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BAD25 - The Announcement We Have All Been Waiting For [General Discussion]

I watched this video today and I didn't hold tears even more being Michael's birthday, unbelievable and fantastic his impact in the world


 
Still no news - moonwalking out of this thread again...
 
well we're two weeks away from it being first released so i expect it to leak in a matter of days.
 
While waiting :D

Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ Turns 25: Backtracking
Mike Wass August 31st, 2012

Michael-Jackson-Bad.jpg


Backtracking is our recurring look back at the pop music that shaped our lives. Friends may come and go, but we’ll be spinning our favorite albums forever.

In 1987, Michael Jackson was the biggest star on the planet. His last album, the game-changing measuring stick for musical excellence otherwise known as Thriller, had demolished every sales record in the book, yielded a record eight Grammys and spawned seven Top 10 hits. What could he possibly do next? The answer: aim higher. Acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee recently revealed that the King Of Pop used to write the tally “100 million” on little pieces of paper and then paste them on walls and mirrors while recording Bad. The anecdote is a testament to the superstar’s unwavering self-belief and vision — but also a poignant reminder of the suffocating pressure the then 29-year-old must have been under. Michael was so far ahead of the game at that stage that anything less than rewriting history would have been considered a personal failure.

As it turns out, MJ never quite reached that 100 million sales target. It boggles the mind, however, that he almost made it halfway. Since its August 31, 1987 release date, Bad has sold an estimated 30-to-45 million copies worldwide – enough to land it in fifth place on the all-time bestsellers list. And the staggering statistics don’t end there.

Michael’s seventh studio album was the first to produce five consecutive number one hits — a record that Katy Perry would tie 23 years later. Altogether, Bad spawned nine singles and music videos. In fact, the only song not released in some form was the pop pioneer’s duet with Stevie Wonder, “Just Good Friends”. The success of the LP also prompted MJ to launch his first solo world tour, which, almost inevitably, entered the history books as the highest grossing of all time.

Given the album’s dizzying sales figures and cultural impact, it’s baffling that Bad is often viewed as an inferior work to Michael Jackson’s other Quincy Jones-produced discs. While Off The Wall and Thriller are near-perfect pop albums, Bad is arguably more ambitious. The superstar wrote nine of the 11 tracks, and his fingerprints are all over the lyrics. Themes of rebellion, paranoia and self-reflection are prevalent, while the accompanying videos unflinchingly mock the media scrutiny he was under.

Quincy’s production was also more daring this time around, with splashes of hard rock, flawlessly composed — if somewhat mechanical — R&B beats and sweepingly-arranged power ballads. It was the same formula as the pair’s two previous collaborations, only performed with the kind of excess synonymous with the late ’80s. That might have resulted in some of the tracks sounding unnecessarily dated (see “Speed Demon” and “Liberian Girl”) but, on the whole, Bad stands the test of time remarkably well.

Michael Jackson — “Bad”
[video=youtube;dsUXAEzaC3Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsUXAEzaC3Q&feature=player_embedded[/video]

“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” was the world’s first taste of Michael Jackson’s long-awaited follow-up to Thriller, and it was, and remains, a curiously understated lead single. The silky smooth duet with a then (and still) relatively unknown soul singer called Siedah Garrett was an instant success, reaching #1 on the Hot 100 in its 7th week on the chart — a very speedy ascent at that time. But a video was never released, and the King Of Pop started promoting “Bad” (the song) the same week the “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” topped the Hot 100. Interestingly, Michael first tried to get heavyweights like Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand and Aretha Franklin to sing on the track. Which, given its enduring popularity, was their loss.

The catchphrase “Who’s bad?” entered the collective consciousness when MJ released the album’s title track and second single on September 7, 1987. In many ways, “Bad” picked up where “Thriller” left off. Like the world’s favorite Halloween anthem, the electric jam had an ominous feel that stood out from other songs on the album and also boasted an almost 20-minute mini-movie doubling as a video clip. However, unlike “Thriller”, there was nothing tongue-in-cheek about the Martin Scorcese-directed visual, and “Bad” was more than a perfectly-executed novelty. Jackson later described the song in his autobiography as being inspired by a murdered college student, which was the first indication that the most loved man in music was in an unexpectedly dark place.

Michael Jackson — “The Way You Make Me Feel”
[video=youtube;HzZ_urpj4As]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzZ_urpj4As&feature=player_embedded[/video]

Greatest hits staples “The Way You Make Me Feel” and “Man In The Mirror” came next and both deserve their status as two of the defining pop hits of the late ’80s. The latter, in particular, was a source of solace to fans in the wake of Michael’s tragic death in 2009. Its message of self-improvement, love and kindness was much more aligned with the entertainer’s overarching legacy
than the scandals that plagued him in later years. Both songs reached number one on the Hot 100, and Mike set a chart record that would stand for more than 20 years when the uncharacteristically racy hard-rock anthem “Dirty Diana” hit the top spot in July 1988. He became the first artist to score five consecutive number one singles from one album. And, for the record, the song is not about Diana Ross (even though she used it to warm up audiences at live performances for years) or Princess Di. Instead, the shady lady was based on a faceless groupie.

Michael Jackson — “Man In The Mirror”
[video=youtube;PivWY9wn5ps]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps&feature=player_embedded[/video]

From that point on the singles experienced diminishing returns, at least domestically. The well-meaning but mediocre “Another Part Of Me” stalled at #11, but the quirky “Smooth Criminal” reached the Top 10 despite its dark subject matter. The song is so relentlessly catchy that it’s easy to forget Mike is singing about an assailant that breaks into a woman’s apartment and kills her.
Not exactly standard Top 40 fodder. Brilliant choreography and impressive special-effects make the video one of the pop icon’s finest and the track has lived on in pop culture due to a long list of appearances on movie soundtracks and a popular cover by Alien Ant Farm in 2001.

Michael Jackson — “Smooth Criminal”
[video=youtube;RWdGIbZKtmg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWdGIbZKtmg[/video]

Despite having been in the charts for over two years, Michael still found the time to release two further international singles. “Leave Me Alone”, which was originally relegated to CD bonus track status upon release, holds up phenomenally well. The defiant, borderline paranoid anthem is a brilliantly crafted pop/rock gem that taps into the terrifyingly isolated life the celebrated musician must have been living. The video, which is partly animated, is a surreal masterpiece that holds up as well as anything in the superstar’s catalog of hits. The same cannot be said of “Liberian Girl”, which is memorable only for the star-studded cast in the video clip (MJ roped in the services of Olivia Newton-John, Steven Spielberg, John Travolta, Whoopi Goldberg, Paula Abdul and, erm, Brigitte Nielsen), or “Speed Demon”, which is literally just about driving fast.

Michael Jackson — “Leave Me Alone”
[video=youtube;crbFmpezO4A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crbFmpezO4A&feature=player_embedded[/video]

Back in the day there was a running joke that asked why Michael called the album Bad. The answer “because he couldn’t fit [insert negative adjective here] on the cover” sounds even more ridiculous now than it did back then. While Bad isn’t as cohesive as Off The Wall and doesn’t quite reach the same dizzying heights as Thriller or 1991’s sorely underrated Dangerous, it contains more solid pop classics than most greatest hits compilations — and it deserves enormous credit for helping shape the sound and visual aspect of the music game for the decades that followed.
 
Michael Jackson's Bad: 25 Years Later, Does It Hold Up?
Who had the best chart-topper of 1987: MJ, U2, Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen or the Beastie Boys?
By Rob Markman (@RobMarkman)

On August 31, 1987, Michael Jackson set out to do the impossible: Try to outdo Thriller, his classic 1982 LP.

"It was the follow-up to the greatest-selling album of all time. A lot of people slept on it," Spike Lee told MTV News of Bad, which the King of Pop released 25 years ago today.

It's a story that the critically acclaimed film director explores in his new "Bad 25" documentary, which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival and will be broadcast in the U.S. on Thanksgiving.

Ultimately, Mike fell short of his goal. It's estimated that Thriller sold over 110 million copies since its release, while Bad has moved over 30 million, but Spike believes in MJ's 1987 release so much that he issues a challenge to all music fans:

"Go to the charts ... and see what were the top albums 25 years ago, play those albums now and then play Bad, and then see which one still sounds fresh and doesn't sound dated."

Spike Lee Explains What Made Michael Jackson's 'Bad' So Special
MTV News figured we'd take Spike's task to hand, but it was no easy feat. In a year where Bon Jovi, U2, Beastie Boys, Whitney Houston and Bruce Springsteen all notched #1 long players, maybe Bad isn't such a slam dunk.

The year started off with Springsteen's Live/1975-85 at the top of the charts, but we omitted that album and the "La Bamba" and "Dirty Dancing" soundtracks from our breakdown, choosing to focus solely on studio albums.

Bon Jovi's Diamond-certified Slippery When Wet dropped in 1986, but didn't hit the top of the charts until January 1987. Similarly, the Beastie Boys' debut Licensed to Ill also took several months before topping Billboard. While both LPs were widely successful and spawned iconic singles, neither really hold up today. In the case of the Beasties, the sound of hip-hop has changed so drastically that it's hard to find a place for it in 2012's hustle-centered Rick Ross-isms.

Springsteen's studio effort, Tunnel of Love, spent only a single week in the top spot and was a downgrade from the Jersey rocker's previous triumph, Born in the U.S.A., so his '87 LP isn't much of a match for MJ's.

While Whitney Houston's second album (Whitney) ruled the summer thanks to powerful singles like "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go," it's U2's Grammy award-winning The Joshua Tree that comes closest to touching Bad. The classic LP cemented the rockers as global superstars, setting a blueprint for just about every band who followed.

Still, Spike looks at the King of Pop's offering and its record-setting singles "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana" as clear-cut proof of why MJ can't be beat.

"What people didn't realize, that unlike Thriller, Bad had five consecutive #1 singles, which had never been done before until recently; Katy (Cheater :pth:) Perry tied the record," he said.

Now, the choice is yours.


Thank you for voting!
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet 0.38%


Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill 1.54%


U2 - The Joshua Tree 6.15%


Whitney Houston - Whitney 2.69%


Michael Jackson - Bad 86.92%


Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love 2.31%

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1693013/michael-jackson-bad-25-years-later.jhtml
 
Numbers Game: 15 Facts to Celebrate Michael Jackson's 'Bad' Album

Posted Aug 31st 2012 10:55AM by Kathy Iandoli


DOUG KANTER, AFP
In 1987, the late Michael Jackson released the epochal album, Bad. Following the release of 1982's Thriller, the album pushed the boundaries of pop music in a way that only Michael Jackson could. The album arrived at the helm of hip-hop's reign. With cover art that reflected the leather jacket swag the King of Pop introduced us to on the previous project (only this time the jacket was black and not red), the cover also showed the album's title written in spray-painted graffiti. The release was arguably one of MJ's edgiest, in which he tackled the typical romantic topics, but also began his acknowledgement of a lack of privacy -- evidenced by the song "Leave Me Alone." Who knew that over two decades later, the side effects of fame would lead to the loss of a legend? As Bad reaches its 25th Anniversary today, The BoomBox drops some figures for fans of the King of Pop. Here are 15 numerical facts about Bad.

13 Countries Platinum Plus
It's no surprise that Bad moved several units, given Michael Jackson's colossal status at the King of Pop. The album was certified platinum-Plus in 13 countries worldwide. It reached platinum in Hong Kong and Mexico, but countries like Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, France, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. saw sales in the multi-millions. In some territories it even reached diamond status (over 10 million sold). That's a lot of albums.

12 Countries at No. 1
In addition to selling well into the millions, Bad would obviously skyrocket to the No. 1 spot on the charts in a variety of countries. Places like Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Czech, Dutch, Italian, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K. and of course the U.S. all had Michael Jackson sitting comfortably at the top.

10 Instruments Used on the Album
It wasn't just all about the synths on Bad. The rich production came thanks to a variety of musical instruments. They all came together masterfully, and with Michael Jackson's voice added in, the project became a classic. Besides the obvious synthesizers, there were other instruments including guitars, organs, drums, bass, trumpets, percussion, keyboards, saxophones, pianos plus digital guitars.

9 Singles Off the Album
Every Michael Jackson song could be a single, and Bad is further proof of that. On an album of 11 tracks, a whopping nine of them were singles. Some of course did better than others and became fixtures in the history of pop music. The first single was the chart-topping "I Just Can't Stop Loving You." Then came the monstrous "Bad," followed by "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man In the Mirror," "Dirty Diana," "Another Part Of Me," "Smooth Criminal," "Leave Me Alone" and "Liberian Girl."

9 Songs Written by Michael Jackson
If Bad feels personal to Michael Jackson, it's because he wrote the songs on most of the album. "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Speed Demon," "Liberian Girl," "Another Part Of Me," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "Dirty Diana," "Smooth Criminal" and "Leave Me Alone" all show MJ in the writing credits. The two exceptions are "Just Good Friends" written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle and "Man In the Mirror" written by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard.

7th Solo Album by Michael Jackson
There are two types of Michael Jackson fans: those who were riding with him since the beginning (during the Jackson 5 era) and those who jumped on following 1979's Off the Wall (once the buzz of Thriller began). While for some it feels like Bad was Jackson's third solo album (acting as if life began at Off the Wall), it was in fact his seventh. His first solo album was 1972's Got to Be There followed by Ben that same year. He then wen on to drop Music & Me in 1973, Forever, Michael in 1975, and then finally Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987).

6 Weeks at No. 1
Michael Jackson is the purveyor of No. 1 albums, and Bad was no exception. While the album released on Aug. 31, 1987 it reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts by Sept. 26, 1987. It stayed there for a total of six weeks at the top. Most albums never reach that coveted spot, but Bad sat there for a month and a half. No wonder it racked up so many platinum plaques.

5 No. 1 Singles
While Bad as a whole was a No. 1 success on the album front, the singles didn't too badly either. Out of the nine singles that dropped, five of them reached No. 1. The first was "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," then the title track "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man In the Mirror" and lastly, "Dirty Diana." The remaining singles never reached No. 1, but the ones that did became instant classics (among many others).

5-Year Gap Between Thriller and Bad
Once Thriller dropped in 1982, the success was so monumental that it carried on for years. With a slew of singles, a film to commemorate it, along with just Michael Jackson evolving into the legendary figure that he was, it was understandable how working on a follow-up was both creatively challenging and physically difficult. It happened in 1987, five years later when Bad arrived. And the rest, as they say, is history.

4 Songs About Love
When isn't Michael Jackson singing about love in some capacity? Whether it's love of the world, love for one's self, and of course, love of a "pretty young thing," Michael Jackson is all about the love. While Bad tackles a number of topics (many of which involve love), we're talking about the L-O-V-E -- butterflies and all of that. "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Liberian Girl," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" and "Just Good Friends," are all love, all day.

3 Background Vocalists
Make that technically three. Michael Jackson has the golden voice, but he had some help on Bad. The Winans (there are four of them), Siedah Garrett, and the The Andrae Crouch Choir (there are a lot of them), were the three separate entities to provide background vocals on the project. What it all comes down to though is MJ's signature voice that echoed throughout every song. It's always good, though, to shed some light on the musical support as well.

3 Socially Conscious Songs
As previously mentioned, Bad showed a lot of love in its songs. However, there was a fair share of social consciousness going on too. "Another Part Of Me" discussed world issues and coming together as one, then "Man In the Mirror" talked changed on a greater level (the video represented that quite well), and finally "Smooth Criminal." Unbeknownst to most, the song is about a woman named Annie who was attacked. Rarely did songs discuss violence again women like that, but MJ was up for the challenge.

2 Grammy Awards Won
Sounds like it should be more Grammy Awards won, right? Well, Michael Jackson's Bad won Best Engineered Recording and Best Music Video – Short Form for "Leave Me Alone." For Grammy nods, here's another figure: Bad had four other nominations, including Album Of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Best R&B Vocal Performance, and Record Of the Year for "Man In the Mirror." There are probably several million fans who would argue that MJ deserved all of those Grammy Awards.

2 Legendary Collaborations
Like most Michael Jackson albums, the beauty of Bad was that it wasn't laden with tons of collaborations. In fact, the album only had two features – both of whom are industry veterans. The legendary Stevie Wonder appeared on Jackson's song "Just Good Friends." Then, singer/songwriter Siedah Garrett appeared as a featured vocalist on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You." As previously mentioned Garrett co-wrote "Man In the Mirror" and is also credited as a background vocalist on Bad.

1 Legendary Producer
Does an album really need any other producer outside of Mr. Quincy Jones? After working with Quincy Jones on The Wiz, MJ later asked Jones to produce Off The Wall, followed by Thriller. Their last time working together was on Bad. Who knows what would have been created had Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson returned to the studio together once again? At least we were given a few classic projects to hold onto, and 25 years later, Bad remains one of them.


http://www.theboombox.com/2012/08/31/michael-jackson-bad/
 
I think Michael was ripped off at the Grammys. You look at how some people win today and it wasn't right. i am not saying Michael has to win them all but I don't know. His performance that day was memorable.
 
I have read alot of those reviews on bad, dont get me wrong i am happy that alot of people are acknowledging bad for how great it was but they act like bad was the last good album MJ did. it really irks me to be honest.. Things like

'' Who knows what would have been created had Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson returned to the studio together once again? At least we were given a few classic projects to hold onto, and 25 years later, Bad remains one of them.''

and i read another one where someone say this was his last cohessive album. We all appriciete what Quincy did for michael but cmon, Michael wrote 9 of the 11 songs, composed and directed the whole bad album. If it was an album that Quincy had little input it would most def be The Bad album.

Its beyond me how they could overlook Dangerous even History.
 
Hi guys! Never actually posted on here before, but have been eagerly reading these posts waiting for a new promo clip of the wembley show- just found this and HAD to share, even though its 5:30 am! So excited! lol Hope this post works!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JLE2KFk7aM
 
Now, no one can say Bad25 didn't get enough coverage. As the announcement was released, there were lot of news articles and now 2 week befor release again. So if Bad 25 fails "again" in the eyes of some here, its only cause they have exaggerated expectations. Bad 25 get plenty of covarage, plus great docu, pepsi limited edition. I'm sure there will be few tv ads when its out.
 
Me, it was a present from my dad on my name day and I was not a fan then and told him off because I wanted Heart of Stone lp by Cher (!). Ofcourse after listening to it without ptrejudice I became a fan !
 
Hey, did they lose a guitar player from the first leg of the tour? I always forget to ask that somewhere.
On the first leg there's this big muscly-ish black guitarist, but I never saw him again on the 2nd leg promo pics or even in the footage.
Or am I just missing something?
 
BUMPER SNIPPET said:
Who remembers when it came out? :)

michael-jackson-cassette.png


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Click to expand...


Casettes! Those were the times! LOL!

I will never forget this: the first time I ever heard of Michael and heard his music, as a 10-year-old (apart from maybe We Are The World - about which I didn't know yet that Michael co-wrote it, so I did not associate the song with him until I learnt more about him) was when the son of my father's friend left his Bad casette in my father's car. My dad put it in the player and so it started. He realized how much I liked it, so he made a copy of it for me. (Yeah, a copy. That was in the 80s in socialist Eastern Europe. We rarely bought our music, we either made copies, or recorded music from the radio on casette tapes, or bought casettes on the black market. LOL.)

I think the cover of the Bad casette was the first pic I ever saw of Michael. And I fell in love immediately. :p
 
Yes, audio piracy was widespread across the world in the 80s, but there are some people who like to pretend it's something new - a problem caused by the internet. I saw somebody on the internet compare Adele with MJ and said that because of piracy these days her sales were hampered. They dared to suggest that if she was alive in the 80s she'd have sold more than Thriller. They didn't believe that people were pirating music then. I'm guessing they were young and foolish and probably wouldn't even recognise an audio cassette.
 
bobmoo79 said:
Yes, audio piracy was widespread across the world in the 80s, but there are some people who like to pretend it's something new - a problem caused by the internet. I saw somebody on the internet compare Adele with MJ and said that because of piracy these days her sales were hampered. They dared to suggest that if she was alive in the 80s she'd have sold more than Thriller. They didn't believe that people were pirating music then. I'm guessing they were young and foolish and probably wouldn't even recognise an audio cassette.
Click to expand...

LOL, of course piracy existed in the 80s! It took a different form than today, but it was just as present. I have to admit the first albums I had of Michael were all pirate copies (not just Bad, but Thriller and Dangerous as well). That was pretty typical at the time here. Originals were just too expensive.
(Since then I bought them in original, don't worry. ;) )

This Adele fan maybe also should consider that back in the 80s the world was not as culturally united as today. I mean an album is released in the US today and you get the same hype, you get the videos promoting it everywhere in the World - as if you were in the US. It was not like that in the 80s. A big part of the world, the socialist countries in particular, were pretty isolated. That means a much smaller market for artists to sell their albums. We did not have internet, we did not have the same media as in the Western world and Western artists were generally not much hyped here. We had the radio and we listened whatever the DJs offered us to listen to. This started to change towards the end of the 80s as Western culture started to flow in more, as we started to get Western TVs, MTV etc. - and this was the time I first saw Michael and my first album from him was Bad.

The Adele fan should also consider that while the Internet may be a platform for illegal downloads, it also makes purchase a lot easier and a lot cheaper. You have access to anything and you can get a song or an album with a couple of clicks. In the 80s you had to go to the shop (and, at least here, you could not necessarily get everything) and buying a record or a casette was a bigger investment compared to your monthly income than downloading from the Internet is today. I also realized today fans of certain artists buy several copies of an album to boost sales (I know MJ fans did this too with Invincible) and that trend is also made easier and cheaper by the Internet. I don't think in the 80s people bought several copies of Thriller just to boost its sales when records were relatively more expensive and when you had to buy them physically.

So there are several factors to consider, not just illegal downloads. And I don't think Adele would have outsold Michael in the 80s. I actually think she might have sold lesser than she does today. IMO her sales are boosted by the fact that her competition is so weak. The 80s was a lot stronger era musically, with a lot more talented artists and great records. To be honest, I don't think Adele's music would have sounded anything special in an 80s musical environment.
 
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