The hook is more insistent than memorable, and the romantic metaphor somewhat obscures the song's specificity, but "Leave Me Alone" does serve to foreshadow Jackson's brutal treatment in the press during the 1990s and early 2000s.Thirty years ago, on August 31st, 1987, Michael Jackson released BAD, his follow-up to the pop music phenomenon, Thriller.įive years ago, as Epic prepared to celebrate the silver anniversary of Michael Jackson’s 1987 masterpiece, numerous writers from media outlets across the globe reexamined the album and re-reviewed it now in the shadow of Jackson’s 2009 death. "Leave Me Alone" plays like the darker, paranoid cousin of "The Way You Make Me Feel." The groove is quite similar, slick drum programming and all, but the lyrics are not: The song rails against tabloid creeps, with Jackson angrily imploring the media to "just stop dogging me around." Like "Dirty Diana," it's heavier and more bitter than anything on Thriller. If it sounds a bit more gentle and lush than the surrounding tracks, that's probably because it was originally written for the Jacksons' 1984 album, Victory. ( Ninth! How many pop albums justify five singles, let alone nine?) The song reflects Jackson's fascination with African culture and is notable for its spoken Swahili refrain. "Liberian Girl" was released in 1989 as Bad's ninth single. Special prize to anyone who can track down the cop who dared pull over the King of Pop. Apparently, the song was written after Jackson got a speeding ticket. "Speed Demon" isn't Jackson's deepest song-it's a paean to the thrills of driving fast-but I have to admit I'm crazy about that rapid-fire synthesized bass lick. Related: Every song on U2's The Joshua Tree, ranked from best to worst It's so good, even Alien Ant Farm couldn't ruin it. Bad is at its best when it explores the darker, more paranoid side that began to consume Jackson's life in the late '80s, and this song captures that impulse. The bloodstained lyrics, the gangster-inspired video and the taut, now-classic hook ("Annie, are you OK?") make "Smooth Criminal" an urgent and inspired highlight. The song is a sleek, exhilarating action sequence of a song that's unlike anything else in Jackson's catalog. Imagine the GIFs and memes and Twitter commentary if "Smooth Criminal" came out in 2017. In honor of the album's milestone birthday, we ranked every song from best to worst. The deeper cuts are weirder ("Speed Demon") and angrier ("Leave Me Alone") than anything on Thriller or Off the Wall, while the smash hits helped define the sound of late-'80s pop, along with Madonna's Like a Prayer and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. Related: Michael Jackson: Man in the Mirrorīad, more than any other MJ album, feels like a transition document: a bridge between his '80s stardom and the uglier scandals that threatened to overtake his public persona in the '90s. It was not without its commercial merits: Bad sold in the tens of millions and produced a record five No. The album wound up being Jackson's darkest, most aggressive work to date and the final chapter of his Jones-produced superstar trilogy. The result was Bad, released 30 years ago today. Remarkably, Jackson's gambit succeeded, and in the summer of 1987 he regained the pop throne. If a five-year gap between records seems like a long time today, it was forever in the '80s, when competitors like Prince and Bruce Springsteen were consistently pumping out new material every year or two. (It also helps to hire Martin Scorsese to make another monster-sized music video.) The challenge was impossible: How the hell do you follow up Thriller? It's like following up the Bible.įor the King of Pop in the mid-1980s, the answer was to reunite with whiz producer Quincy Jones explore heavier, more mechanical grooves and synth textures and dial up the paranoia and anxiety that began to engulf Jackson's private life in the ensuing decade.
Has there ever been a more difficult album to make than Michael Jackson's Bad?
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