Bad/Dangerous - Michael Jackson

This double CD album pack was released by Sony in November last year. The "Bad" album is a special edition which adds even more value to a double pack which costs £17 in HMV, though Amazon have it cheaper.

I will look at each album separately.

BAD

1. Bad

This was the second single to be released from the "Bad" album and it reached number one. It's a rougher style of ...
...who moved away from a dodgy area and bad influences and then got bullied when he returned home to see his old mates. "We can change the world tomorrow, this can be a better place..." he tells them.

2. The Way You Make Me Feel

A great funky pop track, with some odd lyrics ("you're just a product of loveliness" ) but it's very catchy and has a unique introduction. The chorus and the wails of "it ... more

This double CD album pack was released by Sony in November last year. The "Bad" album is a special edition which adds even more value to a double pack which costs £17 in HMV, though Amazon have it cheaper.

I will look at each album separately.

BAD

1. Bad

This was the second single to be released from the "Bad" album and it reached number one. It's a rougher style of pop, with its gangster theme. It's about a young man who moved away from a dodgy area and bad influences and then got bullied when he returned home to see his old mates. "We can change the world tomorrow, this can be a better place..." he tells them.

2. The Way You Make Me Feel

A great funky pop track, with some odd lyrics ("you're just a product of loveliness" ) but it's very catchy and has a unique introduction. The chorus and the wails of "it ain't nobody's business" make it the best track on this album. It's the song which got my attention.

3. Speed Demon

This song is a bit of a filler track and was never a single although the Moonwalker film had a section based around it. It's a unique song and it's good to dance to but it's not good for just listening to.

4. Liberian Girl

A mediocre love song, featuring some Swahili. The video featured various 1980s stars all looking for MJ but at the end, we realise he has been filming them all.

5. Just Good Friends

A brilliant song, written by the men who wrote "What's Love Got To Do With It" for Tina Turner. It features Stevie Wonder and wasn't originally meant to be a duet. It's a very funky track and it's about friends becoming lovers and all the gossip that follows. "If they ask you, you tell them that we're just good friends". It should have been a single, I think.

6. Another Part Of Me

One of the earliest songs written for "Bad", this featured on the 1985 Disney film "Captain Eo" which was only shown at their theme parks. Strangely, it was one of the last songs to be released on single from "Bad".

7. Man In The Mirror

A typical Michael Jackson song, this features some of his best vocals and an astounding choir. This was written by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard but the vocals all come from MJ's heart. "We gotta get it right, while we've got the time".

8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You

A ballad with Siedah Garett, this was the first single to be released from this album. It's a simple plain love song with a spoken intro and was quite a low key start to the whole "Bad" period. Nobody could have guessed from this fairly average pop single that the album would go on to sell over 25 million copies.

9. Dirty Diana

This is a rock song, featuring heavy metal guitarist Steve Stevens. It's along the lines of "Billie Jean" in terms of content. A woman is out to cause trouble between a man and his girlfriend. It has a "live" sound to it with screaming in the background.

10. Smooth Criminal

This is a great dance/pop track and while it's about a violent crime, Jackson has never really said what inspired him to write this classic. Alien Ant Farm covered this song 3 years ago but didn't even know the lyrics!

11. Leave Me Alone

This is a pop song which used effects that were good at the time. Jackson's different vocals were all layered one on top of the other for the chorus. Contrary to popular belief, the song wasn't written as a dig at the media, it's actually about a warring couple who have split up. He's hurling accusations and she won't leave him alone. "There's a time when you're right and you know you must fight".

12. Voice-Over Intro Quincy Jones Interview # 1 / Quincy Jones Interview #1

This often gets skipped when I listen to this album. It's an interesting piece about some of the tracks that were left off the "Bad" album, but it's tedious to listen to time and time again.

13. Streetwalker

This song was left off the original final release of "Bad" and I'm not sure why. It's a great track that sounds a little like Billie Jean though it's more joyous than that. It's about finding a lady. "Because I never met a girl just like you!". It would have been a good way to bridge the gap between "Thriller" and "Bad" but it didn't make the final cut.

14. Voice-Over Intro Quincy Jones Interview #2 / Quincy Jones Interview #2

Yet more interviews.

15. Todo Mi Amor Eres Tu (I Just Can't Stop Loving You)

The Spanish version of this song. I think it's a bit pointless to be honest.

16. Quincy Jones Interview #3

Yet another interview.

17. Voice-Over Intro ''Fly Away''-Quincy Jones

And another bit of talking!

18. Fly Away

This is a beautiful bit of pop that should not have been left off the "Bad" album. It's almost Motown in its style and while Jackson was in his late 20s when he recorded it, it has a sweetness to it that sounds like someone much younger.

DANGEROUS

1. Jam

This is literally a smashing start to an album that went on to sell around 20 million copies. I'm not entirely certain what it's about but it's a fantastic club track, featuring a rap from Heavy D.

2. Why You Wanna Trip On Me?

This is a funky mix of R 'n' B and rock. MJ is saying with all the trouble in the world why do the press get at me? This was released on this album in 1991 long before any serious problems had started but given everything that's happened since, it's seems a bit dated. References to "drug addiction in the minds of the weak" seem a bit like pride before a fall as MJ had his own battle with pain killer addiction 2 years later. Still, it's great for dancing to.

3. In The Closet

This is a positive frenzy of sexual passion and pop and we still don't know who the "mystery" woman singing with him is. Guesses have ranged from Madonna (who was originally meant to appear on this song but didn't) and even Princess Stephanie of Monaco. Me, I reckon it's just a backing singer they brought in for the day. Naomi Campbell went on to star with him in the video, where she provided vocals but didn't appear on the single. The video was set in the desert and a scantily clad Campbell and Jackson danced together as Jackson risked the hot sun!

4. She Drives Me Wild

The worst track on this album. The tune is catchy but badly mixed, the vocals are incomprehensible for the most part and even the rap is boring. It was the B-side to "Heal The World" and was a terrible choice on a single which many non-fans bought.

5. Remember The Time

My favourite song on this album, it's classic pop about the memories of first love. "Those sweet memories, will always be dear to me and girl no matter what was said, I will never regret what we had".

6. Can't Let Her Get Away

The second worst song on this album isn't actually that terrible. It's a straight forward new jack swing song in the style of Bobby Brown and MJ even tries a small rap and his voice is stronger than you might imagine.

7. Heal The World

A song in the vein of "We Are The World", it's also anti-war. "Turn swords into plough shares". The choir at the end lift the song up.

8. Black Or White

This hybrid of rock, pop, soul and rap was the first single to be released from this album and it's a classic with its anti-racism message.

9. Who Is It?

A spooky pop song about a lover abandoning you. "I can't take it 'cos I'm lonely!".

10. Give In To Me

A very long rock track, which features Slash. Jackson's voice has never sounded stronger. This reached number 2 in the singles charts and reached out to a newer audience.

11. Will You Be There-Michael Jackson

This gospel, choir song is Jackson reaching out. "But they told me a man should be faithful and walk when not able and fight 'til the end but I'm only human". This got into the Top 10 but is probably just one for the fans. There is a very prayer-like spoken piece towards the end.

"In my darkest hour, in my deepest despair, will you still care, will you there".

12. Keep The Faith

Another gospel track, written by the same team who wrote "Man in the Mirror". This is about persevering even when things are difficult. "The power's in believing so give yourself a chance". The choir arrangements are excellent.

13. Gone Too Soon

A sad but gorgeous ballad written about a friend of MJ's and Elton John, who died of AIDS. Ryan White was treated with prejudice due to being HIV positive and died aged 19. This ballad was released in December 1993 and only reached 33 in the charts. As a song released towards the end of the "Dangerous" album campaign it was never going to get very high but 33 was a very low position for such a good song. The vocals are perfect but it seems that the negative media coverage following MJ at that time took its toll..

14. Dangerous

The title track is an R 'n' B pop song and was never released on single as Sony and MJ abandoned the album in order to concentrate on MJ's health and personal life at the time. It was due to be released as a single after "Gone Too Soon". Anyway, the song is along the lines of "Dirty Diana" in that it's about yet another femme fatale!

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Overall, this double album pack is great value for money and there are many different genres of music on it. I would recommend this to someone wanting to up date their back catalogue of albums. It's certainly a cheap way to do so. 

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