Dangerous [Special Edition] [Remaster]

Notes

Personnel includes: Michael Jackson, Heavy D, Christa Larson (vocals); Teddy Riley (guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, drums); Paul Jackson, Jr., Tim Pierce, David Williams, Slash (guitar); Larry Corbett (cello); Jai Winding (piano, keyboards, programming, bass); David Paich (keyboards, synthesizers, programming); Steve Porcaro (keyboards, synthesizers, programming); Rene Moore, Greg Phillinganes (keyboards); Bryan Loren (Moog synthesizer, drums, percussion); Abraham Laboriel (bass); Jeff Porcaro (drums); Wayne Cobham (sequencing, programming); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Siedah Garrett, Shanice Wilson, The John Bahler Singers, The Andrae Crouch Singers (background vocals). Producers: Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley, Bruce Swedien, Bill Bottrell. Engineers include: Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley, Matt Forger. Principally recorded at Record One Studios & Larrabee Studios, Los Angeles, California. Originally released on Epic/Sony (45400). Digitally remastered by Bernie Grundman (Bernie Grundman Mastering, Los Angeles, California). Lyricists: Michael Jackson ; Bill Bottrell; Buz Kohan. Personnel: Michael Jackson (vocals, background vocals); Michael Jackson (vocals, soprano, background vocals); Christa Larson, Andra‚ Crouch (vocals); L.T.B., Heavy D (rap vocals); Linda Harmon (soprano); Bill Bottrell (guitar, Mellotron, bass synthesizer, drums, percussion); Paul Jackson, Jr. , Tim Pierce, David E. Williams (guitar); Larry Corbett (cello); Jai Winding (piano, keyboards, keyboard programming); Brad Buxer (keyboards, synthesizer, drums, percussion, keyboard programming); Rhett Lawrence, Bruce Swedien (keyboards, synthesizer, drums, percussion); Michael Boddicker (keyboards, synthesizer, keyboard programming, sequencer); David Paich, Steve Porcaro (keyboards, synthesizer, keyboard programming); Marty Paich (keyboards, keyboard programming); Greg Phillinganes, Jasun Martz, John Barnes , Ren‚ Moore (keyboards); Louis Johnson, Terry Jackson (bass guitar); Bryan Loren (drums, percussion); Jeff Porcaro (drums); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Wayne Cobham (programming); Shanice Wilson, Siedah Garrett (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Dave Way; Jean-Marie Horvat; Matt Forger; Bill Bottrell; Bruce Swedien. Audio Remasterer: Bernie Grundman. Liner Note Author: Michael Jackson . Recording information: Chatsworth, CA (06/25/1990-10/29/1991); Larrabee Studios, Los Angeles, CA (06/25/1990-10/29/1991); Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles, CA (06/25/1990-10/29/1991); Pasadena (06/25/1990-10/29/1991); Record One Studios, Los Angeles, CA (06/25/1990-10/29/1991); Record Plant, Hollywood, CA (06/25/1990-10/29/1991); Smoketree (06/25/1990-10/29/1991); Smoketree, Chatsworth (06/25/1990-10/29/1991); Toad Hall, Pasadena, CA (06/25/1990-10/29/1991); Toad Hill (06/25/1990-10/29/1991); Westlake Audio, Los Angeles, CA (06/25/1990-10/29/1991). Director: Michael Jackson . Illustrator: Mark Ryden. Photographers: Steven Paul Whitsett; Dilip Mehta; Jonathan Exley; Sam Emerson. Arrangers: Michael Jackson ; Glen Ballard; Jerry Hey; Marty Paich; Michael Jackson; Ren‚ Moore; Rhett Lawrence; Bruce Swedien. After a lengthy gap of nearly five years, Jackson had to pull something out of the bag. BAD was, after all, a difficult act to follow, and the press were trying to prove he was bonkers. This was a pretty decent attempt and fell in with the hard dance beat of the early 90s. "Heal The World" was much like the old melodic Jackson, and it became a major hit. "Black Or White" was the best of the rest, a well-constructed song in which he attempted to repeat "Ebony And Ivory" in the context of 90s dance music. Despite the success of Bad, it was hard not to view it as a bit of a letdown, since it presented a cleaner, colder, calculated version of Thriller -- something that delivered what it should on the surface, but wound up offering less in the long run. So, it was time for a change-up, something even a superstar as huge as Michael Jackson realized, so he left Quincy Jones behind, hired Guy mastermind Teddy Riley as the main producer, and worked with a variety of other producers, arrangers, and writers, most notably Bruce Swedien and Bill Bottrell. The end result of this is a much sharper, harder, riskier album than Bad, one that has its eyes on the street, even if its heart gets middle-class soft on "Heal the World." The shift in direction and change of collaborators has liberated Jackson, and he's written a set of songs that is considerably stronger than Bad, often approaching the consistency of Off the Wall and Thriller. If it is hardly as effervescent or joyous as either of those records, chalk it up to his suffocating stardom, which results in a set of songs without much real emotional center, either in their substance or performance. But, there's a lot to be said for professional craftsmanship at its peak, and Dangerous has plenty of that, not just on such fine singles as "In the Closet," "Remember the Time," or the blistering "Jam," but on album tracks like "Why You Wanna Trip on Me." No, it's not perfect -- it has a terrible cover, a couple of slow spots, and suffers from CD-era ailments of the early '90s, such as its overly long running time and its deadening Q Sound production, which sounds like somebody forgot to take the Surround Sound button off. Even so, Dangerous captures Jackson at a near-peak, delivering an album that would have ruled the pop charts surely and smoothly if it had arrived just a year earlier. But it didn't -- it arrived along with grunge, which changed the rules of the game nearly as much as Thriller itself. Consequently, it's the rare multi-platinum, number one album that qualifies as a nearly forgotten, underappreciated record. [In 2001, a remastered edition was released with a detailed booklet] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine