25 years ago on August 31, 1987 Michael Jackson released his third solo album (not including his solo work with Motown), "Bad". At the time of its release, "Bad" was not received as well as his previous album, "Thriller". However, it still managed to sell an impressive 30 million copies worldwide.¹ Additionally, "Bad" was the first album in music history with five consecutive number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart ("I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man In The Mirror" and "Dirty Diana"). It also debuted number one on the Billboard 200, and remained within the top ten for 38 weeks.² The King of Pop moved into an edgier direction musically with "Bad", which proved how versatile Michael Jackson was and is as an artist.
The iconic lean from "Smooth Criminal"
The short films for the album, such as "Smooth Criminal" and "Bad" were equally as impressive and memorable as the album itself. These films not only showcased Michael Jackson's talent as a singer, but as an actor and dancer as well.
"Bad 25" is an amazing re-release of one of my favorite albums. The four-disc deluxe edition of the package consists of three discs of music and a concert DVD. It also includes two booklets of behind the scenes photos and stills from the Bad Tour, a double sided poster, and a sticker of the album cover.
The Internet is filled with many great art-related blogs, but I thought I would share with you the three I visit the most.
1. My Modern Metropolis: My Modern Metropolis is fantastic because it is not only one blog--it is an aggregate of multiple blogs. The site describes itself as: "a collage - our very foundation is made by the people, for the people. We're a hub to gather and share the little, intricate things that we find creative and inspiring in this world". Anyone can create a blog through theMET, and contribute art-related posts! What I love about this blog(-hub) is that it truly does rely on its contributors, and fosters a sense of community through sharing artistic discoveries. The large number of people who post to the site keeps the main page moving and updated--so you can learn about a new piece of art just about every day. I can spend hours going through the different pages and reading through everyone's posts!
2. Pretty Much Amazing: I discovered Pretty Much Amazing fairly recently, but I totally had a "where have you been all my life" moment when I read through it. The contributors of Pretty Much Amazing post regularly about artists that I'm familiar with--and artists that I want to listen more to! One of my biggest problems is when I become obsessed with artists or bands, while I love their music, it takes a lot for me to go out and research news about them. PMA is my hero because it keeps me updated! What I really love about PMA is that it covers news about a variety of musical genres. Pretty Much Amazing has detailed album reviews, general news about artists and bands, music video posts, and much more.
3. My Eclectic Depiction Of Life: What drew me to this Tumblr blog was its simplicity. Appropriate to the simplistic nature of the blog, the blogger only provides a short blurb about the pieces of art posted, along with links to the artist's website (if they own one) and the site where the work was seen. What I love about the blog (along with the fact that the blogger links back to the original source) is the layout. It is incredibly minimalist-ic--which lets the pictures do all of the "talking". The choice of layout makes the blog look visually appealing because it clearly emphasizes the art. The blogger manages to post about a wide range of artistic mediums. I definitely recommend checking out MEDOL if you're looking for a quick update into the artistic community.
Thinking back on the past two-going-on-three years that I've been a college student, I've discovered so much great music--in my opinion, that is. Therefore, I thought it might be fun to introduce you all to ten of my favorite discoveries (and rediscoveries) of 2010-2012.
10. Arcade Fire: Okay, so Arcade Fire isn't exactly a discovery. They'rea band I've always known about--I've heard their songs on the radio for years. However, it wasn't until I was a freshman that I took the time to research their albums. After that, I knew I had to own them all. To this day, I can't listen to "Funeral" or "The Suburbs" without thinking of sitting in my Poli-Sci class and doodling song-lyrics from them in the margins of my notes!
There is no doubt Fun. is having a stellar year.
"We Are Young" (featuring Janelle Monáe) from their 2012 album Some Nights, essentially catapulted this Indie band into the mainstream music scene. The song dominated the radio for a while. (I still hear it, actually!) But that's not all. Their most recent single, "Some Nights", has been doing great as well. At the moment, it's number 3 on the iTunes charts and number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs*. The album is also charting: number 11 on iTunes and number 9 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums*.
ON THE LOCAL END: Fun. will be performing at Middlebury College on November 2 as a part of the Fall 2012 Campus Consciousness Tour! Tickets go on sale September 24. (More information here.)
Being a fan of the band, I couldn't be more happy with the recognition they are getting. That being said, I want to encourage everyone to take the time to listen to Fun.'s full discography. In my opinion, their first album Aim and Ignite, which was released in 2009, should be just as big as Some Nights!
I learned of Aim and Ignite as a freshman, thanks to my iTunes radio. I instantly fell in love with what I heard, and soon I was playing the entire CD backwards and forwards as I studied and worked on assignments... I don't know how I could have survived my first semester of college without it.
Aim and Ignite is ten songs of pure... fun! It is an album I can listen to whenever I'm feeling down, and it never fails to improve my mood. With catchy tunes and lyrics, Aim and Ignite is an overall amazing album. If you haven't listened to it yet, be sure to do so!
If I had to choose, my favorite song from the album would be the first track, "Be Calm". I included it below:
