Question for Michael Jackson fans.

Is it a big deal to you that Thriller became the biggest selling album of all time?

Well no.

But it was a big butterfly effect for him I guess. If Thriller wasnt as succesful as it was, he would be making different carier choices probably different music and videos,so who knows if I would still be a fan if he did not follow Thriller with Bad. I became a fan because of Smooth Criminal.

No...

Off the wall is MJ's best album

No.

A big deal in what way? That we care about retaining the record or that having the record was partly a reason we got into him (for younger people)?

No to the second one, but I suppose after the shit he gets thrown at him, retaining it does mean something because for some reason it irritates me when the media get it wrong and start quoting The Eagles GH as hving overtaken it (when it only did in the USA).

I personally just wish it had never become the biggest album in the first place, because he would have definitely remained the prolific artist he was before.

Ellie said:

No guarantee on that one. A lot of artists get less prolific with age.

Not usually when they're 26 though... but most 26 year olds haven't been in the public eye for 14 years.

Ellie said:

Well, some good came out of it. He relied less on other people's songs after Thriller and despite accusations to the contrary by certain orgers, we saw/heard him evolve and become more artistically true, rather than just being a great singer/dancer.

Yep. No matter what happens that record will always stand as a tribute or a reminder of when MJ was truely great. When most of the world seemed to love him. No matter how much people try to bury his legacy and rewrite history, that record will always be there for the whole world to see. It's important IMO.

That album was a blessing as well as a curse for MJ. While it changed the way music was done and seen, it also changed the way we would see him and how he saw himself. While "Off the Wall", was fun, "Thriller" was work, and it showed. He wanted to show the world that he was capable of shining on his own and it did just that. The bad thing was, the light began to dim, when it came time to do the follow-up and every album after it.

of course it is!!! in the words of Quincy Jones "Never before had a young black kid dominated the world of music and became an idol for millions of kids all over the world" not only did this album help to dreak down several barriers like the issue of playing black artists on mtv it was also a staple of the 1980's music scene. Michael isa fucking talenetd genius "thriller' and it massive success is a tribute to that. not to mention he revolutioned music videos for ever!!!

Of course it is, though it's not the be all and end all.

Those were the days though, it was bloody great being a fan of his back then.

Deep down, anyone would proud for their favourite artist or band to hold that record.

'Thriller' is a once in a lifetime achievement, but 'OTW' is definately the better album.

Of course Thriller was a crowning acheivement in a decade that had many of those BIG albums, everything from PurpleRain to Like a Virgin to Born in the Usa, there seemed to be a Huge album always, with alot of singles, when singles were released. And if you think back there never was the tremendous hype before one of these came out, sure their was hype but not like today, and also did we really care back then what Michael or Bruce or whoever sold their first week? No i dont think we did. This decade can be called the HYPE decade, big build ups, no delivery.

Its a WELL-EARNED credit for both of MJ and Quincy.

Ya'll would feel the same if Purple Rain was too .

MikeMatronik said:

It's a big deal that Michael Jackson put out the biggest selling record ever, and that no other album will top it...ever.

Ellie said:

I can see why he maybe slowed down to a album every 4 years sorta guy. He recorded so many songs as a kid (both as a solo artist and j5 member), i guess he never wanted to do that sort of thing again? But then he also records many, many songs that never make the albums, so ?


But his perfectionist attitude may stem from the abundance of albums released during his motown stay, and the complete lack of control he had back then, due to motown flooding the market to which he no doubt thought were average albums. So he rectified that as a adult star. Going the complete opposite.

thesexofit said:

I agree. By the time he was 24, he had already put out 24 albums(5 solo albums, 14 with The Jackson 5ive and 5 with The Jacksons) so he probably wanted to take a breather with each album and promote it properly(The Jackson 5 would be doing TV shows and tours for one album with another coming out a week away)
[Edited 10/11/06 14:27pm]

bboy87 said:

I would freakin' love if he did "Music and me" at a piano or something in concert. How touching would that be? I love that song. But i get the feeling michael hates alot of that old stuff, and seems to only like the songs that were big hits.
[Edited 10/11/06 14:37pm]

MikeMatronik said:

I definitely agree... Thriller is an awesome record and all, but Off The Wall is the real representation of Mike, Quincy, Rod, and the gang at the top of their game. I don't think any other album in pop history mixed jazz, urban soul, and pop genres together effectively than the Off The Wall album. But the real question is, did Thriller really deserve to be the best-selling album of all-time?
[Edited 10/11/06 15:19pm]

thesexofit said:

It's probably more a question of him owning the rights to his own songs so not having to pay to perform them Greedy little shit.

In those '92/'93 taped phone conversations with that Glenda woman he started humming a bit of 'Get It Together' at one point and the silly bint said she'd never heard of it.

silverchild said:

I think it sorta does...While Off The Wall captures MJ's true innocense, Thriller paved the way and set standard on the pop soundspace.
[Edited 10/11/06 15:33pm]

silverchild said:

My favourite MJ album is OTW, my favourite album of all time is "What's Going on", but I can still understand why Thriller became the best album of all time and I don't begrunge it's status. I rather Thriller be the best selling albums then the subsequent albums he release, which sound almost totally over-produce and contrieve. Some fans truely believe without the allegations Dangerous would have out-sold Thriller, which was never going to happen. If it wanted to out-sell Thriller it would have done that well before any allegations, plus half of the album sucked, with it's disjointed sound.

In my first years as an MJ-fan is was a big deal for me, I constantly told everyone who was making fun of him or something that 'Thriller' is the biggest selling album ever, case closed.
These days I realise that if it wasn't for Thriller, he would've made a lot more albums in the last 24 years than just 5..
Also I think his songs would be more daring and experimental if he wasn't still chasing the commercial succes of Thriller.
But most of the songs on that album are still undeniably great.

Actually, I would have been much happier if "Purple Rain" had sold a lot less. Prince could never have afforded to become artsy/fartsy afterwards. He would have to continually throw down that cold Minneapolis style funk or starve.

As for Michael, his next album would have probably been much better if "Thriller" hadn't been such a success. Artists usually fuck up after they get a major pop hit.
.
.
[Edited 10/12/06 6:45am]

lastdecember said:

agreed.Also,today's albums come out then fade away very quickly.Blame it on downloading or shorter attention spans,but I remember a time when albums used to stay "hot" for months.Hell,the 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack practically dominated most of 1978.'Thriller' was released in late 1982 but didn't really run out of steam until mid-1984.Nowadays,music is like fast food....kids buy that crap the day it comes out,then a few weeks later,it's not even in the Top 10 anymore.Like you said,this is the "hype decade"....big build-ups,no delivery.

vainandy said:

so fuckin' true, vainandy

SoulAlive said:

I think Gwen Stefani's album last a helluva long time.

That said, my memory begins with the tail-end of Thriller-mania... the Grammys, the video for "Thriller", getting awards from Ronald Reagan.

I thought the Eagles greatest hits was the biggest seller?

2freaky4church1 said:

a greatest hits comp..