Thriller
Michael Jackson
1982
Album Summary
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records. It was produced by Quincy Jones, who had previously worked with Jackson on his 1979 album Off the Wall. Jackson wanted to create an album where "every song was a killer". With the ongoing backlash against disco music at the time, he moved in a new musical direction, resulting in a mix of pop, post-disco, rock, funk, and R&B sounds. Thriller foreshadows the contradictory themes of Jackson's personal life, as he began using a motif of paranoia and darker themes. The album features a single guest appearance, with Paul McCartney becoming the first artist to be credited as a featured artist on one of Jackson's albums. Recording took place from April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a production budget of $750,000. Thriller became Jackson's first number one album on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, where it spent a record 37 non-consecutive weeks at number one, from February 26, 1983, to April 14, 1984. Seven singles were released: "The Girl Is Mine", "Billie Jean", "Beat It", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' ", "Human Nature", "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", and "Thriller". They all reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, setting the record at the time for the most top 10 singles from an album, with "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" reaching number one. Following Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean" in the Motown 25 television special, where he debuted his signature moonwalk dance, the sales of the album significantly increased, selling one million copies worldwide per week. The "Thriller" music video was premiered to great anticipation in December 1983 and played regularly on MTV, which also increased the sales of the album. With 32 million copies sold worldwide by the end of 1983, Thriller became the best-selling album of all time. It was the best-selling album of 1983 worldwide, and it was the first album to become the best-selling in the United States for two years, in 1983 and 1984. It set the standard for the music industry with its songs, music videos, and promotion strategies influencing artists, record labels, producers, marketers, and choreographers. Jackson's success and immediate influence led to him having a standing of cultural significance that was not attained by a Black American before him in the history of the entertainment industry, with the album's unprecedented popularity breaking racial barriers in popular music, having enabled Jackson's regular appearances on MTV and meeting with US President Ronald Reagan at the White House. Thriller was among the first albums to use music videos as promotional tools; the videos for "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Thriller" are credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form. Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time, with sales of 70 million copies worldwide. It is the second-best-selling album in the United States and was certified 34× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2021. It won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards at the 1984 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, while "Beat It" won Record of the Year. Jackson also won a record-breaking eight American Music Awards at the 1984 American Music Awards. The album has been a frequent inclusion in lists of the greatest albums of all time. In 2008, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In the same year, the Library of Congress chose to preserve it to the National Recording Registry of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant recordings".
WikipediaOff the Wall was a massive success, spawning four Top Ten hits (two of them number ones), but nothing could have prepared Michael Jackson for Thriller. Nobody could have prepared anybody for the success of Thriller, since the magnitude of its success was simply unimaginable -- an album that sold 40 million copies in its initial chart run, with seven of its nine tracks reaching the Top Ten (for the record, the terrific "Baby Be Mine" and the pretty good ballad "The Lady in My Life" are not like the others). This was a record that had something for everybody, building on the basic blueprint of Off the Wall by adding harder funk, hard rock, softer ballads, and smoother soul -- expanding the approach to have something for every audience. That alone would have given the album a good shot at a huge audience, but it also arrived precisely when MTV was reaching its ascendancy, and Jackson helped the network by being not just its first superstar, but first black star as much as the network helped him. This all would have made it a success (and its success, in turn, served as a new standard for success), but it stayed on the charts, turning out singles, for nearly two years because it was really, really good. True, it wasn't as tight as Off the Wall -- and the ridiculous, late-night house-of-horrors title track is the prime culprit, arriving in the middle of the record and sucking out its momentum -- but those one or two cuts don't detract from a phenomenal set of music. It's calculated, to be sure, but the chutzpah of those calculations (before this, nobody would even have thought to bring in metal virtuoso Eddie Van Halen to play on a disco cut) is outdone by their success. This is where a song as gentle and lovely as "Human Nature" coexists comfortably with the tough, scared "Beat It," the sweet schmaltz of the Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine," and the frizzy funk of "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)." And, although this is an undeniably fun record, the paranoia is already creeping in, manifesting itself in the record's two best songs: "Billie Jean," where a woman claims Michael is the father of her child, and the delirious "Wanna Be Startin' Something," the freshest funk on the album, but the most claustrophobic, scariest track Jackson ever recorded. These give the record its anchor and are part of the reason why the record is more than just a phenomenon. The other reason, of course, is that much of this is just simply great music.
It's Thriller. You know, "best-selling album of all time" Thriller? "Respectable choice for best album ever" Thriller? "Beat It" Thriller? "Billie Jean" Thriller? Yeah, that Thriller. I didn't need to listen to it again to know it was a 5/5, but I did and I can confirm: it's still a 5. RIP MJ
All thriller no filler. Could be a greatest hits album. Superb. Michael Jackson really touches me in a special place.
The album that defined the modern pop genre. Instant classics such as Thriller, Beat It, Billy Jean, and P.Y.T. all help make this one of the most influential and commercially successful albums of all time. The excellent bass lines and arrangements in many of these tracks are overshadowed by MJ's iconic singing. Truly an album that deserves at least one listen by any music lover.
All those kids. Not to mention all those animals. All that plastic surgery. OK, Michael Jackson, in addition to his giant entertaining talent, really is kinda weird. Again, like everything else the King of Pop was recording during his glory years, Thriller also includes lots of romance (albeit the irresponsible baby-making kind of ‘Baby Be Mine’), the sexy closer, ‘The Lady In My Life’(with this marvelously cheesy lyric: ‘Meet me in paradise, lay back in my tenderness’), and of course the famous duet with Paul McCartney, ‘The (doggone) Girl Is Mine.’ Again, Michael is in your face, with songs like, ‘Beat It,’ but most of the real fight is being waged down around the hips. Well, there is that other infamous fight with ‘Billie Jean,’ in which Michael claims that she’s ‘not (even) my lover. She’s just a girl who claims that I am the one. But the kid is not my son.’ I love Michael. He manages to even steer this whole train wreck of a relationship back to, yep, the dance floor, where it belongs! ‘For 40 days and 40 nights the law was on her side. But who can stand when she’s in demand, her schemes and plans? ‘Cause we danced on the floor in the round.’ And then, of course, ‘Thriller,’ the title track, perhaps Michael’s greatest, biggest hit, ever. And still fun. It’s the very first opening track that puzzles me, one of the… well, there were actually more hit singles on this LP than not! That’s Beatles’ territory, there, man. Anyway, Michael is, as usual, safely exercising his anger management training on the dance floor, asking the immortal Michael Jackson-esque question: ‘(Do you) Wanna be startin’ something?’ And then there’s all kinds of allegations made about someone, apparently, trying to start some shit with MJ. Get in line, dude (or dame). I’m betting there’s going to be a bit of a wait. In the meantime, we’re all gettin’ down, and then out of the blue this drops: ‘You’re a vegetable… still they hate you. You’re a vegetable. You’re just a buffet… they eat off of you. You’re a vegetable.’ WTF? LMAO. Yeah, Michael was a weird dude. So was Mozart. Perhaps that’s part of the cost for both his massive talent and global fame. Hey, I didn’t live with him, so what do I really know? Except that Thriller still thrills. That’s all I wanted to know anyway.
Favorite is "Wanna be startin something." which is apparently about gossip magazines. This was his global breakout, and went 33x Platinum. Its the highest selling record of all time with 66 million copies. Crazy how many hits are on this one. Same with "Bad." I guess critics say this is the first time he uses a full adult voice.
Such a great album. Amazing rhythms, song writing and of course essentially all played by Toto with guest guitar from EVH. Play it loud!
Greatest pop album of all time. Number one selling album of all time. Made Michael Jackson the king of pop.
One of the finest albums in the history of time. There is not one weak track on it. Thriller by name, Thriller by nature
Not surprising, almost all of these songs are absolute hits. What is surprising is Michael not only banged a carny to lose his virginity but he didn't die from some disease.
A superb album by one of the greatest pop stars of all time. Timeless album with memorable songs that are easily recognizable from the first note. Such a groovy and get-down-on-the-floor sounds that are so infectious. Amazing sound sonically with great vocals and accompaniments to support. Overall, a very easy listen over and over again.
Go on, then. This is the sort of album I expected to be on this list and I am happy for Thriller to be the Halloween selection. I am old and therefore I remember when this was released. I also remember not being especially all that fussed by the various singles (even though they were all solid), certainly not enough to actually want the album. But yet decades later, I know the album inside out, despite never having owned it. (Metallica's Black album is like that too!). The production of Thriller is great, both minimalist and maximalist when it needs to be. Maybe there are a few dud tracks. I love the Mac n Jack "Say Say Say" but "The Girl is Mine" feels lacklustre. On the other hand "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" is an incredible opening number. It's a cool album and also MJ is staggeringly beautiful on the album cover.
Ok, so here's where I lose a lot of cred with most folks: I don't actually like Michael Jackson. Never have. This record, however, is the one MJ album I have on vinyl. It's probably his best known (follwed closely by Bad), is the best selling album of all time, and on top of that, has some pretty good tracks on it. I play it once a year on or near Halloween and that's enough MJ to last me a whole year. I totally get why this is on the list. It's a good album. I'm just not much of a fan.
Thriller is all killer no filler? Sure, it's a pillar of pop iconography, but the shillers that can't see the weaknesses really need to chill here. It absolutely has some of the best pop songs ever written on here. But Human Nature is good not great; The Lady in My Life is just a step above mid; and good god in heaven The Girl Is Mine is so dogshit it makes me question two of music's biggest icons. The bops still outweigh the flops by a mile, but there ARE flops. This isn't the greatest pop album of all time; it's not even The King of Pop's greatest album (or even second greatest).
The singular 80s record. A new standard in just about every way. An onslaught of hits.
There are three bona fide amazing classics on here. Then some good songs, a couple of fillers, and one cringer. Sir Paul, the girl is yours, Michael didn't even like her.
I always liked Billie Jean but aside from that song I wasn't a fan of the rest of this album on release or of Michael Jackson in general. After he died and we were bombarded with all the music he made I warmed up to him. I enjoyed listening to Beat It today. Truth be told, I know the lyrics to Weird Al's Eat It much better than I know the lyrics to Beat It. I remember Ray Davies introduced Lola as the song Van Halen made famous. For me, Beat It was the song Weird Al got me to like. Go figure. Vincent Price makes an appearance on Thriller. It's OK but his role pales in comparison to his role introducing Black Widow on Alice Cooper's Welcome to my Nightmare LP. There are a few too many weenie songs on this album. Human Nature and The Lady in my Life are good examples of songs that are so weenie they're hard to stomach. The worst though is This Girl Is Mine. It seems Michael was trying to adopt a cool image with the red leather jacket, etc. Who told him a duet with Paul McCartney would be cool? Makes ya wonder.
I was terrified by zombie Michael Jackson in the Thriller video as a kid in the 80’s.
Really not my thing. I understand he's seen an icon, but I still think his music is shit and so is he.
9/10 pretty sick album! i was a bit worried at first because of the mildly underwhelming opener and lame ass The Girl Is Mine (why the fuck are mj and paul mccartney competing for the same girl aint paul like 20 years older than mj is) but it picked up pretty quickly after. u already know how cool the middle three tracks are, but there are some kinda awesome deep cuts too!! human nature is super dreamy, and p.y.t. is rly slick and has some kinda weird vocal effects i didnt expect from 1982?? theres a REALLY sick synth in the chorus too, idk how to describe it but youll know it when you hear it. baby be mine is a jam too. honestly billie jean is in my bottom 4 of this album? most of this album is pretty solidly either a 9 or 10 but billie jean is bordering on an 8, the melodies are really really fucking good but it's a little spare for me. and yeah i probably wont be returning to the closer either. this could be a really solid album if a couple lame songs vanished from existance, never to return. lost to the void...FOREVER..................................... cool album
This album has many hit songs from the king of pop. What a fun album to listen to.
Tons of classic songs on here. Enjoyed it way more than I thought I would
This is the jam. Hard not to have heard all of these songs hundreds of times. I never owned this album though so it was good to listen straight through. Classic.
I have this album, like who hasn’t. As an artist he was extremely talented.
Adding more words about this album can of be a worthwhile expenditure of time. Had the LP when it came out. Looking at the playlist again I was surprised at how long the songs were.
Don’t kid yourself this is a 5-star. Hard to separate the personality from the music, but I did.
This was one of my first favorite albums. It is so good from start to finish.
MJ is such a goat I saved 75% of this album. So many genres in a cohesive piece, all bangers
Micheal Jackson has just an otherworldly vocal talent. Half of this album is 8/5 stars and those are the songs you know. The other half is a solid 3/5. It’s just fun delicious pop. I’d probably say 4.5/5 but I’ll round up!
Easily one of the greatest albums ever that should be a benchmark across popular genres on how to create a masterpiece product.
Qué más podemos decir de Michael, ya comenté que es un artista con su propio género musical. En Thriller prácticamente todos los temas son hits número 1, beat it, billy jean, girl is mine, thriller, Wanna be .... michael siempre se ha rodeado de los mejores, como en este caso Rod Temperton que fue quien escribió Thriller. Personalmente si tengo que elegir me quedo la mezcla de géneros tan sublime que consigue en BAD, cuestión de gustos, posiblemente los mejores discos de Michael, un 10 los dosl! Puntuación máxima 5/5.
Thriller, ¿Qué se puede decir que no se haya ya dicho de este disco? Para los que son amantes de Michael Jackson es sin duda el mejor disco de la historia. Para los que le odian (Pienso que son menos), un disco sobrevalorado, sobreactuado,... ¿Qué piensa esa gente cuando les dices que es el disco más vendido de la historia? Pues puede ser cuestión de gustos pero lo que no se puede cuestionar es que este disco llegó a muchísima gente en su momento y sigue llegando. Con 39 años encima sigue siendo una referencia de muchas cosas de las que se hacen hoy en día, es una mezcla perfecta de ritmos Rock / Pop, con rifts maravillosos y con momentos memorables. Y probablemente todo lo que lleva alrededor este disco estaba destinar a ser lo que fue ya que el trabajo que hubo detrás de el fue abrumador. Entrando ya en la vida y obra de Michael Jackson, este disco supone la catapulta final hacia el estrellato. Y no so lo por el disco en si, si no por lo que supusieron los 3 videoclips que lo acompañaban. El disco tiene canciones rotundas, empezando por el Wanna be starting Someting, que es una canción muy bailable, al puro estilo Michael Jackson. La maravillosa disputa de la chica que protagoniza con Paul McCartney en The girl is mine. La grandiosa guitarra de Beat it, cortesía de Van Hallen. Pero, subjetivamente hablando, mis canciones preferidas son Thriller debido a ese video, a lo que representa, a lo que es en si. Y por su puesto Billie Jean, con ese rift de guitarra y esa voz de Michael Jackson que no se me olvidará nunca. La calidad del disco sin los videoclips quizá sea muy similar a la de Bad pero realmente Thriller es mucho mas que eso. El momento me Michael Jackson, sus coreografías, lo que ha supuesto para la música... 5/5
Pues jamás había escuchado completo estendisco, pwro me imaginé que sería sin skips.. Y en efecto. Por supuesto que me gustaron todos los hits. Y una que creo que nunca habia escuchado y que qué bueno que la encontré aquí es baby be mine, vaya vibra tan chida.
Erg dubbel: Muziekaal 5 sterren, echt een geweldig album. Maar de persoon MJ roept inmiddels nogal wat weerzin op. En dan druk ik het nog voorzichtig uit.
Hab ich hier verpasst, aber schon so oft gehört. Hammer Teil! Und selbst die Schnulzen sind ja richtige Schnulzen - so wie sich das gehört: Kunstnebel inklusive!
Just looking at the track list before listening this is likely a 5 😂 looks like it's got a lot of bangers.
I mean... Two of these songs weren't even top 10 hits? Let's try a little harder next time, Mike.
What a great album. Had never listened to the whole thing before. Every song is worthy to sing along.
Lets start with the single most successful album of all time. I have this on original release vinyl record!
There is a reason this is the biggest album of all time. And there is a reason he is the biggest star of all time. Incredible album, full of classics
Overall, a fantastic and groundbreaking pop album, with 5 of the 9 songs as super hits. PYT is probably my favorite on the album. The song Thriller itself should get special mention for the video, which changed music television forever.
Great throwback, don’t remember if I went through the full album before.
This is obviously a classic album and is absolutely stacked with hits. The production is incredible, and the arrangement has aged very well. However, I would be remiss not to mention that in light of the renewed allegations of child sexual abuse against Michael Jackson, it's difficult to listen to this music as a non-involved listener. I can't say for certain what did or didn't happen, but the persistence of these allegations is troublesome to say the least.
Nunca escuche el disco entero hasta ahora. El primer tema tiene el sample de MAMASEI MAMASEI MAMA KUSAI (8). El tema con Paul McCartney es malisimooooo jaja. Y bueno Thriller, Beat It y Billie Jean no puedo agregar mucho mas de lo que ya sabemos. Cualquier tema que suene despues de esta seguidilla de 3 cargadores enteros de musica no va a tener sentido alguno. El tema PRETTY YOUNG THING ,que c shó, medio creepy ahora que sabemos lo que hizo Michael.
September 3, 2021 I had no idea so many songs I'd heard before were on this album - a classic pop record for sure!