Bad

Good album, notably the best of the Weird Al parody covers. 4/5

A weak to middling 4. The singles are good, really really good. The filler is bad, really really bad.

The King of Pop! His music will continue to stand the test of time. Not my favorite MJ album but still love it. Huge fan!

There’s three absolute bangers on this. But like other Michael Jackson albums there’s at least one that’s godawful. (For me that’s Liberian Girl.) The rest of the album is fun. But those great songs are phenomenal. 3.5/5

most of these are *the* defining mj songs. i don't listen to these regularly, but some hugely influential music

Gefällt mir gut.

As a kid, I had this idea that you were either a "Beat It" fan or a "Bad" fan, when it came to Michael Jackson's music. Maybe it's because Weird Al parodied both of them? Either way, if forced to choose between "Beat It" and "Bad," I'd always choose "Beat It." There's just something about "Bad" that I've never enjoyed listening to. But really listening to "Bad," instead of just hearing it on the radio or on a playlist of some kind, I can appreciate it, and the whole album. I really like the sound of the title track, especially those little synthesizer notes that kick in at the end of each line of the verse, and they synthesizer notes during the build up to the chorus. "Dirty Diana" is fantastic as well; I love the audience cheers that are interspersed throughout the song, the guitar playing, the rhythm of the lyrics, and Jackson's powerful singing during the chorus (belting out "Dirty Di-Anna" along to this song is a blast). I enjoyed "Smooth Criminal" as well. As a teenager, I became familiar with Alien Ant Farm's version, and I'm not even sure at what point in my life I learned that it was a cover (I actually got to see Alien Ant Farm at the Engine Room in Houston about 20 years ago. Fun times). Just like the other songs that I enjoyed on this album, "Smooth Criminal" has some fantastic synthesizer parts, some simple but effective percussion, and an excellent falsetto from Jackson during the chorus. The "Just Good Friends" duet with Stevie Wonder was really enjoyable as well, simply for the fact that we get to hear two of the most talented musicians of all time sing together. "Man in the Mirror" is great too, and has some fantastic lyrics and vocals. But my favorite track of all on this album, and possibly my favorite Michael Jackson song of all time, is "The Way You Make Me Feel." What an apt name, because this song makes me feel fantastic. I love the opening 'woo-ing' and exclamations by Jackson, the amazing synthesizer parts, and the percussion that sounds like pipes banging, which really add to the whole 'Bad' aesthetic of this album. Jackson's vocals are amazing on this song, and I always try and fail miserably to sing along. The trumpet and saxophone playing are outstanding as well, and they really give this song the punch and feel that make it so great. The rest of the album is good, but the other songs that I didn't mention just kind of feel like filler. It's good filler, but I felt like they're noticeably not as good as the other songs. As a whole, this is still a great album though. Quincy Jones knocks it out of the park once again with his fantastic production work, and Michael Jackson lives up to his title of the King of Pop. I liked that this album shows that Michael Jackson was changing and adapting as music was changing during the late eighties. His sound is still great, even as he utilizes more synthesizers and drum machines, and the overall 'Bad' mood of the album clicks really well. A great listen, but short of five stars for me.

5/5 classic

I understand the classic-ness, though still believe the radio releases were the best cuts from the album.

"Bad" is yet another song in the series of "Songs I'm incapable of hearing as anything other than Weird Al's lyrics." "Man in the Mirror" is... insipid, uninspired, and knowing what we know now about Michael Jackson, just a little weird. Overall - I'm trying to give this a fair shot but it's hard to escape the context. Ultimately, it's everything I don't like about 80s music with very little of the good bits. I won't say there aren't some high points (Smooth Criminal, bits of Dirty Diana) but I don't think I'll be revisiting it.

Great album, never gave it a chance before but its worth a listen

So good. Would be 5 stars but MJ. Love Criminal and Way You Make Me Feel.

Think Thriller is better, but last songs allow this album into my 5 stars. Loved MJ ok the car journeys and still love him now.

This one is a stellar achievement; one that I actually like better than Thriller. The whole album is perfectly produced pop. Any album that contains the likes of Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man In The Mirror, I Just Can't Stop Loving You and (especially) Smooth Criminal will get a high rating in my book. While these tracks are at least on par with Thriller, there are 2 or 3 here that I would rather file as ... Filler. That, however shouldn't distract from the fact that here, Michael Jackson has indeed proven without a doubt that he was really the King of Pop. 5/5

I did my best but the album just did not do it for me. Putting aside the private life issues that followed MJ until his death aside from the singles the album seemed to try too hard, his vocal ticks were down right annoying and the songs failed to really catch my attention.

If “Thriller” felt inevitable, then “Bad” had to prove itself. How would/could Michael Jackson follow up what was already fast becoming not only a bestseller but THE bestseller? Jackson doubled down on the formula that made him a star since childhood—bright, danceable pop music with hooks for days. He sold us on his brand of mainstream pop music even while hinting at danger from the opening bars of the title track, a signature smash from first listen: “Your butt is mine…” Other flashes of darkness were also wrapped in expert R&B/Rock/Dance arrangements, namely soon-to-be-classics “Dirty Diana” and “Smooth Criminal.” Jackson remains a globally-embraced artist because, for all his ambition, he manages to succeed in delivering the goods. His career-defining philosophical statement, “Man in the Mirror,” is as sincerely moving 37 years later. Despite what we know about Jackson’s personal struggles and all the criticism we could level at him (including the irony of this track), “Mirror” continues to defy cynicism: the key change @ 2.52 lifts an already lifted melody; the celebratory whoops and “na-na-nas” @3.36 are like cheat-codes to levels we didn’t know was available. Jackson sang “Leave Me Alone,” and maybe we should’ve listened, but it’s too late for that now. Whatever you think about him or his music, nobody can deny he’s cast in bronze and his music is legend. “Bad,” the wildly impossible follow up to the impossibly successful “Thriller,” is a big reason why.

Interesting listening. Of course I listened to this album in the 80s and at that time found it great. But now, approx. 40 years later, it simply isn't the same as before. Yes, it was great at it's time but for me now not anymore.

In 2024 - honestly not sure how I feel about the album. Thinking about hearing it in 1987, though, I have to say that while the genre isn't my typical preference, it has a quintessential 1980's sound and seems to define the decade, musically about as well as any single album can.

Great album, RIP The King

It's just hits on hits. Starting with Bad and ending with diana, criminal and leave me alone. Damn. I'd give it a 4 as most of them do hit but I'm a bit cold on liberian girl (which for like 6-7 years I've thought was liberarian girl lmao), and another part of me. Apart from that

I think this is one of those albums that really doesn’t need justifying, there’s no need for individual song breakdowns, this album has some of the biggest songs of its time on, “Bad”, “Man in the Mirror” and “Smooth Criminal” just to name a few. Even then the deeper cuts are fantastic as well, such as “Liberian Girl” which is a particular stand out to me due to how beautiful a song it is. You wouldn’t be far off if you’d mistaken this album for a greatest hits compilation and that’s what makes it so great. Usually I’d make a point about the album feeling like an album, having a theme/story, but here I’m just appreciating the music that’s on here. Just a few points, some of the instrumentation on here is great, seeing a pop record sometimes you just assume more electronically generated pieces but there was some nice guitar and drum fills, especially on “Dirty Diana”. The composition of the songs are fantastic and of course the singing is not only beautiful but also incredibly charismatic, it’s the sound of someone really invested in the music. Overall, I have to give this album full ratings just based off the legacy of these songs and Michael Jackson as an artist, it also helps that the songs are all top tier too. Everyone has their own opinions about the man but you can’t deny the impact he had on modern music and how brilliantly he could put a song together. Not my favourite album by far but when each song is as good as the last I can only praise it and so anything less than a 5 is an insult.

A good album with the classic hits of Bad, Man in the Mirror and Smooth Criminal.

"Bad" and "Smooth Criminal" are by far the best songs on this album. By far.

Era defining. You know it. You no longer feel comfortable listening to it.

So many songs that I've enjoyed when I was a kid.

Pedo. I refuse to listen. It's too bad.

He was a musical and performance genius!!

Like Bad, Smooth Criminal; everything else’s okay.

A classic that could be heard everywhere in its time. Listening to it now I was a bit surprised by the number of slower songs that I didn’t really enjoy so I can’t quite give it that 5 stars but it is rare to find the sheer quality of the title track, The Way You Make Me Feel and Smooth Criminal, all sitting together on one record. 11/1001

Auch ein Meilenstein - in diesem Fall des Pop. rip, Michael.

Great album Bad is probably my favorite MJ album

Great Album.

Did not like it at all after its release and has not changed since.

Legendaarinen

Great pop album, full of hits and style 4/5

Þegar ég var lítill, um 6 ára fékk ég Bad á kasettu og fór á Michael Jackson dansnámskeið. Þessi snælda var spiluð út í gegn og ekkert var meira töff þegar maður var 6 ára en að labba um með einn hvítan hanska. Nostalgíueinkunn en líka bara góð plata.

49 year old me: 2 12 year old me: 5

some really good songs on this album. but he depends a little much on the "hehe" shtick. But I guess that's his signature, for better or worse.

Though there are a bunch of pretty lame songs on here, the electronic beats are too prominent (dating this and making me think of Harold Faltermeyer and the Thompson Twins) and he ended up being a giant creep... there's enough pop wonderment in here that I can recognize that this was definitely better than average.

Tough to follow Thriller. Don't think he succeeded. Still good bangers.

Der King of Pop… alles bekannt und gut

👍🏻

The vocal quality and production is stellar. You can tell this album was made to be more about image and presence vs just audio. Smooth Criminal is so strong. This is an attitude album for sure but it almost has a "you know I'm the best" attitude vs being overly unique or strong. 3.5 so either a 3 or 4.

His vocal styling and drama he puts into it is strong and carries the mediocre synth music.

Famous MJ album. MJ is dope as always.

Classic, this album is why he’s the King of Pop

It is a great album with great songs

Not a fan of Liberian Girl. Just Good Friends and Speed Demon are weaker songs although by no means bad songs. Otherwise this is a really strong album and has some really great classics. Dirty Diana and Smooth Criminal remain my favorites. Solid 5

4.5

5 or 6 good songs, but the rest were mediocre

The only man talented enough to turn the word bad into a good thing Best song: Smooth Criminal Worst song: Speed Demon

Man, man in the mirror, the baddest banger of them all

Some may point to Thriller as the ultimate MJ album (and something tells me that will show up on here eventually too), but Bad, to me, is his magnum opus. The album produced a total of nine singles over a near three year period. The only question remains - Did Alien Ant Farm do it better????

Two MJ Albums in about a week. This one, same as the other, is just riddled with hit after hit. Michael knew how to make a jam with staying power. Sure he was maybe a kid-diddler, but he certainly knew how to make music.

More than just a pop album I think - lots of interesting techniques like slap bass and harmonics which made it a far more exciting listen

Although this album has quite a number of Michael's hit singles, I found it less creative and interesting as previous albums, such as Thriller. Although I enjoyed listening to the album, I found it very much a product of pure commercial tracks aimed to maximise sales, rather than a creative album.

Love: Smooth Criminal Like: Bad, Another Part of Me, Dirty Diana, Leave Me Alone The instrumentation really cement this album as of its time, and is pretty sparse in some sections despite Jackson's apparent perfectionism in recording. The vocal inflections and delivery (shamona, heehee, ah-ah, etc.) make it really difficult to get immersed in many songs and take them seriously. - preachy (Man in the Mirror) - muzak (Way you make me feel)

Probably MJs second best album after Thriller. Lots of great songs and beats. 3

HEEHEE

It’s very well made and I dig the title track, but it’s just not my thing. 2.5/5

First time listening to an MJ album as a whole, have only heard some of his songs here and there. I don't really love this synthetized sound, but I can understand how this can stand out in 80s pop. All feels very manufactured except for MJ's voice, which if it were autotuned would sound robotic like everything else in the album. Maybe it's this particular usage of drum machines that is just unenjoyable to me. 2* for one of the best sellers of all time. Just doesn't stand out to me. Not bad enough for a 1* because MJ's singing is great but not something I'd pop in again to get 3*. Standout tracks: man in the mirror, smooth criminal Zero judgement based on MJ as a person when judging this album.

Classic. Lots of household names. Funky.

man in the mirror and smooth criminal slap hard. others cannot be critically reviewed by me

so good its bad by michael jackson

Misleading title cause it was a good album

Has all the classics that make Michael Jackson as iconic as a musician and performer, was slay, had 80s vibes that I appreciated, particularly "just good friends" was a personal favourite. 💜

i had this weird bias against michael jackson only because he was popular/mainstream and i thought he was overrated so i never listened to his music. after listening to the album my opinion has changed and i love it. something about this album is just so good, i could listen to it for 2 days straight

this is the peak of the "king of the pop". iconic and masterclass vocals and song-writing. while thriller might have slightly better album coherence, bad has stronger songs throughout. very close to a 5 but that category is very exclusive to me, a high 4

I know this is an 80s album, but it soooo much more 80s than I remember. MJ was big on the pops when I was young and this was one of my first albums in tape. A few absolute classics. Just eating the music today.

Well not bad at all I suppose. He certainly was, but his mid-80s music was a notch up from that.

Do I like it or am I just conditioned to appreciate popular music

It's full of bops. Obviously the hits are great but the rest of the tracks are solid too. So familiar that it'll never be in my regular rotation but it's iconic and had really stood the test of time.

Reading the top rated review, I waited in horror for 2:45 to come up. The dreaded unnoticed synth riff. ‘My God,’ I thought to myself as it played drearily on in the background. ‘This is bad.’ Little did I know, my horror had only just begun. For when I was reading through the personnel on Wikipedia, a familiar name stood out to me. No, surely not. But as my heart began to beat faster and faster, I knew I was not mistaken. For the name with which I was so acquainted was… Jimmy Smith! One of the great Jazz organ players, one of the greatest improvisers of all time, and they got him in to do 20 seconds of trite sounding rubbish on a badly programmed synth. There are three big problems with most of the songs on Bad. The first is that they go on for too damn long. The Way You Make Me Feel is a prime example. Jackson gets to the point where he’s ad-libbing, the point where the great Soul songs of the 60’s and 70’s would fade out, and the song goes on for another two fucking minutes! It’s fucking arrogance is what it is, oh of course you want to listen to two minutes of Jackson and the band cooking because he sold 32 million copies. The second problem is that they are often unintentionally hilarious. The best example comes from the very first line of the album. ‘Your butt is mine,’ is not a badass line. Instead it’s overtly homoerotic, and exhibits a clear misunderstanding of the sort of character that Jackson’s supposed to be portraying. What makes this EVEN MORE ironic is that there’s some pretty compelling evidence that Jackson was involved with the LA Crips! He was a gangster who couldn’t write gangster characters. Mario Puzo he ain’t. Liberian Girl’s Wikipedia page has a section about the reaction in Liberia whose only source is a Washington Post article that only let me read three paragraphs before sending me to a spam page, so please forgive me if I don’t think that it is the best argument to be made that ‘women from the country foun[d] the song empowering.’ I find this particularly hilarious considering the non-English vocals are sung by a South African woman in Swahili. If we were to put this into a European context, imagine a fabulously wealthy entertainer wrote a song called British Boy, and had an Italian bloke singing a few words in Russian. I’m not sure I’d feel particularly empowered by that. Just Good Friends is also hilarious. ‘Oh, I know she loves me, but if you ask her she’ll deny it.’ You’re either getting strung along, or cucked mate. This is not romantic. Also, it was the only song not released as a single anywhere. This is a running theme in Jackson’s albums, why release the album as an album in the first fucking place? What’s the point? But also, I feel bad for Stevie Wonder, just for his 80’s output in general, but specifically because the song that he duetted on was the ONLY ONE not released as a single. Damn, gotta feel bad man. The third problem with Bad is that is incredibly fucking boring. They are dreary sentimental ballads, they’re repetitive, they’re really annoying at times. Jackson’s vocal tics are so overdone that by the end of a full album in his company they become grating. My theory about Thriller and Bad and the reason why they’re so critically acclaimed is two fold. Nostalgia and circular thinking. Most of the people who have reviewed this positively have mentioned specifically fond memories of listening as children. They have good memories and so cannot think of it badly. I admit that I’m guilty of this as well, I wrote a whole thousand words justifying why I like an Arctic Monkeys album that I first listened to when I was 7. But I think that there’s something more interesting going on with the professional reviews. A fallacy of because it’s popular, it must be good, and therefore I must give it a good review. I think it’s popular, not because it’s good, but because it was well promoted. It sold well, because it was well promoted, and therefore it’s popularity must be justified. There are too many instances when critics get things wrong, when we tell the public they’re stupid for liking something, and for the most popular artist of all time, well we can’t let a large amount of the public think that we think they’re stupid. So what does this all add up to? Well in my opinion, a series of fantastically dull, gratingly long and hilariously underwritten slabs of dated 80’s cheese, that was, of course, the second highest selling album of all time at some point. I’ll never understand people. But, what I really wanted to do was to prove that there is stuff to be talked about on this album, and that the conversation can be more than just repeating that he was either the GOAT or a nonce. Those who don’t like his music can have reasons for disliking it other than his personal life. I’ve spent the full review outline quite a few of them. And you’re at perfect liberty to like the album if you do. But I’d love to know why you think he’s so good, why you think he’s worth having the best selling album of all time. Let’s have a conversation. Because that’s what being a critic is all about. P.S. Do you want to know what the real kicker is? I still like this album more than I like Thriller

know it by heart Won't listen

This shit's fucking boring man idk

This album is STACKED. 5.

This album is everything I hate about the 80s. Over-inflated ego of the lyrist. Bass replaced with synth. False depth. It's bad.

There's some filler in here but for the most part this is full of top tier pop. Catchy. Memorable. Classic. 9/10

This album is like a time capsule of pop music from the 80s. It reeks of its sound. Other than that, it’s mostly just a weird 80s pop record. Didn’t age too well.

Not my style. Only like smooth criminal

King of Pop with some killer tracks.

I don't want to rate this at all. It's obviously very good but the man is a big NO for me. I will hit 2 because yay for the production and artistry but the man ruined some people's lives quite profoundly so that colours my enjoyment.

Only the hits would make this a 5 star. But it's all so good. Even the non-singles are great.

Well, I like most of the songs that got released as singles. The rest just I just could get that into. They aren’t bad, but not what I would choose to listen to.

Good album but totally over produced. MJ’s squeaks, gasps, woots and hee-hees wear thin quickly. I find it difficult to take his songs about women seriously given his reported proclivities and Speed Demon is just ridiculous. Still there are bunch of hits on this album, hence the score.

Not bad. Actually great.

Man in the mirror seems to be relevant

Who's bad

It has 4 pretty good songs but the rest is well, bad

Classique c'est cool d'écouter ya plein de bonnes idées dans les sons comme dans speed demon avec la ligne de basse qui arrive d'un coup on dirait des coups de feu et le solo de sax incroyable Après les éléments électroniques c'est cool mais faut pas en abuser genre dans la 2e partie de l'album je l'ai trouvé moins bien à cause de ça Pour conclure, album légendaire qui me donne hâte d'écouter thriller qui est encore mieux apparemment

Did not realize how many hits were on this one album.

Some of my favorite Michael Jackson songs are on this album!

Even after all this time, this album holds up. The songs were as polished as you'd expect MJ's music to be. Each song could stand on its own and worked together to make this an album that has stood the test of time. Scale: 5 - My absolute favorites. 4 - Albums I like. 3 - It was ok to listen to but I wouldn't seek it out. 2 - Didn't like. 1 - Absolute shit.

kinda surprised how much i enjoyed this. for an 80’s pop album, the track listing is surprisingly tight. and as many have pointed out, the production sounds like a sega genesis game. man in the mirror hasn’t aged too well tho, that shit corny as hell.

Viscerally 80's, god the bass on the speed demon chorus!! This is my favourite collection of sonic songs Pretty fun album, the middle meanders around and is kinda boring.. 3.5 stars

bad. music: hated. (⌐■_■)

Went into this feeling cynical about Michael Jackson. Hard to detach him from his place in the zeitgeist, for better or (much) worse. But with each passing song I was like “Well, shit.” It’s not all good with Jackson, but this record, and a couple others that I’m sure are on this list… my god. Who will ever top this guy from a straight pop perspective?

Some classics, of course. Non-singles are generally a bit crap though.

Klassiker. Faktiskt bättre än jag mindes.

I forgot how many of these songs... Aren't on Thriller...

Rating: 8.5/10 Great pop album. The production and Michael Jackson's singing were great throughout, no bad songs on this album. Overall really fun to listen to, the upbeat songs are my favorites but some of the ballads are very good as well. Jackson and Quincy Jones also implemented more hard rock elements on this album, it's a bit more hard-hitting than his previous albums which I quite enjoy. Favorite songs: Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Liberian Girl, Man In The Mirror, Smooth Criminal. Worst song: I Just Can't Stop Loving You.

Ah, the King! I don’t have much nostalgia for MJ, but can say I definitely enjoy a majority of the songs. Been looking for a way to get more familiar with some of his work. I’m surprised by how many I know but wasn’t aware they were from him. Easy to listen, many will put me in a good mood, no matter what kind of music I want to listen to. Favorite tracks: Bad and Smooth Criminal

It's a very good album and I think man in the mirror is one of the best pop songs ever written. A relisten does reveal a surprising amount of filler though.

hell yeah man

Classic album, as good as ever all these years later!

90/100

It’s a great album from him even though I’m truly not a Michael Jackson fan.

Som classic hits. Some tunes I've never heard before. Good all round.

Previously rated: Thriller (5/5) ****************** I think I heard this album once in its entirety when it was new. Of course, many of the songs here were singles, so it left about four songs I was unfamiliar with, although listening to the song "Bad," I realized I was much, much more familiar with Weird Al's "Fat" and didn't remember these lyrics. It may be an iconic song, but man the lyrics are pretty cringeworthy if you take them for Jackson singing about himself. (Apparently he wrote it about a kid in a newspaper story he read.) He was going for an overall edgier approach with the album. At the time, it didn't fool anyone. We all knew he was a skinny little twerp who talked like a meek little girl and hung around with children. Anyway, back to the music. It's fantastic, what can I say? Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal, all huge songs! The weakest song is probably Liberian Girl, and even that's not terrible. Stevie Wonder is featured in one song, which surprised me. The album ends on a very solid three track, Dirty Diana, Smooth Criminal, and Leave Me Alone (forgot how much I liked this one). I let the album play a second time. Not quite Thriller or Off the Wall, but it's close. Still 5/5.

Thriller was the first album I ever owned and I and everyone I knew loved it, but by the time Bad came out I had moved on from MJ. So I never listened this all the way through until now, though a lot of these songs were constantly on the radio and MTV. Today the slick production sounds kind of thin and tinny. I really like The Way You Make Me Feel and especially Smooth Criminal, but I can't hear the title track without thinking of Weird Al. It's interesting that the closing track asks us to let MJ be his weird self in his personal life. He would get a lot weirder after this, and a hell of lot weirder than Weird Al.

I’m sorry but I’m a hater

I've already had this album before I was in the group. I'm not listening to this s*** again. The radio hits are nostalgic but otherwise I had a hard time listening. So many extra "noises" and MJs little squeak noise, and all together too much pop music. And the fake drums are too tinny. Also: Wtf is up with Liberian Girl?

Jeg liker dette, men det er jo ikke et album jeg aktivt vil lytte til. Jeg er jo og har aldri vært en Jackson-fan.

well produced. not my style

Great pop album by a weird man.

Some good singles but a lot of the songs are forgettable.

its michael jackson what should i say babes extremely famous album with amazing songs on it

Michael Jackson. Doing MJ things. Couple of HUGE tunes on here, but also some absolute stinkers. And of course, the elephant in the room makes it hard to separate the art from the artist. But in general, it’s not a great album, it’s just ok. The classics stand up well as you would expect - Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Dirty Diana and Smooth Criminal but the rest feels an awful lot like very average filler tunes.

First time finding myself having a hard time separating the art from the artist. Not a bad album but what a mess of a human.

MJ!

All the hits

Typical MJ

There are a few weaker tracks toward the beginning, and it's not Thriller or Off The Wall, but it's pretty damn good. Man In The Mirror is an all time classic.

Bad is weird. while it's not bad (even though it is), it really doesn't feel all that good either. it really doesn't shine very well in comparison to thriller, or even off the wall. smooth criminal is obviously the highlight and only song I'd call thriller-tier. Bad (song) actually isn't that bad (even though it also is). The rest is memorable (dirty diana, speed demon, man in the mirror) but it's just like. sure. this exists. I'd rather just listen to thriller. still not bad (even though it is?) I'd see why someone would call this bad. though I do also not see how you wouldn't call it bad. where am i

Good, really good

p580. 1987. 3 stars Well, there's no denying he could knock out a tune - this is packed with hits - and Man In The Mirror is possibly the best thing he did. Vocally he's on top form, but set against that is the dated production and an awful lot of filler. And I can't shake off the embarrassment of listening to music made by a child molester.

My god I love this album.

solid album I think

Classic Michael Jackson, really enjoyed some songs but some songs weren’t my taste probably give it a 3.5/5

So many good songs!

No while this album is Bad, I wouldn't say it's bad. But it definitely isn't great. The second half stands out for sure.

The hits are hits. The rest is meh. I did like "Librarian Girl".

The songs sound quite dated and there are a few pretty shite tracks. The hits are rather good however. Trying to seperate art from artist is always tough, especially when the album was released seemingly before he went 'bad'. 2.5/5

Mostly a great album that is still tough to listen to. Fave track: Smooth Criminal

Good music overshadowed by a disgraced legacy. I knew eventually I'd have to encounter a review like this, and still not sure where I land on the whole thing. I considered not rating this at all, but I think I'll just try not to overthink it and give an honest rating. There are some great pop songs here. I do prefer the production on the two previous albums, but the hits are pretty strong. Three stars. Fave track: The Way You Make Me Feel

The hits are there! About three of the songs were unknown to me. Not bad but they weren't anything special.

Sve hitovi do hitova. Puno poznatih pjesama, a i one koje prvi put čujem su odmah bile catchy. Pjesme su groovy, razumljive. Odmah uđu u uho.

Great album. The things he does with his voice, the production and the musicians he manages to pull together. Awesome!

I see why the hits were the hits

Was not a huge fan when this came out but the musicality of this album will stand the test of time.

Shite by MJ of course it's fire.

The songs "Bad" and "The Way You Make Me Feel" are okay. The rest I can live without. Overall, a very dated 80s sound. Far from a timeless sound like, for example, Simon & Garfunkel. 2.5-3 stars

Did not feel this one, even though I like the "Thriller" album. Lots of slow jams on this that are snoozers to me, and the production throughout feels so dated to me. "Smooth Criminal" and the title track are good, but "Fat" surpasses the latter in every way. There better be a Weird Al album on this list...

Great pop album

There are absolutely great songs on here like Smooth Criminal, and I cannot deny that, but everything here feels incredibly aged, for mostly worse, and the fact that the best song (Leave Me Alone) isn't even on the original track listening is kind of the final straw that makes this album feel incredibly mediocre. 2.5, round up to a 3.

All around great

Time has proved that ‘Bad’ was always better than ‘Thriller’. Not as revolutionary, not as surprising, not such a milestone, but it is musically richer, more mature, more enduring. Each of the songs is a little piece of art, made to last for decades. In particular, a song like 'Man in the Mirror' has never been equalled. ‘Liberian Girl' or 'Smooth Criminal' show Michael Jackson at his best as an artist. And then there are the unbelievable hit singles. The statement 'All killer, no filler' made true.

groovy

Everything about this album is amazing. Especially his vocals though. Dirty Diana and Liberian Girl are my favourite tracks.

Bad was good. all the hits

It's a good album packed with hits

Combining funk rhythms with rock instrumentation and his infamous vocals, it is clear that the king of pop created a top tier album.

I feel like this album gets overlooked in MJs category, it might night be quite as strong as Thriller or Off the Wall but it is pretty solid.

Thinking about Weird Al😳....Man In The Mirror, I just Can't Stop Loving You, and Smooth Criminal were my favorite tracks. Overall not my favorite type of sound. Also, I think I find his voice a little goofy? Can't tell if that's just because it so unique and has been parodied so many times.

An album with some of the most well-known singles kept me interested the whole way. Some of the other tracks were fun to listen to the first time, but some of MJ’s best work.

I heard most of these songs as singled on the radio.

Some filler but Annie is, in fact, okay.

Top-notch production, top-notch pop, though much of it definitely sounds dated. Looking forward to some of his other works.

Not my favoirite of his but still je of his best

HEE HEE. Actually pretty good. Not great, but definitely not Bad. Talk about clickbait. Do better Michael Jackson, I know you're reading this. Yaddi-yadda, insert eight paragraphs here about Michael Jackson being a questionable guy. Who cares. I know all of you fuckers writing college essays in the reviews pull out the nastiest bop of all time when "Billie Jean" comes on at the club.

When you reach the heights that MJ did, even an album made after you’ve begun your downward slide is pretty great. This has some hits and some filler and some garbage, but it’s just past peak Michael Jackson.

It's not BAD but it's no Thriller.

MJ’s vocals and style are so unique and rhythmic/ percussive. I don’t like as much as Thriller or Off the wall but it’s still so good. A way more 80’s synthy/ drum machiney sound. The synclaviar parts on speed demon are wild.

Pretty much perfect just like all his records. Off the wall is my fav but they’re all iconic. Dirty Diana, smooth criminal and man in the mirror are all so good.

There was a time when The Way You Make Me Feel was my #1 favorite song. God this album is good. -1 for the artist himself.

Toujours des rythmes réguliers très accentués, des hooks mélodiques irrésistibles. Michael est évidemment inimitable, même si certaines chansons ont plutôt mal vieilli.

Hit power gives way to star power on Bad. The tracklist feels a bit stretched, and there's less spectacle for Michael's ad-libs to hide behind. Perfectly controlled, perfectly unique, but one such record among many.

He sure can diddle those notes.

Iconic. Great album. No bad tracks and so many timeless songs.

Good pop album with a lot of good songs

Well not being a great fan of Mr Jackson, I surprised myself that I enjoyed this. I prefer the earlier stuff but the production and gutsy sound are both clever and stimulating.

Just excellent, great listen

1. Bad - Belter, classic. 2. The Way You Make Me Feel - Iconic, amazing. 3. Speed Demon - Weakest on the album. 4. Librerian Girl - Most underrated. 5. Just Good Friends - With Stevie, should be better. 6. Another Part of Me - Banger. 7. Man in the Mirror - Legendary. 8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You - Wonderful. 9. Dirty Diana - Excellente. 10. Smooth Criminal - Used to be my favorite as a child. 11. Leave Me Alone - Also very underrated. MJ's best.

Poopoo

Um dos melhores álbuns que existe! Muito feliz de ser o meu primeiro, dia 25/10/23.

One of the all time greats at his peak. It is undeniable how groovy this album is. It is not at the same level as off the wall or thriller to me but it has almost as many great hits. Plus weird al's parody was awesome. Man in the mirror is a beautiful ballad. Dirty Diana and the Way you Make me feel are up there for top tracks. Smooth criminal is badass. I’m also loving deeper cuts like the song speed demon and the closer leave me alone feels like a desperate cry for him to get the public off his back. Despite this title, this album is nowhere close to "bad" lololololol I'm done.

Yes

Not bad!

cheap Ghostbusters OST knock off but man in the mirror doesn't make this album so BAD lol

Great album. Cool cool cool

Classic

4-

Huge album. Incredible talent, and probably pretty defining of pop music at the time. You can tell it influenced nearly everything that came after it. The hits are great, but not much else stuck out at me. Easy to listen to in the background.

Better than I would have thought. The guitar a bit boring. A bit hard at time to distinguish song an music. It had some really great songs.

Sounds just like I remember it did on CD in the early 90s.

already heard it

Classic 80s pop, always spectacular

Good but not my favorite MJ album. I think thriller and off the wall are better but it’s still solid

It’s alright

A classic of course, some solid slow jams in there too

a classic

I finally gave him a listen & it’s a no skip album for me

Not a Michael Jackson fan but I did like a few. Top Tracks: 1) Liberian girl 2) Smooth Criminal 3) I just can’t stop loving you

3.5/5

"Bad" is not the classic that "Off the Wall" or "Thriller" is, but I still think it has a lot of amazing songs. Songs like Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man in the Mirror, and Smooth Criminal are top tier Michael Jackson songs, and songs like Speed Demon and Dirty Diana are highly underrated songs. I was a huge Michael Jackson fan, as a kid, and "Bad" was likely the height of it, though I think it started with "Thriller" and lasted through "Dangerous." Michael Jackson's voice, dancing, and overall physicality was still at its height during "Bad," and I definitely think it is still one of the greatest pop albums ever made.

It's MJ of course, also it flows very well and feels like mostly killer and no filler

Great songs, production sounded of it's time with the synths

Nope. This is the point where Michael Jackson starts to believe his own "King of Pop" hype. Bad is self-indulgent and, compared to Thriller, dull. Even the title song, the only enduring hit from this album, sounds like a Thriller outtake. In all fairness, trying to craft a follow up to an album such as Thriller is very hard, but Bad falls amazingly short. This is a parody of a Michael Jackson album that is not nearly as good as the real parody by Weird Al. Jackson is playing to MTV - all style but little substance. The only worse Michael Jackson albums are all the ones that followed. Bad is just bad.

Banger after banger - can’t knock any of it. It’s ore of those records though that the songs outshine the album - because the single’s gravitational pull just makes the in between tracks feel pale in comparison even if not. But then Bad or Smooth Criminal come up and you find yourself dancing again. Good fun.

Also the sound of the drum machine is super irritating. A very tinny drum machine. Iberian girl? WTF is this song! In general: so many added noises it's almost chaotic. And how many times is he gonna do that high pitched squeak noise? The ones I know from the 80s radio of my past are tolerable.

wore out the cassette of this when i was like 7; really struggled to listen to it straight through now, partly b/c of, you know, and partly because this is just very dated now; really, smooth criminal is the only one that really still stands up. leave me alone is ok too.

Great album, especially Liberian girl, Bad and Smooth Criminal

Familiar with about 50% of album prior to listen, mostly bangers except for “Liberian Girl”. Would listen again

Pedo

Classic!

perfect title

Not for me, I guess. MJ's talent is undoubtable, and his performance is super energetic. But there's just too many songs on the record, which are "just there". So Bad and Smooth Criminal remain the standouts.

Take a stick and smash it repeatedly on a metal garbage can. You've just nailed the recurring sound of Bad. It's bad. The songs are just weird and the producer appears to have just unboxed a new synthesiser. Every track, any moment of breathing space, is filled with a wacky sound effect or slice of novelty nonsense. I actually bought this in 1987 and thought I'd arrived as a serious cultural thought leader. Today, I'd like to apologise to that young man, 30 years too late.

Geweldige klassieker, vol met hits. Ook de minder bekende nummers hebben de typische MJ-sound.

production is very sterile and inhuman to me, the drum machines make me want to die, cheesy and not in a fun way. bad indeed

If I liked this type of music more I would give it a 4.

Hard to ignore the cliche and connotations of these songs. Although some songs undeniably good.

Beginning of album is kind of weak and gets worse. Dirty Diana and Smooth Criminal are the only reason its listenable

I'm kind of surprised to get an album from an artist as big as Michael Jackson this early on, but it's definitely a pleasant surprise. There's not really a ton to say about Bad. Contrary to its name, this album is quite good. Obviously, Michael's vocals are very unique and good. Some of the songs on here are quite forgettable, but the memorable ones are great! Obviously, the title track, as well as Smooth Criminal, are absolute classics. The sound of the album is very 80s. Even though I haven't heard it yet, I do feel like this album has a hard time living up to Thriller, but it is definitely a pretty good successor from an all-time great artist, even if that artist may have allegedly been pretty weird with kids. Still, I am making it a goal to separate the art from the artist for this project. High 4/5.

I liked the sounds. There were some good song but won't be rushing back to listen anytime soon.

Honestly, this album did not age well. The synthesizers sound like a parody of themselves, with effects reminiscent of my 1990s childhood Casio's demo song. Many of the lyrics are cheesy beyond redemption, and the ballads are straight up unlistenable. And after relistening to the masterpiece that is Thriller, which truly stands the test of time, it's even worse. If it weren't for some classic hits, I'd rate this a little lower.

*Just going to focus on the music* I've never listened to a Michael Jackson album front to back, only really hearing the singles, and usually not my choice. It's fine. The stand out songs were the singles. 3/5

The album name is accurate

Dang no wonder he was a pop God. Every song could have been a single and each one practically was.

Looking past all of Michael Jackson's many issues. This album is an absolute classic.

Bad it’s terrible

Bookended by two great songs, the rest of the album is.. okay. It's not my favorite MJ album, but still alright.

Great songs, great production. Not as impactful as Thriller. 7.5/10

Great album, hit after hit. Had to get used to the sound at first but It really clicked with me after 2/3 tracks

Quite groovy almost entirely slapping base.

Not bad

A classic. This was a no skip album for me. Great album.

This album is just weird at some points. Idk what to make of it. The singles off of it are good, but the rest of it just feels like filler

GOAT

It's a 4.7 really as speed demon is shite!

Fun album with amazing vocals

Cant deny this is a great album.

Musically I've no opinion about this. Familiar withe the singles. Not my style.

never been a mj kinda girl but damn, hit after hit.

I’ve never purposefully listened to Michael Jackson, because I thought I’d hate it. Turns out I was right.

Ow gyashhhh what a confusion. I have really connected with some of these songs in the past like Man in the Mirror still even, but some of them just sound super creepy now I know more about Jacko's disgusting behaviour later in his life. Liberian girl I found really scary for some reason! I can't enjoy most of the songs any more and the ones I can enjoy are the more energetic poppy dancy songs like Bad etc but just ew it's not the same any more. Also thinking of where all of the money is still going for those listens I just gave it, to the complicit people hiding grim information...

It really is very hard to not think the entire time through this about MJ being such a massive sexual predator, and just isolate the music. Obviously these are classic tunes that you always here on an 80s club night, but even pre scandal I didn't really like MJ that much. I do like Man In the mirror, did sing along to that tbh

Owwwwwh it's a tricky one isn't it. Obviously he's a massive creeper and that can't be forgiven. Listening to this without thinking about that, it's incredible album with some amazing songs and I really do love it. I loved Michael Jackson as a kid. I think in some situations you can separate the art from the artist but with Michael Jackson I just don't think it's possible really so I gotta rate it low. But talking just about the music, Man in the Mirror is exceptional and Dirty Diana is probably the best MJ song in my opinion. Smooth Criminal, it's all there. But yeah, dark stuff.

I’m happy to live without the entirety of MJ’s catalog from here on out. Yes, the songs are often good (if not great). However, the accusations are unignorable and largely undisputed. No stars. Goodbye forever, MJ.

The hits on the album are obviously top notch. The arrangements are also top notch as per. This is the first Michael album where I felt like the deep cuts were slightly lacking though. Of course, this is all relative to the rest of his works, so it's still fantastic. Favorite track: Smooth Criminal

Surprisingly Mid. I was hyped to have an MJ album come up on this, but wasn't really into Bad.

Easily one of the best albums I've heard. Amazing hits, great arrangements, great voice and there's coherence throughout the whole album. Just great

OK...I hate to admit I listened to this one a lot in my much younger days, but probably haven't listened to it for 30 years or more. Overall it's not bad but once you get past the radio hits I don't feel like it's anything special. So...3* for me.

My appreciation for Michael Jackson's abilities as an artist has grown as I've gotten older. When he was alive, his music always seemed over-hyped and over-shadowed by his personal life—you know, things like allegations of assault and molestation against children. But, if I separate the art from the artist, it's difficult to deny how talented he and his bandmates were. I can't help but wonder what the scene would look like if he were still here creating music today. Standout track moments for me include: Bad's bass throughout, Liberian Girl's subtle Xylophone accompaniment and smooth bass progression, and Dirty Diana's powerful electric riffs and solos. The synthesizer and sampling throughout the album are also nothing short of classic. And then of course, there's his signature scats, vocal tics, and flourishes—they may have been overused at the time of release, but they're fun and bring a smile to my face now. I've listened to this album before, but there's several tracks I had no memory of—clearly a sign the entire album didn't make a huge impact on me. I'll probably listen to this again in a few years and think the same thing. While the aforementioned tracks stand out in their own way, the album seems to be a collection of independent songs, not anything cohesive.

If you can separate the art from the artist, some of these songs are pretty good. I mean, I prefer the Weird Al version whenever that's an option, but the originals ain't bad. 3.5. Apparently I hate whole numbers and refuse to acclimate to this 1-5 scale.

BAD by Michael Jackson is one of the best produced records to which I have ever listened. Or best engineered, at the very least. The pureness of the vocal recording is a testament to Jackson's skill as a singer. This sterile, candy shop, pop isn't a genre to which I typically find myself returning and I don't see that being different this time.

Some awkward love songs in this knowing who he was

Michael Jackson-Bad I thought i knew all the songs but I was surprised I didn’t know/ remember a couple. Great album but I didn’t love every song.

This album pummels you with its non-stop barrage of iconic hits the whole way through. I have such a hard time separating the art from the artist when it comes to MJ. He was a born entertainer and he was breathing rarified air all through the 80s. Thriller is one thing, but then Bad comes out and blows everyone away all over again. 9 singles came from this album. 9!!! It’s a bloody impressive feat. Professionally, he was indomitable, untouchable. And I like these tunes; they are tightly woven into the nostalgic fabric of my youth. The scandals and personal life controversies are unfortunate. Does greatness just come at a cost? Or did Michael never really have a chance given his unorthodox upbringing? We’ll never know. But I do know anything less than a 5 star rating for this behemoth accomplishment is unacceptable.

Hooks are insane, production is vibrant and huge. Some of the songs don't hit as hard as others, but this has bangers throughout the whole track list.

I absolutely love Man in the Mirror and Smooth Criminal. I absolutely cannot stand most of the rest of the album.

great songs, classics

Not really an MJ fan but I get why people like it.

Quite a few hits off this album, Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal, and Leave Me Alone. Some songs were really bad, Speed Demon, and Liberian Girl. So it's a mixed bag with some huge hits and some filler. Hard to follow up Thriller, but it was a decent effort

Not sure which Michael Jackson album I like best but it’s in the top 3. People say this album sounds dated but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Love the slightly harder edged vibes compared to the smooth R&B of Thriller. Also the synth bass slaps.

I've been saved from delivering the thesis that Bad deserves by having our shipment of possessions arrive this morning after three months in transit, surrounding us with a brown cardboard box apocalypse. This is a very good album and I am surprised by how much of it is familiar, because I don't think I ever listened to it in its entirety. Brain bullets: - even the weaker songs such as Just Good Friends have hooks that make them worth returning to - Quincy Jones' production is exemplary, a perfect exhibit of a style that was once anathema to me. When I was an angry youth, I contributed a documentary on Steve Albini's music to a student radio station, and my noisy joy was edited generously by a student who admitted a passion for smooth production, mentioning QJ. I nodded and then got him to cue up 'Steak and Black Onions' by Rapeman. Somewhere between rueful and glee is how I feel about this - I saw Moonwalker in the cinema when it came out with a classmate called Michael Robinson. I remember being nonplussed by how weird it was, and by the giant robot Michael that did not make sense. Though maybe that was a dream Was tempted to knock a point off to bring a halt to this spree of unnaturally high scores, but I've extolled more flawed records than this

Ugh.. I was highly suspicious of this as a 12yo when it came out, there was clearly something wrong with him, the music was cheesy and the whole energy was very "off". Really lame style, so far from the intended "tough" look, it all seemed very embarrassing, and made me wonder why nobody told him that it sucked. All of the songs on here (maybe not Smooth Criminal; EDIT - yes this is still crap) are lightweight, over-produced '80s fluff with trite lyrics, glib instrumentation, and those histrionic squeaky sham-wow vocals on top. I was a big fan of Thriller (at the time) and the drop in quality to this dross was immense. My mum's awful second husband chose The Way You Make Me Feel as their wedding dance, in doing so trying to emulate the super-crass video. I cringe to this day Later on, as documented in Leaving Neverland, it became clear that Michael committed to his supposed fiddling activities in earnest during this period (Bad world tour). The music sounds so much worse in this context. Note, *Finding Neverland* is a different beast Another random anecdote: I have actually seen Michael Jackson in the "flesh"! I'm proud to say I was in the room when Jarvis stormed the stage to interrupt his Earth Song atrocity at the '96 Brit awards. Quite a weird one that. I also happened to be at UCLA on the day he died there. Sorry Jacko, I'm bad luck for ya' Just terrible, well-deserving of the 1* on offer

Just peak Michael Jackson, one hit after another. A great example of why he was the King of Pop: he did things no one else was doing, and made it the biggest thing in the world.

A strange listen - I'd loved this album as a kid, but had forgotten half of it. Some parts - like the speed metal kick drums on Speed Demon and the funk stabs on just another part of me, were fun, and it almost reminded me of Zappa in terms of orchestration, but it also felt quite bloodless. Smooth Criminal and Bad and pop anthems, but elsewhere you see the signs of boredom and paranoia. I can't listen to Man in the Mirror without thinking of Patrick Bateman. By the end of the album I'm a bit tired of the same adlibs and hiccups on every song. I can't say it's a great album, but it's very unusual to listen to in retrospect. I feel like everyone should listen once, but I can't say I'm itching to go back to it.

I've never been a big fan of Michael's music, but I've never hated it either. If I was going to listen to one of his albums, I think this is the one. It's very polished and has some great grooves. Parts of it reminded my of Stevie Wonder, who I love, and then I was pleasantly surprised to hear a song featuring Stevie. Overall pretty good listen. 3 stars.

Meh

Easy to forget the number of huge hit singles were on this album, despite the fact that an edgier Michael Jackson is completely comical. As good as some of the signature songs from this album remain, the others seem even worse by comparison. The hits continue to be quintessential representations of the era of release. Yet, this album also represents the turning point when the King of Pop tipped toward becoming little more than a parody of himself who could occasionally craft a solid single. Perhaps the parting from Quincy Jones is most telling. "Bad" captures both the last time Jackson's cartoonish pop star qualities still worked a bit and the moment when they simply started becoming clownish.

Fav Songs: Dirty Diana, Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal

Cmon, Its MJ

Not as powerful as Thriller, but still a damn good album, regardless of the legacy and controversy around the man.

Okay, before I even listen to this album, I'm going to toss down a plug for a YouTube account named Bobby Fingers. I don't even know how to describe it, but it's fucking incredible. He makes dioramas, but incredible ones. Here's the video for his diorama about Michael Jackson getting his hair lit on fire in 1984, an event that occurred between the release of Thriller and this album (there's your relevance if you've read this far and somehow still need me to tie this to the album I should be reviewing by now) Well, like every Michael Jackson album, this one is pretty much wall to wall bangers. Except for Liberian Girl, of course, that song brings the album to a crashing halt. Every other song is really good, though, and several of them are great. It's really too bad Micheal Jackson ended up being such a fucking monster, cuz he sure could write a tune 4/5

Politics aside, this is really a mixed album. The singles are massive and still stand up very well now. However, some of the album tracks really drag down the overall rating. The highs are really high, but the lows really low.

Dont really like michael jackson but its fine

Bad // The Way You Make Me Feel // Liberian Girl // Another Part of Me // Dirty Diana // Smooth Criminal // 3.5/5

I really like The Way You Make Me Feel. Ever since seeing Haily Reinhart and Casey Abrams perform it. Maybe I'll add that to my karaoke list. Solid 4 stars

Muito bom o som, faz jus à fama de rei do pop

Nice slice of nostalgia

Clearly doesn't hold up as well as Off The Wall or Thriller. I suspected as such. It was loaded with hits that basically rode the magic residue leftover from the Thriller era, but in hindsight sound dated. ”Hey pretty baby with the high heels on" doesn't work as a pickup line, especially from an alleged child molester. MJ protests a little too much with songs like" Leave Me Alone", and he clearly had no intention of taking his own advice singing" Man In The Mirror". It's fitting that the one solid legacy track from the album is "Smooth Criminal", a song that's built around what CPR students say to the Resusci Annie, which makes me suspect MJ didn't take a CPR class until he was in his 30's, and he probably only took a class to hang out with young boys. Smooth Criminal is the one truly solid banger here. Anything Michael released as a follow up to Thriller was going to be huge. This is where his weirdness finally started catching up with him. It's sad for many reasons. But I can still listen to Off The Wall and Thriller repeatedly without a concern for MJ's extra curricular activities. Those albums are that great. This album is where you start to hear all the whispers that would eventually become too loud to ignore.

Holy shit. I mean, all things aside, I knew this would be a classic. But damn. The mixing quality, the vibe, and that vocal performance are truly second to none. This isn’t even my genre, but I could listen to it all day. 4.5.

I was never the biggest MJ fan, and have never listened to Bad in full before. When it started I thought, yeah these first two tracks are great if this carries on I'm going to love this. But it didn't really carry on and after a while, all of Jacko's vocal ticks and affectations started to annoy me.

80's gated toms and cheesy synths ruin everything, they can go fuck off

smooth criminal kinda overrated but still good

Following Thriller, a timeless classic wasn’t easy. Listening back Bad sounds dated now. The title track borders on comical, sounding like a cartoon soundtrack.

I like the hits on this one

This definitely has a different sound than Thriller, which I like in some of the songs, but I generally prefer the style of Thriller. Still some good songs, but I am indifferent to too many of them to give this a four. My favourite songs were Leave Me Alone and Smooth Criminal.

One of the greatest songs of all time is on this album. I'll let you guess what one I'm referring to.

It has some undoubted tunes on it, but MJ's schtick hasnt aged as well as some others of this era

Massive album both in terms of tunes and how its basically influenced all of music and the music industry since. 5

fun

An album with tons of hits. Not my favorite person but undeniably good musician.

Y’all can’t convince me to listen to this child molester - seems like a waste of time

I solid album of mj bangers. Have a hard time enjoying the music of a pedophile .

The king of pop! Probably his 2nd best album i think. It has some great hits but also very good deep cuts. I’m not the biggest Michael Jackson fan, but he was very talented! 8 out of 10

listened to this while baking muffins and thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Misleading ahh album name ‼️

Memorable primary school joke - Q. "Why did Michael Jackson call his album Bad" A. "Because he couldn't spell terrible" Clearly, it's not terrible, but for one of the biggest selling albums of all time, it's not amazing either. Smooth Criminal is a banger, but that aside, there's a lot of over-engineered generic 80s pop here.

Can't really rate this objectively as it was a formative album for me. Stole the cassette tape from a relative at the age of 4 and it was all I listened to for years!

The hits on this carry pretty hard. A good MJ album but, in my opinion, this is where he started falling out of his great artistic era.

Legendary pop, such a good voice

I wonder how many Michael Jackson albums are considered essential listens. I’ve already had Thriller, so this is the second to be generated for me. I’ve still not had the album with my favourite (Earth Song) on it so I wonder if that will come up. Songs I already knew: Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man In The Mirror, I Just Can’t Stop Loving You, Smooth Criminal Favourites: Smooth Criminal, The Way You Make Me Feel It probably helped that a lot of the songs here were somewhat familiar already. I found that the songs I didn’t recognise tended to be quite rubbish - Liberian Girl was a bizarre song that I felt didn’t really add anything. There is no denying the catchiness of most of the music, and the talent in the vocals, but I still find all the “SHAMONE” and other sounds hilarious. Overall, this was good but there are definitely some skippable songs here.

I liked Thriller better than Bad, but neither were my type of music. I recognize the significance of this album and it's influence on music and culture.

If this album had been put out by Michael Johnson, not Michael Jackson, I don't think it would have got nearly as much airplay. That's not to say that it's bad. It's not. But it's not great either. At most it's 4 stars. But I think it's really closer to 3.5, and given the "overhype", I'm rounding down.

3 Stars This is so thriller but it's also no dangerous.

Not fly bag, but not bad. Smooth Criminal is pretty awesome

De hits zijn fantastisch, de rest ok. Klinkt wel vaak heel erg lekker!