Michael Jackson’s career contained many markers, such as the most successful album of all time (“Thriller”, 1982), the most US number one singles from one album (“Bad”, 1987) and a starring role in the, er, stupidest 3-D theme park film Francis Ford Coppola has ever made (“Captain EO,” 1986).
With “Dangerous”, released 26 years ago, Jackson also created an important point in his CV, albeit involuntarily. Like the previous works, it was at number one in the charts of many countries. But that shouldn’t last long, at least not in Jackson’s most important market, the USA.
In January 1992, “Dangerous” was at the top for what was then a relatively short time of three weeks, Nirvana arrived. With “Nevermind” they pushed the self-proclaimed “King Of Pop” off the top spot.
There’s no shame in losing to a band whose album is now considered one of the most important of the ’90s. Nevertheless, this change in first position is now seen as a kind of turning point: the era of pop superstars came to an end, and it was now rock bands’ turn. But no longer those with teased hair, but those who no longer placed any value on appearance.
New Jack Swing, the new thing
The descent of “Dangerous” into lower chart regions came unexpectedly quickly. However, one cannot speak of an artistic failure. The album lacked the compression that the recently fired producer Quincy Jones had given to “Bad”; The old “Thriller” was also superior to the new Jackson with its organic band sound.
With Terry Riley as sound designer and his “New Jack Swing”, a kind of technoid soul, Jackson discovered new sides. He experimented with song lengths, instrumental passages and tracks that only consisted of rhythms. Mini-epics like “In The Closet”, “Who Is It” and “Dangerous” made the singer seem like he was in a trance thanks to their loops – not the worst for a dance album, the then 33-year-old Jackson had never thought of something like that before . The takeover of the market by the compact disc with its capacity of more than 70 minutes now gave Jackson opportunities that he had not yet used in the “Bad” LP era.
For a pop star of Jackson’s caliber, someone with something to lose, Teddy Riley was probably the best and safest producer in 1990. And so “Dangerous” sounded more like the street than its predecessor “Bad” did – even though the singer had specially dressed up for the gutter with a studded, looped, zipper costume for “Bad”.
Scouts in mind
One could almost speak of a good album if it weren’t for the awareness pieces in “Dangerous” that would dominate Jackson’s work since the 1990s. “Black Or White” dealt with his anger at critics who judge not his music but the color of his skin; Funnily enough, it’s a rapper as a guest star who presents Jackson’s toughest counterclaims (and who sounds like one of those bored GIs stationed in Hesse from the early 1990s). “Heal The World”: a song that needs no explanation, well-intentioned, unbearable to listen to. “Will You Be There,” on the other hand, is a friendship song that would suit Boy Scouts well.
That was all in 1992. Today the chart situation has calmed down again. The duel between pop stars and rock bands that was dramatically hyped up by the media no longer exists today. In the rankings, Justin Timberlake is now followed by Pearl Jam and Eminem by Arcade Fire. The “changing of the guard” became a constant coexistence. “Chart eras” are probably a thing of the past.
According to Wikipedia With around 16 million copies sold, “Dangerous” is just behind “Bad” (18 million), but also behind Nirvana, who sold 26 million records of “Nevermind”.
It might have been little consolation for Michael Jackson at the time that Kurt Cobain probably cared less about such numbers than he did.