Michael Jackson
Bad

THE REVIEW

"Five years after 'Thriller' the King is still Mr. Michael Jackson"

The album opens with the title track "Bad", in complete antithesis to the character: Michael dressed like a metalhead shouting "I'm bad! I'm bad!"... not very believable, and then the track is rather cliché and unpretentious. The same goes for the first single "The Way You Make Me Feel", an innocent teenage song with chillingly banal lyrics and a melody as dreary as Inter's home games.

However, Jacko changes his tune, and by the third track, he decides to get serious, "Speed Demon", a song with surprising freshness. The voice, in full swing, sometimes seems almost like an added effect, other times it enjoys teaching the world the falsetto; the ultra-fast atmospheres take you away in a kind of mental video game precise as an engine revving up and tires screeching on the asphalt... wow. With "Liberian Girl", it's the atmosphere that reigns supreme. A slow dance, made unique by the voice and sounds that carry you away with imagination.

As in "Thriller", from which "Bad" retraces the formula, one of the album's less successful moments is represented by the duet with the current mega-star. Stevie Wonder sings with Jackson in "Just Good Friends". Despite the two great voices, the track isn't much; ...it's not necessarily the case that from a beautiful mother and father comes a "cool" child. "Another Part Of Me", another good track on the album, almost funk base, rock arrangement, and an extraordinary voice. Then another ballad "Man In The Mirror", an interesting track, gospel opening and rockish refrain. The lyrics commendable in intent but banal in substance explain how to solve the world's problems. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", another ballad with climbing refrains, a decent pop piece that neither adds nor subtracts from the album.

So far, a good album, but then comes the moment of the phenomenon. Michael decides to remind everyone that he's still the "King of Pop"... the one from "Thriller"!!!

Building rhythm, pure rock, showcasing a scalpel in place of the voice... here comes "Dirty Diana". Then a heart beats, the drums hammer, and again the "King of Pop" is a phenomenon. "Smooth Criminal" is not a genre, it is not a style, but solely and uniquely Michael Jackson. No one could have made this song except him.

Even in 1987, almost five years after the release of "Thriller", the King was still Michael! But this time it's different because this album is the triumph of technique, meticulous study, and a perfectionism that somewhat mortified the emotional and purely creative parts that instead stand out in his crowning works "Thriller" and "Dangerous". A cold album but technically impeccable... With a couple of phenomenal tracks.