Tag: Teddy Riley

audio review : Dangerous ( album ) … Michael Jackson

audio review : Dangerous ( album ) ... Michael Jackson

What’s Dangerous, at least to the career of Michael Jackson, was his decision to leave producer Quincy Jones after three hit albums. This one isn’t trimmed as tight as it probably would’ve been if he were still around; it’s 77 minutes long; but the way that time is utilized made it a risk worth taking. The set immerses itself in New Jack Swing; gritty dance grooves produced by Teddy Riley; before dwindling the tempo down for an eclectic assortment of ballads.

Gone Too Soon matches poetic similes with soaring orchestration. It’s a beautiful lament. Then the music fades to the thumping pulse of a nightclub. In it there’s a girl. She’s vindictive, conniving, sexy and divine. Could it be the return of Dirty Diana? Perhaps, but this album is better than Bad. Every one of its fourteen songs is either good or great. It’s Jackson’s best album after Thriller; the more ageless soundscape of which does wonders for its classicity.

Dangerous dates itself with overactive sound effects and unwelcomed guest rappers; some songs go on too long; but Michael Jackson’s vocal style has never sounded so magnificent. Unlike most singers, he doesn’t just sing. He takes on a riled staccato that almost sounds like melodic rap. He snaps, grunts, hiccups, hees and hoos like never before. Even when the ad-libs don’t match the words, as on the peak of Will You Be There, you’re too enthralled to give a damn.

my rating : 4 of 5

1991

Ghosts ( song lyrics ) … Michael Jackson

Ghosts ( song lyrics ) ... Michael Jackson

There’s a ghost out in the hall.
There’s a ghoul up under the bed.
There’s something in the walls.
There’s blood up on the stairs.
And it’s floating thru the room.
And there’s nothing I can see.
And I know it’s fled its tomb
because now it’s haunting me.

I don’t understand it.
Hey. I don’t understand it.

There’s a thumping in the floor.
There’s a creak behind the door.
There’s a rocking in the chair,
but there’s no one sitting there.
There’s a ghostly smell around,
but nobody to be found.
And a coffin, it lay open
where a restless soul is poking.

I don’t understand it
I don’t understand it.

And who gave you the right to scare my family?
And who gave you the right to shake my baby? She needs me.
And who gave you the right to shake my family tree?

They put a knife in my back, shot an arrow in me.
Tell me; are you the ghost of jealousy?

There’s a thumping in the floor.
There’s a creak behind the door.
There’s a rocking in the chair,
but nobody’s sitting there.
There’s a ghostly smell around,
but nobody to be found.
And a coffin, it lay open
where a restless soul is poking.

Don’t understand it.
Don’t understand it.

And who gave you the right to scare my family?
And who gave you the right to scare my baby? She needs me.
And who gave you the right to shake my family tree?
And who gave you the right to take intrusion to see me?

And who gave you the right to shake my family?
And who gave you the right to (scare) my baby? She needs me.
And who gave you the right to shake my family tree?

She put a knife in my back, shot an arrow in me.
Tell me; are you the ghost of jealousy?

And who gave you the right to shake my family?
And who gave you the right to shake my baby? She needs me.
And who gave you the right to shake my family tree?
And who gave you the right to (take) intrusion to see me?

And who gave you the right to (scare) my family?
And who gave you the right to (scare) my baby? She needs me.
And who gave you the right to shake my family tree?

You put a knife in my back, shot an arrow in me.
Tell me; are you the ghost of jealousy?

1997
 

The lamb of God :

you haven’t posted a single scripture.

audio review : Ghosts ( song ) … Michael Jackson

Though the spooky soundscape; a thumping in the floor, a creep behind the door; suggests otherwise, this isn’t just a song about ghosts. The term seems to be a metaphor for something deeper, something real. “Who gave you the right to shake my family tree,” the controversial King Of Pop asks rhetorically, “Tell me; are you the ghost of jealousy?” He’s apparently addressing his many detractors, but the point is nearly lost in the groove.

The beat, produced by Teddy Riley, is as cold as the concept and the bridge conjures 1970s funk, but it’s the aforementioned chorus; not the words themselves but their harmonic melodies; that haunts. It’s a majestic masterpiece; one of the best I’ve heard, in my life, from Michael Jackson or anyone else. There’s just something (special) about the way it’s layered that, at the right moment, can literally send chills down your spine.

my rating : 5 of 5

1997

audio review : Blood On The Dance Floor [ History In The Mix ] ( album ) ... Michael Jackson