Maps of Music

Bad (1987)

Where the lyrics of Bad take you, and where it was really made.

Bad produced five Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, a record, yet many American critics and media called it a disappointment next to Thriller.

Key places

Westlake Studios, where the album's tracks were completed (1987)

Recording site Westlake Recording Studios — Producers including Quincy Jones and engineer Bruce Swedien completed the album's tracks at Westlake Studios. Recording there began in August 1986 and was completed by July 1987. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Jackson's Hayvenhurst home studio (1987)

Recording site Hayvenhurst — Jackson focused on writing and recording the album's demos at his Hayvenhurst home studio in Encino during 1985 and 1986. The B team of musicians and engineers worked there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Bad: seventh studio album by Michael Jackson
• Released 31 August 1987 by Epic Records
• Produced over about two years, from 1985 to 1987
• Jackson's third and final collaboration with producer Quincy Jones
• Dance-pop and R&B album; Jackson composed and co-produced all but two tracks
• Themes include celebrity, romance, world peace and self-improvement
• Features Siedah Garrett and Stevie Wonder

Background

• Followed the enormous success of Thriller (1982), raising expectations
• Edgier sound: digital synthesizers, hard rock and funk elements
• Changed image with a lighter complexion and plastic surgery, which caused controversy in the US
• The Bad tour was Jackson's first solo world tour, grossing $125 million
• Nine commercial singles and one promotional single were released

Recording

• Demos and ideas began in 1983, alongside work on Victory (1984)
• 1985 and 1986 writing and recording at Jackson's Hayvenhurst home studio in Encino
• Westlake Studios was where the producers and engineer Bruce Swedien completed the tracks
• Recording at Westlake began in August 1986, resumed in January 1987 and was completed by July
• Jackson reportedly wrote around sixty songs and recorded thirty-three, then narrowed the album to eleven tracks

Cover

• Photographer Sam Emerson shot the cover
• The photo came from Jackson's wardrobe in the music video for the title track
• Emerson was paid $5,000 for the photo
• The image became frequently reproduced and was parodied on 'Weird Al' Yankovic's 1988 album Even Worse

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana; eighth of ten children in the Jackson family.
• Debuted at age six as lead singer of the Jackson 5; the group signed with Motown in 1968 and had early number-one hits such as "I Want You Back".
• Moved to Epic Records in 1975 as the Jacksons, and began a solo career with Off the Wall (1979).
• Thriller (1982) became the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 70 million copies sold.
• Bad (1987) was the first album to produce five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.
• Known as the "King of Pop"; credited with transforming music videos and popularizing the moonwalk.
• Died June 25, 2009 from a propofol overdose; a posthumous catalog continued to sell strongly.

Philanthropy

• Founded the Heal the World Foundation in 1992.
• Estimated to have donated over $500 million to charities over his life.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics acclaimed Bad, especially Jackson's vocals and the musical arrangements
• Some critics felt it failed to match Thriller
• Rolling Stone's Davitt Sigerson viewed Bad as better than Thriller
• Creem's Richard C. Walls called it tuneful and infectious pop but 'more of the same' as Thriller and not an advancement
• The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau lamented the lack of 'genius' in the vein of 'Beat It' or 'Billie Jean'
• Richard Cook of Sounds said Bad lacks that once-in-a-lifetime spark compared with Thriller
• Richard W. Stevenson of the Tampa Bay Times, in a 1991 retrospective comment, considered the album a letdown for Jackson

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone ranked Bad 202nd on its 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, 203rd in 2012, and 194th in 2020
• NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ranked it 204th
• VH1 listed it 43rd on its 2009 list of 100 Greatest Albums of All Time of the MTV Generation
• Billboard ranked it 138th on its Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Albums list
• Consequence of Sound named it the best album of 1987 in 2017

Records

• Debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart and stayed there six consecutive weeks
• Sold over 2.25 million copies in its first week in the US, the fastest-selling album in US history at the time
• Produced a record five Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
• Certified 11 times Platinum in the US by the RIAA in 2021
• Official sales of over 35 million copies worldwide
• UK: 14 times Platinum with 4.2 million sales; debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Its Wembley Stadium run was seven sold-out shows, beating the previous record held by Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Genesis.
• Jackson planned duets with Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and Barbra Streisand before the album.
• The title track was first intended as a duet between Jackson and Prince.
• The lyric in Smooth Criminal draws inspiration from Resusci Anne, a mannequin used in CPR training.
• The short film for Bad was directed by Martin Scorsese and featuring Wesley Snipes.
• The Bad tour was sponsored by Pepsi and began in Japan.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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