Dangerous 1991

 

Dangerous is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on November 26, 1991, more than four years after Jackson's previous album, Bad (1987). Co-produced by Jackson, Bill Bottrell, Teddy Riley, and Bruce Swedien, the album was Jackson's first since Forever, Michael (1975) without longtime collaborator Quincy Jones. Guest appearances include Heavy D, Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, Slash and Wreckx-n-Effect. The album incorporates R&B, pop and new jack swing, a growing genre at the time. Elements of industrial, funk, hip hop, electronic, gospel, classical and rock are also present. Twelve of the album's fourteen songs were written or co-written by Jackson, discussing topics like racism, poverty, romance, self-improvement, and the welfare of children and the world.

Dangerous is considered an artistic change for Jackson, with his music focusing on more socially conscious material, and including a broader range of sounds and styles. It features catchy pop hooks and choruses while also introducing underground sounds to a mainstream audience. The album's tone is noted by critics as gritty and urban, with sounds including synthetic basslines, scratching, and drum machine percussion, as well as unconventional sounds like honking vehicle horns, sliding chains, swinging gates, breaking glass, and clanking metal. Jackson also incorporates beatboxing, scat singing, and finger snapping throughout the album.

Dangerous debuted at number one on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums chart and in thirteen other countries, selling 5 million copies worldwide in its first week ^[2] and went on to be the best-selling album worldwide of 1992, by 1994 Dangerous had sold 25 million copies worldwide. ^[3] Nine singles premiered between November 1991 and December 1993, including one exclusively released outside North America ("Give In to Me"). The album produced four singles that reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100: "Remember the Time", "In the Closet", "Will You Be There" and the number-one single "Black or White". The Dangerous World Tour grossed $100 million (equivalent to $211 million in 2023).

Dangerous is one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 32 million copies worldwide, and was certified 8× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in August 2018. Dangerous received worldwide praise, and it influenced contemporary pop and R&B artists. It has been included in several publications' lists of the greatest albums of all time. At the 1993 Grammy Awards, it received four Grammy Award nominations, winning Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while Jackson was awarded the Grammy Legend Award. Jackson won three American Music Awards at the 1993 American Music Awards, including the inaugural International Artist Award. Jackson also received Billboard Music Awards for Best Worldwide Album and Best Worldwide Single for "Black or White". 

 

After the success of his seventh album, Bad (1987), Jackson wanted more independence and control over the creative process. He separated himself from longtime producer Quincy Jones to avoid the perception that his success depended on him. Jackson began working on new tracks in 1989 with a handful of members from the B-team of Bad, including Matt Forger and Bill Bottrell.^[4] The album was conceived as a greatest-hits collection, Decade, with a handful of new songs, similar to Madonna's The Immaculate Collection. Jackson signed off on the idea in early 1989 and test pressings were made by Epic Records. Jackson received $18 million in advance.^[5][6]

Decade was scheduled for a late 1989 release but was delayed several times. Another release date was set for November 1990, but it never materialized. Jackson was preoccupied with ongoing changes in his management team while also attempting to realize his film-making ambitions.^[7] In June 1990, he collapsed while dancing in his home studio due to a possible panic attack, with symptoms of chest pains, dehydration and inflammation of the ribs.^[8] Soon after, Decade was dropped entirely, and Jackson determined that his new material constituted a full album, which he called Dangerous.

 

Dangerous was released on November 26, 1991.^[55] It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 Top Albums chart on December 14, 1991, and spent an additional three weeks there. In the first week, it sold 326,500 copies, debuting at #1.^[56][11][57] In the second week, the album remained at #1, selling 378,000 copies, a 16% increase from the previous week sales.^[58][59] In its third week, Dangerous sold 370,000 copies and still remained at #1.^[60][61] At the end of 1991, the total number of sales totalled to 1,074,500 copies sold in the United States and the album was certified platinum.^[62] Dangerous opened the year 1992, dated January 4, remaining at #1 with 370,000 copies sold.^[63][64] By January 1992, it was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over four million copies in the United States, roughly the same number as the initial sales of Off the Wall.^[65][66]

Dangerous continued to sell strongly in 1992 and 1993 in the US. In 1993, following several personal and promotional appearances, album sales for Dangerous grew significantly. Following Jackson's performance at the Inauguration of U.S. President Bill Clinton, sales increased 36% and the album jumped from 131 to 88 on the week of February 6, 1993. In the next week, sales increased 83% and the album jumped to 41 following his appearance on the American Music Awards 1993 where he won 3 awards. Sales increased 40% in the following week due to the historic ratings of the Halftime Super Bowl performance and the album jumped again from 41 to 26 on the Billboard 200 selling over 29,000.^[67] On the week of February 27, 1993, album sales increased again because of the strong ratings due to the Michael Jackson Talks ... to Oprah TV special, selling close to 60,000 units and jumping from 26 to 12. In the following week, the album finally reentered the top 10 in the United States. As of December 1993, sales for Dangerous were around 4.8 million copies and 5.5 million by September 1995.^[68] In August 2018, the album was certified eight-times platinum by the RIAA for sales of over 8 million copies.^{[65][69][70][71]}

In Europe, it was reported that the album reached 4 million copies in shipments before it was released, becoming an all-time record at the time.^[72] It dominated global charts, debuting at number one in the U.K. while also reaching number one in twelve other territories including Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.^[73]Due to the massive success of the Dangerous World Tour, album sales for Dangerous received a boost. In the first four weeks of his tour in 1992, sales of the album increased from 6.8 million to 7.2 million units in Europe.^[74]

Worldwide, the album was a massive success in fourteen countries. The album sold 5 million copies in its first week of been released outside the United States. It reached the 10 million mark in sales in the first two months after its release; Jackson's two previous albums, Bad and Thriller, each took more than four months to achieve that goal.^[75][76]By September 1994, the album had reportedly sold 25 million copies worldwide.^[77][78] By recent estimates, Dangerous has sold over 32 million copies worldwide making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.