Review Summary: The girl was bad...
The girl was Dangerous...
After a gruelling, intensive tour in support of 'Bad', Michael Jackson was craving a new sound. Already one of, if not THE biggest artist on the planet, the world was his oyster and with that he turned to the studio to record the follow up to one of his highest selling albums. 16 arduous months later, Dangerous was finished. With the help of producers Teddy Riley, Bill Bottrell and Bruce Swedien (This was the first record Jackson made without longtime producer Quincy Jones), Jackson dived headfirst into experimenting with new genres and sounds, including Hip-Hop and New Jack Swing, a genre created by Riley. With the takeover of CD technology, Michael now had the opportunity to craft longer songs, not being held back by Vinyl side times. With an all star cast of collaborators (including Princess Stéphanie of Monaco of all people), Jackson presented Dangerous to the world, backed by the smash hit single 'Black Or White'. Dangerous went on to sell 32 million copies, one of the best selling albums of all time. But with all this hype and success, does Dangerous stand up still? Let's have a look inside the King Of Pop's eighth album and see what shakes loose.
First of all, musically Dangerous is a very pleasant affair. With Jackson's newfound stylings with New Jack Swing, the songs here take a more urban feel. Jackson's previous albums were funky and poppy but Dangerous sounds exactly how the name implies. It's sharp, pounding and edgy. The echoey loud drums of Bad are replaced with snappy beats and record scratches to create a (then) modern hip hop sound. This style, unanimous with New Jack Swing Is all over the album, though Jackson still utilises elements from his previous work, including dance beats and hard rock guitar, the latter played by Slash on the grungy, heavy metal-esq 'Give In To Me'. There's hints of industrial music on the title track and gospel on 'Will You Be There?' And 'Keep The Faith'. So
Stylistically, it's all around a very unique listening experience, even if some of the tracks sound musically similar.
Lyrically this is a standard Jackson affair, Though the album marks the start of his environmental songs, the inanely sappy but soothing 'Heal The World' being a good example, before taking it up to eleven on his next album with 'Earth Song'. Taking cues from Bad's 'Leave Me Alone', the second track 'Why You Wanna Trip On Me?' Has Jackson asking the listener why they insist on focusing on his life rather than the suffering around the world. 'Jam' is a fun groovy hip hop track with a rapped bridge by Heavy D and lead single 'Black Or White' is an incredibly upbeat and catchy affair with some thoughtful lyrics dealing with racism. Not all the songs are upbeat however. The gloomy almost doom-laden 'Who Is It?' Is one of Jackson's most haunting tracks and the title track sounds like a frightening distorted trip through a factory turned club with The penultimate track 'Gone Too Soon', a lavish string affair is one of Jackson's most crushing songs.
Not all albums are perfect though, and Dangerous is no exception. This record suffers one major flaws. Length. Given the rise of CDs at the time, Jackson could now afford to fit around 80 mins on a disc, double the amount he could on a vinyl record. The results definitely show. The album clocks in at a good 78 minutes, with songs breaking 6 minutes usually. Many tracks could have worked considerably better if they were cut down. 'Dangerous' lingers a minute and half too long with an extended drum outro and 'In The Closet' hits nearly 7 minutes, filibustering with spoken word segments. The worst offender is 'Will You Be There?' Clocks in close to 8 solid minutes, and features a gospel choir, a rendition of the Ode to Joy by Beethoven in the opening and an extended spoken word poetry piece at the end. It's as grandiose and ridiculous as you would expect, but I would be lying if I said I didn't love every minute of it. Ironically, the album's best track 'Black And White' is one of the shortest songs on the album, the first minute being a skit featuring an argument between a father and son about loud music. Are there bad songs here? Yeah. 'She Drives Me Wild' is a simple rehash of Bad's 'Speed Demon', now with an crummy rapped bridge and 'In The Closet' features a rather Shaky, awkward beat.
Still, Dangerous is a damn fine record. It's catchy, groovy, heartbreaking and soothing all in one big package. Not Jackson's finest, but a damn good record none the less. What else would you expect from the king of pop?
Standout tracks
Jam
Remember The Time
Heal The World
Black Or White
Who Is It?
Give In To Me
Dangerous
Standout lyrics:
'I am tired of this devil
I am tired of this stuff
I am tired of this business
Sew when the going gets rough
I ain't scared of your brother
I ain't scared of no sheets
I ain't scared of nobody
Girl when the goin' gets mean' - Black Or White
'I am the damned
I am the dead
I am the agony inside
The dying head
This is injustice
Woe unto thee
I pray this punishment
Would have mercy on me' - Who Is It?
'As she stalked the room
I could feel the aura
Of her presence
Every head turned
Feeling passion and lust
The girl was persuasive
The girl I could not trust
The girl was bad
The girl was dangerous' - Dangerous
