Thriller made and broke Michael. It gave him everything he wanted, the acclaim, the respect, the touch point in history. Was it his best work - the debate will continue endlessly. For some it wasn't as good as OTW, others not as good as Dangerous, etc. But it also put him in a no win situation. Never again would such a moment collide where music and vision so forcefully met beaming his art around the world. And the sales, man those sales figures were and still are untouchable. And as you say, everything afterwards would be deemed a failure - like selling 28 million, 16 million, even 9 million was a failure.

Thriller put Michael in a league of his own. The bar was raised so high, no matter how well he did he would never outshine it. And I think part of him has Thriller on his back, and conciously or subconsciously he has tried to tap into the success of it.

However, some of the focus on Thriller is understandable. Pop it on and the majority of songs still sound fresh and relevant. The album still holds up. And it changed the game for the industry in terms of what an album could contain, how many singles an album could hold, and what could be played on radio stations. It crossed musical divides, ages, tastes and introduced a lot of people to a new style of music and a whole new raft of artists.

Whether it was his best, is open to personal taste. But there is no denying it's impact, its importance and its legacy in inspiring generations of artists.

Hopefully though, it is not the be all and end all of musical discussion around Michael.

Swa

Great answer..I agree completely.

Nice to have discussion on here about the music.

Swa

It's blatant on the first pic !