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Just Good Friends - What's wrong with it?

I'm probably just too much of a fan to dislike this track. I think the vocals are infectious and classic Jackson. I could listen to his voice all day long no matter what he sings I guess. I think the chemistry between Stevie and Michael is there, it seemed like a really fun session and the result on the record is a catchy sing along pop tune. The only down part on the entire bad album project to me is the production, It is too synthesized compared to the warm organic sound of the previous 2 albums.
 
SmoothCriminal1995 said:
The problem isn't Just Good Friends. It's a good solid song, the problem is it's on an album surrounded by some of the greatest, most recognisable songs in Michael Jackson's discography.
It's always going fall short in comparison sadly
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This.
From my memory, when 'Bad' was released it was full on 'Michael Mania' and people had very unrealistic expectations. They were basically hoping for more epic, unique, visual, magical songs and so 'just' a funky little tune like JGF fell a bit out of place. Also it's just not that good of a song to compensate, even if it had Stevie on it. 'Get It' also wouldn't be enough, although I think that would be a slightly better choice than JGF (if it had been available).
I love MJ's vocals on JGF though, they are among his best imo!!
 
Victorious said:
This.
From my memory, when 'Bad' was released it was full on 'Michael Mania' and people had very unrealistic expectations. They were basically hoping for more epic, unique, visual, magical songs and so 'just' a funky little tune like JGF fell a bit out of place. Also it's just not that good of a song to compensate, even if it had Stevie on it. 'Get It' also wouldn't be enough, although I think that would be a slightly better choice than JGF (if it had been available).
I love MJ's vocals on JGF though, they are among his best imo!!
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Agreed about this vocals! I love JGF and Get It - vocals on both these songs are incredible and I really feel he gave them an extra "oomph" because he was singing with Stevie and feeding off his energy!
 
StageGlitter said:
I think it isn't good because the composition of the instruments is not interesting and they do not complement each other. The bass should have been replaced with a more mellow sound, maybe more strings would be nice. There's no time for the ears to rest on that song, it sounds like constant noise; and the chorus has repetitive lines, kind of like when people sing "la la la la la" after the main harmony/verse is sung. I think the song would have been better if Michael sang it by himself.
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Totally agree.
 
Spaceship said:
I don't think the CD version should have added any tracks at all. Bonus tracks are fine on special editions or anniversary editions of the album, but if it's just the standard CD version, nah. Feels cheap to randomly add in a track one year later just for the CD release, leading people to think it was there from the start. The album would end up looking worse if a song as bland as "Just Good Friends" was added later, just as it ended up looking better when a song as good as "Leave Me Alone" was added later.
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The CD of Bad came out at the same time as the vinyl and cassette in 1987 not one year later. It was smart to have a bonus track on the CD. This is when CDs were a still relatively new concept so was an incentive to buy the CD version. Also it meant when Michael released Moonwalker and included Leave me alone it increased the popularity of the single as unless you had the CD it was a new track.

As for Just good friends....there's nothing wrong with it. It's just not the strongest of their work together.
 
Thatkliqkid said:
The CD of Bad came out at the same time as the vinyl and cassette in 1987 not one year later. It was smart to have a bonus track on the CD. This is when CDs were a still relatively new concept so was an incentive to buy the CD version. Also it meant when Michael released Moonwalker and included Leave me alone it increased the popularity of the single as unless you had the CD it was a new track.

As for Just good friends....there's nothing wrong with it. It's just not the strongest of their work together.
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Wish they had added Streetwalker as track #12 on cd.☹
 
No it's feel good. It's a masterpiece ...Funny feeling when i hear that one. Sunnier , younger days.
 
many duets of very famous singers are probably rushed. I find them all weak with Say Say Say beeing the only exeption.
 
Bogdan said:
I’d say Scream warrants an exception too?
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I kind of turned my back on "pop music" after Dangerous. I don't really feel competent to coment on Scream.
I thought someone would come up with "State of Shock"
 
I've been in love with this song from the very first time I heard it and was shocked when I found out that fans, in general, do not like it. I just find it endlessly fun and wonderful!
 
analogue said:
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with it? This song gets a lot of hate, and for the life of me I will never understand why. The song is fun and funky. MJ and Stevie sound great together, and it has great ad libs from MJ. It makes me sad when I see fans say that it sould've be removed from BAD in favor of (Insert song here). Just Good Friends is an awesome song, and it deserves it's place on BAD.
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It's all subjective, so don't worry about it. Everyone has different opinions with art. I think Stevie has done worse songs than Just Good Friends, and so has MJ. But I think they have both done better songs too.

I dislike Another Part Of Me much more than Just Good Friends. I am also not a fan of Bad. Or DS. Or many tracks on Invincible. Or those terrible remixes that spoiled the brilliance of the new tracks on Blood On The Dancefloor.

I don't like Just Good Friends because I think it sounds forced and I think the idea of 2 guys good-naturedly 'fighting' over a girl in song is just a bit silly and unrealistic. It would have been much better with just one vocalist singing the song.
 
xam said:
It's all subjective, so don't worry about it. Everyone has different opinions with art. I think Stevie has done worse songs than Just Good Friends, and so has MJ. But I think they have both done better songs too.

I dislike Another Part Of Me much more than Just Good Friends. I am also not a fan of Bad. Or DS. Or many tracks on Invincible. Or those terrible remixes that spoiled the brilliance of the new tracks on Blood On The Dancefloor.

I don't like Just Good Friends because I think it sounds forced and I think the idea of 2 guys good-naturedly 'fighting' over a girl in song is just a bit silly and unrealistic. It would have been much better with just one vocalist singing the song.
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I agree about it sounding forced and doesn't feel genuine.....Michael had songs stronger than that and Cheater would've been a better choice as as a duet
 
It's on a totally different level to every other song on Bad.

Quick aside - if you want to hear Stevie Wonder murder another MJ song, look up his duet on Babyface Unplugged.
 
R1chard said:
It's on a totally different level to every other song on Bad.

Quick aside - if you want to hear Stevie Wonder murder another MJ song, look up his duet on Babyface Unplugged.
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False.

What do you mean ‘murder’? It’s a heartfelt spontaneous rendition. If anything, it’s Babyface that’s doing the ‘murdering.’
 
^ I mean it's terrible. That song was the only reason I bought the DVD, and Stevie's over-singing makes the whole thing unlistenable. Not every line has to have a word that contains 19 different notes.
 
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