This month marks the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Dangerous album. Released November 26, 1991, Dangerous is currently certified 7.00x Platinum in the United States and has sold an estimated 30 million copies around the world. At 14 tracks and 77 minutes, it was Michael's longest album yet.
Dangerous was Michael's first album since the seventies to be recorded without longtime collaborator Quincy Jones. Dozens of songs were recorded for the album over the course of sixteen months. Chief among Michael's collaborators was Teddy Riley, whose new jack swing contributions sat alongside grandiose pop, rock, and R&B songs to create Michael's most adventurous set to date. But the album's ambitions weren't merely sonic. The themes tackled on Dangerous included "race, identity, alienation, and God. It was an eclectic, maximalist collection as audacious as anything pop music had seen. Having already achieved the pinnacle of commercial success, Jackson wanted to create something for the ages - something that wouldn't just entertain but also provoke and inspire."
Michael Jackson albums launched with massive fanfare, and Dangerous was no exception. A series of ads directed by singular film auteur David Lynch let the public know that Michael was back with something very special.
The campaign for Dangerous lasted two years. Nine of the album's 14 tracks became singles.
The Black or White short film debuted simultaneously on MTV, BET, VH1, and FOX, as well as in 27 other countries, on November 14, 1991. The film immediately garnered controversy for its infamous four-minute 'Panther' coda:
Dangerous debuted at number one in the United States, selling 326,500 copies in its first week. By the end of the year, U.S. sales had already reached two million. It was 1992's second highest-selling album domestically, and the top seller worldwide.
In early 1993, Dangerous rocketed back up the charts thanks to a highly-rated interview with Oprah Winfrey, an appearance at the Grammy Awards to accept the Grammy Legend Award, and a legendary performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Michael was the first superstar headliner at the event and the success of his performance set the standard for future Halftime headliners.
ALL MONTH LONG I'll be posting articles, reviews, clips from the era, chart information, photos, anecdotes about the making of the Dangerous, etc. But everyone who wants to share anything, even just their thoughts, is welcome!! Let's celebrate the 25th anniversary of this incredible album!
Dangerous actually began as a greatest hits compilation called Decade, intended for release around Christmas 1989. It would include four Off The Wall tracks, seven from Thriller, six from Bad, and a few additional songs from along the way (Someone In The Dark, State Of Shock, This Place Hotel, Come Together, and updated versions of I'll Be There and Never Can Say Goodbye).
Supplementing these recordings would be five new songs. But Michael and his collaborators wound up with such strong material that they decided to discard the greatest hits album and work on a proper follow-up to Bad. Early versions of Earth Song and They Don't Care About Us supposedly appeared around this time. Who Is It, Black Or White, and Heal The World also appeared in primitive forms during these initial sessions.
Dangerous' grandiose it what's best about it. Michael had nothing even remotely left to prove and he opened his 90s catalog with a lengthy, genre-hopping masterpiece.