Bad (album)
Bad is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987, by Epic Records. Written and recorded between 1985 and 1987, Bad was Jackson's third and final collaboration with the producer Quincy Jones. Jackson co-produced and composed all but two tracks, and adopted an edgier image and sound, departing from his signature groove-based style and falsetto. Bad incorporates pop, rock, funk, R&B, dance, soul, and hard rock styles, and incorporated new recording technology, including digital synthesizers. The lyrical themes include media bias, paranoia, racial profiling, romance, self-improvement, and world peace. The album features appearances from Siedah Garrett and Stevie Wonder.
"Bad album" redirects here. For albums considered bad, see List of music considered the worst.
Nine singles were released, including a record-breaking five number ones: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana". Bad was promoted with the film Moonwalker (1988), which included the music videos for several Bad songs. The Bad tour, Jackson's first solo world tour, grossed $125 million (equivalent to $322 million in 2023), making it the highest-grossing solo concert tour of the 1980s. Jackson performed 123 concerts in 15 countries to an audience of 4.4 million.
Released nearly five years after Jackson's previous album, Thriller (1982), anticipation for Bad was high. In the US, Bad debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, selling more than 2.25 million copies in its first week. It reached number one in 24 other countries, including the UK, where it sold 350,000 copies in its first week and was the bestselling album of 1987. Bad was the bestselling album worldwide of 1987 and 1988. By 1991, it was the second-bestselling album of all time, behind Thriller, having sold 25 million copies worldwide. In 2021, it was certified eleven times platinum in the US.
Bad received positive reviews, particularly for Jackson's vocals and the rich, more polished production. It was nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, and won Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and Best Music Video (for "Leave Me Alone"). In 1988, Jackson received the first Billboard Spotlight Award, in recognition of the record-breaking chart success on the Billboard Hot 100. For his Bad videos and previous videos, Jackson received the MTV Video Vanguard Award. Bad is now seen as a staple of 1980s pop music and an extension of Jackson's influence on popular culture. It has been named by several publications as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2012, the album's 25th anniversary, an expanded reissue, Bad 25, and a documentary film, Bad 25, were released.
Background[edit]
By 1984, Jackson's sixth solo album, Thriller (1982) had been certified 20 times platinum for sales of 20 million copies in the United States alone.[5] Jackson was considered the most powerful African American in the history of the entertainment industry,[6] whose popularity was comparable only to Elvis Presley in the 1950s and the Beatles in the 1960s.[7] Jackson aimed to sell 100 million copies with his next album.[6]
The years following Thriller were marred by Jackson's rifts with his family and the Jehovah's Witnesses, broken friendships with celebrities, and the pressure of celebrity.[2] He spent 1985 out of the public eye,[6] and reports spread of eccentric behavior. According to some associates, Jackson was nervous about completing his next album.[2] In 2017, Newsweek wrote that following Thriller was "like following up the Bible".[8]
Production and recording[edit]
Bad was Jackson's final collaboration with producer Quincy Jones, who had produced Off the Wall and Thriller.[9] After Jackson had written a handful of the tracks on Off the Wall and Thriller, Jones encouraged him to write more for his followup. Jones recalled: "All the turmoil [in Jackson's life] was starting to mount up, so I said I thought it was time for him to do a very honest album."[10]
Jackson wanted to move in a new musical direction, with a harder edge and fiercer sound.[11] According to guitarist Steve Stevens, who featured on Bad, Jackson asked about rock bands including Mötley Crüe.[11] Jackson began recording demos in November 1983 while recording Victory with his brothers, the Jacksons.[1] He spent much of 1985 to 1987 writing and recording at his home studio in Encino, Los Angeles, with a group of musicians and engineers including Bill Bottrell known as the "B team".[12] The demos were brought to Westlake Studio to be finished by the "A team", with Jones and engineer Bruce Swedien.[12] Jones said the team would stay up for days on end when they "were on a roll": "They were carrying second engineers out on stretchers. I was smoking 180 cigarettes a day."[10]
Jackson was eager to find innovative sounds and was interested in new music technology.[6] The team made extensive use of new digital synthesizers, including FM synthesis and the Fairlight CMI and Synclavier PSMT synthesizers. They sometimes combined synthesizers to create new sounds.[6] Other instruments include guitars, organs, drums, bass, percussion and saxophones,[13] washboard and digital guitars.[13]
Work was disrupted in July 1984, when Jackson embarked on the Victory Tour with his brothers.[1] Work resumed in January 1985 after Jackson had recorded his contributions to the charity single "We Are the World".[1] In mid-1985, work paused again so Jackson could prepare for Disney's 4D film experience Captain EO, which featured an early version of the Bad song "Another Part of Me".[1] Work resumed in August and continued until November 1986, when Jackson filmed the "Bad" music video.[1] Recording resumed in January 1987, and the album was completed in July.[1]
Jackson wrote a reported 60 songs, and recorded 30, wanting to release them all on a three-disc set.[14] Jones suggested that the album be cut down to a ten-track single LP.[14] Jackson is credited for writing all but two songs;[14] other writing credits include Terry Britten and Graham Lyle for "Just Good Friends" and Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard for "Man in the Mirror".[9]
Release and commercial reception[edit]
Bad was released on August 31, 1987.[34][37] A writer for the Miami Herald reflected back on the anticipation for Bad, describing the album's release as being the "most hotly anticipated album in history".[38] Michael Goldberg and David Handelman had predicted that "If Bad sells 'only' 10 million copies, that will be more than virtually any other record but could be viewed as a failure for Michael Jackson".[39]
Within a year of its release, Bad was established as a blockbuster.[40][41] It was the bestselling album worldwide of 1987[42] and of 1988, selling 17 million copies that year.[43] By 1989, it had sold 20 million copies.[43] Jackson was the topselling artist worldwide of 1988.[43] By 1991, Bad had become the second-best-selling album of all time, behind Thriller, having sold 25 million copies worldwide.[44]
In the United States, Bad debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, selling over 2.25 million copies in its first week, which made it the fastest-selling album in US history at the time.[45][46] It remained there for six consecutive weeks. At the beginning of November 1987, the album had sold 3.7 million copies in the US.[47] In mid-1988, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified Bad for sales of 6 million copies. Its failure to match the sales of Thriller in the US caused some in the media to label the album a disappointment.[14][48] In 2021, it was certified 11× platinum by the RIAA.[49][45][50][51][52][53][54]
Worldwide, the album reached number one in 25 countries,[55] including Austria,[56] Canada,[57] Japan,[58] New Zealand,[59] Norway,[60] Sweden,[61] Switzerland[62] and the UK.[63] It also charted at No. 13 in Mexico[64] and at No. 22 in Portugal.[65] Bad sold 7 million copies worldwide in its first week[66] and 18 million copies in its first year.[67] In the UK, Bad debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 350,000 copies in its first-week, a record by that time.[68] Bad shifted 1.6 million copies under four months in UK, the following year Bad sold 980,000 copies and it also was third best selling album in 1989.[69] It was the country's bestselling album of 1987.[70] In the UK, Bad certified 14 times platinum with sales of 4.2 million, making it Jackson's second bestselling album there.[71] It was certified seven times platinum for the shipment of over 700,000 copies in Canada by the Canadian Recording Industry Association.[72]
In Europe, the 2001 reissue was certified platinum by the IFPI for the sales of one million units.[73] The album was also certified platinum by the IFPI for the shipment of over 20,000 copies in Hong Kong.[74] Globally, Bad remains Jackson's second bestselling album as well as one of the best selling albums of all time with sales of over 45 million copies.[75][76]
Personnel as listed in the album's liner notes are:[9]