Jackson’s ‘Bad’ gets 25-year re-release

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES

In the three years after Michael Jackson’s death, his estate has been conservative with posthumous releases from the King of Pop’s archives while focusing on other endeavors such as a hit video game and a Cirque du Soleil production.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of his seminal 1987 disc, “Bad,” his estate, in collaboration with Epic/Legacy Recordings, will reissue the disc with new music and a never-before-released concert video, the label and his estate announced this week.

The anniversary edition of “Bad,” the first re-release of an album from Jackson’s catalog since his 2009 death, will hit stores Sept. 18.

To roll out the reissue, the label will re-release the album’s first single, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” — the first of five of the album’s singles to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — as a CD single with the previously unreleased bonus track “Don’t Be Messin’ ’Round [demo]” on June 5. The single is a Walmart exclusive and won’t be available through digital retailers.

“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” will also be made available June 26 as a replica of the 7-inch vinyl released back in the day and includes the original B-side, “Baby Be Mine,” not the unreleased bonus track.

Dubbed “Bad 25” (like his “Thriller” reissue), the deluxe package will feature three CDs, two collectible booklets, and the first authorized DVD release of a concert from his record-breaking Bad tour.

Of the three CDs, one is a remastered version of “Bad,” another features demos and songs recorded in Jackson’s studio that didn’t make the cut, as well as remixes, and the third will feature audio from the soundtrack recordings of the accompanying DVD, making it Jackson’s first live album.