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Bad 25 Reviews /Overwhelming Praise for BAD25 [Articles merged]
- Thread starter rsggamer123
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Bubs
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
Generally speaking reviews for BAD 25 has been good if not great. I have to wonder why BAD was "bad" (according some old reviews) in its first time release, but is good after 25 years?
Is it because 25 years ago critics among others wanted to insult Michael though their reviews,therefore bad reviews?
Did they get caught with "hate everything MJ does" hype?
Generally speaking reviews for BAD 25 has been good if not great. I have to wonder why BAD was "bad" (according some old reviews) in its first time release, but is good after 25 years?
Is it because 25 years ago critics among others wanted to insult Michael though their reviews,therefore bad reviews?
Did they get caught with "hate everything MJ does" hype?
HIStory
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Bubs;3711450 said:
I think there's LOTS of politics in how an artist is rated by music magazines. (By politics I do not mean here orders from Washington or anything, but the politics of the business.) Lots of other factors than the actual art itself plays into whether an artist gets positive or negative reviews. I personally think it is interesting, for example, to analyize Rolling Stone magazine's attitude towards Michael and see whether there is a pattern there and what factors play into it. That's why I'm glad Joe Vogel brought this subject up in his articles. And RS is very influential.
Also I have the feeling record labels pay magazines and certain (influential) journalists and critics to write positive reviews of their favored stars. I cannot prove it but I have this feeling. And this is how it gets decided who is cool and who is not. Because, to be honest, most people are sheep and will like what the media tells them to like.
Alone what happens to Michael makes me suspicious of this. For example, some of the same critics who trashed Invincible (or any MJ album that was not called "Thriller", for that matter) to death praised the "Michael" album. And I think that was ridiculous. I do not think Michael had such support in the media while he was alive, because he did not quite play by the rules of the business - ie. sucking up to the media and it seems like he did not quite have this kind of support from his record label while he was alive.
Bad was just as great of an album 25 years ago as it is now. Only at the time critics and the media decided that Michael became "too successful" with Thriller and had to put him back in his place. Ever since he wasn't given a break.
Just reminds me of what James Baldwin wrote about Michael in 1985 (Spike Lee also quotes it in his docu):
ThirdMarioBro
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
Michael broke the golden rule of showbuisness... he did it his way.
Those in power hate anybody who steps out of line. Careful planning is taken today to make sure that today's stars get big, but never THAT big, because once they hit MJ's level of stature, they are impossible to control. You'll never see a Rihanna or Justen Bieber reach MJ's success financially because their careers are carefully managed and controlled by those who "made" them. By 1987, I figure everyone and their dog was out to get Michael, but the fact of the matter is that Bad is still (now and forever) here and the critics who bashed it aren't. May they be long forgotten.
Michael broke the golden rule of showbuisness... he did it his way.
Those in power hate anybody who steps out of line. Careful planning is taken today to make sure that today's stars get big, but never THAT big, because once they hit MJ's level of stature, they are impossible to control. You'll never see a Rihanna or Justen Bieber reach MJ's success financially because their careers are carefully managed and controlled by those who "made" them. By 1987, I figure everyone and their dog was out to get Michael, but the fact of the matter is that Bad is still (now and forever) here and the critics who bashed it aren't. May they be long forgotten.
Bonnie Blue
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This was the reporter who dissed cirque by saying it was disappointing the show featured mj's lesser songs, man in the mirror and earth song, so he can miss me with the faux caring so much about mj's legacy. And any fanatics out there more thrilled by the poster and the sticker than the actual music and dvd? No, didn't think so. What a pr*ck. Feel free to tweet him.
HIStory
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
^^ Yeah, I thought his tone was condescending to MJ and his fans when he wrote that MJ fans cared as much about stickers and posters as about the music. And the whole review is weird. He criticizes the audio (which was actually recorded on multitracks) while he does not mention the video quality at all. I mean if he wanted to criticize something why the audio quality and not the video? That would have been more fair criticism.
^^ Yeah, I thought his tone was condescending to MJ and his fans when he wrote that MJ fans cared as much about stickers and posters as about the music. And the whole review is weird. He criticizes the audio (which was actually recorded on multitracks) while he does not mention the video quality at all. I mean if he wanted to criticize something why the audio quality and not the video? That would have been more fair criticism.
la_cienega
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
Critics also want their readers to keep buying their magazines. MJ was not seen as "cool" in 1988, he was seen as corny, over the top, too big and too everywhere, so a lot of people reacted against that. It was like if they praised him too much it would give him too much credit and make him even bigger, and they didn't want that. He's also not a traditional Rolling Stones critic hero. Even though Prince is much weirder than MJ in his every day life and how he deals with people, there are probably hundreds of stories of Prince being an ass or being weird people could share, but he's much more of a Rolling Stones idea of what a rockstar should be, so they tend to be very praising of his talent.
Personally what I've found interesting in the last few years since MJ's passing is who the music critics now praise. I've seen music critics kiss up to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry like nobody's business. It's almost ridiculous. I remember when Lady Gaga's last album was released, Rolling Stone wrote the most glowing review. No disrespect to Gaga fans, but that album was generic blah to me. I had to listen to it a few times just because I wondered what I was missing that these reviewers seemed to say existed there. But Gaga at the time was someone everyone wanted to like, they needed a new pop icon, and with sales in magazines declining, they needed fans of hers to go out and buy their copy.
But I thought it was amusing, they seemed so intent to try and turn Lady Gaga into what they needed her to be, a super talented icon, instead of having someone who was, and that this is where we are now, where songs like Born This Way and Katy Perry's music are praised because critics need them to be praised, but back then they had the talent of MJ and they wanted to overlook it. Now the music magazines and critics seem to be in dire need of a star like MJ, when it seemed before they wanted to be act like they were too good for the likes of him.
One thing I know for sure is that whenever/if Justin Timberlake releases a new album someday it'll be hailed as a masterpiece of our time. He's a music critic darling, the kind of guy even people who hate pop music can seem credible by listening to. He's the perfect Rolling Stones (aka white male liberal middle class hipster) kind of hero and they know it, and they kiss his ass because of how they believe it reflects on them positively to do so, it maintains their image of being cool-but-not-too-cool.
It's like how some people don't win Oscars for certain parts, no matter how well played. There are some people who are not "acceptable" to Hollywood's ideas of who should win, or be nominated, and people would rather act like someone more obscure or more Hollywoody is more worthy.
I wish MJ had turned his back even more against critics and magazines. But I think he still really wanted their approval, especially because the media and everyone kept acting as though he desperately needed it too (of course they'd believe he needed their approval). Like, "Oh his last album got trashed by critics, he's done for!" and of course the public became imbued by these ideas as they were so prevalent, that Thriller/OTW (It's kind of funny that they didn't think he was a cover story back in 1979 with OTW, but these same critics will kiss up to OTW now) were his only decent worthy albums and everything else after was just crap. But he knew full well how hard it was for him as he was to be accepted by them.
Critics also want their readers to keep buying their magazines. MJ was not seen as "cool" in 1988, he was seen as corny, over the top, too big and too everywhere, so a lot of people reacted against that. It was like if they praised him too much it would give him too much credit and make him even bigger, and they didn't want that. He's also not a traditional Rolling Stones critic hero. Even though Prince is much weirder than MJ in his every day life and how he deals with people, there are probably hundreds of stories of Prince being an ass or being weird people could share, but he's much more of a Rolling Stones idea of what a rockstar should be, so they tend to be very praising of his talent.
Personally what I've found interesting in the last few years since MJ's passing is who the music critics now praise. I've seen music critics kiss up to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry like nobody's business. It's almost ridiculous. I remember when Lady Gaga's last album was released, Rolling Stone wrote the most glowing review. No disrespect to Gaga fans, but that album was generic blah to me. I had to listen to it a few times just because I wondered what I was missing that these reviewers seemed to say existed there. But Gaga at the time was someone everyone wanted to like, they needed a new pop icon, and with sales in magazines declining, they needed fans of hers to go out and buy their copy.
But I thought it was amusing, they seemed so intent to try and turn Lady Gaga into what they needed her to be, a super talented icon, instead of having someone who was, and that this is where we are now, where songs like Born This Way and Katy Perry's music are praised because critics need them to be praised, but back then they had the talent of MJ and they wanted to overlook it. Now the music magazines and critics seem to be in dire need of a star like MJ, when it seemed before they wanted to be act like they were too good for the likes of him.
One thing I know for sure is that whenever/if Justin Timberlake releases a new album someday it'll be hailed as a masterpiece of our time. He's a music critic darling, the kind of guy even people who hate pop music can seem credible by listening to. He's the perfect Rolling Stones (aka white male liberal middle class hipster) kind of hero and they know it, and they kiss his ass because of how they believe it reflects on them positively to do so, it maintains their image of being cool-but-not-too-cool.
It's like how some people don't win Oscars for certain parts, no matter how well played. There are some people who are not "acceptable" to Hollywood's ideas of who should win, or be nominated, and people would rather act like someone more obscure or more Hollywoody is more worthy.
I wish MJ had turned his back even more against critics and magazines. But I think he still really wanted their approval, especially because the media and everyone kept acting as though he desperately needed it too (of course they'd believe he needed their approval). Like, "Oh his last album got trashed by critics, he's done for!" and of course the public became imbued by these ideas as they were so prevalent, that Thriller/OTW (It's kind of funny that they didn't think he was a cover story back in 1979 with OTW, but these same critics will kiss up to OTW now) were his only decent worthy albums and everything else after was just crap. But he knew full well how hard it was for him as he was to be accepted by them.
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
I always hate when people say .... is the next king of pop. It is so disrespectful. That belongs to Michael. I don't care what anyone else does. They don't compare and the funny is that all these people get compared to Michael. If he was so irrelevant than why are people compared to him? I see his influence in videos, music, style and dance all the time. Even before he died.
I am glad that Bad is getting recognition now. Hopefully it is the step in the right direction. Michael grew as a person and artist after Thriller. It didn't stop and maybe more respect will be given to him in time that was denied to him for too long. I hope anyways.
I always hate when people say .... is the next king of pop. It is so disrespectful. That belongs to Michael. I don't care what anyone else does. They don't compare and the funny is that all these people get compared to Michael. If he was so irrelevant than why are people compared to him? I see his influence in videos, music, style and dance all the time. Even before he died.
I am glad that Bad is getting recognition now. Hopefully it is the step in the right direction. Michael grew as a person and artist after Thriller. It didn't stop and maybe more respect will be given to him in time that was denied to him for too long. I hope anyways.
HIStory
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
Agree wholeheartedly. And I'm glad for Joe Vogel finally talk about things like this in articles.
The media, incl. Rolling Stone, kiss up to Lady Gaga, Madonna, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake - while they trash Michael. It's ridiculous. Is it a coincidence BTW that all their darlings are white? Even "black music" is done better than by black people, according to them. Justin Timberlake is better than Michael - when he's a lame imitation and they know it - (after all they declared him the new KoP in 2003), the best hip-hop artist ever is Eminem etc. Madonna does not have half the talent that Michael had in his little finger, yet she's is constantly praised. Even her last album was praised, which is very average and generic with hollow lyrics. It's an interesting pattern,to say the least.
Surely, they would say, "but we usually write positive reviews of this or that black artist - see, we are not racist". Thing is, they can afford to be positive about those who aren't really a threat. Prince with all his talent never really was a threat. He also did not buy the Beatles catalog...
Thing is, that Michael was the ultimate anti-establishment! Joe Vogel wrote about it in a recent article and I agree with him. He was more anti-establishment than those white pop/rock-stars who are usually praised as such by these critics. Were they REALLY anti-establishment they would not be praised. They would not be media darlings.
ETA: Michael's "problem" was that he was not part of any crowd, could not be used as a poster boy for any cause. Had he been, he would have been protected and heroized and hyped by that crowd. He was not a conservative and he was not a liberal. He was not a rocker and not an R&B star. He was not this "hetero-normative" rock star (Joe Vogel used this term, LOL) but he was not gay. (Had he been gay, the fact he used make up, had a high-voice etc. would have been declared cool and brave instead of weird and bizarre.)
He was commercially popular, yet it was not cool to be his fan (at least after Thriller). When I was in high-school and kids who wanted to fit in with the crowd declared themselves Nirvana fans and grunge-rock fans, not MJ fans. It was uncool. So when you think about it: what is really anti-establishment and the rebel thing then? The kid who declares himself a Nirvana fan to be accepted as "cool" by his peers or the kid who says he's an MJ fan, despite of that being declared "uncool" by the establishment (media, peers etc.)?
Thing is that people like to put things in clear categories and boxes and Michael never fit into any box. He could not be claimed by any group. And all these groups tend to defend their own and attack the others. Michael was The Other for all of them, so he was kicked from all sides. Other than the black media perhaps. (BTW, it's also interesting to note that it is the white media's hung-up to talk about his nose, plastic surgery, skin all the freaking time, not the black media's. So it makes you wonder about the latent racism in it.)
Agree wholeheartedly. And I'm glad for Joe Vogel finally talk about things like this in articles.
The media, incl. Rolling Stone, kiss up to Lady Gaga, Madonna, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake - while they trash Michael. It's ridiculous. Is it a coincidence BTW that all their darlings are white? Even "black music" is done better than by black people, according to them. Justin Timberlake is better than Michael - when he's a lame imitation and they know it - (after all they declared him the new KoP in 2003), the best hip-hop artist ever is Eminem etc. Madonna does not have half the talent that Michael had in his little finger, yet she's is constantly praised. Even her last album was praised, which is very average and generic with hollow lyrics. It's an interesting pattern,to say the least.
Surely, they would say, "but we usually write positive reviews of this or that black artist - see, we are not racist". Thing is, they can afford to be positive about those who aren't really a threat. Prince with all his talent never really was a threat. He also did not buy the Beatles catalog...
Thing is, that Michael was the ultimate anti-establishment! Joe Vogel wrote about it in a recent article and I agree with him. He was more anti-establishment than those white pop/rock-stars who are usually praised as such by these critics. Were they REALLY anti-establishment they would not be praised. They would not be media darlings.
ETA: Michael's "problem" was that he was not part of any crowd, could not be used as a poster boy for any cause. Had he been, he would have been protected and heroized and hyped by that crowd. He was not a conservative and he was not a liberal. He was not a rocker and not an R&B star. He was not this "hetero-normative" rock star (Joe Vogel used this term, LOL) but he was not gay. (Had he been gay, the fact he used make up, had a high-voice etc. would have been declared cool and brave instead of weird and bizarre.)
He was commercially popular, yet it was not cool to be his fan (at least after Thriller). When I was in high-school and kids who wanted to fit in with the crowd declared themselves Nirvana fans and grunge-rock fans, not MJ fans. It was uncool. So when you think about it: what is really anti-establishment and the rebel thing then? The kid who declares himself a Nirvana fan to be accepted as "cool" by his peers or the kid who says he's an MJ fan, despite of that being declared "uncool" by the establishment (media, peers etc.)?
Thing is that people like to put things in clear categories and boxes and Michael never fit into any box. He could not be claimed by any group. And all these groups tend to defend their own and attack the others. Michael was The Other for all of them, so he was kicked from all sides. Other than the black media perhaps. (BTW, it's also interesting to note that it is the white media's hung-up to talk about his nose, plastic surgery, skin all the freaking time, not the black media's. So it makes you wonder about the latent racism in it.)
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Ashtanga
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
billyworld99
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September 20, 2012
Critics lauded "Bad25" when it debuted on September 18 commemorating the 25th anniversary of Michael's album that changed pop music history.
Entertainment Weekly gave Bad25 an "A," saying it is "a potent reminder of just how much "Bad's pulsing pop holds up." The Houston Chronicle called Bad25 "a layered, loving tribute" while the Seattle Post Intelligencer called Bad25 "a positively electrifying celebration of this often underrated album."
Of the DVD of Michael's 1988 Wembley concert from the landmark "Bad" tour included in the deluxe package, the Huffington Post compared it to "the equivalent of the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965" but added, "make no mistake: , Jackson's performance here eclipses even his most talented predecessors."
Read what critics are saying about Bad25...
Entertainment Weekly
"A... The three discs and one DVD of live, remixed, and premastered material here are a potent reminder of just how much Bad's pulsing pop holds up. "
Read the full review.
Vibe
"It's all about the songs, which includes five no. 1 singles. "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Smooth Criminal," "Man In The Mirror," "Liberian Girl"…this is greatness, y'all."
Read the full review.
Seattle Post Intelligencer
"Marking the quarter century mark since the release of Michael Jackson's work of pop genius, Bad 25 is a positively electrifying celebration of this often underrated album. "
Read the full review.
Houston Chronicle
"This is a layered, loving tribute whose power ultimately resides in the genius of the original album."
Read the full review.
NBC News' The Grio
"Bad25: A Michael Jackson masterpiece gets its due."
Read the full review.
Huffington Post
"The Wembley shows are the equivalent of the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965. But make no mistake: Jackson's performance here eclipses even his most talented predecessors."
Read the full review.
Showbiz411.com
"Fans will love all the versions of "Bad25," believe me."
Read the full review.
BBC
"An awesome, evergreen and essential pop masterpiece."
Read the full review.
Blog Critics
"… Bad is a treasure chest of indelible pop hooks, tasteful arrangements, devastating dance grooves, and some impeccable vocal performances."
Read the full review.
Source http://www.michaeljackson.com/us/news/overwhelming-praise-bad25
Remington Steele
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
:wild: Never noticed this... screenshot?!?
Yes, at the beginning of the official APOM video you can also see Sophia Loren and Tina Turner. I'm sure a lot of stars attended those concerts.
:wild: Never noticed this... screenshot?!?
Remington Steele
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
Especially when names like "Usher" arise - yuck!! That guy has zero or even minus 99 talent when compared to MJ.
HIStory
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
0:21 Tina Turner
0:24 Sophia Loren
And also Liz Taylor at 0:20
0:21 Tina Turner
0:24 Sophia Loren
And also Liz Taylor at 0:20
Remington Steele
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
It's blocked here, but thanks... will have to search that video on one of my official DVDs (Vision that is).
It's blocked here, but thanks... will have to search that video on one of my official DVDs (Vision that is).
kopwatcher
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The gushing reviews make me sick. Sycophantic, hop-on-the-bandwagon, duplicitous nobs - the lot of them. If he were still alive they'd be searching the thesaurus for new ways of slating it.
la_cienega
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
I was just reading this article about those "This Man Beats Women" stickers that some people have applied to Chris Brown albums, and perhaps after a lot of criticism about why they only went for Chris Brown and not the host of other known musician women beaters, they also targeted John Lennon's albums, and this was what the article said about that:
It's fascinating to see how dismissive they are to something like that when it comes to their never-critically-maligned hero.
And yes, I totally agree about how counter culture Michael was. Especially when you consider him as a black musician. There were even boycotts in 1984 against him from black leaders because he was "too sissified" as a black man. He was counter culture. He was not someone who set out to be as normal and media palatable as he could be. There's a lot of misogyny at work in how Michael was attacked.
I think it's funny now that people are fine with saying they're Lady Gaga fans when she tries so hard to be counter culture and rebellious and different, which is pretty safe these days and nothing she's done is actually really controversial, but it's seen as cool to like her even when she's different only because it seems most people accept her differentness is a superficial thing. Really different and strange people never get embraced.
I think there was a critic in 1984 who said that Mike scared people not because of himself really, but because of what he represented for the people who saw things in him that they identified with, and so they pushed him away on that basis, the way we do with things we fear. People like Justin Timberlake, Eminem are so safe and non scary/threatening it's almost funny, but Mike with his soft demeanor seemed threatening to a degree that seems comical in contrast, because they refused to be nice to him, they refused to treat him like a person, they had to degrade him to the point where nothing about him was human - (according to them) he was not a man or a woman, he was not black or white, he wasn't gay or straight, he didn't have his own children, he didn't have his own face, he didn't even have his own name - they stripped him completely of everything that humanizes him and then told people to accept this version of him as the truth. I don't know of any celebrity who's ever been dehumanized in such a way. Once someone is seen as less than human... well, slavery has taught us what we're capable of doing to such a person.
Anyway, that's my tangent about why he got trashed so bad starting in the late 80s, but really I find it fascinating to see the reaction to Michael, I think that quote about how Mike scares people is really accurate, and the reaction to him reflects so much about the people who do it, and now when people are allowed to examine him and his music/dance as a human being, without feeling shame or stigma from it, that seems to change the tone. Though it still always seems subversive to say you're an MJ fan, like some people have to put in a little disclaimer in front of it, something about how you know he was accused of this and this, or how he had a monkey, hyperbaric chamber - etc just to per-emptively ease off some slack.
I was just reading this article about those "This Man Beats Women" stickers that some people have applied to Chris Brown albums, and perhaps after a lot of criticism about why they only went for Chris Brown and not the host of other known musician women beaters, they also targeted John Lennon's albums, and this was what the article said about that:
It's fascinating to see how dismissive they are to something like that when it comes to their never-critically-maligned hero.
And yes, I totally agree about how counter culture Michael was. Especially when you consider him as a black musician. There were even boycotts in 1984 against him from black leaders because he was "too sissified" as a black man. He was counter culture. He was not someone who set out to be as normal and media palatable as he could be. There's a lot of misogyny at work in how Michael was attacked.
I think it's funny now that people are fine with saying they're Lady Gaga fans when she tries so hard to be counter culture and rebellious and different, which is pretty safe these days and nothing she's done is actually really controversial, but it's seen as cool to like her even when she's different only because it seems most people accept her differentness is a superficial thing. Really different and strange people never get embraced.
I think there was a critic in 1984 who said that Mike scared people not because of himself really, but because of what he represented for the people who saw things in him that they identified with, and so they pushed him away on that basis, the way we do with things we fear. People like Justin Timberlake, Eminem are so safe and non scary/threatening it's almost funny, but Mike with his soft demeanor seemed threatening to a degree that seems comical in contrast, because they refused to be nice to him, they refused to treat him like a person, they had to degrade him to the point where nothing about him was human - (according to them) he was not a man or a woman, he was not black or white, he wasn't gay or straight, he didn't have his own children, he didn't have his own face, he didn't even have his own name - they stripped him completely of everything that humanizes him and then told people to accept this version of him as the truth. I don't know of any celebrity who's ever been dehumanized in such a way. Once someone is seen as less than human... well, slavery has taught us what we're capable of doing to such a person.
Anyway, that's my tangent about why he got trashed so bad starting in the late 80s, but really I find it fascinating to see the reaction to Michael, I think that quote about how Mike scares people is really accurate, and the reaction to him reflects so much about the people who do it, and now when people are allowed to examine him and his music/dance as a human being, without feeling shame or stigma from it, that seems to change the tone. Though it still always seems subversive to say you're an MJ fan, like some people have to put in a little disclaimer in front of it, something about how you know he was accused of this and this, or how he had a monkey, hyperbaric chamber - etc just to per-emptively ease off some slack.
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HIStory
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
^^
I did not know John Lennon beat women. Never heard of it. But of course it's impossible not to know what Michael was accused of (accused of - and not guilty of!), since it's mentioned in almost every article about him, even if the article's main subject is not this.
That's very true.
I can only repeat what I have written in other threads and what Michael sang about in Is It Scary and also in Threatened (because he knew this full well). Because Michael was so private and so many aspects of his life were perceived to be mysterious - people started to fill in the gaps with themselves. And they projected themselves onto him. And what they saw in that mirror wasn't pretty because it's the reflection of their own personalities, fears, hung-ups, dark secrets, dark thoughts - and not Michael. When you think about what horrible articles were written about him over the years, horrible claims made of him those weren't true, you wonder where did all that come from? People made that up. What kind of person makes things like that up? What kind of person has things like that on his mind in such graphic details? It tells more about them than about Michael!
And yes, the dehumanization. Do people think we have long past the Middle Ages or that we are way above the era of lynch mobs, witch hunts, the mentality during slavery etc? Think again. Modern technology may have developed, but that doesn't mean humans are still not the same as what they were back then. They are and the treatment of Michael proves this. No, we do not stone people any more. We just kill them with our words and by the use of slander...
^^
I did not know John Lennon beat women. Never heard of it. But of course it's impossible not to know what Michael was accused of (accused of - and not guilty of!), since it's mentioned in almost every article about him, even if the article's main subject is not this.
That's very true.
I can only repeat what I have written in other threads and what Michael sang about in Is It Scary and also in Threatened (because he knew this full well). Because Michael was so private and so many aspects of his life were perceived to be mysterious - people started to fill in the gaps with themselves. And they projected themselves onto him. And what they saw in that mirror wasn't pretty because it's the reflection of their own personalities, fears, hung-ups, dark secrets, dark thoughts - and not Michael. When you think about what horrible articles were written about him over the years, horrible claims made of him those weren't true, you wonder where did all that come from? People made that up. What kind of person makes things like that up? What kind of person has things like that on his mind in such graphic details? It tells more about them than about Michael!
And yes, the dehumanization. Do people think we have long past the Middle Ages or that we are way above the era of lynch mobs, witch hunts, the mentality during slavery etc? Think again. Modern technology may have developed, but that doesn't mean humans are still not the same as what they were back then. They are and the treatment of Michael proves this. No, we do not stone people any more. We just kill them with our words and by the use of slander...
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Re: Bad 25 Reviews
This is a review from Amazon, I liked because it's from a non-fan:
4.0 out of 5 stars This one's a keeper, September 20, 2012
By
R. Watson (Katy/Houston,Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Michael Jackson Live At Wembley 7.16.1988 (DVD)
I'm mostly into metal & hard rock & have been since ,well ..forever. Like most of the world,I had Thriller when I was a teenage metal head & that album was blowing up. I would only listen to it at home,though because I couldn't have my fellow metalmongers knowing I liked this pop album. I didn't much care for Bad when it came out & still don't. There's a few good songs on there,though. Thriller remains the only MJ album or product of any kind I ever bought. That is Until I saw this dvd at best buy Tues going to pick up the new Down cd [metal til I die!] it was strange because I immediately picked it up intending to buy it,then reconsidered,remembering how with Thriller I was kind of in the closet & for a split second I thought ,oh no! What will this cashier think of me buying a MJ dvd? ? I know it's retarded & I did pick it back up & that initial goofy thought was already forgotten. As for the show,i enjoyed it very much & will watch & listen to several songs on this disc again. The video quality isn't perfect but so what. I spent many years recording live performances & videos onto vhs so this quality doesn't bother me, especially when it sounds fantastic & is like a time capsule from the summer of 88 and the feelings it brings back remembering exactly what I was up to that week in July 1988. I was 17,homeless,strung out on drugs,going to see Iron Maiden in a couple weeks(if I lived to see it,which I did) and definitely not into MJ at that point. However,for whatever reason some of his music still resonates with me & reminds me of being an innocent kid who was just getting into music,of all kinds & before drugs & evil got ahold of me. A few times watching this dvd even brought tears to my eyes. This one's a keeper whether you like MJ a little or alot & can handle a little less than perfect video which aint no big thing.
This is a review from Amazon, I liked because it's from a non-fan:
4.0 out of 5 stars This one's a keeper, September 20, 2012
By
R. Watson (Katy/Houston,Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Michael Jackson Live At Wembley 7.16.1988 (DVD)
I'm mostly into metal & hard rock & have been since ,well ..forever. Like most of the world,I had Thriller when I was a teenage metal head & that album was blowing up. I would only listen to it at home,though because I couldn't have my fellow metalmongers knowing I liked this pop album. I didn't much care for Bad when it came out & still don't. There's a few good songs on there,though. Thriller remains the only MJ album or product of any kind I ever bought. That is Until I saw this dvd at best buy Tues going to pick up the new Down cd [metal til I die!] it was strange because I immediately picked it up intending to buy it,then reconsidered,remembering how with Thriller I was kind of in the closet & for a split second I thought ,oh no! What will this cashier think of me buying a MJ dvd? ? I know it's retarded & I did pick it back up & that initial goofy thought was already forgotten. As for the show,i enjoyed it very much & will watch & listen to several songs on this disc again. The video quality isn't perfect but so what. I spent many years recording live performances & videos onto vhs so this quality doesn't bother me, especially when it sounds fantastic & is like a time capsule from the summer of 88 and the feelings it brings back remembering exactly what I was up to that week in July 1988. I was 17,homeless,strung out on drugs,going to see Iron Maiden in a couple weeks(if I lived to see it,which I did) and definitely not into MJ at that point. However,for whatever reason some of his music still resonates with me & reminds me of being an innocent kid who was just getting into music,of all kinds & before drugs & evil got ahold of me. A few times watching this dvd even brought tears to my eyes. This one's a keeper whether you like MJ a little or alot & can handle a little less than perfect video which aint no big thing.
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Michael Jackson: Bad 25 [Deluxe Edition]
By Evan Sawdey 21 September 2012
PopMatters Interviews Editor
The Michael Jackson of the mid-‘80s can lay claim to having a problem that no one in the world had ever run into at that point: how do you follow up the biggest selling album of all time?
After all, Jackson’s 1979 “debut” album Off the Wall was a bona fide classic, and established Jackson as a full-bore pop icon in his own right following his many years with The Jackson 5. Yet 1982’s Thriller was a game-changer in every single possible sense of the word. From his iconic Moonwalking, innovative music videos, and something-for-everyone accessibility and appeal, Thriller was not as much an album as it was a cultural event of the highest order. It was so powerful and omnipresent, people actually forget that it won the Album of the Year Grammy in 1984. It was the album that pushed Jackson into the rarest of superstar echelons, so when it came to recording a follow-up, not only was the world waiting with baited breath, but Jackson and producing partner Quincy Jones ran into the difficult problem of having to figure out exactly how to top the biggest album ever.
The end result, of course, was Bad, and looking back on it 25 years after its initial release with this multi-disc special edition released by Sony Legacy (entitled, simply, Bad 25), we are reaffirmed in everything we’ve always known about this disc: it is a dynamite sequel that exemplifies everything about the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy of success. It dares little, sounds like a carbon copy of its predecessor, but still manages to deliver some of those knock-out moments that Jackson became known for. It may not be perfect, but there’s still a lot to love here.
During the album’s creation, Jackson decided to take a greater control of his vision, having written only four of Thriller‘s nine songs (those four—“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”, “The Girl is Mine”, “Beat It”, and “Billie Jean”—all placed in the Top 5, the latter two becoming #1’s). Thus, go-to Jackson songwriter Rod Temperton (“Rock With You”, “Thriller”) was jettisoned as Jackson took on the lion’s share of the songwriting duties, writing nine of the album’s 11 tracks (only the Stevie Wonder duet “Just Good Friends” and “Man in the Mirror” were outsourced). All of this was done because Bad was ultimately meant to be a more personal project for Jackson, although its commercial intentions were never in doubt. Amazingly, 10 of the album’s 11 songs were released as singles (“Just Goods Friends” being the odd one out), and five of them topped the charts—an astonishing record.
Yet Thriller had already moved on from Off the Wall‘s disco leanings to embrace a modern sound that was rooted in funk, soul, and traditional pop. It was broadly appealing and highly marketable, but Bad rarely ventures outside of the Thriller palette (only when Dangerous was released did Jackson start to actually update his sound to be more contemporary). Just listen to the title track: solid keyboard grounding, immaculately detailed backing vocals, a large amount of lyrical braggadocio—this could very well have fit on Thriller without anyone noticing.
In truth, Jackson’s legacy has become so intrinsically sewn into our pop culture consciousness that we rarely sit back to objectively look at how his songs stack up when separated from their visually-stunning counterparts. While “Thriller” is arguably the signature song for Jackson, the funky tune—as fun as it is—is not one of the greater songs in Jackson’s cannon: it’s more style than substance, flashy and fun but free of the lite emotional gravitas that “Beat It” or even “Rock With You” possessed. The song exists almost solely for its music video, which is and always will be considered one of the greatest of all time if not the greatest of all time. You can’t hear the song without immediately thinking of its promo clip, and much of the fun nostalgia laced with the song stems from exactly that: its music video.
The only other time this comes up in Jackson’s canon is once again with a title track: “Bad”. The song is lyrically tough yet musically very soft, and it exists less a defiant statement of badassery than it does as a fun promotional tool. Heck, even the song’s structure hews remarkably close to that of “Thriller”, the chorus’ for both sitting on a higher key than the verses, both popping with bright horns (although virtually every modern pressing of Bad opts for the single mix, which oddly doesn’t feature as many horns as the original album version). Although the video is still responsible for roughly 80% of all black leather jacket sales in the U.S. in 1988 (at least according to this statistic that I just made up), detractors did have a valid point when noting that Jackson himself was succumbing to a bit of sequelitis with this release.
That being said, there is nothing wrong with delivering more of what the people want, and when Bad hits its target, it can be nothing short of thrilling. Just listen to “The Way You Make Me Feel”, a song which carries on the same good-time vibes of “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” but possesses a certain freewheeling looseness that both of those tightly regimented songs were missing (although it tends to get lost in the conversation of his more iconic works, it could be argued that “The Way You Make Me Feel” is one of the strongest singles he ever released). Although the reaffirming “Man in the Mirror” addresses many of the worlds ills in its verses, that spectacularly uplifting chorus truly makes it feel like you can be part of the cure, resulting in a track proves to be fulfillingly anthemic without ever fully tiling over into pretentiousness. It’s a tough balancing act, but this song manages to pull it off in spades.
The parts when Bad truly comes alive, however, are the times when Jackson pushes himself outside his comfort zone, taking true risks with his sound, which—in this case—means going darker, edgier. “Dirty Diana” is a perfect example of this, one-upping his riotous Eddie Van Halen collaboration with “Beat It” by delivering a true-blooded hard rock song, full of moody synths and feisty electric guitar solos (courtesy of Billy Idol’s go-to axe-man Steve Stevens). It’s also a song that goes back to the philosophy that some fans share about Jackson: he writes best when he writes paranoid. This song, about a persistent groupie, has Jackson giving us one of his darkest-ever character studies, but it’s the album’s closing tune, “Leave Me Alone”, that proves to be one his all-time greats. Although not initially included in Bad‘s official vinyl track listing (something that was changed upon each subsequent release of the album, which is actually a very welcome move as it proves to be a more fitting closer than “Smooth Criminal”), this rant about the pressures of fame and dealing with paparazzi sounds unlike anything else Jackson had recorded to this point: the popping guitar sounds had been heard before, but this song wasn’t exactly a dance song, not exactly a pop number, and the multi-tiered chorus assuredly wasn’t rock either. It’s a bit of an introverted tale, but also one of the rare times where Jackson actually lashes out at someone, and it’s fascinating to see this side of his personality. (Also, his singing in tandem with the wheezing synths on the bridge? Delightful.)
When you the whole album into consideration, however, there are still some notably weak portions, and the worst offenders are on the album’s A-side. “Speed Demon” is one of Jackson’s rare misfires, as a song about angry driving can only do so much (also, who knew that the word “demon” only had one syllable in it?). “Liberian Girl”, which follows, aims for the exotic, but its ethereal synth backdrop unfortunately deadens any impact Jackson was going for (the song’s multi-tracked vocals on the chorus being the song’s only real takeaway). Additionally, although there’s nothing inherently wrong with “Another Part of Me” by itself, the synth backings here have noticeably shown their age, moreso than most Jackson recordings. While a majority of his songs have transcended their era, “Another Part of Me” unfortunately just feels trapped in it.
Yet Bad 25 is a very, very smart re-release. Although Bad itself had been remastered as recently as 2001, the first disc of this four-disc set is simply the original album—nothing else. It’s very wise to leave things by itself, as the album is best absorbed without any additional ephemera (or, like the 2001 re-releases, elongated audio interviews with the behind-the-scenes crew tacked on at the end). The biggest takeaway for fans, though, is the second disc, featuring “bonus tracks, demos, and remixes”, and save for both a Spanish and French version of “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” (which exist as curiosities for collectors and nothing more), it is uniformly excellent. As the brief and to-the-point liner notes explain, the songs selected here are genuine Bad-era tunes, as songs that were recorded during this era and later reworked for subsequent LPs was deliberately left off. Thus, there are some top-notch tunes to be found, ranging from the funky, fun strut of “Streetwalker” (which could have easily stood on its own in the album proper) to the fascinating “Al Capone”, which was later reworked into what we know today as “Smooth Criminal”. Some of these rarities are experiments that overlapped with thematic material already on the album (see “Price of Fame”, which is a solid anti-media rant, although “Leave Me Alone” was just a bit more effective), some are some nice mid-tempo ballads that still carry an Off the Wall-styled 70s pop vibe (“Free”), and some are songs that are so good they could’ve easily been not only worked onto the album, but also have been great singles (as is the case with the feel-good “Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round”, which was released as a specialty B-side as part of the marketing run-up to this album).
Perhaps the most notable/controversial entry is a synth-driven tune called “Song Groove (A/K/A Abortion Papers)”. The liners mention how Michael wasn’t afraid to tackle some more “big picture” issues with his music (“Black or White”, “Earth Song”), and “Abortion Papers” is no exception. The song’s chorus never really came together (somehow screaming out “those abortion pa-pers!” just never really seemed to have much of a place in ‘80s pop radio), but it’s still presented here as a fully-formed track, pretty much ready to go on a purely musical front. It is an utterly fascinating discovery and a real treat for patient fans who’ve already waded through choppier waters like The Ultimate Collection and Michael to get to the King of Pop’s real unreleased treasures.
Less intriguing are the remixes included, which, unlike the numerous guest-star atrocities that marred the Thriller: 25th Anniversary Edition release, are more “serviceable” than “an affront to good taste”. Afrojack has two remixes of “Bad” here, obviously trying to make the song sound like it belongs on modern-day radio (one of them, with two guest verses from Pitbull, is just outright trash), while noted dance maestros Nero do the best they can giving “Speed Demon” new life, which is a challenge given the noted history of the song. While the group certainly does “get” the staccato nature of the music, and although they try to fashion something all club-ready for 2012 listeners, it ends up sounding more like a Nero song with MJ’s vocals than it does a genuine Michael Jackson remix (this is a problem that dates all the way back to Blood on the Dance Floor: it is just really hard to reinterpret MJ).
The last two discs of this massive collection cover Jackson’s 1988 run of shows at Wembley during the height of his Bad World Tour, British royals happily in attendance. As the liners point out, this was Jackson’s first-ever solo world tour, and is a fascinating document, given the only other commercially available document of his live performance abilities is for the gaudier but less-exciting Dangerous World Tour. Here, Jackson is at the peak of his powers, absolutely bursting with energy. Extended dance breaks are added into the songs, his backing quartet of dancers are extremely precise, and yes, that’s 80s Sheryl Crow coming out to duet with him on “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”. Some oddities are thrown into the mix (the second song is “This Place Hotel”), and there are occasional get-ups that are, in a word, unnecessary (wait until you see guitarist Jennifer Batten get into something I refer to as “the neon nightmare”). Yet the show is remarkably fun, and relatively fast-paced. There are multiple costume changes throughout, with Jackson wearing whatever jacket is appropriate for the song he’s singing (a letterman jacket for “Thriller”, a white coat and fedora for “Smooth Criminal”, that signature black leather for “Bad”). At first, he and his dancers could not be tighter. They exude energy, and perhaps what’s most remarkable is how Jackson is able to still sing/sustain notes while doing his numerous laser-precise moves. By the time he starts Moonwalking during “Billie Jean” (and let there be no mistake: this is as spectacular and smooth as he has ever executed the move), the already-nuts crowd simply goes into overdrive. By the time he reaches “Thriller”, however, he starts to lose some of that exact precision, obviously exhausted for having been onstage for nearly an hour without as much as a water break.
What ultimately kills the momentum of the Wembley show (and what is mercifully excised from the audio CD version of it) is the “band groove” following “Thriller”. Although Jackson has hired numerous talents to help make his musical vision complete—and yes, they all very much do deserve their solos (especially drummer Ricky Lawson, who interrupts his furious kick-drum pounding half-way through to put some sunglasses on)—but at a full 14 minutes, it is extremely hard to regain the momentum generated in the show’s first half. The DVD itself is relatively light on extras (holding out for two bonus performances done at different times & locations), and the visual quality—as the liners point out—leaves a bit to be desired, as the recording of this concert was on a VHS tape from Michael’s personal collection. It’s obvious a lot of effort has gone into the remastering (the audio, thankfully, was multi-channel when filmed), but there’s a very good reason why you will not see a Blu-ray version of this performance anytime soon.
In short, Bad 25 is a fantastic package for any serious pop fan or even casual Michael Jackson connoisseur. The album still carries the same flaws that have dogged it ever since its release in 1987, but the moments that work—and the numerous, delightful revelations derived by the onslaught of bonus material here—only help enhance our understanding of the King of Pop, and allow us to enjoy the music all the more, definitively answering the question one and for all: “Who’s bad?”
Rating: 7
Extras rating: 7
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/163219-michael-jackson-bad-25/
By Evan Sawdey 21 September 2012
PopMatters Interviews Editor
The Michael Jackson of the mid-‘80s can lay claim to having a problem that no one in the world had ever run into at that point: how do you follow up the biggest selling album of all time?
After all, Jackson’s 1979 “debut” album Off the Wall was a bona fide classic, and established Jackson as a full-bore pop icon in his own right following his many years with The Jackson 5. Yet 1982’s Thriller was a game-changer in every single possible sense of the word. From his iconic Moonwalking, innovative music videos, and something-for-everyone accessibility and appeal, Thriller was not as much an album as it was a cultural event of the highest order. It was so powerful and omnipresent, people actually forget that it won the Album of the Year Grammy in 1984. It was the album that pushed Jackson into the rarest of superstar echelons, so when it came to recording a follow-up, not only was the world waiting with baited breath, but Jackson and producing partner Quincy Jones ran into the difficult problem of having to figure out exactly how to top the biggest album ever.
The end result, of course, was Bad, and looking back on it 25 years after its initial release with this multi-disc special edition released by Sony Legacy (entitled, simply, Bad 25), we are reaffirmed in everything we’ve always known about this disc: it is a dynamite sequel that exemplifies everything about the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy of success. It dares little, sounds like a carbon copy of its predecessor, but still manages to deliver some of those knock-out moments that Jackson became known for. It may not be perfect, but there’s still a lot to love here.
During the album’s creation, Jackson decided to take a greater control of his vision, having written only four of Thriller‘s nine songs (those four—“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”, “The Girl is Mine”, “Beat It”, and “Billie Jean”—all placed in the Top 5, the latter two becoming #1’s). Thus, go-to Jackson songwriter Rod Temperton (“Rock With You”, “Thriller”) was jettisoned as Jackson took on the lion’s share of the songwriting duties, writing nine of the album’s 11 tracks (only the Stevie Wonder duet “Just Good Friends” and “Man in the Mirror” were outsourced). All of this was done because Bad was ultimately meant to be a more personal project for Jackson, although its commercial intentions were never in doubt. Amazingly, 10 of the album’s 11 songs were released as singles (“Just Goods Friends” being the odd one out), and five of them topped the charts—an astonishing record.
Yet Thriller had already moved on from Off the Wall‘s disco leanings to embrace a modern sound that was rooted in funk, soul, and traditional pop. It was broadly appealing and highly marketable, but Bad rarely ventures outside of the Thriller palette (only when Dangerous was released did Jackson start to actually update his sound to be more contemporary). Just listen to the title track: solid keyboard grounding, immaculately detailed backing vocals, a large amount of lyrical braggadocio—this could very well have fit on Thriller without anyone noticing.
In truth, Jackson’s legacy has become so intrinsically sewn into our pop culture consciousness that we rarely sit back to objectively look at how his songs stack up when separated from their visually-stunning counterparts. While “Thriller” is arguably the signature song for Jackson, the funky tune—as fun as it is—is not one of the greater songs in Jackson’s cannon: it’s more style than substance, flashy and fun but free of the lite emotional gravitas that “Beat It” or even “Rock With You” possessed. The song exists almost solely for its music video, which is and always will be considered one of the greatest of all time if not the greatest of all time. You can’t hear the song without immediately thinking of its promo clip, and much of the fun nostalgia laced with the song stems from exactly that: its music video.
The only other time this comes up in Jackson’s canon is once again with a title track: “Bad”. The song is lyrically tough yet musically very soft, and it exists less a defiant statement of badassery than it does as a fun promotional tool. Heck, even the song’s structure hews remarkably close to that of “Thriller”, the chorus’ for both sitting on a higher key than the verses, both popping with bright horns (although virtually every modern pressing of Bad opts for the single mix, which oddly doesn’t feature as many horns as the original album version). Although the video is still responsible for roughly 80% of all black leather jacket sales in the U.S. in 1988 (at least according to this statistic that I just made up), detractors did have a valid point when noting that Jackson himself was succumbing to a bit of sequelitis with this release.
That being said, there is nothing wrong with delivering more of what the people want, and when Bad hits its target, it can be nothing short of thrilling. Just listen to “The Way You Make Me Feel”, a song which carries on the same good-time vibes of “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” but possesses a certain freewheeling looseness that both of those tightly regimented songs were missing (although it tends to get lost in the conversation of his more iconic works, it could be argued that “The Way You Make Me Feel” is one of the strongest singles he ever released). Although the reaffirming “Man in the Mirror” addresses many of the worlds ills in its verses, that spectacularly uplifting chorus truly makes it feel like you can be part of the cure, resulting in a track proves to be fulfillingly anthemic without ever fully tiling over into pretentiousness. It’s a tough balancing act, but this song manages to pull it off in spades.
The parts when Bad truly comes alive, however, are the times when Jackson pushes himself outside his comfort zone, taking true risks with his sound, which—in this case—means going darker, edgier. “Dirty Diana” is a perfect example of this, one-upping his riotous Eddie Van Halen collaboration with “Beat It” by delivering a true-blooded hard rock song, full of moody synths and feisty electric guitar solos (courtesy of Billy Idol’s go-to axe-man Steve Stevens). It’s also a song that goes back to the philosophy that some fans share about Jackson: he writes best when he writes paranoid. This song, about a persistent groupie, has Jackson giving us one of his darkest-ever character studies, but it’s the album’s closing tune, “Leave Me Alone”, that proves to be one his all-time greats. Although not initially included in Bad‘s official vinyl track listing (something that was changed upon each subsequent release of the album, which is actually a very welcome move as it proves to be a more fitting closer than “Smooth Criminal”), this rant about the pressures of fame and dealing with paparazzi sounds unlike anything else Jackson had recorded to this point: the popping guitar sounds had been heard before, but this song wasn’t exactly a dance song, not exactly a pop number, and the multi-tiered chorus assuredly wasn’t rock either. It’s a bit of an introverted tale, but also one of the rare times where Jackson actually lashes out at someone, and it’s fascinating to see this side of his personality. (Also, his singing in tandem with the wheezing synths on the bridge? Delightful.)
When you the whole album into consideration, however, there are still some notably weak portions, and the worst offenders are on the album’s A-side. “Speed Demon” is one of Jackson’s rare misfires, as a song about angry driving can only do so much (also, who knew that the word “demon” only had one syllable in it?). “Liberian Girl”, which follows, aims for the exotic, but its ethereal synth backdrop unfortunately deadens any impact Jackson was going for (the song’s multi-tracked vocals on the chorus being the song’s only real takeaway). Additionally, although there’s nothing inherently wrong with “Another Part of Me” by itself, the synth backings here have noticeably shown their age, moreso than most Jackson recordings. While a majority of his songs have transcended their era, “Another Part of Me” unfortunately just feels trapped in it.
Yet Bad 25 is a very, very smart re-release. Although Bad itself had been remastered as recently as 2001, the first disc of this four-disc set is simply the original album—nothing else. It’s very wise to leave things by itself, as the album is best absorbed without any additional ephemera (or, like the 2001 re-releases, elongated audio interviews with the behind-the-scenes crew tacked on at the end). The biggest takeaway for fans, though, is the second disc, featuring “bonus tracks, demos, and remixes”, and save for both a Spanish and French version of “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” (which exist as curiosities for collectors and nothing more), it is uniformly excellent. As the brief and to-the-point liner notes explain, the songs selected here are genuine Bad-era tunes, as songs that were recorded during this era and later reworked for subsequent LPs was deliberately left off. Thus, there are some top-notch tunes to be found, ranging from the funky, fun strut of “Streetwalker” (which could have easily stood on its own in the album proper) to the fascinating “Al Capone”, which was later reworked into what we know today as “Smooth Criminal”. Some of these rarities are experiments that overlapped with thematic material already on the album (see “Price of Fame”, which is a solid anti-media rant, although “Leave Me Alone” was just a bit more effective), some are some nice mid-tempo ballads that still carry an Off the Wall-styled 70s pop vibe (“Free”), and some are songs that are so good they could’ve easily been not only worked onto the album, but also have been great singles (as is the case with the feel-good “Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round”, which was released as a specialty B-side as part of the marketing run-up to this album).
Perhaps the most notable/controversial entry is a synth-driven tune called “Song Groove (A/K/A Abortion Papers)”. The liners mention how Michael wasn’t afraid to tackle some more “big picture” issues with his music (“Black or White”, “Earth Song”), and “Abortion Papers” is no exception. The song’s chorus never really came together (somehow screaming out “those abortion pa-pers!” just never really seemed to have much of a place in ‘80s pop radio), but it’s still presented here as a fully-formed track, pretty much ready to go on a purely musical front. It is an utterly fascinating discovery and a real treat for patient fans who’ve already waded through choppier waters like The Ultimate Collection and Michael to get to the King of Pop’s real unreleased treasures.
Less intriguing are the remixes included, which, unlike the numerous guest-star atrocities that marred the Thriller: 25th Anniversary Edition release, are more “serviceable” than “an affront to good taste”. Afrojack has two remixes of “Bad” here, obviously trying to make the song sound like it belongs on modern-day radio (one of them, with two guest verses from Pitbull, is just outright trash), while noted dance maestros Nero do the best they can giving “Speed Demon” new life, which is a challenge given the noted history of the song. While the group certainly does “get” the staccato nature of the music, and although they try to fashion something all club-ready for 2012 listeners, it ends up sounding more like a Nero song with MJ’s vocals than it does a genuine Michael Jackson remix (this is a problem that dates all the way back to Blood on the Dance Floor: it is just really hard to reinterpret MJ).
The last two discs of this massive collection cover Jackson’s 1988 run of shows at Wembley during the height of his Bad World Tour, British royals happily in attendance. As the liners point out, this was Jackson’s first-ever solo world tour, and is a fascinating document, given the only other commercially available document of his live performance abilities is for the gaudier but less-exciting Dangerous World Tour. Here, Jackson is at the peak of his powers, absolutely bursting with energy. Extended dance breaks are added into the songs, his backing quartet of dancers are extremely precise, and yes, that’s 80s Sheryl Crow coming out to duet with him on “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”. Some oddities are thrown into the mix (the second song is “This Place Hotel”), and there are occasional get-ups that are, in a word, unnecessary (wait until you see guitarist Jennifer Batten get into something I refer to as “the neon nightmare”). Yet the show is remarkably fun, and relatively fast-paced. There are multiple costume changes throughout, with Jackson wearing whatever jacket is appropriate for the song he’s singing (a letterman jacket for “Thriller”, a white coat and fedora for “Smooth Criminal”, that signature black leather for “Bad”). At first, he and his dancers could not be tighter. They exude energy, and perhaps what’s most remarkable is how Jackson is able to still sing/sustain notes while doing his numerous laser-precise moves. By the time he starts Moonwalking during “Billie Jean” (and let there be no mistake: this is as spectacular and smooth as he has ever executed the move), the already-nuts crowd simply goes into overdrive. By the time he reaches “Thriller”, however, he starts to lose some of that exact precision, obviously exhausted for having been onstage for nearly an hour without as much as a water break.
What ultimately kills the momentum of the Wembley show (and what is mercifully excised from the audio CD version of it) is the “band groove” following “Thriller”. Although Jackson has hired numerous talents to help make his musical vision complete—and yes, they all very much do deserve their solos (especially drummer Ricky Lawson, who interrupts his furious kick-drum pounding half-way through to put some sunglasses on)—but at a full 14 minutes, it is extremely hard to regain the momentum generated in the show’s first half. The DVD itself is relatively light on extras (holding out for two bonus performances done at different times & locations), and the visual quality—as the liners point out—leaves a bit to be desired, as the recording of this concert was on a VHS tape from Michael’s personal collection. It’s obvious a lot of effort has gone into the remastering (the audio, thankfully, was multi-channel when filmed), but there’s a very good reason why you will not see a Blu-ray version of this performance anytime soon.
In short, Bad 25 is a fantastic package for any serious pop fan or even casual Michael Jackson connoisseur. The album still carries the same flaws that have dogged it ever since its release in 1987, but the moments that work—and the numerous, delightful revelations derived by the onslaught of bonus material here—only help enhance our understanding of the King of Pop, and allow us to enjoy the music all the more, definitively answering the question one and for all: “Who’s bad?”
Rating: 7
Extras rating: 7
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/163219-michael-jackson-bad-25/