Anybody who charges studio hackery is too narrow-minded to be able to hear pros out-doing themselves. Studio mastery is more like it, the strongest and most consistent black pop album in years, defining Jam & Lewis's revamp of Baby Sis as the mainstream and then inundating it in rhythmic and vocal power. But what made Thriller a miracle wasn't consistency--it was genius like "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" and the unknowable allure of the pure star. The closest thing to genius here is the CD-only "Leave Me Alone," which isn't all that close and also suggests what's happened to his allure--the more knowable he gets, the more fucked up he seems. This is a record that damn near wrecks perfectly good dancin' and singin' with subtext. He's against burglary, speeding, and sex ("Dirty Diana" is as misogynistic as any piece of metal suck-my-cock), in favor of harmonic convergence and changing the world by changing the man in the mirror. His ideal African comes from Liberia. And he claims moonwalking makes him a righteous brother. Like shit. B+

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsUXAEzaC3Q&list=RDdsUXAEzaC3Q

>>510492229
>>510492131
>>510492097
I'm bad, I'm bad, shamone (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad (bad, bad)
You know it (really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad (bad, bad)
You know it, you know (really, really bad)
And the whole world has to answer right now (hoo, hoo)
Just to tell you once again (hoo)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, shamone (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad (bad, bad)
You know it, you know it (really, really bad)
You know, you know (bad, bad)
You know, shamone (really, really bad)
And the whole world has to answer right now
Just to tell you once again
You know I'm smooth, I'm bad, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know, you know, you know it, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to answer right now (hoo)
Just to tell you once again (hoo)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, you know, woo (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad (bad, bad)
You know it, you know (really, really bad)
And the whole world has to answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad?