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Post by MattyJam on Dec 2, 2023 7:15:42 GMT
1. Bad - glorious 80s pop-funk. Prefer the synth solo in the video version. The extended false fade version is THE version for me. 8/10
2. The Way You Make Me Feel - I appreciate its a perfectly crafted pop song, but it's not a favourite of mine. He sounds incredible on it, mind. 7/10
3. Speed Demon - Funkiest track on Bad? Great groove and production, blissful middle eight and memorable outro. Kinda like an 80s version of Xscape. Is that mad? 🤔 8/10
4. Liberian Girl - Gorgeous song, those marimbas or glockenspiels or whatever they are... so moody and exotic. A travesty this was never performed live on any tours. 9/10
5. Just Good Friends - Don't know why this one gets so much shit, it's a cracking pop song. So upbeat, fun and life-affirming. Love his voice on this one. 8/10
6. Another Part Of Me - Everything that was great about the 80s in one song? This was always the best moment of the Bad tour for me. Also great in Captain EO. This is what pop music sounds like at its best. 10/10
7. Man In The Mirror - Spiritual and self-aware. Even just listening to the instrumental of this song makes me emotional. A top ten MJ song. 10/10
8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You - A fine ballad. From Bad tour right through to TII rehearsals, it was always a great live track. The chorus is very infectious. 8/10
9. Dirty Diana - Dark, mysterious, exhilarating, rock opera. Did he top Beat It with Dirty Diana? I think so. Incredible song. Another Bad tour highlight - and a crying shame he dropped it from subsequent tours. I was obsessed with this song when I was kid and still love it as an adult. 10/10
10. Smooth Criminal - the greatest pop song of all time? I struggle to think of a better one. It's hard to describe what's so great about this song without resorting to just fangirling. The drama and the storytelling on this are just so exciting to me. The descending chords in the chorus are gorgeous, His perscussive vocal delivery on the verses, the funky guitar licks, the adlibs both high ("I don't know") and aggressive ("doggone it baby") are all exquisite. Also has an alright video too. 10/10
11. Leave Me Alone - Another great one. Perhaps a step down from the previous two, but still deserving of top marks. Those chorus harmonies are everything. Love the way he sings along with the synth solo bit. 10/10
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2023 7:33:47 GMT
3. Speed Demon - Funkiest track on Bad? Great groove and production, blissful middle eight and memorable outro. Kinda like an 80s version of Xscape. Is that mad? 🤔 8/10 Pretty sure he said he was going for an Xscape feel in 1987, yeah.
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Post by MattyJam on Dec 2, 2023 7:37:33 GMT
3. Speed Demon - Funkiest track on Bad? Great groove and production, blissful middle eight and memorable outro. Kinda like an 80s version of Xscape. Is that mad? 🤔 8/10 Pretty sure he said he was going for an Xscape feel in 1987, yeah. Maybe I should've said "a pre-cursor to Xscape"? Ha.
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Post by respect77 on Dec 2, 2023 8:30:58 GMT
1. Bad - With the video it would be a 10/10 as it is one of my favorite MJ videos. The song is a 9/10. Yes, the lyrics are kinda silly, but I don't care. It might actually add to its charm. 2. The Way You Make Me Feel - I love it, although it never quite made it to my top favorite MJ songs list. But it is a great song and there's a reason why it is one of the MJ songs that the general public likes the most (it is a regular at wedding receptions, for example) 9/10 3. Speed Demon - I don't accept any Speed Demon slander. I have always loved this cinematic and funky masterpiece. 10/10 4. Liberian Girl - Probably MJ's best self-written love song. Perfection. 10/10 5. Just Good Friends - Like Matty, I think the bashing that this song tends to be overdone ("thanks" Bad 25 documentary). Maybe because if people feel the need to say something negative about this perfect pop album, this is the "weakest spot" they can find, but actually it is still a very good song IMO. I love MJ and Stevie's singing together. 8/10 6. Another Part Of Me - A song that never fails to cheer me up. I also love the mysterious lyrics. Like what is "a rather nation", does anyone know? I love MJ's tendency of making up such terms. LOL. I also love it that the song got a live concert performance video. 10/10 7. Man In The Mirror - Definitely among MJ's top 5 songs. It's a perfect gospel song. And MJ's live ad libs in concert take it to another level. His performance of it at the Grammys in 1988 is one of the all time best perormances at the Grammys. He took it to church. 10/10 8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You - I used to think this was the lowest point of the album as it is kind of a vanila and "average" love song, but I recently found a new love for it. The live performances of it, especially with Siedah (who is not only a better singer than Sheryl Crow but also had a better chemistry with MJ), are great too. 9/10 9. Dirty Diana - MJ's rock songs tend to be perfect. I agree that it is better even than Beat It. I too love the mysterious, dark atmosphere of it. This was my father's (who was more a rock guy - Led Zeppelin etc) favorite MJ song. 10/10 10. Smooth Criminal - Yeah, pop perfection. Matty said it all. 10/10 (And if we consider the video too - the best music video of all time IMO: 20/10) A peak moment of MJ's career. Quincy Jones didn't like it? Madness. 11. Leave Me Alone - 9/10 - Another great song. The video is among MJ's best as well IMO. I love the self-irony in it. To me Bad is the perfect pop album. I could actually give 10/10 every song because to me this album works so well together, and there's not a moment on it that I don't enjoy. I think MJ outdid Thriller with this one, I really do. To me this was his best era. The perfect album. The stream of epic, all-time great music videos. The fantastic tour. Just everything about this era was bliss.
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Post by MattyJam on Dec 2, 2023 9:22:03 GMT
1. Bad - With the video it would be a 10/10 as it is one of my favorite MJ videos. The song is a 9/10. Yes, the lyrics are kinda silly, but I don't care. It might actually add to its charm. 2. The Way You Make Me Feel - I love it, although it never quite made it to my top favorite MJ songs list. But it is a great song and there's a reason why it is one of the MJ songs that the general public likes the most (it is a regular at wedding receptions, for example) 9/10 3. Speed Demon - I don't accept any Speed Demon slander. I have always loved this cinematic and funky masterpiece. 10/10 4. Liberian Girl - Probably MJ's best self-written love song. Perfection. 10/10 5. Just Good Friends - Like Matty, I think the bashing that this song tends to be overdone ("thanks" Bad 25 documentary). Maybe because if people feel the need to say something negative about this perfect pop album, this is the "weakest spot" they can find, but actually it is still a very good song IMO. I love MJ and Stevie's singing together. 8/10 6. Another Part Of Me - A song that never fails to cheer me up. I also love the mysterious lyrics. Like what is "a rather nation", does anyone know? I love MJ's tendency of making up such terms. LOL. I also love it that the song got a live concert performance video. 10/10 7. Man In The Mirror - Definitely among MJ's top 5 songs. It's a perfect gospel song. And MJ's live ad libs in concert take it to another level. His performance of it at the Grammys in 1988 is one of the all time best perormances at the Grammys. He took it to church. 10/10 8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You - I used to think this was the lowest point of the album as it is kind of a vanila and "average" love song, but I recently found a new love for it. The live performances of it, especially with Siedah (who is not only a better singer than Sheryl Crow but also had a better chemistry with MJ), are great too. 9/10 9. Dirty Diana - MJ's rock songs tend to be perfect. I agree that it is better even than Beat It. I too love the mysterious, dark atmosphere of it. This was my father's (who was more a rock guy - Led Zeppelin etc) favorite MJ song. 10/10 10. Smooth Criminal - Yeah, pop perfection. Matty said it all. 10/10 (And if we consider the video too - the best music video of all time IMO: 20/10) A peak moment of MJ's career. Quincy Jones didn't like it? Madness. 11. Leave Me Alone - 9/10 - Another great song. The video is among MJ's best as well IMO. I love the self-irony in it. To me Bad is the perfect pop album. I could actually give 10/10 every song because to me this album works so well together, and there's not a moment on it that I don't enjoy. I think MJ outdid Thriller with this one, I really do. To me this was his best era. The perfect album. The stream of epic, all-time great music videos. The fantastic tour. Just everything about this era was bliss. I'm getting the impression you like it some? 😏
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Post by mjjfan810 on Dec 4, 2023 7:46:40 GMT
My all time favourite album, so here goes:
Bad - The production, though from 1987, still sounds cutting edge to this day. Love how energized this track is with MJ showing off his machismo throughout. You can hear him borrowing from the groove oriented nature that made James Brown such a revolutionary force in rhythm and blues. 10/10
The Way You Make Me Feel - This may have an inherit, signature 1980s sound, but as far as songwriting, vocal performance, and even the classicism of the production work is concerned, it's totally timeless. It ranks in my mind as one of MJ's very best performances. I'd stack it against any pop or R&B song today and it would easily outdo most or all of them. 10/10
Speed Demon - Understandably given less credit than most of the "hits" from Bad. But while it falls bridesmaid to many of the other tracks on Bad for me personally, it is still a killer track. The production rocks with all the synthesized instruments and the electric guitars. The hook is incredibly catchy and as always MJ sounds like signature MJ. MJ sounds particularly charged when he facilitates his falsetto. 8/10
Liberian Girl - underrated in comparison to the more high profile hits from the album. Smooth, sensual and mid-tempo track exploiting the utter beauty of MJ's voice. Again, the production is typical of the 1980s, but a certain timelessness is apparent, much like the timelessness of the greatest pop albums of the 1980s (Prince's Purple Rain, George Michael's Faith, or MJ's own Thriller). The ending with the vocal layering is just stunning. 10/10
Just Good Friends - Love how this utilizes more cutting edge, electronic-based production work, providing for a cool-sounding, up-tempo number. MJ truly commands the track as always with his unrequited, undeniable swagger and his pitch-perfect, energetic vocals. 8/10
Another Part of Me - This features bombastic production work which manages to sound undeniably funky and poppy at the same te. Few performers could mesh funk and pop together so convincingly, Prince being the only other one I can think of. Amazing track. 10/10
Man In The Mirror - This is songwriting gold and there is simply no other way to put it. Like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder before, this song is socially conscious, a theme that many of todays pop and R&B artists fail to incorporate within their albums. Definitely one of my favorites from Bad and one of MJ's very best. The choir just adds more depth and grandness to this already fantastic song. 10/10
I Just Can't Stop Loving You - is another brilliant song. One thing I completely disagreed with @mattyjam about was his absurd assertion that MJ didn't know how to do a good ballad. This is R&B/pop balladry at its finest. Up there with Human Nature and YANA in being the best ballads of his career. 9/10
Dirty Diana - yet another #1, showing MJ getting his Mick Jagger on. He goes all out rock star on this extremely well produced single that is undeniably catchy, filled with soaring electric guitars and all the machismo that goes with rock and roll. A great song and probably my personal favorite MJ rock track. Timeless. 10/10
Smooth Criminal - What can I say? It's definitely one of his best, BEST songs. The production is slick, his frantic vocals are perfect, and honestly it's just plain COOL! 10/10
Leave Me Alone - like all other Bad tracks is well written and another clear-cut hit. The production, Michael's vocals, and the songwriting are magnificent. 10/10
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Post by MattyJam on Dec 4, 2023 8:08:46 GMT
Wow, just listen to this:
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Post by mjjfan810 on Dec 4, 2023 11:46:31 GMT
So the Invincible one gets 4 pages and this one crickets?
Figures.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2023 12:04:24 GMT
So the Invincible one gets 4 pages and this one crickets? Figures. I'll get my perfect score post in later, don't worry.
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
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Post by TonyR on Dec 4, 2023 12:11:03 GMT
So the Invincible one gets 4 pages and this one crickets? Figures. Also, Invincible's crazy long tracklist means it gets more webspace!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2023 12:46:07 GMT
Bad – Perfect opener to set the tone for the album, and it doesn’t get much funkier that David’s guitar here. A fun but still brilliant song, with some great horns and as good a bass hook you’ll ever hear. 10/10 The Way You Make Me Feel – THE perfect pop song. Throw the Funk Brothers behind this and you have another Motown #1 in ’68. That shuffle, the bass that you can hear underground. I find it odd that the original version ended with such a long instrumental but the single version just perfects it. 10/10 Speed Demon – The first of the “what the hell” songs on the album. Who saw this coming? The bass acting as percussion in this is so good. Thoroughly theatrical, with a cool little story. Great vocals and amazing guitar work from Bottrell/Williams. Those HORNS. The ending just hanging there with those ad libs – chefs kiss. Quincy is well outside of his comfort zone historically here, and he produces a monster of a song. Unreal. 10/10 Liberian Girl – The 2nd “WTF” moment on the album. 2 songs back to back that you would not have expected from “Thriller Michael”. Gorgeous melody, amazing harmonies and the production is just flawless. That finale – utterly brilliant. 10/10 Just Good Friends – Never understood the dislike for this song, even from Quincy. This is as good an “80’s bop” as you can get. Great vocal performances (and a much better song than Stevie’s Get It) and a sensational synth solo. Love the drum sound here. 8/10 Another Part Of Me – The heartbeat of the Bad Tour, and the first of the “message” songs on the album. So damn funky, that bass, the guitar. Amazing vocals too. Love the subtle differences in the various single mixes too. 9/10 Man In The Mirror – The perfect message song. Perfect. It’s not “We Are The World” or “Heal The World”. The message is much simpler. Change the world by changing yourself. The Andrea Crouch Choir used to perfection. Amazing ad libs, just an amazing performance from all personnel here. Siedah and Glen deserve all the money she gets for this song. 10/10 I Just Can’t Stop Loving You – The best ballad MJ wrote in his career. Full stop. That melody of the verses crashing into the refrain of the chorus. Great harmonies, and you can hear a real chemistry between Siedah and MJ (even though I didn’t have a clue who she was until I got the internet and found out the lady from the Dangerous concert was her!). Such a belter, and was glad to see this come back in ’09. 10/10 Dirty Diana – Now starts my favourite 3 run of songs of all time. Dirty, sexy, rough, jagged. Everything. Another bloody catchy melody and a CHORUS. Great performance from Stevens. The synths in this song are something else too. 10/10 Smooth Criminal – Jesus, everything about this song. Even trying to divorce this from the short film/Moonwalker (you can’t) it’s still an absolute masterpiece. The synths, the strings, the drums, that funky guitar again. The ending. It’s such a perfect song. 10/10 Leave Me Alone – What a finish. The sparse bass, the underlying funky guitar – those amazing harmonies and the end of the “honeymoon” period with his first outward “attack” and it’s a great one. This song and video really set the stage for Dangerous both thematically and visually – with the aggressive/defensive lyrics/delivery and the introduction of the circus theme which is revisited for the Dangerous artwork. Even taking the song for what it literally means, it’s still an absolute belter. The vocal/synth solo – brilliant. I hope the 12” mix by Bruce properly sees the light of day someday. 10/10
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
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Post by TonyR on Dec 4, 2023 19:33:45 GMT
1. Bad - Took me 20 years to appreciate properly. What a groove. For me the only MJ song where the video hampers the song 8.5/10
2. The Way You Make Me Feel - MJs knack of a riff, a shuffle, a melody and a vocal all aligns to create this. Not sure why this isn't even one of my favourites on the album, but that ain't nobody's business.... 8.5/10
3. Speed Demon - Funkiest song all his albums. Ever. Amazing that an album that had 8 hits and the album track is one of my favourites. The adlibs on this alone makes MJ my favourite artist ever 10/10
4. Liberian Girl - According to Spotify my most played MJ song 3 years in a row. Just blissful. His best love song ever. 10/10
5. Just Good Friends - in answer to all your questions...it gets 'shit' because its the 'worst' song on the album. And also because it's 2 of the best songwriters in pop history and they didn't write it. And it shows. 7/10
6. Another Part Of Me - The best thing about the Bad album is that the so called 'lesser' tracks are amongst the best on the album. This is easily in my Top 10 MJ. It's just bliss and the only MJ song where the live version is even better 10/10
7. Man In The Mirror - it's just one of the best songs ever. No-one of sound mind disagrees with this. Amazingly written song just enhanced x1000 by that delivery 10/10
8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You - Actually, the live version of this is better than the album version also. Obviously it pales in comparison to its album companions 8/10
9. Dirty Diana - We enter the heartbeat of the album. Akin to WII/ GITM on Dangerous, Scream/TDCAU on HIStory or BJ/Beat It on Thriller. These 2 songs are what made me an MJ uber-fan in 1987. The best rock song by a non rock act (until GITM), yet sounds 100% authentic. 10/10
10. Smooth Criminal - for years this was my favourite song of all time, until some bloke released Who Is It. Just bliss. That bass line, the 'I don't know/ Dad gone it' adlibs. Just everything. Add to the the best video of all time, and you have....Michael Jackson 10/10
11. Leave Me Alone - A slight step down from the previous 2, but still great. A lovely little bonus for those of us just getting into the CD game in 1987 (Bad was the first CD in our household). Again, enhanced by a great video. 8.5/10
Bonus marks for the album cover and the great CD booklet with all the lyrics including all the Ow adlibs.
How do you follow up the biggest album of all time? Piece of piss mate.
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Post by MattyJam on Dec 4, 2023 21:34:51 GMT
11. Leave Me Alone - A slight step down from the previous 2, but still great. Where've I read this before? Ah yes, my review, same exact words verbatim. Pathetic.
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
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Post by TonyR on Dec 4, 2023 21:44:01 GMT
11. Leave Me Alone - A slight step down from the previous 2, but still great. Where've I read this before? Ah yes, my review, same exact words verbatim. Pathetic. Damned if I do, dammed if I don't (walk away).
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Post by butterflies2 on Dec 5, 2023 1:13:26 GMT
My favourite mj album!!! A perfect 80s pop masterpiece. Here goes:
Bad-I was 4 when it came out and didn’t believe it was mj since I was familiar with his Thriller work. Nonetheless, the song was everywhere, being performed at talent shows for the next few years. Anyways I saw the video again when I became a real fan in the 90s and was a teenager by then and thought the video was superhot, especially the long version and the lyrics of the song made it an anthem for me to get away from shady people. I used to dress like in this video too and made my own version of it at an amusement park (8/10)
The way you make me feel-I instantly loved this when I first heard it on HiStory, the beat reminded me of Tears for Fears everybody wants to rule the world, but mj did it great. Vocals are amazing and fit the beat perfectly (8/10)
Speed Demon-this song and video are so underrated in the fan community. His dancing with the rabbit is top notch and I love the outfit. Musically, it’s perfection with its vocals, intensity and funky synth hooks and bass. (10/10)
Liberian Girl-a beautiful melodic ballad with beautiful layers of harmonies throughout the song, starting with the first chorus. I’m glad the final song wasn’t called pyramid girl lol (10/10)
Just good friends-it’s my least favourite on the album but vocally is a good song. Stevie sounds great too, it was beautiful hearing them harmonize during the key change of the song and exchange adlibs. (8/10)
Another part of me-a perfect song that should have been a bigger hit. Young me first heard this when I was at Epcot watching captain eo, but I didn’t hear the song again till the 90s and he’s super hot in the video. Perfect horns, hooks, harmonies, melody and bass. Glad it was a hit on the r&b charts, and rightfully so (10/10)
Man in the mirror-first heard this on HIStory and fell in love with it. Amazing, perfect vocals and mj sings it with so much soul and determination for a song he didn’t write, similar to his 70s ballads. I learned to sing this at vocal lessons after asking, and I ended up performing it at charity and open mic events over the years. Also, the Grammys performance and music video in moon walker enhance the song (10/10)
I just can’t stop loving you-beautiful melodies snd vocals, as well as layered harmonies. Mj and siedahs vocals are a match made in heaven, better than of whitney Houston or Barbara streisand were on the track. The key change is excellent too and gives me chills. I’ve said for the longest time if I ever get married, this is the song I want for my first dance, the version mixed with Spanish on the cirque du soilel soundtrack. (10/10)
Dirty Diana-I first saw this video in the 90s and loved it, so different from the Billie Jean concert performance video I had for years, and he looks and sounds super sexy. I think his rock vocals are amazing and the guitar is amazing too as well as the bass. Also, it sounds better on CD than in the video if you ask me. I noticed on the original bad CD, the bass is much louder and higher, and later editions toned it down. (10/10)
Smooth Criminal-instantly loved this when I heard it in the 90s. One of his best videos and dancing, I even made a dance clip of myself dancing to the concert version, which I really like live too on all the tours. Great hook, melodies, high notes, harmonies and intensity as the song builds up. This was also my favourite performance at the first cirque du soilel show before mj one (10/10)
Leave me alone-amazing video, very deserving of the Grammys. I discovered this video in the 90s and heard about moonwalker through it. I had no idea mj was haunted by tabloids until I saw this video. It’s brilliant and the song is good too, the harmonies are amazing (9/10)
So that’s my review
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