In Bad, Jackson's concept of the predatory lover can be seen on the rock song "Diana”.
The lead single "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is a traditional love ballad, while "Man in
the Mirror" is an anthemic ballad of confession and resolution. "Smooth Criminal" was an
evocation of bloody assault, rape and likely murder. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine
states that Dangerous presents Jackson as a stark paradoxical individual. He comments
the album is more diverse than his previous Bad, as it appeals to an urban audience while
also attracting the middle class with anthems like "Heal the World". The first half of the
record is dedicated to new jack swing, including songs like "Jam" and "Remember the
Time". The album is Jackson's first where social ills become a primary theme; "Why You
Wanna Trip on Me", for example, protests against world hunger, AIDS, homelessness and
drugs. Dangerous contains sexually charged efforts like "In the Closet", a love song about
desire and denial, risk and repression, solitude and connection, privacy and revelation.
The title track continues the theme of the predatory lover and compulsive desire. The sec-
ond half includes introspective, pop-gospel anthems such as "Will You Be There", "Heal
the World" and "Keep the Faith"; these songs show Jackson finally opening up about vari-
ous personal struggles and worries. In the ballad "Gone Too Soon", Jackson gives tribute
to his friend Ryan White and the plight of those with AIDS.
HIStory creates an atmosphere of paranoia. Its content focuses on the hardships and pub-
lic struggles Jackson went through just prior to its production. In the new jack swing-funk
-rock efforts "Scream" and "Tabloid Junkie", along with the R&B ballad "You Are Not
Alone", Jackson retaliates against the injustice and isolation he feels, and directs much of
his anger at the media. In the introspective ballad "Stranger in Moscow", Jackson laments
over his "fall from grace", while songs like "Earth Song", "Childhood", "Little Susie" and
"Smile" are all operatic pop pieces. In the track "D.S.", Jackson launched a verbal attack
against Tom Sneddon. He describes Sneddon as an antisocial, white supremacist who
wanted to "get my ass, dead or alive". Of the song, Sneddon said, "I have not — shall we
say — done him the honor of listening to it, but I’ve been told that it ends with the sound
of a gunshot”. Invincible found Jackson working heavily with producer Rodney Jerkins.
It is a record made up of urban soul like "Cry" and "The Lost Children", ballads such as
"Speechless", "Break of Dawn" and "Butterflies" and mixes hip hop, pop and rap in "2000
Watts", "Heartbreaker" and "Invincible".
Jackson sang from childhood, and over time his voice and vocal style changed noticeably,
either through puberty or a personal preference to align his vocal interpretation to the
themes and genres he chose to express. Between 1971 and 1975, Jackson's voice de-
scended from boy soprano to androgynous high tenor. In early 1973, the singer adopted a
"vocal hiccup", first heard in the song "It's Too Late to Change the Time" from the Jack-
son 5's G.I.T.: Get It Together album. Although, Jackson did not employ the hiccup fully
until the recording of Off the Wall; its usage can be seen in full force in the "Shake Your
Body (Down to the Ground)" promotional video. The purpose of the hiccup—somewhat
like a gulping for air or gasping—was to help promote a certain emotion, be it excitement,
sadness or fear. With the arrival of Off the Wall in the late 1970s, Jackson's abilities as a
vocalist were well regarded; Allmusic described him as a "blindingly gifted vocalist” At
the time, Rolling Stone compared his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie
Wonder. Their analysis was also that ".
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