Like any good diet plan, we'll call this a "cheat day". In my defense, if you're going to review an album from Michael Jackson from the 80's era, your options are limited to Thriller and / or Bad. It's both unavoidable and inevitable that one or the other would eventually make its way to my Retro Spins posts.
Call it sacrilege if you like, but truth be told, I like Bad more than I do Thriller. The reason being, I like every track from Bad and can listen to it back to back. Whereas with Thriller, I don't honestly like the tracks, The Lady In My Life and The Girl Is Mine.Bad had a large pair of shoes to fill, and after a five year wait since Thriller, it lived up to the anticipation and hype. Sure, there was the 1984 Jacksons album, Victory. However, Michael's involvement in this album felt minimal. Relegated often to back up vocals, while only providing lead on two of the eight tracks. Bad on the other hand was all Michael, center stage, back where he belonged.
The album showed that Michael Jackson not only could bottle lightening, but that he could do it twice in a row. Three times if you count the follow up album, Dangerous. I would.
I remember Bad being an album which was a must buy on CD format for a lot of people because, at the time, it was the only way to get the eighth track, Leave Me Alone. Unfortunately, my sister only ever had the cassette, and because I was so young, it wasn't until the music video was released on MTV that I got to hear it. It easily became one of my favorites from the album.
Let's not forget the amazing short film, Moonwalker, which was released as a companion to the album. Say what you will about Michael, with your silly theories and rumors. The man had vision and talent far beyond what many artists exhibit.
To avoid droning on ad nauseam on the subject, let me just go ahead and summarize and wrap this up. Michael Jackson's Bad = Good.
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I agree that Bad was good, but one of the only cds I had as a kid? Dangerous. I loved that set. I definitely agree that he struck lightning 3 times.
ReplyDeleteI think what was the decline for me with his music was when he switched from pop to R&B.
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