Dear melomaniac, I continue Soundnews’ full album reviews with a disc that reinvented pop music, a marvel of production from an era lost and forgotten, when a music album was a piece of art, no detail left unperfected. The album in question is Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous”, launched on 26th of November 1991, an important year that marked many changes.
The war in Iraq was starting and the eastern “iron curtain” was on the floor, as the first eastern McDonald’s was opening its doors in Moscow. The world was changing, the 80s were in the past, music was no longer “easy” and its scene changed a lot at the beginning of the 90s. New bands and singers rose to fame, singers that weren’t colorful as the ones from 70s and 80s. Commercial music was changing and bands like Nirvana, Metallica and Guns N’Roses took the center stage from the likes of Madonna or Wham!, and, nevertheless, were threatening Michael Jackson also.
This is when the crowned “King of Pop” put its energy to work and made a huge comeback with an album that changed the sound of pop forever. The album shook the whole world from the ground up and gave us a big lesson: without reinventing yourself, there is no actual future.
You see, dear melomaniac, prior to Dangerous, Michael already had some notoriously big and successful albums already launched that made him megastar. I will start with Off The Wall (1979) – even if it is not his first album – I will define it as the foundation of his big endeavors, Thriller (1982) – its greatest masterpiece – an album that defined pop-music and made it as the best-selling album of all time and the following Bad (1987) – a correct evolution from Thriller, but, nevertheless, in the same manner featuring good music, but nothing new from a concept standpoint.
Therefore, on the brink of change, with new kinds of music taking center stage: grunge, alternative rock and hip-hop, Michael could not release another album following the same concept as these other three that I specified in the previous paragraph. Michael needed something new, something breakthrough, something that could have the potential to change the world.
And, as he could not sing grunge or alternative rock, his only direction was to reinvent himself, creating a new concept, but keeping his style safe and active. That was no easy feat for sure, some great weight on poor Michael’s back. But, somehow, using his wit, his magic, his talents, Michael succeeded and to everyone’s surprise he launched an album that changed pop-music forever, revalidating its nomenclature of “King of Pop” indefinitely.
Dangerous was like no other of its discs, it was bold, surprising, it attacked subjects like race, poverty, social issues, all of these put together with a kind of music that was, simply, something new. For sure it was not pop as we knew from the 80s, but it wasn’t also grunge or alternative, it was still popular music, but with a modern twist, a big voice, Michael’s voice.
Oh, man, how I miss Michael’s voice. For sure this was one of the most special voices I heard in all my life, from an artist that was simply not of this world, creating artistical situations never seen before and all of them under the difficult category of popular music. It is not easy to be special and make complex music that, at the same time, is a clean kind of pop. But somehow he managed to achieve that with all its albums and, in my opinion, Dangerous is the highest summit of his work, featuring a Michael still young and curious, but sufficiently mature to become dangerously perfectionistic.
Michael had a crazy energy when up on stage, with a kind of magnetism that I have not seen anywhere else. He was like turning into another person when singing on stage. Here is Michael in action during the Dangerous tour:
When you hit play on Dangerous, you are surrounded by a strange kind of “loud” music that you cannot listen to and chill around the house in a quiet afternoon. Dangerous wants more from you, Dangerous will catch all your attention, it will make you swing, clap and tap, it will make you sing along and feel vigorously alive.
The sound of Dangerous is something that these days is no longer possible, the hallmark of Dangerous being a heavily loud sound without the use of compression. Yes, indeed, the sound of Dangerous feels heavily loud, you can hear the attack of Michael and his beats even if the speakers are set to low, but, the shock comes when you find out that compression was not used that much, the loudness that we hear is not coming from compression techniques but comes from natural tricks and renditions that made sound naturally loud. This is what Michael was on the lookout for all its albums and it always fascinated me, Michael albums being clearly loud, but not fatiguing as heavily compressed albums are. The best compression is the compression you did not feel has been applied, isn’t it? This is what modern sound craftsmen have forgotten.
So, let’s dive in and find out all the details, how this album was made, what is his concept and, more important, what legacy is Michael leaving behind with Dangerous. As I said a few paragraphs before, Michael wanted something new from his new album – as he was leaving behind an era of Bad and Thriller and he knew that in this stage of change that was going on at the beginning of 90s he needed to make something equally bold. In a 1992 interview he stated: “I wanted to do an album like Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. So that in a thousand years from now, people would still be listening to it”.
So, Jackson wanted a new type of sound, more modern, more breakthrough, this is why he parted ways with his longtime producer Quincy Jones that produced his previous albums. At first he started production on his own with producers Bill Bottrell, Bryan Loren and Bruce Swedien. Songs like Give in To Me, Black or White, Who Is It and Dangerous were composed back then. A total of 50 songs were recorded and produced during this stage. However, Michael was not happy, these songs I mentioned before seemed like songs from his previous albums, he wanted a new type of sound, he wanted that “Tchaikovsky” effect.
This is when he discovered a new emerging type of music called “new jack swing” and he wanted to place his new album under this category. This is when he met producer Teddy Reily that was the father of this genre. “New jack swing”, the main genre of Dangerous, was indeed created by Teddy Reily at the end of 80s. New jack swing is a fusion of hip-hop and R&B, with slight influences of dance and pop. Here is Teddy:
When Michael got in touch with Teddy, the latter was a successful member and producer for the new jack swing band Guy, that he later disbanded and put together Blackstreet. Michael wanted the sound of Guy in his new album, so he got in touch with Teddy and made it work. Teddy confessed in an interview that he was equally happy and frightened about the new collaboration with Michael, he realized what a big responsibility he had on his shoulders. However, Teddy and Jackson agreed immediately on the new sound of Dangerous, they both wanted something breakthrough, more urban, more bombastic. Soon Teddy become the main producer of the album and started working together with Bottrell, Loren and Swedien.
The masterpiece of Teddy Reily that is included in Dangerous is Remember the Time, a very specific new jack swing piece fully composed and produced by him. The song had a huge success in the 90s, becoming an icon for pop music and for Michael Jackson. Teddy says he could not have done it without Michael’s vocal rendition, Teddy considering that on Remember the Time, Michael is at its best in his whole carrier from a vocal standpoint. Here is a picture taken during the filming of the video for Remember the Time, featuring Michael, Eddie Murphy as the Egyptian king and Iman as Nefertiti. I must say – this song and this image are timeless:
Coming back to the sound of Dangerous, is Quincy Jones’ absence a bad thing? Well, even if Quincy did not produce the album, he kept a very close friendship with Michael and there was no quarrel between them regarding this. Moreover, Quincy was some sort of sound adviser for Michael, keeping close and giving Michael advice regarding the new songs and new compositions.
And, I need to say this: if under Quincy’s hands Thriller and Bad were a mashup between funk and pop, under the modernity of Teddy’s new jack swing, Dangerous was a mix of pop and R&B, and both Michael and Quincy knew and agreed that Michael’s music needed a new more modern twist. A deep eternal artistical act must be embraced exactly like Michael and Quincy did, with detachment and objectivity. The musical act counts and not the ego, the legacy counts and not the profits.
Going further with the production of this album, even if the era of digital production was starting, Dangerous did not embraced that, vintage stuff was preferred. Teddy remembers here the use of vintage mixing boards: Reeds and SSL XL used for mixing Dangerous. Also, there is a very small detail about the Dangerous’ attention to truth and detail: Michael asked specifically of Teddy not to use regular synthesizer samples and sounds, but to create each one from scratch, specifically for Dangerous, this is why on Dangerous all sounds are bespoke, not coming from any library, but rather specially recorded for this album. You will hear a lot of real sounds like car horns, voices, crowds, Michael’s own finger snapping etc.
Besides Teddy Reily – the album also featured producers like Bill Bottrell and Bruce Swedien, guest appearances included Heavy D (Michael’s preferred rapper at the time), Slash, Wreckx-n-Effect and, interestingly, Princess Stéphanie of Monaco as the voice from “In the Closet”. Initially, Madonna was supposed to cover the vocals for “In the Closet”, but it was later decided for Princess Stéphanie.
With Slash also, it took a whole year to coordinate the recording sessions and when it finally happened the sessions were long and tedious, lasting over 18 hours. The recording and production stage took almost two years, starting in late 1989, recording taking place primarily at Ocean Way Record One in Sherman Oaks where Michael rented the whole studio for $4000 a day. The mastering was done by Bernie Grundman in 1991. This is the whole army of personnel that took part in the making of Dangerous, impressive, isn’t it?
John Bahler – vocal and choir arrangements (track 7)
The John Bahler Singers – choir (track 7)
Glen Ballard – arrangements (track 12)
John Barnes – keyboards (track 8)
Michael Boddicker – synthesizer (tracks 1, 7, 11–13), sequencer (8), keyboards and programming (9)
Bill Bottrell – producer, engineer, and mixing (tracks 8–10); guitar (8, 10); drums (9, 10); percussion, rap, and intro voice-over (8); synthesizer (9); bass guitar and mellotron (10)
Craig Brock – assistant guitar engineer (track 10)
Brad Buxer – keyboards (tracks 1, 7–9, 11), synthesizer (1, 14), percussion (8), programming (9)
Larry Corbett – cello (track 9)
Andraé Crouch – choir arrangements (tracks 11, 12)
Sandra Crouch – choir arrangements (tracks 11, 12)
The Andraé Crouch Singers – choir (tracks 11, 12)
Heavy D – rap (track 1)
George Del Barrio – string arrangements (track 9)
Matt Forger – engineer and mixing (track 7), engineering and sound design (8 intro)
Kevin Gilbert – speed sequencer (track 8)
Endre Granat – concertmaster (track 9)
Linda Harmon – soprano voice (track 9)
Jerry Hey – arrangements (track 12)
Jean-Marie Horvat – engineer (track 14)
Michael Jackson – producer and lead vocals (all tracks), background vocals (1–12, 14), arrangements (1, 9), vocal arrangements (1, 3–7, 11, 14), rhythm arrangements (7, 11), director (8 intro), soprano voice (9)
Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar (track 2)
Terry Jackson – bass guitar (track 8)
Louis Johnson – bass guitar (track 9)
Abraham Laboriel – bass guitar (track 13)
Christa Larson – ending solo vocal (track 7)
Rhett Lawrence – synthesizer (tracks 1, 11, 12, 14); drums, percussion, and arrangements (12); synthesizer programming (11)
Bryan Loren – drums (track 8, 9), synthesizer (8)
Johnny Mandel – orchestral arrangements and conductor (track 11)
Jasun Martz – keyboards (track 8)
Andres McKenzie – intro voice-over (track 8)
Jim Mitchell – guitar engineer (track 10)
René Moore – arrangements and keyboards (track 1)
David Paich – keyboards (tracks 7, 9, 13), synthesizer (7, 13), keyboard arrangements and programming (9), rhythm arrangements (13)
Marty Paich – orchestral arrangements and conductor (tracks 7, 13)
Greg Phillinganes – keyboards (track 11)
Tim Pierce – heavy metal guitar (track 8)
Jeff Porcaro – drums (track 7)
Steve Porcaro – synthesizer (tracks 7, 13), keyboards and programming (9)
Teddy Riley – producer, engineer, mixing, and synthesizers (tracks 1–6, 14); keyboards (1–6); guitar (1, 2); rhythm arrangements (2–6, 14); synthesizer arrangements (3–6, 14); drums and arrangements (1)
Thom Russo – engineer (track 14)
Slash – special guitar performance (track 10)
Bruce Swedien – producer (track 1), co-producer (tracks 7, 11–13), engineer and mixing (1–7, 11–14), arrangements and keyboards (1), drums (1, 11, 12), percussion (11, 12)
Jai Winding – keyboards and programming (track 9), piano and bass guitar (12)
Mystery Girl (Princess Stéphanie of Monaco) – vocals (track 3)
In the same manner as Michael’s other albums, around 80 songs were recorded for Dangerous, but only 14 made it to the album. For instance, “Earth Song” was recorded during these sessions also and released on his next album, HIStory. Also recorded during the Dangerous sessions were “Superfly Sister”, “Ghosts” and “Blood on the Dance Floor” and were released later in the remix compilation Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix. “For All Time”, a romantic pop ballad that Michael liked but did not feel appropriate for Dangerous, was released on the 25th anniversary edition of Thriller. “Slave to the Rhythm” was remastered and released for the 2014 compilation album Xscape.
Last, but not the least was the surrealist painting that we all know is the cover of the album:
You see, deal melomaniac, nowadays a piece of art like this passes very easily as another digital rendering done by a trippy teenager during a long summer’s night or, much sadder, a piece of AI generated image that does not impress us that much. But, back at the beginning of the 90s, such a piece of art was done differently, by an artist and by his creative prowess. The concept in this painting started in the mind of Jackson, who employed the surrealist painting Mark Ryden to put it into fruition. So, after a simple projection from the mind of MJ to the genius of Mark Ryden, we got this beautiful and complicated piece of art. Here is Mark with one of his paintings:
Mark and Michael met in the studio, where new songs from Dangerous were auditioned and the King of Pop explained that he wanted an album cover as an abstract portrait of himself and to contain his highest aspirations for this album. Michael was a big fan of circus posters, so the concept was drawn around that. First Ryden had a week to draw some ideas, and he proposed five examples that he made just in pencil. Ryden explained that his main point of inspiration was Michael’s video from 1989 – Leave Me Alone.
Michael chose one of the five, and it took Mark six months to paint the actual cover. Even if Ryden was left alone to create, a few additions were requested by Michael, one of them is to include its friend Macaulay Culkin in the painting, you can see him in a roller coaster cart in the right side down of the picture.
The finished painting is very complex, with a lot of symbology, but Michael and Ryden refused to explain, leaving us to speculate and to wonder. However, the cover is one of the most cryptic and special ones out there, including many circus related details, but also an all-seeing eye and the duality of inner-works versus external scenery. Ryden later explained that he did not want to give us details and meanings for his paintings, wanting the viewer to be the one who interprets the picture.
Now, coming back to our album, do you think dear melomaniac that we can pick a single song from this album and claim it as the best of the lot? Well, for sure this will be a very hard task, as all 14 songs on the disc have a chance for the highest position of the throne.
Songs like Why You Wanna Trip on Me, Jam, In the Closet, She Drives Me Wild, Can’t Let Her Get Away, Remember the Time, Heal the World, Will You Be There, Gone Too Soon, Give in to Me, Keep the Faith or Black or White are simply amazing tracks that each can be on that position.
But dear melomaniac, you see I left one out, the song that oils my soul and keeps my heart flying: “Who Is It”. Each time I listen to this song, my soul opens for Michael, and I am in direct contact with his feelings. “Who Is It” is somehow a pop song, somehow a ballad, being produced by Michael and Bill Bottrell and the lyrics, which are completely signed by Michael, speak of despair, of being left alone by a loved someone who departed. In “Who Is It” you can feel Michael’s crude feelings of despair, sadness and aloneness – these always make my eyes water, I mark this as one of Michael’s most sincere songs of all time.
In the closing of this article, I will highlight the importance of this kind of production and the heaviness of a disc such as Dangerous. This one comes from an era when no detail was left unperfected, with musicians such as Michael Jackson who were growing bigger only by the quality of their productions, their music being the only real interest in their lives.
I mean, what could Michael Jackson really do to reinvent himself even more after he already shook the whole world with his accomplishments? He was a very eccentric and special guy, he had a private zoo at home, he launched the most famous album of all times back in his youth, he slept in a coffin, heck he even changed the color of his skin, so, I ask again: what he could have done to shock the world again?
Well, the answer is very simple: he launched Dangerous back in 1991, that’s what he did, and, yes, without doubt, he shook the world once again, launching the reinvention of pop: “Dangerous”, one of the immense and greatest albums out there, being sold in 32 million pieces worldwide.
So, I leave you with this thought in your mind: remember or imagine how times were during 1991 and imagine how big of a wonder the launch of an interstellar album like Dangerous must have been. Almost out of this world, coming out of the mind of the one-of-a-kind Michael Jackson, one of the gods who lived as a man in this world. Miraculous, that’s how it must have been back in 1991 when Dangerous was launched.
Silviu TUDOR
An article written in my sweet spot,
and this is what I’ve heard.
