Michael Jackson, 1st concert in Tokyo, September 12, 1987 ( Black Shirt )

Goddess4Real said:

Speed Demon is my jam

HOW ABOUT AN AUTOGRAPH???? Love this video and that bunny!

The reason BAD might sound outdated compared to other albums like Thriller is MJ's obsession at the time with the synclavier.

2045RadicalMattZ said:

AUGUST 31: 30 years today since it came out. I remember it quite well. I was in Philly and went to Tower Records downtown to buy it.

Nice article on Rolling Stone dot com front page today featuring Bill Bottrell, Siedah Garrett, and Madonna collaborator Stephen Bray on BAD.

http://www.rollingstone.c...ts-w500109

StrangeButTrue said:

Nice article on Rolling Stone dot com front page today featuring Bill Bottrell, Siedah Garrett, and Madonna collaborator Stephen Bray on BAD.

http://www.rollingstone.c...ts-w500109

Still reading through but so far this is my favorite part:

This pushed Jackson to greater heights, as did the confluence of once-in-a-lifetime artists making music at the same time he was – Madonna, Whitney Houston, Prince, Michael's sister Janet and George Michael. Over the course of the Eighties, more than 30 LPs yielded four or more Top Ten singles on the Hot 100; no other decade has produced half as many steamrolling pop records. Producer Narada Michael Walden, who teamed up with Whitney Houston on many of her Eighties Number Ones, describes the atmosphere during the decade as "a healthy rivalry" for chart dominance. Bray likens the sense of one-upmanship to "the way that the Beatles and the Beach Boys had this wonderful 'whoa, did you hear Pet Sounds? Now what are we gonna do?'"

Perfectly sums up the musical atmosphere of the 60s to the 90s.

I also like this snippet (particularly the last sentence):

Jackson had another force in his favor as he ramped up for Bad: Music technology was developing quickly during the mid-Eighties, and the Jackson braintrust rapidly incorporated the latest electronic wizardry into their compositions. "When you listen to that album, they just went insane for Yamaha DX7s and Roland D-550s," says Stephen Bray, who worked as a producer and writer on Madonna's Eighties juggernauts (Like a Virgin, True Blue and Like a Prayer). "It was, 'Oh, my god, we can create sounds no one has ever heard before.' I can emulate the sound of Bootsy Collins or Larry Graham plucking a bass and mix that into a huge, Moog-sounding, Stevie Wonder Music of My Mind thing now. I can have the sound of 500 people clapping. It was this convergence of the most advanced technology in the known universe at your disposal mixed with old-school musicality."

Sums up music of the 1980s almost perfectly.

[Edited 8/31/17 14:11pm]

CAL3 said:

Goddess4Real said:

I still think HIStory is more underrated than BAD.

.

THANK YOU.

.

Absolutely agree with this. Fascinating album from a fascinating period in his life/career.

Absolutely right.

214 said:

CAL3 said:

.

THANK YOU.

.

Absolutely agree with this. Fascinating album from a fascinating period in his life/career.

Absolutely right.

And so is his film short Ghosts (1996).

Goddess4Real said:

214 said:

Absolutely right.

And so is his film short Ghosts (1996).

One of his best short films and such a bangin underrated song!

Goddess4Real said:

214 said:

Absolutely right.

And so is his film short Ghosts (1996).

The song is wonderful, so is the remix, the video although it's impressive and has its moments of brilliance, specially that dance routine that is to die for. But it should have been a dark, really dark kind of video, lyrically this is not Thriller, this is a dark and personal song, not a kiddie song like the video.

this album clearly is inferior to "thriller" &

certainly inferior

to (in my opinion) his best album OFF THE WALL

.

in fairness to MJ..

the once-in-forever world-wide commercial (& cultural) success of "thriller"..

whatever album he put out right after "thriller" wasn't going to be as good

in any way.

.

in fact, it came to pass just like that.

Bad isn't at all a bad (no pun intended) example of 80s' music of the pop/soul variety. It's a rather good example, though hopelessly stuck in the very brief c.1986-1988 era of the synclavier-dominant pop sounds. This is in sharp contrast to Off the Wall and Thriller, both of which (though the former has a few lingering late-disco production touches) sound quite timeless. A single like "Don't Stop 'Till you Get Enough" or "Rock With You" could be released today and would sound contemporary on pop radio. This cannot be said of any of the Bad singles, which could only be products of 1986-1988.

Melodically and (on some tracks) rhythmically, the album is great. Nothing wrong there.

So, why isn't Bad a great album like the two that preceded it? Here's why:

1) As already mentioned, it's very dated-sounding. I actually like a "dated" sound if it's a natural kind of sound -- music from real instruments -- that merely reflects the recording studios of the time (Elvis's Sun recordings; Jefferson Airplane c.1967; Motown in the mid-60s, etc.). But Bad is way over-dependent on the synclavier, giving it an unnatural and dated sound. (And yeah, I know the synclavier was used a lot on Thriller, too, which brings me to the next point....)

2) Not enough Quincy Jones' production: Quincy is the genius responsible for the sound of Off the Wall and Thriller. Unfortunately, I think Michael started to think (a) Q was a bit past-it for urban pop radio, and (b) he could do the production himself (megalomania approaching). That was a mistake. Quincy Jones gave Michael's music a really classy jazzy kind of backing that sounds beautiful and is timeless. But hey, screw that! Bring on the late-80s synths!!

3) Michael's over-mannered style of singing. You'll rarely hear a better singer, in terms of chops or style, than Michael on Off the Wall and Thriller. But on Bad? We can sum it up in one notorious word: "Shamore!" Ugh. Chops are still there, but his style is grating.

4) Commercial aspirations over substance. Michael was obsessed with topping Thriller commercially, which is like trying to find a higher mountain than Everest. If you go into a project hoping to sell 100 million albums, you've already lost the plot.



(As a side note, am I the only person on earth who likes "Just Good Friends"?)

ThePanther said:

Bad isn't at all a bad (no pun intended) example of 80s' music of the pop/soul variety. It's a rather good example, though hopelessly stuck in the very brief c.1986-1988 era of the synclavier-dominant pop sounds. This is in sharp contrast to Off the Wall and Thriller, both of which (though the former has a few lingering late-disco production touches) sound quite timeless. A single like "Don't Stop 'Till you Get Enough" or "Rock With You" could be released today and would sound contemporary on pop radio. This cannot be said of any of the Bad singles, which could only be products of 1986-1988.

Melodically and (on some tracks) rhythmically, the album is great. Nothing wrong there.

So, why isn't Bad a great album like the two that preceded it? Here's why:

1) As already mentioned, it's very dated-sounding. I actually like a "dated" sound if it's a natural kind of sound -- music from real instruments -- that merely reflects the recording studios of the time (Elvis's Sun recordings; Jefferson Airplane c.1967; Motown in the mid-60s, etc.). But Bad is way over-dependent on the synclavier, giving it an unnatural and dated sound. (And yeah, I know the synclavier was used a lot on Thriller, too, which brings me to the next point....)

2) Not enough Quincy Jones' production: Quincy is the genius responsible for the sound of Off the Wall and Thriller. Unfortunately, I think Michael started to think (a) Q was a bit past-it for urban pop radio, and (b) he could do the production himself (megalomania approaching). That was a mistake. Quincy Jones gave Michael's music a really classy jazzy kind of backing that sounds beautiful and is timeless. But hey, screw that! Bring on the late-80s synths!!

3) Michael's over-mannered style of singing. You'll rarely hear a better singer, in terms of chops or style, than Michael on Off the Wall and Thriller. But on Bad? We can sum it up in one notorious word: "Shamore!" Ugh. Chops are still there, but his style is grating.

4) Commercial aspirations over substance. Michael was obsessed with topping Thriller commercially, which is like trying to find a higher mountain than Everest. If you go into a project hoping to sell 100 million albums, you've already lost the plot.



(As a side note, am I the only person on earth who likes "Just Good Friends"?)

I love Just Good Friends

I don't know about the meglomania part. I think Michael was adamant to have more say in how the music sounded and obviously wanted to prove he could contribute more on the production, which is understandable. To prove that it wasn't just because of Quincy

You can tell they couldn't come to full agreement on using the synclavier like Michael wanted to. Both methods were cool. Then again, I prefer Bad over Back on The Block, which I like as well....

Mike Smallcombe wrote a book awhile and posted this article on his blog on the 31st. It's a slightly updated version of the one he posted several months ago


https://www.makingmichael.co.uk/single-post/2016/04/19/EXTRACT-Inside-the-Bad-sessions-and-the-split-with-Quincy-Jones

[Edited 9/4/17 7:33am]

ThePanther said:

Bad isn't at all a bad (no pun intended) example of 80s' music of the pop/soul variety. It's a rather good example, though hopelessly stuck in the very brief c.1986-1988 era of the synclavier-dominant pop sounds. This is in sharp contrast to Off the Wall and Thriller, both of which (though the former has a few lingering late-disco production touches) sound quite timeless. A single like "Don't Stop 'Till you Get Enough" or "Rock With You" could be released today and would sound contemporary on pop radio. This cannot be said of any of the Bad singles, which could only be products of 1986-1988.

Melodically and (on some tracks) rhythmically, the album is great. Nothing wrong there.

So, why isn't Bad a great album like the two that preceded it? Here's why:

1) As already mentioned, it's very dated-sounding. I actually like a "dated" sound if it's a natural kind of sound -- music from real instruments -- that merely reflects the recording studios of the time (Elvis's Sun recordings; Jefferson Airplane c.1967; Motown in the mid-60s, etc.). But Bad is way over-dependent on the synclavier, giving it an unnatural and dated sound. (And yeah, I know the synclavier was used a lot on Thriller, too, which brings me to the next point....)

2) Not enough Quincy Jones' production: Quincy is the genius responsible for the sound of Off the Wall and Thriller. Unfortunately, I think Michael started to think (a) Q was a bit past-it for urban pop radio, and (b) he could do the production himself (megalomania approaching). That was a mistake. Quincy Jones gave Michael's music a really classy jazzy kind of backing that sounds beautiful and is timeless. But hey, screw that! Bring on the late-80s synths!!

3) Michael's over-mannered style of singing. You'll rarely hear a better singer, in terms of chops or style, than Michael on Off the Wall and Thriller. But on Bad? We can sum it up in one notorious word: "Shamore!" Ugh. Chops are still there, but his style is grating.

4) Commercial aspirations over substance. Michael was obsessed with topping Thriller commercially, which is like trying to find a higher mountain than Everest. If you go into a project hoping to sell 100 million albums, you've already lost the plot.



(As a side note, am I the only person on earth who likes "Just Good Friends"?)

Yes you are, good points,though. Specially the one about Quincy.

This is a good read,

http://thequietus.com/art...nniversary

fair warning, it has some contentious opinions (eg. Man in the Mirror is a bad song. And some court case innuendo in there) but if you can get over yourself and consider what he's saying in general it's worth considering.

It's the third album in the Trilogy of 3 great albums in a row. I think Bad was just sizziling pure POP and that may be why some don't care for it as much as the first 2 albums out of the three. But, it is a pop hit album.

shitty album.

2freaky4church1 said:

shitty album.

Compare it to a Justin Bieber album.

I wish Michael made an album the Prince way. The "I don't care what the public wants to hear or expects to hear, and I don't want to follow any trends, I want to follow what feels good to me" way. I love Michael, but to me, he was definetely a victim of "I have to be hip and follow the new thing". Which I feel definitely started with this album.

khill95 said:

I wish Michael made an album the Prince way. The "I don't care what the public wants to hear or expects to hear, and I don't want to follow any trends, I want to follow what feels good to me" way. I love Michael, but to me, he was definetely a victim of "I have to be hip and follow the new thing". Which I feel definitely started with this album.

I feel the same as you do. He should have left behind him his obssesion with sales.

Love this thread.

Toofunkyinhere said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Add me to the list of people who enjoy "Just Good Friends" as well. I think people trash the song for the sole reason that Stevie and Michael, considering their talent and star power, could've made a better song. Yes they could've but juat because they didn't doesn't make the song they did create a terrible song. However, I will say that this:> "Just Good Friends" in nearly every way.

Yeah I like this one much better than Just Good Friends.

phunkdaddy said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Add me to the list of people who enjoy "Just Good Friends" as well. I think people trash the song for the sole reason that Stevie and Michael, considering their talent and star power, could've made a better song. Yes they could've but juat because they didn't doesn't make the song they did create a terrible song. However, I will say that this:> "Just Good Friends" in nearly every way.

Yeah I like this one much better than Just Good Friends.

way better.

I like both songs equally. The bridge in Just Good Friends highlights how well their vocals mash and how well they harmonize together. I wish they did more projects together.

[Edited 9/10/17 22:47pm]