[russrags]

Question for russrags re: Bad: Who were the guiding forces behind Bad's very synthesized, mechanical sound? More than any MJ record, Bad sounds like a product of its time. It works well for the record, but it's such a departure from the already Synclavier-heavy Thriller and the machine-heavy-but-organic-sounding Dangerous that it must have been a calculated decision. Who was the visionary behind this very distinctive sound?

Thanks....I'm really enjoying this thread!

Thanks for your questions Trog, As far as a guiding force behind the sound of Michael's records, I think it's Michael's vision to start making a record by creating totally new fresh sounds that have never been heard before to work with. For "Bad" this was achieved by Michael Boddicker and Greg Phillinganes with synths stacks filling up the entire large tracking room taking up every available space, as well as a largest Synclavier in the world at the time operated by Chris Currell.

Thriller received soooooooooooooooo much air play, that by the time I started working on BAD, I put away Thriller and didn't look back until just a few years ago when the Special Edition CDs started coming out. When I bought the "Thriller" Special Edition, this was my 1st copy of "Thriller" on CD. I was amazed at how simple the arrangements were on most of the songs, compared to BAD, something I didn't even consider while riding the Thriller wave after the original release.

Another question: about half of the tunes on Bad are actually in between keys (a microtone between pitches on a piano): how/why did this happen?

BAD was recorded on Tape as Pro Tools wasn't out yet in fact our only computer in the Studio was Bruce's Mac SE-30. The reason tracks are in between keys is a result from VSOing the tape, speeding it up a few cents to to brighten up the songs for radio. We had listening sessions, picking out just the right amounts of this treatment ... very fun.

I can't believe how many hits this thread has had on just 15 pages so far.
WOW !!!

Russ
Nashville