the power of an album like Bad, it was the right record at the right time and Michael Jackson really was on top of the world when it came out and he remained on top of the world afterwards. It was also the first album he made from the position of a global superstar. Thriller got him there, but when he was recording Thriller and before it came out, he was merely a popular R&B artist with a decent pop following and pop success, but nothing indicating he would become the greatest superstar in the world until after Thriller exploded. With Bad, he was already there and wanting to remain there. I mean in mid 1982 Michael Jackson was a big star, even a superstar, but there were bigger stars than him, In 1984 he was the biggest star in the world and even emerged unscathed after first Prince and then Madonna had titanium hit albums that merely put them with Michael, but not overpowering him.
 
Thriller for me is the perfect album as it has no weakness. Bad and Dangerous both have a weakness each in Just Good Friends and She Drives Me Wild but I believe that both Bad and Dangerous have a higher peak with songs like Man In The Mirror, Smooth Criminal, Jam, Will You Be There, Who Is It, Heal The World, Black Or White so the answer is either Bad or Dangerous. At the moment I would say Dangerous but in a few days time, I would say Bad. All three albums are fantastic.
 
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It's too close to call for me.

Suffice to say, the run of; 'Off The Wall'>'Thriller'>'Bad'>'Dangerous' is exactly why MJ is the greatest artist that has ever lived. No one, and I mean "no one", can even come close to a run of albums like that.

Tag 'History' on to the end of that run - despite it being half 'Greatest Hits' - and everyone else should bow down and realise it's 'game over', in terms of trying to compete. 😉
 
Three of the greatest albums of all time ...
I would say that Dangerous is my favorite since it is the one that is the most replayed by me.

Bad is a close second : excellent.

Thriller is great !
 
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FortéFord;4180055 said:
Which one do you choose between the three? My favorite is Dangerous, but I'm interested in hearing other MJ fans opinions. Also...(Please don't start arguments about which album is better...It's just an opinion)

Dangerous. No doubt. This is Michael on top of his game.
 
If I was still listening to him. I will definitely choose Dangerous. Mainly because of the song Who Is It. Since that is to me the most greatest MJ song ever made. And at one time I once had a major obsession with that song.
 
Curious why History wasn't included, because that to me was his best work. Stronger and more vocal range, better music, etc.

But out of the three, I'd say Dangerous.
Thriller in my opinion was amazing, but overrated in comparison
to his later works.
If I had to rank the three albums:
Dangerous
Bad
Thriller
 
I agree with @Blue Criminal that Thriller is the perfect album.

But I'd choose BAD probably for the reasons @mjprince wrote here:
Dangerous is technically his best album (Who is it, will you be there, in the closet etc), but my personal favourite is BAD. Every song on it is incredible, it has the pop edge of Thriller and a mix of the grown up funk and soul of Dangerous. Plus it has classics like Bad, Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal, The Way you make me feel, Leave me alone, Just Good Friends and Dirty Diana along with Another part of me. I love the sound and his whole look of the time. Michael was under pressure to bring a follow up to Thriller and I honestly thought he surpassed Thriller in every way with this album.

I don't think I need to say anymore about the power of an album like Bad, it was the right record at the right time and Michael Jackson really was on top of the world when it came out and he remained on top of the world afterwards. It was also the first album he made from the position of a global superstar. Thriller got him there, but when he was recording Thriller and before it came out, he was merely a popular R&B artist with a decent pop following and pop success, but nothing indicating he would become the greatest superstar in the world until after Thriller exploded. With Bad, he was already there and wanting to remain there. I mean in mid 1982 Michael Jackson was a big star, even a superstar, but there were bigger stars than him, In 1984 he was the biggest star in the world
and even emerged unscathed after first Prince and then Madonna had titanium hit albums that merely put them with Michael, but not overpowering him.

Michael killed it with BAD-music with spectacular vids and THE tour to match.
 
Thriller for me is the perfect album as it has no weakness. Bad and Dangerous both have a weakness each in Just Good Friends and She Drives Me Wild but I believe that both Bad and Dangerous have a higher peak with songs like Man In The Mirror, Smooth Criminal, Jam, Will You Be There, Who Is It, Heal The World, Black Or White so the answer is either Bad or Dangerous. At the moment I would say Dangerous but in a few days time, I would say Bad. All three albums are fantastic.

I agree with you only dangerous is my fav album followed by Thriller and then Bad
 
Bad is MJ's most dated album, but that by no means is a bad thing (pardon the pun). It just sounds very of-its-time. But it's like Purple Rain, in the sense that whilst it sounds very eighties in its production values, no dated production could stand in the way of how great the songs are. People always say Thriller was like a greatest hits, but I always felt Bad was more like that, seeing as so many singles were released from that album, and that almost every one is a bona fide classic. I mean, Smooth Criminal, Man In The Mirror, Bad, Dirty Diana, IJCSLY and TWYMMF all on the same album? It really is an exceptional achievement that he managed to follow up Thriller with an album jam-packed with so many pop classics.

Agreed. I think I recall Respect77 saying sometime ago that Bad was essentially a Greatest Hits album in itself... and I couldn't agree more.

It's funny because that was one of the last MJ albums I bought simply because I had almost all the tracks on his compilations already :p
 
They're all incredible albums, featuring some of the best pop music of all time.

I would say Dangerous has aged the best out of all three (although it is the most recent, which gives it an unfair advantage). Parts of Thriller haven't aged a jot. I mean songs like Billie Jean, WBSS, Beat It, Human Nature and the title track, even Lady In My Life.... they're all produced so beautifully, they really just sound timeless. TGIM sounds a bit corny these days (it probably did in 1982 to be fair), and Baby Be Mine and PYT are both dated, but fine songs nonetheless.

Bad is MJ's most dated album, but that by no means is a bad thing (pardon the pun). It just sounds very of-its-time. But it's like Purple Rain, in the sense that whilst it sounds very eighties in its production values, no dated production could stand in the way of how great the songs are. People always say Thriller was like a greatest hits, but I always felt Bad was more like that, seeing as so many singles were released from that album, and that almost every one is a bona fide classic. I mean, Smooth Criminal, Man In The Mirror, Bad, Dirty Diana, IJCSLY and TWYMMF all on the same album? It really is an exceptional achievement that he managed to follow up Thriller with an album jam-packed with so many pop classics.

Dangerous is the sound of MJ coming of age as an adult artist, the sound and lyrics are suddenly a lot more serious in content, and I think in turn, he became less commercial. I mean, a song like Will You Be There or Who Is It is never going to become a radio staple in the same way as his 80s work. But that's a good thing, it shows artistic growth and the album undoubtedly features some of his best work.

I really can't rank these three albums, as they are all masterpieces in their own way. My personal preference tends to lean towards MJ's 90s/00's work, but its very hard to find fault with anything on Thriller or Bad.

Pretty much this.

Although I can honestly say that Dangerous has been my favourite album of all time for 25 years (not just of MJ but any artist). I love Bad too and obviously Thriller but Dangerous has an edge the others don't have. That's probably down to the Holy Trinity of Who Is It, Give In To Me and Will You Be There.

On Thriller, as great as it is, only one or two tracks on there are in my favourite Top 10 MJ songs (WBSS and Billie Jean).

My Top 20 is essentially from Dangerous, Bad and HIstory.
 
Great Thread.

Bad
Dangerous
Thriller

Bad is just incredible, it has a commercial and artistic appeal that hasn't been seen before or since. You have songs going to the top of the charts that aren't just catchy pop songs they're songs with relatable stories and social statements, but they still carry that flavour that makes them hard to forget.
To top it off to think Michael wrote 9 out of the 11 tracks says a lot for songwriting abilities, which cements my point he wrote most of his best work.

With Dangerous, to me this is Michael's coming of age album. A lot less emphasis on catchy hooks and more of a push for emotion and hard hitting grooves. Dangerous was the perfect progression for me after the huge success of Bad. I think with this record he showed the world, I am the greatest and there is more to me than you think. Gone are the almost playful (I don't mean that in a bad way) songs, Speed Demon TGIM, JGF, in come more adult songs with darker themes, ITC, WYWTOM, GITM. But the more radio friendly songs, are still incredible, RTT, BOW, HTW.

Finally with Thriller, I love the album dearly. With that being said I do feel it's helped massively with the huge singles, Billie Jean, Beat It and Thriller. I love Lady In My Life and Human Nature, but I feel the was helped with the visual aspect of the short films and live performances. I do love Thriller though, it still sounds amazing and it just gives me such a good feeling when I hear it.

I don't think any artist has ever had a better run of albums than Michael. I add Off The Wall and HIStory to that too.
 
My favourite album is Dangerous, but my favourite song comes frmo thriller, a bit weird, but it's okay
 
Well Thriller is obviously the best. No album has 4 consecutive tracks as good as Beat It -> Billie Jean -> Human Nature -> PYT.
As for the for Bad and Dangerous it gets a little more difficult. Both albums have great tracks and amazing videos... but it could also be argued that they have some filler, a problem that Thriller doesn't have. Speed Demon, Just good Friends on Bad and CLHGA and Keep the Faith on Dangerous. They also contain some aped themes from their previous albums with less success: Billie Jean and Dirty Diana and Man in the Mirror and Keep the Faith for example.

Personally I'm gonna go with Thriller > Bad = Dangerous. It's just too hard to choose between the latter two as I love them both but can acknowledge their flaws. I would say that HIStory is more interesting than both due to the risks it takes.
 
The dangerous album defines Michael as the king of pop. This sound, the song jam and the hit black or white make him to the top of the top. Bad is great too but I think some songs makes me feel not good, I don't know how I should say this. The thriller album has no weak and is perfect in all!
 
Well, I think all of his albums deserve the attention, applaud and recognition. Michael worked hard on his albums and every one of them is unique in its own way. My personal favorite is Dangerous and Bad being close second. Thriller is a great album, but the older Michael got, the more creative he got. When Bad came out, it already beat Thriller in terms of songs and creativeness. But when Dangerous came out, it beat Bad AND Thriller.

It makes me pissed how the general public did not treat Bad and Dangerous as they deserve to be treated. Dangerous is and was a masterpiece and it deserved at least 3 Grammys. The same goes for Bad. I can understand why Michael turned his back against the States.
 
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The BAD album is the best. One legendary song comes after another!
I can't choose between thriller and dangerous for the second position though, each album has its own character that I equally enjoy.
 
Well, I think all of his albums deserve the attention, applaud and recognition. Michael worked hard on his albums and every one of them is unique in its own way. My personal favorite is Dangerous and Bad being close second. Thriller is a great album, but the older Michael got, the more creative he got. When Bad came out, it already beat Thriller in terms of songs and creativeness. But when Dangerous came out, it beat Bad AND Thriller.

It makes me pissed how the general public did not treat Bad and Dangerous as they deserve to be treated. Dangerous is and was a masterpiece and it deserved at least 3 Grammys. The same goes for Bad. I can understand why Michael turned his back against the States.

I hardly think Bad or Dangerous were ignored. They both sold over thirty million!! Only a handful of albums have done that.

And if you mean US only, Bad was record breaking, had five number one singles and proved Thriller wasn't a one off.
 
I hardly think Bad or Dangerous were ignored. They both sold over thirty million!! Only a handful of albums have done that.

And if you mean US only, Bad was record breaking, had five number one singles and proved Thriller wasn't a one off.

Yes, but I am talking about the recognition from the Grammys and the general public. Dangerous deserved Grammys and so did Bad. Liberian Girl won a Grammy, but the album should have won some prizes as well. It seems like the only album the public talks about it Thriller and how much of a success it was and the rest of his albums were a failure when compared to Thriller.
 
Well Thriller is obviously the best. No album has 4 consecutive tracks as good as Beat It -> Billie Jean -> Human Nature -> PYT.
As for the for Bad and Dangerous it gets a little more difficult. Both albums have great tracks and amazing videos... but it could also be argued that they have some filler, a problem that Thriller doesn't have. Speed Demon, Just good Friends on Bad and CLHGA and Keep the Faith on Dangerous. They also contain some aped themes from their previous albums with less success: Billie Jean and Dirty Diana and Man in the Mirror and Keep the Faith for example.

Personally I'm gonna go with Thriller > Bad = Dangerous. It's just too hard to choose between the latter two as I love them both but can acknowledge their flaws. I would say that HIStory is more interesting than both due to the risks it takes.
I would hardly call Keep The Faith filler. I love that track personally.
You can also make the argument that the last 8 songs on Dangerous are better than Thriller in it's totality.
As for Thriller, I wouldn't call Baby be mine, The girl is mine, PYT or the lady in my life classics by any means.
I actually prefer DD over BJ.
Again it is all subjective but that is my opinion.
 
Sorry there is no filler on any of these albums.

I never did a 2nd and 3rd, 2nd was Dangerous and 3rd is Thriller, although I still really love it. I mean Billie Jean was the song that just got me hooked on Michael Jackson and it probably hooked millions of other people too. Most went on to become life long fans.

All 3 of these albums are just incredible and stand as the 3 greatest consecutive albums ever released, even Prince could only string 2 brilliant albums together. Add Off the Wall and you have 4 great albums. Seriously listen to them in order, Thriller - Bad - Dangerous, it is the most perfect 3 hours you will ever spend.
 
It must be Bad for me, although it sometimes is Dangerous (or History). Is basically depends on my mood, but generally speaking, I would choose Bad
 
It has swapped for me over the years, probably depending on what I 'overplayed' at the time the other would be a favorite
 
For me it always has been, and always will be DANGEROUS. But, I guess Thriller comes in at a close second? Two of my favorite songs are on Thriller (Human Nature and Baby Be Mine) BUT, Dangerous is my favorite album as a whole.
 
sorry there is no filler on any of these albums.

I never did a 2nd and 3rd, 2nd was dangerous and 3rd is thriller, although i still really love it. I mean billie jean was the song that just got me hooked on michael jackson and it probably hooked millions of other people too. Most went on to become life long fans.

all 3 of these albums are just incredible and stand as the 3 greatest consecutive albums ever released, even prince could only string 2 brilliant albums together. Add off the wall and you have 4 great albums. Seriously listen to them in order, thriller - bad - dangerous, it is the most perfect 3 hours you will ever spend.
agreed.
 
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