Album DescriptionAvailable in:
Bad es el séptimo álbum de estudio del artista estadounidense Michael Jackson, publicado el 31 de agosto de 1987, con más de 30 millones de copias vendidas y 5 números uno en las listas de EE.UU. (Billboard Hot 100). Fue su reaparición en el mercado, con un álbum, cinco años después de lanzar Thriller y tras múltiples aplazamientos y rumores.
A principios de agosto de 1987, las emisoras de radio de Europa y los Estados Unidos comenzaron a radiar "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", una balada a dúo con Siedah Garrett; era lo que se anunciaba como "lo nuevo de Michael Jackson". La canción fue bien acogida, si bien se comentaba que la voz de Jackson sonaba nerviosa y menos relajada que la de Garrett, se supone que por el estrés que suponía intentar superar sus éxitos anteriores.
Tanto en sus planteamientos líricos como musicales, el anticipo del álbum Bad, logró crear la máxima expectativa entre los fans de Jackson, ya que para septiembre de ese mismo año se anunciaba la puesta a la venta del álbum, a la par que Jackson partía de gira rumbo a Asia. Bad se publicó a finales de agosto de 1987. Tuvo que sufrir las inevitables y engorrosas comparaciones del álbum anterior, Thriller.
Bad es un disco experimental, un tanto hiperproducido, recargado de instrumentos y efectos, en el que Jackson y Quincy Jones, nuevamente a la cabeza de la producción artística, intentan buscar nuevos sonidos, como el dance de la época, el R&B (soul y funk) y el hard rock. Bad fue la excusa para una gira mundial que mantuvo ocupado a Jackson desde agosto de 1987 hasta principios de 1989.
User Album Review
A multi-million-unit-shifter, Bad was (and remains) as important to 1980s pop culture as the rise of the Walkman, the Back to the Future movies, and the shooting of JR. Like 1982’s Thriller, it’s an album that appeared to easily find a home within the record collection of rockers and poppers, punks and poets alike.
Ubiquity comes cheap in 2012 (thanks, internet), but in 1987, it was earned by being the best of the best. And Bad was just that: almost a greatest hits package, it spawned nine hit singles. Its chart campaign didn’t begin with the title cut, but with I Just Can’t Stop Loving You, a number one in both the US and UK. In Britain, Bad (the song) peaked at 3, as Rick Astley sat atop the pile.
The title track rocketed to No.1 in the US, followed by The Way You Make Me Feel, Man in the Mirror and Dirty Diana. Jackson’s star was at its zenith across the 1980s – but fame never guarantees critical approval. Yet Bad was as well-received in the press as it was by Jackson’s fans. It’s a special rarity: a commercial behemoth with nary a lapse in quality across its 48 minutes.
Quincy Jones’ production is tight yet yielding, every song allowed to breathe and never cluttered by needless elements. Dirty Diana is remarkably lean, Steve Stevens’ flamboyant guitar aside, yet powerful too. Speed Demon, deemed “filler” by critics at the time, is fun funk-rock that’d sit happily on a Prince album of the period, compositionally if not lyrically.
Unreleased demos make up the majority of this anniversary release’s second disc. Amongst the most interesting are Song Groove (A/K/A Abortion Papers) and Price of Fame. The former, aggressive of percussion yet light of synth, is about a Christian girl carrying an unwanted pregnancy. “Michael knew (it) could be controversial,” read the accompanying notes; but Jackson handles the subject matter with tenderness.
Price of Fame addresses the pressures Jackson felt as a pop idol. Of his obsessed followers, he wrote: “They’ll do anything and it’s breaking my heart… It’s running me crazy.” It is, perhaps, a first instance of the cracks that’d soon spread. But nothing that was to come in Jackson’s career could ever take the shine off this awesome, evergreen and essential pop masterpiece.
External Album Reviews
None...
User Comments