'''Dangerous''' is an album released by singer-songwriter
Michael Jackson in November 1991.
Project
Recording sessions for the album began in
Los Angeles at Ocean Way/Record One Studio 2 on
June 25 1990 and ended at Larrabee North and Ocean Way Studio on
October 29 1991 (according to the sleeve notes of the ''Special Edition'' of the album), being the most extensive recording project of Jackson's career until that time (over sixteen months compared to the usual six months spent in the recording of his previous three studio albums).
In March of 1991, Jackson signed an all new 15 year, 6 album, $65 millioncontract with
Sony reputedly worth $1 billion,
[1] at its time the biggest record deal ever. ''Dangerous'' was already in the making and Jackson ended his association with
Quincy Jones enlisting the producing talents of
new jack swing inventor
Teddy Riley.
The album cover was designed by
Mark Ryden. The first printing of the album was released as a large box with a picture of Michael Jackson's eyes, which folded open to reveal the normal cover, in pop-up card, with the CD, and booklet in the bottom. ''Dangerous'' was heavily anticipated, as highlighted by an incident at the
Los Angeles International Airport that witnessed a group of armed robbers stealing 30,000 copies of the new album before its official release.
[2]
Reception
The album was released on
November 26 1991 and early sales were record breaking. In the US the album debuted at #1 with 326,500 copies sold. The album spent its four weeks straight at #1 (but it managed to spent 12 weeks at the top of the
Cashbox albums chart
[3] ), and its first 17 weeks inside the
Billboard 200 Top 10. The album managed to spent another week inside the Top 10 in its 65th week in the charts, reaching #10, after Jackon received the
Living Legend Award in the
1993 Grammy Awards. The album really enjoyed a huge boost in sales during those days in early 1993 when he also performed at the
Super Bowl and gave his famous interview to
Oprah Winfrey. In all, ''Dangerous'' spent 117 weeks inside the Billboard 200, 30 weeks more than ''Bad''. The
RIAA certified ''Dangerous'' at 7x Platinum for 7 million copies.
In the UK the album was even more successful. It debuted also at #1, knocking-off the top spot big contender
U2's ''
Achtung Baby''. However, in its second week it was replaced by
Queen's ''
Greatest Hits II'', in the aftermath of
Freddie Mercury's death. There it spent 23 weeks inside the Top 10 (the last being its 69th week, enjoying an amazing staying power) and a total of 96 weeks inside the Top 75. The sales of the album were of just over 2 million, making ''Dangerous'' one of the UK's best selling albums of the nineties (but certainly not as successful as ''Bad'' 's 4 million sold or ''Thriller'' 's 3.4 million).
The first single released from the album, ''
Black or White'' was an instant success, Jackson's biggest hit single since ''
Billie Jean''. However, succesive singles were less successful. The album produced a total of 9 singles around the world (the title track was planned as a single for early
1994 but cancelled), the same number as ''Bad''. All of them were released in the UK, seven of them reaching the Top 10, and achieve never before made by Jackson. The major hits from the album were "
Black or White", "
Remember the Time", "
In the Closet", "
Heal the World", "
Who Is It", and "
Will You Be There". In the USA the singles from the album performed much worse that the singles from ''Thriller'' or even ''Bad'', with ''Dangerous'' producing four Top 10 hits out of 7 singles released there (''Bad'' had six Top 10 singles of which the first five were all #1 hits - ''Dangerous'' only #1 single was actually ''Black or White''). The fourth single released in the US, "
Jam", was a terrible dissapointing only reaching #26, first time Jackson missed the US Top 20 since his stay in Sony.
In terms of worldwide sales, in the UK and USA ''Bad's sales were 48% of the total worldwide sales. For Dangerous this figure is just 33%, making of the album a really more successful product internationally. However the Dangerous singles were mostly bigger hits around
Europe and
Australia in particular, and more were released, than the singles from ''Bad''. There were spectacular sales compared to ''Bad'' and ''Thriller'' in many European countries and Australia. Also ''Dangerous'' sold very well in the new emerging and growing record markets of
Asia and
South America.
Jackson supported the album with the
Dangerous World Tour. Jackson would not release another full-length album of only all new songs for 10 years, with ''
Invincible'' in 2001. ''
HIStory'', released in 1995, did contain a full disc of new material, but was only available in a double-disc set, the first CD containing previous hits.
A ''Special Edition'' of the album appeared in 2001. It was digitally remastered and included a slipcase, a brand new 24-page colorful booklet with revised artwork and previously unseen photos. Because of the constraints of ''Dangerous' running time, previously unreleased songs were not included, however many of them were eventually leaked onto the internet along with various demos of other tracks that appeared on the album. In 2004, some of these leaked tracks were officially released on '' (namely the Dangerous Demo and Monkey Business).
Music videos
As was becoming the standard for Jackson, the album's
music videos were among the most costly and innovative of their time. Several of the music videos taken from the ''Dangerous'' album had complex storylines and dance sequences, and featured cameo appearances by celebrities. The video for "Jam", directed by
David Kellogg, showed Jackson and
Michael Jordan playing
basketball and dancing together, while "
Remember the Time" was set in an
ancient Egyptian palace, and starred
Eddie Murphy and
Iman as the pharaoh and his queen. The video also featured a cameo by
NBA player
Magic Johnson. "
In the Closet" featured Jackson and supermodel
Naomi Campbell as lovers. The director of the video was photographer
Herb Ritts, who also photographed Jackson in a series of promotional shots for the release of the ''Dangerous'' album.
"
Black or White" was originally over ten minutes long, it premiered simultaneously on
November 14,
1991 on
MTV,
VH1,
BET, and
FOX. The video is extremely noteworthy for featuring one of the earliest examples of computer-generated
morphing. The last four minutes of the video also induced much controversy, as it depicted Jackson smashing store windows and destroying a car with a crowbar. This destructive behaviour was intended to imply a message of anti-racism, however. MTV and the other music video networks decided to excise the last four minutes of the "Black or White" video for all subsequent airings, and Jackson issued a statement apologizing to anyone who had been offended, and explaining that he tried to interpret the animal instinct of
panthers into a dance. The video featured
Macaulay Culkin and an appearance during the morphing scene by young
Tyra Banks and was directed by
John Landis, also the director of the "
Thriller" short film.
Music Awards
from [
[2]]
'1993'
American Music Awards:
★ Best Pop/Rock Album, "Dangerous"
★ Best Soul/R&B Single, "Remember The Time"
★ Special International Artist Award for record sales and humanitarian efforts around the world
Bravo Magazine: Gold Otto Award
BMI Awards:
★ Two of The Most Performed Songs of The Year, "Black or White" and "Remember The Time"
Grammy Awards: Living Legend Award
Guinness Book Of World Records:
★ Lifetime Achievement Award for his unprecedented world records in the world of entertainment
NAACP Image Awards:
★ 25th Silver Anniversary Entertainer Of The Year Award
★ Outstanding Music Video, "Black or White"
Soul Train Awards:
★ 1993 Humanitarian Of The Year Award
★ Best R&B Single, "Remember The Time"
★ Best R&B Album, "Dangerous"
World Music Awards:
★ Best Selling American Artist
★ World's Best Selling Pop Artist
★ World's Best Selling Artist Of The Era
'1994'
Crenshaw Community Youth And Arts Foundation
★ Humanitarian Award
Smash Hits Awards
★ Best Male Vocalist
Pop Rock Magazine
★ Favorite Singer of The Year
Track listing
#"
Jam"
(René Moore, Bruce Swedien, Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley) – 5:39
#"Why You Wanna Trip On Me"
(Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle) – 5:24
#"
In the Closet"
(Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley) – 6:31
#"She Drives Me Wild"
(Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley. Rap lyrics by Aquil Davidson) – 3:41
#"
Remember the Time"
(Teddy Riley, Michael Jackson, Bernard Belle) – 4:00
#"Can't Let Her Get Away"
(Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley) – 4:58
#"
Heal the World"
(Michael Jackson) – 6:24
#"
Black or White"
(Michael Jackson. Rap lyrics by Bill Bottrell; features guitarist Slash) – 4:15
#"
Who Is It"
(Michael Jackson) – 6:34
#"
Give In To Me"
(Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell) – 5:29
#"
Will You Be There"
(Michael Jackson) – 7:40
#"
Keep the Faith"
(Glen Ballard, Siedah Garrett, Michael Jackson) – 5:57
#"
Gone Too Soon"
(Larry Grossman, Buz Kohan) – 3:23
#"Dangerous"
(Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell, Teddy Riley) – 6:57
Singles
#November 1991 - "Black or White" - #1 US #1 UK
#February 1992 - "Remember the Time" - #3 US #3 UK
#May 1992 - "In the Closet" - #6 US, #8 UK
#August 1992 (Europe) - "Who Is It" - #10 UK - February 1993 (US) - #14 US
#September 1992 (Europe) - "Jam" - #12 UK - July 1992 (US) - #26 US
#November 1992 - "Heal the World" - #2 UK #27 US
#February 1993 (Europe) - "Give In to Me" - #2 UK
#July 1993 - "Will You Be There" - #7 US #9 UK
#December 1993 (Europe) - "Gone Too Soon" - #33 UK
Certifications
| Country | Certification | Sales |
|---|
| Australia | 9x Platinum | 630,000 [4] |
| Brazil | 4x Platinum | 500,000 [5] |
| Canada | 6x Platinum | 600,000 [6] |
| France | 2x Diamond | 2,000,000 [7] |
| Germany | 10x Platinum | 2,000,000 [8] |
| Japan | 3x Platinum | 825,000 [9] |
| Spain | 8x Platinum | 640,000 [10] |
| Switzerland | 8x Platinum | 240,000 |
| UK | 7x Platinum | 2,100,000 [11] |
| USA | 7x Platinum | 7,000,000 [12] |
Outtakes
Known outtakes from ''Dangerous'':
★ "A Baby Smiles"
★ "Bottle Of Smoke"
★ "Dangerous" (early version, appeared on '')
★ "Fever"
★ "For All Time" (leaked online)
★ "Girls Of Another Love"
★ "If You Don't Love Me" (leaked online)
★ "Men In Black" (unshared snippet)
★ "Monkey Business" (appeared on '')
★ "Planet Earth"
★ "Pretty Faces"
★ "Satisfy You" (Duet with Brian Loren, leaked online)
★ "Serious Effect" (with
LL Cool J) (leaked online)
★ "Seven Digits"
★ "She Got It" (snippet leaked online)
★ "Someone Put Your Hand Out" (Released on
Pepsi promo cassette, also later included on '')
★ "Trust About Youth"
★ "What About Us" (later became "
Earth Song")
★ "Work That Body" (snippet leaked online)
On a recent ITV documentary ''The One And Only Michael Jackson'', collaborators stated that Jackson started ''Dangerous'' with 60 songs, suggesting that there are far more outtakes than those leaked online or released subsequently.
Music samples
Credits
"Jam"
★ Music by
René Moore,
Bruce Swedien, Michael Jackson and
Teddy Riley
★ Song and lyrics by Michael Jackson
★ Produced by Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley and Bruce Swedien
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley and Dave Way
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Arrangement by Michael Jackson, Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley and René Moore
★ Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson
★ Rap performed by
Heavy D
★ Keyboards: Rene Moore, Teddy Riley, Bruce Swedien and Brad Buxer
★ Synthesizers: Teddy Riley,
Rhett Lawrence,
Michael Boddicker and Brad Buxer
★ Drums: Teddy Riley and Bruce Swedien
★ Guitar: Teddy Riley
"Why You Wanna Trip On Me"
★ Written and composed by Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle
★ Produced by Teddy Riley and Michael Jackson
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley, Dave Way and Jean-Marie Horvat
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson
★ Rhythm arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Keyboards, synthesizers and guitar: Teddy Riley
★ Guitar intro:
Paul Jackson, Jr.
★ Sequencing and programming: Wayne Cobham
"In the Closet"
★ Written and composed by Michael Jackson and Teddy Riley
★ Produced by Teddy Riley and Michael Jackson
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley, Jean-Marie Horvat and Dave Way
★ Duet: Michael Jackson and Mystery Girl
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Rhythm arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Synthesizer arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson
★ Keyboards and synthesizers: Teddy Riley
★ Sequencing and programming: Wayne Cobham
"She Drives Me Wild"
★ Written and composed by Michael Jackson and Teddy Riley
★ Rap lyrics by Aqil Davidson
★ Produced by Teddy Riley and Michael Jackson
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley, Dave Way and Jean-Marie Horvat
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Rhythm arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Synthesizer arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Keyboards and synthesizers: Teddy Riley
★ Sequencing and programming: Wayne Cobham
★ Rap performed by
Wrecks N' Effect
"Remember the Time"
★ Written and composed by Teddy Riley, Michael Jackson and Bernard Belle
★ Produced by Teddy Riley and Michael Jackson
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley and Dave Way
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Rhythm arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Synthesizer arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson
★ Keyboards and synthesizers: Teddy Riley
★ Sequencing and programming: Wayne Cobham
"Can't Let Her Get Away"
★ Written and composed by Michael Jackson and Teddy Riley
★ Produced by Teddy Riley and Michael Jackson
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley, Dave Way and Jean-Marie Horvat
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson
★ Rhythm arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Synthesizer arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Keyboards and synthesizers: Teddy Riley
★ Sequencing and programming: Wayne Cobham
"Heal the World"
★ Written and composed by Michael Jackson and
Marty Paich
★ Produced by Michael Jackson
★ Co-produced by Bruce Swedien
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien and Matt Forger
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Ending solo vocal: Christa Larson
★ Playground girl: Ashley Farell
★ Rhythm arrangement by Michael Jackson
★ Orchestra arranged and conducted by
Marty Paich
★ Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson and John Bahler
★ Choir arrangement by John Bahler, featuring the John Bahler Singers
★ Keyboards: Daivd Paich and Brad Buxer
★ Synthesizers: Michael Boddicker, David Paich and
Steve Porcaro
★ Drums: Jeff Porcaro
★ Percussion: Bryan Loren
★ Prelude composed, arranged and conducted by Marty Paich
"Black or White"
★ Written and composed by Michael Jackson
★ Rap lyrics by
Bill Bottrell
★ Produced by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell
★ Recorded and mixed by Bill Bottrell
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Drums: Bryan Loren
★ Percussion: Brad Buxer and Bill Bottrell
★ Bass: Bryan Loren (moog) and Terry Jackson (bass guitar)
★ Keyboards: Brad Buxer, John Barnes and Jason Martz
★ Guitar: Bill Bottrell
★ Heavy metal guitar: Tim Pierce
★ Speed sequencer: Michael Boddicker and Kevin Gilbert
★ Rap performed by L.T.B.
★ "Intro":
★
★ Special guitar performance by
Slash
★
★ Directed by Michael Jackson
★
★ Composed by Bill Bottrell
★
★ Engineering and sound design: Matt Forger
★
★ Son played by Andres McKenzie
★
★ Father played by L.T.B.
"Who Is It"
★ Written and composed by Michael Jackson
★ Produced by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell
★ Recorded and mixed by Bill Bottrell
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Arrangement by Michael Jackson
★ Drums: Bryan Loren and Bill Bottrell
★ Bass: Bill Bottrell (synthesizer) and Louis Johnson (bass guitar)
★ Keyboard arrangement by Brad Buxer and David Paich
★ Keyboard performance and programming: Brad Buxer, Michael Boddicker, David Paich, Steve Porcaro and Jai Winding
★ String arrangement by George del Barrio
★ Concertmaster:
Endre Granat
★ Solo cello: Larry Corbett
★ Soprano voice: Michael Jackson and Linda Harmon
"Give in to Me"
★ Written and composed by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell
★ Produced by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell
★ Recorded and mixed by Bill Bottrell
★ Guitars recorded by Jim Mitchell; Assisted by Craig Brock
★ Special guitar performance by Slash
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Bass, drums, mellotron and guitar: Bill Bottrell
★ Guitar: Tim Pierce
"Will You Be There"
★ Written and composed by Michael Jackson
★ Produced by Michael Jackson
★ Co-produced by Bruce Swedien
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien and Matt Forger
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Rhythm arrangement by Michael Jackson and Greg Phillinganes
★ Orchestra arranged and conducted by Johnny Mandel
★ Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson
★ Choir arrangement by Andrae and Sandra Crouch, featuring the Andrae Crouch Singers
★ Keyboards: Greg Phillinganes and Brad Buxer
★ Synthesizers: Michael Boddicker
★ Synthsizers and synthesizer programming: Rhett Lawrence
★ Drums and percussion: Brad Buxer and Bruce Swedien
★ Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
★ Prelude:
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Opus 125: Presto
★
★ Performed by the Cleaveland Orchestral Chorus
★
★
★ Directed by Robert Shaw
★
★ Performed by the Cleaveland Orchestra
★
★
★ Conducted by George Szell
"Keep the Faith"
★ Written and composed by
Glen Ballard,
Siedah Garrett and Michael Jackson
★ Produced by Michael Jackson
★ Co-produced by Bruce Swedien
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Arrangement by Glen Ballard, Jerry Hey and Rhett Lawrence
★ Choir arrangement by Andrae and Sandra Crouch, featuring the Andrae Crouch Singers
★ Background vocals: Siedah Garret and Shanice Wilson
★ Piano and bass: Jai Winding
★ Drums, percussion and synthesizer: Rhett Lawrence
★ Drums and percussion: Bruce Swedien
★ Synthesizers: Michael Boddicker
★ Guitar: David Williams
"Gone Too Soon"
★ Music by Larry Grossman
★ Lyrics by Buz Kohan
★ Produced by Michael Jackson
★ Co-produced by Bruce Swedien
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien
★ Solo vocal: Michael Jackson
★ Rhythm arrangement by David Paich
★ Orchestra arranged and conducted by Marty Paich
★ Keyboards: David Paich
★ Synthesizers: David Paich, Steve Porcaro and Michael Boddicker
★ Bass: Abraham Laboriel
★ Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
★ Prelude composed, arranged and conducted by Marty Paich
"Dangerous"
★ Written and composed by Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell and Teddy Riley
★ Produced by Teddy Riley and Michael Jackson
★ Recorded by Jean-Marie Horvat, Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley and Thom Russo
★ Mixed by Bruce Swedien and Teddy Riley
★ Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
★ Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson
★ Rhythm arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Synthesizer arrangement by Teddy Riley
★ Synthesizers: Teddy Riley, Brad Buxer and Rhett Lawrence
Technical credits
★ Executive producer: Michael Jackson
★ Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien, Teddy Riley and Bill Bottrell
★ Technical directors: Brad Sundberg and Thom Russo
★ Additional engineering by Dave Way, Matt Forger, Jean-Marie Horvat, Richard Cottrell and Kevin Gilbert
★ Assistant engineers: Brad Sundberg, Bart Stevens, Thom Russo, John Chamberlain, Rail Rogut, Dan Bosworth, Julie East and Elaine Anderson
★ Mastered by Bernie Grundman
References
1. [1]
2. Flashbacks!
3. http://fanofmusic.free.fr/Site-MJpart-LesChiffres-Dangerous.htm]
4. [3]
5. [4]
6. [5]
7. [6]
8. [7]
9. [8]
10. [9]
11. [10]
12. [11]
See also
★
Dangerous World Tour
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