Album of the day - Michael Jackson (Bad)

[BlueHammer85]

Bad is the seventh studio album by American singer Michael Jackson. The album was released on August 31, 1987 by Epic Records, nearly five years after Jackson's previous studio album, Thriller, which went on to become the world's best-selling album. As of 2012 Bad itself has sold between 30 to 45 million copies worldwide, was certified 9 times Platinum in the United States alone, and has been cited as one of the 30 best-selling albums of all time. The album produced a record five Billboard Hot 100 number one singles, the first and one of only two albums to do so, the second being Katy Perry's 2010 album Teenage Dream.

Bad was recorded during the first half of 1987. The lyrical themes on the record relate to media bias, paranoia, racial profiling, romance, self-improvement and world peace. The album is widely regarded as having cemented Jackson's status as one of the most successful artists of the 1980s, as well as enhancing his solo career and being one of the best musical projects of his career. Nine of the eleven songs on Bad were released as singles; one was a promotional single and another was released outside of the United States and Canada. Five of the singles hit number one in the United States, while a sixth charted within the top ten, and a seventh charted within the top twenty on the Hot 100. Bad peaked at number one in seven countries and charted within the top twenty in other territories. The only songs on the album which were not released as a single were "Speed Demon" and "Just Good Friends", the latter being the only song on the album to also not have a music video accompanying it.

Bad saw Jackson exercise even more artistic freedom than he did with his two previous Epic releases (Off the Wall and Thriller). On Bad, Jackson composed nine of the album's eleven tracks and received co-producer credit for the entire album. The album continued Jackson's commercial success in the late 1980s and garnered six Grammy Award nominations, winning two. Aside from commercial success, the album also received critical acclaim from contemporary critics. Bad was ranked number 43 in the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time of the MTV Generation in 2009 by VH1 and number 202 in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album marked the final collaboration between Jackson and producer Quincy Jones.

1. Bad
2. The Way You Make Me Feel
3. Speed Demon
4. Liberian Girl
5. Just Good Friends
6. Another Part Of Me
7. Man In The Mirror
8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
9. Dirty Diana
10. Smooth Criminal (Radio Edit)
11. Leave Me Alone


The King Of Pop without a doubt produces here one of the finest pop albums in history - There really isnt a bad song on here, 5 number 1 hit singles and Smooth Criminal not being one of them! This is Michael Jackson at his pure best - It's him, his music, his attitude - Thriller could be argued a better album, but this slightly nudges it for me ,there's a bit of everything on it, from pop ballads to funk to flat-out rock, and every one is a classic.''Bad" helps us realise what a special and amazingly talented music artist Michael Jackson really was. How do i pick a best track on this ? - will go for 'Man In The Mirror'

9.3/10

 

[tonea2003]

the start of the rapid decline

 

[basokla]

I actually thought he peaked with Off the Wall.

 

[jimharri]

An improvement on your previous nomination (not difficult, to be fair). A good album, but not as good as Off The Wall (Jackson's best solo album) or Thriller.

 

[Yates]

Nice review and I second the astonishment of Smooth Criminal only peaking at number 7 in the USA. This probably is his best album in terms of song popularity, if you ask 100 people their favourite MJ songs, Bad album will probably have the most picks although Thriller would probably have Billie Jean and Beat It taking most peoples #1 and #2 spots. This was MJ's peak in terms of live performance for sure but due to his personal life issues his work on Dangerous onwards isn't given the same treatment. I feel if MJ had replaced the filler on HIStory with some of the stellar tracks on his throwaway remix album Blood On The Dancefloor then that would be his #1 album for me.

 

[manimanc]

Wasn't he releasing singles from it 2 years after its release? Unheard of nowadays.

 

[kaz7]

Loved a bit of MJ

 

[Lancet Fluke]

Another celebrity paedo. Shame he got away with it which means his music hasn't been wiped from history like Glitter and Rolf's seems to have been.

 

[abu13]

I never really bought into all this king of pop crap, I was more of a Prince man myself.

Certainly Prince was a far superior musician but maybe MJ edged it for showmanship and hype.

 

[Barcon]

Shite.