Album Review • You put Teddy Riley & Michael Jackson in the studio & you get Michael’s eighth album “Dangerous”. After his success with “Bad” & “Thriller” with the help of Quincy Jones, MJ decided to get a team of new producers to avoid the perception that his success depended on Jones. With producers like Bill Lottrell, Bruce Swedien, and Bryan Loren, MJ was ready for a new sound. Mike dropped 9 singles of 14 songs, but I don’t have enough character space to break them all down, so I’ll break down my top 3.
One of my favorite MJ cuts to perform in the mirror is “In the Closet.” Teddy lost his mind when he produced this one. Originally the song was suppose to be a duet between MJ & Madonna, but when Madonna presented her lyrical suggestions to Mike he thought they were too provocative. He moved on with the project by using “the mystery girl” which later was revealed as Princess Stéphanie of Monaco. The video for “In the Closet” with Naomi Campbell had me attracted to Mike for 4 minutes & 49 seconds. Him & Naomi had some steamy chemistry going.Â
“Will You Be There” is probably in my top 5 of favorite MJ songs. That production of the drums is what always caught my ear. If it hadn’t been in Free Willy, I could see it being put on The Lion King soundtrack. Just add some more African sound to it & it could be placed in a scene with Mufasa & Simba. I almost picked “Remember the Time” as my 3rd favorite but that would be too obvious. “Dangerous” is actually my next favorite. Don’t get me wrong “Remember the Time” is an amazing song & the video is LEGENDARY but that “Dangerous” hit a little different for me. Â
I’ll make “Remember the Time” the honorary member just for the video alone. You can’t tell me your VHS wasn’t sick of you after rewinding it 3-10x a day to keep re-watching! I know I did because I had to get that dance break down! Then Mike had A-list celebrities running a muck in that palace & I was here for it. John Singleton deserved every award for directing this masterpiece, & my good sis Fatima Robinson really should go down as one of the greatest choreographers ever. If you don’t know her work, call Google!
I mean, it’s Mike…you shouldn’t expect nothing past greatness when it comes to him. “Dangerous” had some of Teddy Riley’s best work. I wish they would have done more together, but I’m grateful for the classics they did give us. Need some new jack swing in your ears, throw this album on.Â
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