“Comparisons with Thriller are unimportant, except this one: even without a milestone recording like “Billie Jean,” Bad is a better record.” - Davitt Sigerson, Rolling Stone.
I guess the best place to start is at the beginning. Well, at least as far back as I can recall.
The year was... fuck knows. It was the early-to-mid nineties. I was a kid, maybe 6 or so and I was living in Adelaide with my mum and siblings. I remember that music was on in our house semi-regularly, not every single day, but often enough that it was part of our lives. Mum had a big stereo, (you know the type that every family had back then). It included a turntable and mum had a decent collection of vinyl, cd’s and cassettes. I remember being drawn to the turntable. I loved the tactile nature of it. As for which vinyls I liked, there were two albums I was drawn to, Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Bad albums. Out of those one album in particular became an obsession...
That album was Bad.
Our stereo was setup on a desk. You could sit there at the turntable with the headphones on and get sucked into the magical vibrations being fed straight into your brain. I used to sit there with the album sleeve which was covered with the lyrics written like articles in a newspaper. I’d have it on my lap ready to study the lyrics and follow along singing in my head. I remember sliding the oversized headphones onto my little head, dropping the needle and eagerly waited for the opening 4 synth stabs that outset’s the opening track ‘Bad’.
As soon as those synth stabs hit (usually scaring the shit out of you) you’re instantly pulled into an insane pop-tacular world. At the time I didn’t know why I liked it. I just did. It was completely unique. It was wild, it was sexy, it was weird, it was catchy, it was Disney, it was dramatic, it was romantic, it was cheesy, it was heartfelt. I was obsessed. Listening back now I’m still just as confused as to how the songs are so brilliant. For starters the backing vocals are waaaaay to loud. The way MJ mixes his songs shouldn’t work but somehow do. The lyrics for 'Speed Demon' are completely silly, yet somehow great and the run the synth bass does in the chorus is ludicrous. It literally sounds like every bass instrument imaginable being throw down stairs. There’s rock songs (Dirty Diana) sitting alongside soulful R’n’B tracks (Liberian Girl), there’s dance floor fillers (Another Part Of Me) sitting next to ballads (I Just Can't Stop Loving You). It all just somehow comes together as a cohesive piece and works.
Back then my favourite song was ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’. It’s probably the most straight forward pop song on the whole album, so as a young-un it was probably the most easy to digest. The drum fill into the song still gets me excited to this day and in my opinion is one of the most recognisable drum fills in history. It’s up there along with ‘In The Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins. Another personal favourite is ‘Dirty Diana’. Dirty Diana is such a huge rock song. It’s full of drama and tension. The bassy sound effect and the crowd screaming at the beginning of the song gives it a grandiose feeling, helping set the theme of the song. The industrial sound effects used as percussive jolts throughout could be found on ‘Terrible Lie’ by Nine Inch Nails, which came out two years AFTER this record. Jackson’s voice is in full rock mode too, going from a clean slightly anxious tone in the verses to angst ridden distorted vocal fray in the chorus. The dynamic shift between the verse and choruses are brilliant. Just as they hit a peak in intensity they tear it down to the essentials, a bass, some percussion, some beautiful strings and Michael. By the end of the song it's back at a higher peak then reached previously. Crazy guitar solo, sirens, Michael screeching, the whole works. The dynamic shift is something my band is always striving to achieve. I wish I had written this song, it’s the perfect rock song. One thing that I discovered later in life was that Then there’s ‘Man In The Mirror’, the icing on the cake. An absolute classic and is one of the greatest songs ever written. His vocal control through the first verse is astounding. Just him, finger clicks and a synth and its totally captivating. And that chorus... I dare you not to sing it when it’s playing. You just can’t. I love the lyrics to this song. I can see how some people would say they're cheesy, but I see them more as a blunt message. Surely everyone has looked themselves in the mirror at some point and told themselves it's time to change, I know I have. When that gospel choir enters, it ascends Michael and the listeners to another world. The song also has the best key change ever written. Fight me.
I remember years later, after moving to Mt. Gambier, mum sold the turntable and all her vinyl. She got something like $100 for all of it except The Beatles White album, which fetched the same amount of money as all the other vinyl put together. I begged mum to buy Michael Jackson’s double album HIStory so we had some Jackson in the house. I remember sitting in my room by myself listening to Man In The Mirror, trying to figure out the lyrics. I would rewind the CD to go over the last few lines I had written to make sure they were right. I used to be ossessed with lyrics, I’m not sure why. I used to write out all the lyrics to my favourite songs up until I was a teenager. I guess I done that because I wasn't a musician yet, it was the best way for me to dive deeper into songs.
I don’t remember much of my time in Adelaide before we moved, but I do remember being obsessed with MJ and in particular this album. Another thing that I feel (smell?) when I hear this album is the smell of Febreze. My mum used to clean while I sat there imagining being on stage singing these songs to thousands of fans. Michael Jackson’s music and live performances have always made me happy. He manages to turn me into a kid again whenever I hear his music. 'Bad' is Michael Jackson at his pinnacle. Its his most complete album with only one filler (the Stevie Wonder duet 'Just Good Friends' is... well it's crap). That said I still marvel at his body of work. He is the greatest entertainer to have ever lived. One day I'll do a post about just how much this man and his music means to me, but till then I’m gonna sit down at my desk, with my normal sized headphones on and reminisce about the kid who used dream about being on that big stage and I’ll smile... cause that kid still has that same crazy dream.
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