Epic 45400
Executive producer: Michael Jackson
Track listing: Jam / Why You Wanna Trip On Me / In the Closet / She Drives Me Wild / Remember the Time / Can’t Let Her Get Away / Heal the World / Black or White / Who Is It / Give in to Me / Will You Be There / Keep the Faith / Gone Too Soon / Dangerous / Planet Earth
December 14, 1991
4 weeks
Although it was never spoken, Michael Jackson had his mind set on exceeding the 38-million-selling Thriller and the 25-million-selling Bad when he went to work on Dangerous. “You always will see that with Michael,” says producer and mixer Bruce Swedien. “He wants to exceed what the last effort was. He doesn’t express that while he is doing it, but the thought was always there.”
Yet Dangerous would be decidedly different from Jackson’s previous two efforts, as well as their predecessor, Off the Wall. Famed producer Quincy Jones, who had worked with Jackson on all three of those albums, had signed a joint venture with Time Warner for his label, making it impossible to work with Jackson, who himself had just inked new contract with Sony, said to be worth approximately $50 million. “It definitely had an impact that Quincy’s musical approach was absent,” says Swedien, who had worked with Jackson and Jones since the breakthrough Off the Wall album. “What Michael wanted to do on Dangerous was to have a much more street-oriented sound on the album and less of a studio approach.”
Initially, Jackson turned to L.A. Reid and Babyface before settling on Teddy Riley, Bill Bottrell, and Swedien. The decision to bring Riley in was a “masterstroke,” says Swedien. “Teddy did an absolutely incredible job on ‘Why Wanna Trip Me Up,’ ‘She Drives Me Wild,’ and ‘In the Closet.”
Bottrell, who would later work with Sheryl Crow, co-wrote and co-produced the first single, “Black or White,” which featured Slash from Guns N’ Roses on guitar. Slash also lent his guitar to “Give in to Me.” For “Jam,” Swedien worked with his partner Rene Moore, and Riley. “The idea was to combine old with new, so we got a couple of tape loops and put the newer sounds over it,” Swedien says. “We played it for Michael and he just freaked, he started dancing and he loved it.”
Another track, “Keep the Faith,” written by Glen Ballard, Siedah Garrett, and Jackson, was somewhat troublesome. “We recorded the track, overdubbed all the instruments and the Andre Crouch Singers and then started the session where we were going to do Michael’s vocal. When we got to the key change, it was in the wrong key. It was a little too high,” says Swedien. “I looked into the studio and Michael had disappeared. I went back into the office to find him and I heard this sobbing and crying. He was absolutely heartbroken. I told him, ‘Michael, it’s no big deal, we will take care of it.’ He was so geared up for that piece of music that it was really a trauma for him when it was in the wrong key.” Swedien ended up re-recording the entire track and takes full credit for the mistake. “It was our own fault,” he says. “We should have been more careful, but it seemed fine at the time.”
Elsewhere on the album, Jackson hearkened back to earlier hits. “Remember the Time” is like “Rock with You” with “a ’90s approach,” says Sweiden. “Michael sings all those incredible harmonies in the background like no one else can.”
On December 7, 1991, “Black or White” became Jackson’s 12th Number One single. A week later, Dangerous became his third consecutive album to top the album chart and second to debut at the summit. While Dangerous went on to sell more than 17 million copies worldwide, Jackson was undoubtedly disappointed that his album sales had begun to decline, and that he was unable to meet his goal of bettering the sales of his two previous efforts.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of December 14, 1991
1. Dangerous, Michael Jackson
2. Ropin’ the Wind, Garth Brooks
3. Achtung Baby, U2
4. Too Legit to Quit, Hammer
5. Time, Love & Tenderness, Michael Bolton