This fall marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Bad album. Of course, it was the highly anticipated follow-up to Thriller, which remains the best-selling album of all time. Bad was a monster all on it’s own-spawning seven Top 20 pop singles (making Michael the only artist to score 7 top 40 hits from consecutive albums.) Five of those singles-“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror” and “Dirty Diana”-hit the #1 position on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, a record that was only tied in the past year by Katy Perry. Bad was nominated for five Grammys, including Album of the Year.
This special version will include three CDs: a remastered version of the original album, a second CD with demos, rarities and remixes, and a CD containing the soundboard recording of Michael’s July 1988 concert at Wembley Arena in London, England. This show was attended by Prince Charles and Princess Diana. The package will also include a DVD of the same show. It is the first-ever live album of Michael as a solo artist.
June 5th will mark the release of a special CD of Bad‘s first single, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” with the B-side “Don’t Be Messin’ Around,” a Michael song that has never been released before. This will be available at Wal-Mart stores only-there are no plans for a digital release.
Needless to say-this is pretty exciting news for MJ fans, and even though Bad isn’t the equal of Off the Wall or Thriller, the folks at Sony and Michael’s estate look to be doing the right thing when it comes to the packaging and track listing here.
More news can be found here.
Meanwhile, check out the trailer for Bad 25.