Michael Jackson's Dangerous
by Susan Fast
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Pub Date Sep 25 2014 | Archive Date Sep 25 2014
Description
Dangerous is Michael Jackson's coming of age album. Granted, that’s a bold claim to make given that many think his best work lay behind him by the time this record was made. It offers Jackson on a threshold, at long last embracing adulthood—politically questioning, sexually charged—yet unable to convince a skeptical public who had, by this time, been wholly indoctrinated by a vicious media. Even though the record sold well, few understood or were willing to accept the depth and breadth of Jackson’s vision; and then before it could be fully grasped, it was eclipsed by a shifting pop music landscape and personal scandal—the latter perhaps linked to his assertive new politics. This book tries to cut through the din of dominant narratives about Jackson, taking up the mature, nuanced artistic statement he offered on Dangerous in all its complexity. It is read here as a concept album, one that offers a compelling narrative arc of postmodern angst, love, lust, seduction, betrayal, damnation, and above all else racial politics, in ways heretofore unseen in his music. This record offered a Michael Jackson that was mystifying for a world that had accepted him as a child and as childlike and, hence, as safe; this Michael Jackson was, indeed, dangerous.
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Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781623566319 |
| PRICE | $14.95 (USD) |
Average rating from 4 members
Featured Reviews
Lisa B, Reviewer
Review
Having never read any of the 33/3rd series before I was both curious and apprehensive over what I was about to get myself into. My trepidation came from the poor experience I had reading the last book about music which to be quite honest was just self indulgent and at times boring (you can read the review for that here) but also because ever since I was a little girl I have loved the music of Michael Jackson.
I know that in this media saturated society in which we live it is hard to discuss anything to do with celebrities without looking at things from a gossipy angle. And with a life filled with controversy such as the one Michael Jackson led, I was convinced that I was about to read something which was more about the man than the music.
I was both wrong and also a little bit right. Let me explain.
Fast’s book focuses on the Dangerous album which was released in 1991. Admittedly, it is not my favourite album by Jackson and when listening to it I will often skip ahead to my favourite tracks. However, I have never before taken the album to be a social artefact. It is an album of its time looking at such large themes – isolation, loneliness, race, gender – themes you would find in the works of great literature, not what you would expect from an album released in the 90s.
Yet it is all there. There are songs that are an expression of anger over events that have taken place and songs that almost scream at you for making snap and often wrong judgements. It is more than just an album.
I can honestly say that after reading Michael Jackson’s Dangerous by Susan Fast I will never listen to the album in the same way ever again. This is a truly fascinating book for fans of Michael Jackson and social historians.
Michael Jackson’s Dangerous by Susan Fast is available now.
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