on this day 22 years ago MJ released thriller!!!!!

I remember when this album was first released.Our local R&B station (KSOL) began playing tracks from it,a few days before it's official release date.This is gonna sound crazy,but I wasn't overwhelmed at first.I thought 'Off The Wall' was a hard act to follow.Of course,a few months later,I grew to love 'Thriller'.

Still one of the best ever pop albums.

Cloudbuster said:

indeed!

DavidEye said:

It ain't better than Off The Wall, tho'.

well, I'm really getting interested... people keep talking bout this album on and on... is it really that good? I mean: should I buy it? I'm very selective, you know, I just buy one album every 7 years



it's also funny.. I mean... if he's THAT great, why we never have any threads on that Jackson guy on this forum

Off the wall was better IMHO

TheRealFiness said:

Oh hell yeah

DavidEye said:

most definitely co-sign but still Thriller IS a great album

Dancelot said:

Bad is better, but Thriller is still the shit

WildStyle said:

bad was well...BAD as in complete and utter mooseballs..

Off The Wall >>>>> Thriller

TheRealFiness said:

I see Thriller and Off the Wall as equals, they both offer so much.

Bad has many strong singles, but a poorly constructed album IMO.

Dangerous was his most creative

HIStory was his most confessional

Invincible was vulnerable

Some thoughts/memories/trivia about this album...


***Alot of people weren't too "thrilled" with the first single "The Girl Is Mine" with Paul McCartney,but I like this song.It's just a mellow,breezy pop number.But it turns out that Michael wasn't too impressed with it either! In a TV Guide interview from a few years ago,he admitted that it didn't "turn out like he had hoped" (he said something to that effect).

***On the original test pressing of this album,the song "Billie Jean" begins with a long,haunting intro.Quincy Jones has said that MJ was "heartbroken" when that part had to be edited out.

***Considering that MJ was arguably "the king of music videos" back then,it's surprising that he only made THREE videos from this album.There were no videos for hit singles like "Wanna Be Startin Something","P.Y.T" and "The Girl Is Mine".The video for "Human Nature" (if it really exists) was never seen anywhere.Perhaps he was trying to avoid overexposure?

***The song "Thriller" has a bassline that is borrowed from Rick James' 1981 hit "Give It To Me Baby".Rick mentions this in the liner notes to his 1994 career retrospective 'Bustin Out: The Very Best Of Rick James'.

***Eddie Van Halen plays a mean guitar solo on the song "Beat It",but he refused to make a cameo appearance in the video.His reason? He didn't think the song was gonna be a big hit


***According to Quincy,"Beat It" was inspired by the Knack's 1979 hit "My Sharona",a song that Michael loved.He wanted to do a rock song of his own that captured the energy of that track.

DavidEye said:

I thought the story was that Quincy thought the intro to BJ was too long (Drums, bass line etc) and wanted to trim it a bit. Michael coninced him not to by saying that that was what made him want to dance. I believe his words were "That's the jelly"

WildStyle said:

There may be some truth to that as well.Did you ever hear the story about the day when they played the album for Epic Records? They thought the record was all done and ready to go,but it was a total disaster.Mike actually started crying (!),the record execs were nervous wrecks,and Quincy and Rod Temperton just got up and walked out...lol...there were major problems with the sound,too many songs that needed editing,etc.

I much prefer Just Good Friends to The girl is mine

DavidEye said:

That was on the commentary of the special edition to this album

But i never knew MJ cried

DavidEye said:

Epic was pressuring them to get the album done and as a result they rushed the final mix. Then they had to remix the whole album in like a week or something.

TheRealFiness said:

To be honest....compared to the two albums that came before it,'Bad' is a huge disappointment

jayaredee said:

Quincy mentions this in his autobiography

WildStyle said:

But wouldn't it be cool to hear that original test pressing,even with all the flaws? I bet it would make a fortune on Ebay

DavidEye said:

OMG, i'm mean but it's just funny imagining MJ listening to his album crying

I cried too, when i first heard invincible

Anyone got Thriller on vinyl? On mine, every song is slightly sped up.

WildStyle said:

I have it, but it sounds the same

jayaredee said:

Mike will cry at the drop of a hat


I remember in 1988,there was a story that he cried when his sister LaToya played her new album for him....lol...then again,can you blame him? I'd cry if I had to sit through one of her albums too

DavidEye said:

LOL

OMG, how would you feel if your brother started crying when listening to an album you made? I agree Latoya is crap but it just doesn't seem very encouraging.

He probably cried when listening to Damita Jo too

jayaredee said:

I have one from before Beat It was released as a single. Maybe it was just a bad batch

Speaking of MJ crying, he also cried while recording Keep The Faith. The musicians recorded the song in the wrong key or something. Bruce Swedien had to consult Mike and tell him that it was ok and that the musicians could just re-record it in the right key