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Dangerous is Michael Jackson's eighth studio album, released on November 26, 1991 and recorded in June 1989-October 1991. It is Jackson's first album under Epic Records to not be co-produced with Quincy Jones.

The record is one of Michael's most experimental works, having focused more on rather humanitarian themes, as well as including a wide range of musical styles. Dangerous eventually sold over 32 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Background[]

Following the success of Jackson's previous album, Bad, the artist desired not only even more creative control, but also not wanting the general public beginning to think his popularity depends on Jones, eventually separating from the producer.

In June of 1989, Michael and Bad's "B-Team" began working on a compilation project, under the title of Decade. The record would feature Jackson's biggest hits as well as include some new tracks, e.g. "Heal the World".[1] Throughout the sessions, Michael would've worked with Bill Bottrell, Bruce Swedien as well as newly met musicians, Bryan Loren and Brad Buxer. The latter met Jackson through Bottrell. Their partnership eventually evolved into not only a 20 year-long collaboration but a close friendship as well.

"Musically speaking, we were on the same wavelength; we spoke the same language."
— Brad Buxer

As of December, the team would shift studios, from Westlake to Record One, due to Michael's issues with the place being too crowded.[2] By the following year, Jackson had created multiple songs with Loren, including hidden gems such as "Work That Body" or "She Got It". Ultimately, none of Bryan's creations ever made it past production and never landed on the project. However, his contributions to the other, eventually released songs include percussion (e.g. "Black or White") and more.

Throughout the following year, Jackson explored interest in the new jack swing genre, thanks to L.A. Reid and Babyface. In June, he hired Teddy Riley, who became one of Michael's lead producers. Michael admired the producer's will to bring him a completely fresh style. The musician would help craft recordings such as "Jam", "She Drives Me Wild", "Remember the Time" and more. Around the same time, it seems as though there was so much fresh material crafted already, that it only made sense to focus on the next studio album, rather than the Decade compilation, thus Dangerous was finally born. For its creation, Michael spent $10 million.

Mjrecordingstudiodangerous

Michael Jackson in studio during the Dangerous album sessions

During its production, Michael decided to invite multiple other artists for eventual features on the upcoming release. For the first time, Jackson's songs featured a "rap verse", to which contributed such as Heavy D or Wreckx-n-Effect. Some non-rap collaborations would be formed as well, including Slash of Guns N' Roses on "Give In to Me". Reportedly, it was really hard to get the musician to meet with Jackson, apparently having taken a year to co-ordinate. Initially, the singer's future partner, Madonna was going to make an appearance on "In the Closet", although the context for its cancellation is unknown. The recording instead featured a guest appearance from Princess Stephanie of Monaco during its spoken parts.

In 1991, Dangerous received the final touches and the track list was done by the first half of the year. Through its early stages, the album mostly consisted of songs, which eventually went on to be featured in the final release. However, tracks like "Blood on the Dance Floor" and "Someone Put Your Hand Out" made an appearance as well, but would be scrapped last minute and eventually released through other future projects.[3]

According to Bruce Swedien, Michael spent time in the studio for even eighteen hours, staying even until dawn.[4] Bernie Grundman finished mastering Dangerous on Halloween of 1991.[5]

Artwork[]

The Dangerous cover was painted by Mark Ryden and displays the singer's eyes and a single lock of his hair behind a gold masquerade mask, surrounded by various obscure animals and objects.

"Ryden has depicted Michael - the most famous person in the world at the time - as a guarded circus artist who has seen glory and the machinery involved in making it happen."
— Fraser McAlpine, BBC UK, February 27, 2017[6]

Promotion[]

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Michael Jackson performing at the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show (1993)

Dangerous received a large amount of promotion, becoming what's considered the most exciting build-up to any of Jackson's albums.

Michael did a vast amount of televisted performances; namely "Black or White" and "Will You Be There" at MTV's 10th anniversary special, and "Remember the Time" at the Soul Train Awards in 1993. The King of Pop also launched the Dangerous World Tour, his second world tour, to raise funds for his Heal the World Foundation. Some performances were also broadcasted on HBO, especially the October 1, 1992 show in Bucharest.

Jackson also performed for the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show, which became one of the most watched events in American history, and made NFL sign more A-list singers for halftime shows in order to attract more viewership. The performance itself included three songs off of Dangerous and helped the album top the charts yet again.

The promotion ended in 1993 as Jackson became a target of child sexual abuse allegations. To ease his mind, he began taking drugs, due to which his health hit a low point. The Dangerous World Tour had to be cancelled, as Michael seeked help from a drug rehabilitation program.

Track list[]

Standard edition
No.TitleLength
1."Jam" (featuring Heavy D)5:38
2."Why You Wanna Trip on Me"5:23
3."In the Closet" (featuring Princess Stephanie of Monaco)6:30
4."She Drives Me Wild" (featuring Wrecks-N-Effects)3:39
5."Remember the Time"3:59
6."Can't Let Her Get Away"4:58
7."Heal the World"6:24
8."Black or White" (featuring L.T.B.)4:14
9."Who Is It"6:33
10."Give In to Me" (featuring Slash)5:28
11."Will You Be There" (featuring Cleveland Orchestra)7:40
12."Keep the Faith"5:56
13."Gone Too Soon"3:21
14."Dangerous"6:57
Total length:1:16:53

Drafts[]

Main article: Dangerous track list drafts

Singles[]

Re-releases[]

Dangerous: Special Edition[]

On October 16, 2001, a special edition of the album was released. However, unlike the special editions of Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad, this one doesn't include any previously unreleased bonus tracks, although, it was going to.

  1. "Bumper Snippet (Kid Part)"
  2. "Monkey Business"
  3. "Work That Body"
  4. "If You Don't Love Me"
  5. "Serious Effect"
  6. "Happy Birthday Lisa"
  7. "She Got It"
  8. "Black or White" (Remix)
  9. "Dangerous" (Demo)
  10. "Who Is It" (Remix)
  11. "What About Us" ("Earth Song" Demo)
  12. "For All Time"

Throughout the 2000's, DAT's and track lists of early versions for this release had leaked online, with "Monkey Business", "For All Time" and the "Dangerous" demo being officially released later on.[7][8][9]

Trivia[]

Decadedat3

Decade DAT (May 3, 1991)

  • One of Bryan Loren's tracks that didn't make the cut for Dangerous was "Superfly Sister", which eventually landed on Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix six years later. It was the producer's only track made alongside Jackson that ever landed on any of his albums.
  • Teddy Riley reportedly reworked some of Loren's songs such as "She Got It" and "Serious Effect".
  • Although the Dangerous album was born around Summer of 1990, Decade seemed to have been continued as a separate project, as the available images of DAT's for the compilation state such date back to May of the following year, 1991.

References[]

Discography
Studio albums
Got to Be ThereBenMusic & MeForever, Michael Off the WallThrillerBadDangerousHIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book IInvincible
Other albums
Farewell My Summer LoveBlood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the MixThe Ultimate CollectionThriller 25MichaelBad 25XscapeScreamThriller 40
Singles
"Got to Be There" • "Rockin' Robin" • "I Wanna Be Where You Are" • "Ain't No Sunshine" • "Ben" • "With a Child's Heart" • "Music & Me" • "We're Almost There" • "Just a Little Bit of You" • "You Can't Win" • "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" • "Rock with You" • "Off the Wall" • "She's Out of My Life" • "Girlfriend" • "One Day in Your Life" • "The Girl is Mine" • "Billie Jean" • "Beat It" • "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" • "Human Nature" • "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" • "Thriller" • "Happy" • "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" • "Bad" • "The Way You Make Me Feel" • "Man in the Mirror" • "Dirty Diana" • "Another Part of Me" • "Smooth Criminal" • "Leave Me Alone" • "Liberian Girl" • "Black or White" • "Remember the Time" • "In the Closet" • "Jam" • "Who Is It" • "Heal the World" • "Give In to Me" • "Will You Be There" • "Gone Too Soon" • "Scream/Childhood" • "You Are Not Alone" • "Earth Song" • "They Don't Care About Us" • "Stranger in Moscow" • "Blood on the Dance Floor" • "HIStory/Ghosts" • "Smile" • "You Rock My World" • "Butterflies" • "Cry" • "What More Can I Give" • "One More Chance" • "The Girl is Mine 2008" • "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" • "Hold My Hand" • "Mind Is the Magic" • "Hollywood Tonight" • "Behind the Mask" • "(I Like) The Way You Love Me" • "Love Never Felt So Good" • "A Place with No Name" • "Blood on the Dance Floor X Dangerous (The White Panda Mash-Up)"
Promotional singles
"Speed Demon" • "Someone Put Your Hand Out" • "This Time Around" • "Is It Scary" • "Speechless" • "Unbreakable" • "Cheater" • "This Is It"
Non-single songs
"Girl Don't Take Your Love from Me" • "In Our Small Way" • "Wings of My Love" • "Maria (You Were the Only One)" • "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" • "You've Got a Friend" • "Greatest Show on Earth" • "People Make the World go Round" • "We've Got a Good Thing Going" • "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" • "My Girl" • "What Goes Around Comes Around" • "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" • "You Can Cry on My Shoulder" • "Up Again" • "All the Things You Are" • "Too Young" • "Doggin' Around" • "Euphoria" • "Morning Glow" • "Johnny Raven" • "Take Me Back" • "Cinderella Stay Awhile" • "We've Got Forever" • "You Are There" • "Dapper Dan" • "Dear Michael" • "I'll Come Home To You" • "Workin' Day and Night" • "Get on the Floor" • "I Can't Help It" • "It's The Falling In Love" • "Burn This Disco Out" • "Someone in the Dark" • "Baby Be Mine" • "The Lady In My Life" • "Just Good Friends" • "Why You Wanna Trip on Me" • "She Drives Me Wild" • "Can't Let Her Get Away" • "Keep the Faith" • "Dangerous" • "D.S." • "Money" • "Come Together" • "Tabloid Junkie" • "2 Bad" • "Little Susie / Pie Jesu" • "On the Line" • "Morphine" • "Superfly Sister" • "Carousel" • "Streetwalker" • "Fly Away" • "Heartbreaker" • "Invincible" • "Break of Dawn" • "Heaven Can Wait" • "2000 Watts" • "You Are My Life" • "Privacy" • "Don't Walk Away" • "The Lost Children" • "Whatever Happens" • "Threatened" • "Shout" • "Sunset Driver" • "Scared of the Moon" • "We Are Here to Change the World" • "Monkey Business" • "Fall Again" • "In the Back" • "Beautiful Girl" • "We've Had Enough" • "For All Time" • "Got the Hots" • "Best of Joy" • "(I Can't Make It) Another Day" • "Much Too Soon" • "Don't Be Messin' 'Round" • "I'm So Blue" • "Abortion Papers" • "Free" • "Price of Fame" • "Al Capone" • "Chicago" • "Loving You" • "Slave to the Rhythm" • "Do You Know Where Your Children Are" • "Blue Gangsta" • "Xscape" • "Starlight" • "Who Do You Know" • "The Toy" • "What a Lovely Way to Go" • "She's Trouble"
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