Bad (album) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Bad was generally well received although some critics noted that Bad did not measure up to Thriller's success. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, of Allmusic, stated that Jackson "approached" Bad much the same way he approached Thriller, which was to "take the basic formula of the predecessor, expand it slightly, and move it outward." Erlewine, who gave the album four and a half out of five stars, commented that while the album "rebounds with songs that prove mechanical can be tolerable if delivered with hooks and panache," it still made Bad feel like an artifact of its time instead a piece of music that transcends it." Davitt Sigerson, of Rolling Stone, stated that "even without a milestone recording like "Billie Jean", Bad is still a better record than Thriller." Sigerson commented that "filler" songs in Bad such as "Speed Demon", "Dirty Diana" and "Liberian Girl" made Bad "richer, sexier and better than Thriller's forgettables."

Music critic Robert Christgau gave Bad a "B+" grade, remarking the "closest thing to genius" is the album's song "Leave Me Alone," and that the record "damn near wrecks perfectly good dancin' and singin' with subtext." Jennifer Clay, of Yahoo Music noted that while Bad was good, it was not up to "the degree of Thriller." Jon Pareles of The New York Times described Bad as being a "gleaming, high-tech dance record that's just a little eccentric at the edges". Parales also noted that Bad "sounds up-to-the-minute" and that the album also has a "concocted synthesizer-driven arrangements" that are "clear" and can "carry a solid kick." Richard Cromelin of The Los Angeles Times commented that the record was "not bad" and was more "reminiscent of Off the Wall's uniform strength than Thriller's peaks and valleys." Cromelin felt that it would be "disappointing" if this album's "creative level" is where Jackson wants to stay.

Richard Harrington of The Washington Post commented on the expectations of Bad to Thriller that, "splashy though its prime-time introduction may be, the album begs to be judged by its music, not by its sales figures." Richard felt that while the album could not live up to post-Thriller expectations, it would be "considerably fairer to compare" Bad with Off the Wall. His overall opinion on Bad was that it was "a very good record" that is "immaculately produced and with some scintillating vocal performances from Jackson". Edna Gundersen of USA Today described Bad as being Jackson's "most polished effort to date," that is "calculated but not sterile." Thom Duffy of The Orlando Sentinel noted that some of the album's material "draws on even older musical roots". Bad was the recipient of six Grammy Award nominations, winning two. In 1988, Bad was nominated for Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male, Best R&B Vocal Performance – Male and Record of the Year for "Man in the Mirror" the following year. Bad won Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical in 1988, and Best Music Video – Short Form for "Leave Me Alone" in 1990.