Thriller (album)

Thriller
Album cover (Regular) Original release
Album cover (Special Edition) Special Edition release
Album by Michael Jackson
Released	December 1, 1982
Recorded	April - November 1982
Genre	R&B /Pop
Length	42 mins 19 seconds
Label	Epic
Producer	Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson
Professional reviews
AMG link Robert Christgau (A) link Rolling Stone link
Michael Jackson Chronology
Off the Wall (1979)	Thriller (1982)	Bad (1987)

Thriller is an album by Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on December 1, 1982. The album is generally considered Jackson's best solo effort, and helped define the artist as one of the most popular talents in music.

Thriller is currently the best selling album of all time in the world. The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) is currently the best-selling album overall in the United States, placing Thriller in second place with 27 million copies sold, although the albums have traded position a number of times over the past few years. As a result of selling more than 27 million, it has been certified platinum. Worldwide, however, Thriller holds the record, sitting at approximately 51 million sales in the Guinness Book of Records. In 2003, the TV network VH1 named it the 23rd greatest album of all time, and in 2005 a poll on British TV station Channel 4 found Thriller to be the 4th greatest album of all time.

Recording

Of the nine tracks that came to be on the final project of the album, Jackson at least had a hand in six of the tracks. Recorded between April and November of 1982, Thriller was co-produced by Quincy Jones and Jackson, and showcased a more in-control Jackson than the preceeding Off the Wall album from 1979.

Early versions of Thriller's songs were rougher around the edges than the slicker final mixes that eventually emerged, based on ideas that were cultivated by Jackson. After the album was retooled by Jackson, Jones, and Jackson engineer Bruce Swedien, Jackson's record label, Epic Records released the album in December.

The album's first single, "The Girl is Mine", a poppy duet with former Beatle Paul McCartney, was a commercially successful if critically maligned song that was solely written by Jackson. The album's second single, "Billie Jean", was a more definitive hit. Despite the controversy surrounding the lyrics, which dealt with illegitimacy, "Billie Jean" catapulted Jackson and Thriller to the top of the charts and from there Jackson's success grew. Jackson's reinvention as a crossover artist was complete with his third single, the rock number, "Beat It".

Track listing

Original Album

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (Jackson)
2. "Baby Be Mine" (Rod Temperton)
3. "The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney) (Jackson)
4. "Thriller" (Rod Temperton)
5. "Beat It" (with Eddie Van Halen) (Jackson)
6. "Billie Jean" (Jackson)
7. "Human Nature" (John Bettis/Steve Porcaro)
8. "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (James Ingram/Quincy Jones)
9. "The Lady In My Life" (Rod Temperton)

Extra tracks added for Special Edition

1. "Someone in the Dark" (originally released on the "E.T. Songbook")
2. "Billie Jean" (home demo)
3. "Thriller" (voiceover session with Vincent Price)
4. "Carousel" (unreleased track. Replaced by "Human Nature")

Note: Special Edition also includes interview clips with Quincy Jones and songwriter Rod Temperton

Singles: U.S. chart positions

• 1982: "The Girl Is Mine" (duet with Paul McCartney) #2 Pop Singles Chart; #1 Black Singles Chart
• 1983: "Billie Jean" #1 Pop Singles Chart; #1 Black Singles Chart
• 1983: "Beat It" #1 Pop Singles Chart; #1 Black Singles Chart; #14 Hot Rock Tracks
• 1983: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" #5 Pop Singles Chart; #5 Black Singles Chart
• 1983: "Human Nature" #7 Pop Singles Chart; #27 Black Singles Chart
• 1983: "P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing)" #10 Pop Singles Chart; #46 Black Singles Chart
• 1984: "Thriller" #4 Pop Singles Chart; #3 Black Singles Chart

Trivia

• The original name for the Thriller album and single was almost titled Starlight. "Starlight" was a song Jackson had originally written but was unsatisfied with. Jackson then had Rod Temperton write him a song he wanted for the album: a dance song with a horror theme.
• Jackson had originally written "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" with his keyboardist Greg Phillinganes. The demo of that version can be heard on Jackson's Ultimate Collection box set. The song was later re-written by Quincy Jones and James Ingram as a more edgy funk-rock staple, rather than the original Stevie Wonder-inspired R&B version.
• The album holds the record for the longest stay at #1 on Billboard's Pop Albums (Billboard 200) chart, staying at #1 for an non-consecutive 37 weeks. The most consecutive weeks Jackson spent at the top was 17, on two separate occasions.
• At the time of its peak, Thriller sold a million copies a week.
• Thriller is considered by many as the first album of the MTV generation.

Popular songs sampled from Thriller

• "Beat It" was sampled by musician Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic for his 1984 parody-hit "Eat It"
• "Human Nature" was sampled by R&B group SWV for their 1993 remix follow-up to "Right Here"
• "Lady In My Life" was sampled by rapper LL Cool J and R&B group Boyz II Men for their 1995 hit collaboration, "Hey Lover."
• "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was sampled by rappers Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz for their 1998 song "Startin' Somethin'."
• "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" was sampled by R&B singer Monica for her 2002 song "All Eyez On Me."
• "Human Nature" was sampled by dance producer Jason Nevins and singer Holly James for their 2003 song "I'm In Heaven"

External links

• Lyrics to all the tracks on Thriller