Thriller
Michael Jackson

I've always thought this was one of the most overrated albums of all time. It's good, but it often gets mentioned in the greatest of all time conversations, and that I do not see. The album starts off pretty well with "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", a good song that does overstay it's welcome a little bit (the single version actually shines here) . The next two songs are god awful. "Thriller" spawned one of the greatest music videos of all time, but taken out of context, it's a very mediocre song and the Vincent Price bits don't make nearly as much sense. "Beat It" and "Billy Jean" are both pretty great. "Human Nature" is okay, but leans a bit too far into yacht rock territory. "P.Y.T." is a good song with lyrics that have aged as well as a glass of milk. The closing track is awful. So really, we're talking about an album where 1/3 is great, 1/3 is awful, 1/3 is merely decent. I'll settle on a low 4 stars.

4