SoulAlive said:

I agree,Thriller is more diversified than OTW.But I think OTW has better songs

In terms of a cohesive album experience:

OTW > Thriller

In terms of Singles:

Thriller >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> OTW

Imo, the single cuts from Thriller were far superior to OTW even though, sonically, I find OTW to sound way more cohesive and seems to have more of a little story to it. That being said, I can still listen to Thriller as an album.

novabrkr said:

Seriously though, Michael has never gotten that great album reviews from the critics. The "A+" / "*****" reviews you can find for the album from sources like Wikipedia offer a limited view on its general reception.

It's very rare that I agree with music critics. Usually, I feel, that they and I are completely different kind of people and listen to completely different things. So, many times, I am perplexed at the scores they give to what I consider to be mediocre albums. Even with Thriller, when it first got its reviews, many of them only cited Beat It as the only good song and Billie Jean was ok. I used to frequent a board where some claimed that those songs are the only good ones, but I think it's because those people usually like certain genres of music and consider anything beyond that to be undesirable.

When I realized this I decided to stop reading them. Robert Christgau is all right though, I find him to be kind of funny.

There are a few times I agree with them, that being Britney Spear's 'Blackout' album and Kanye's "MBDTF." That's really about it.

novabrkr said:

LiLi1992 said:

obvious to whom?
definitely not for the general public or the majority of music critics.

Although Thriller is not one of my favorite albums (although I like it), but this does not diminish the impact and world popularity.
----------------
Personally, I like Purple rain much more, but phrases like "kicks it in the nuts" can only be found on the Prince fan site, let's be honest

It should be obvous to everyone that Purple Rain kicks Thriller in the nuts on all areas except commercial performance.

Seriously though, Michael has never gotten that great album reviews from the critics. The "A+" / "*****" reviews you can find for the album from sources like Wikipedia offer a limited view on its general reception.

Oh goodness here we go...

novabrkr said:

It should be obvous to everyone that Purple Rain kicks Thriller in the nuts on all areas except commercial performance.

Seriously though, Michael has never gotten that great album reviews from the critics. The "A+" / "*****" reviews you can find for the album from sources like Wikipedia offer a limited view on its general reception.

But this is not true, Off the wall got 5 * from almost all the critics and is considered one of the most highly acclaimed albums ever.

Thriller .. I personally don.t see any list of greatest albums ever, wherever Thriller was not in the top 20 at least, even lists of Rolling Stones magazine, where MJ has always hated with a passion.

But reviews of music critics are not very important to me.
My favorite MJ album - Dangerous, but it never received supportive evaluations

[Edited 2/28/12 8:43am]

TROR said:

Off the Wall was better.

I agree, I thought this was Jackson's masterpiece. Thriller was OK, fine but if you told me I could only own either or, I'd chose "Off The Wall".

LiLi1992 said:

novabrkr said:

It should be obvous to everyone that Purple Rain kicks Thriller in the nuts on all areas except commercial performance.

Seriously though, Michael has never gotten that great album reviews from the critics. The "A+" / "*****" reviews you can find for the album from sources like Wikipedia offer a limited view on its general reception.

But this is not true, Off the wall got 5 * from almost all the critics and is considered one of the most highly acclaimed albums ever.

Thriller .. I personally don.t see any list of greatest albums ever, wherever Thriller was not in the top 20 at least, even lists of Rolling Stones magazine, where MJ has always hated with a passion.

But reviews of music critics are not very important to me.
My favorite MJ album - Dangerous, but it never received supportive evaluations

[Edited 2/28/12 8:43am]

As far as music goes, Bad is my favourite MJ album, followed by Dangerous or History. But lyrically, i think History beats them all. Stranger in Moscow, Tabloid Junkie, Earth Song, Money, They Don't Care about US. Just beautiful. Guess what critics thought of it? Yeah, not the best things

crazymouse said:

LiLi1992 said:

But this is not true, Off the wall got 5 * from almost all the critics and is considered one of the most highly acclaimed albums ever.

Thriller .. I personally don.t see any list of greatest albums ever, wherever Thriller was not in the top 20 at least, even lists of Rolling Stones magazine, where MJ has always hated with a passion.

But reviews of music critics are not very important to me.
My favorite MJ album - Dangerous, but it never received supportive evaluations

[Edited 2/28/12 8:43am]

As far as music goes, Bad is my favourite MJ album, followed by Dangerous or History. But lyrically, i think History beats them all. Stranger in Moscow, Tabloid Junkie, Earth Song, Money, They Don't Care about US. Just beautiful. Guess what critics thought of it? Yeah, not the best things

Of course they wouldnt.. History was a political album...

I'd say that Purple Rain is more consistent, but Thriller is the ULTIMATE crossover album: it has something for ERVYBODY: soul, rock, pop, dance, R&B, etc. Of course, the videos were just as important as the music. For me, Thriller is the FIRST pop album; the mainstream albums of the 50s, 60s and 70s were basically country, rock, soul/R&B, folk or adult/contemporary; Thriller "broke" the walls; the irony is that it "broke" the walls mixing genres...hell, I guess Michael was a postmodernist genius...

JoeTyler said:

I'd say that Purple Rain is more consistent, but Thriller is the ULTIMATE crossover album: it has something for ERVYBODY: soul, rock, pop, dance, R&B, etc. Of course, the videos were just as important as the music. For me, Thriller is the FIRST pop album; the mainstream albums of the 50s, 60s and 70s were basically country, rock, soul/R&B, folk or adult/contemporary; Thriller "broke" the walls; the irony is that it "broke" the walls mixing genres...hell, I guess Michael was a postmodernist genius...

yes Mike was a genius... I still do not have a clue how Purple or Rain got into this thread

mjscarousal said:

JoeTyler said:

I'd say that Purple Rain is more consistent, but Thriller is the ULTIMATE crossover album: it has something for ERVYBODY: soul, rock, pop, dance, R&B, etc. Of course, the videos were just as important as the music. For me, Thriller is the FIRST pop album; the mainstream albums of the 50s, 60s and 70s were basically country, rock, soul/R&B, folk or adult/contemporary; Thriller "broke" the walls; the irony is that it "broke" the walls mixing genres...hell, I guess Michael was a postmodernist genius...

yes Mike was a genius... I still do not have a clue how Purple or Rain got into this thread

wow, really? Michael vs Prince (a "classic" of the org lol, both albums have 9 songs, both were huge hits, reasonably similar sound, etc.)

JoeTyler said:

mjscarousal said:

yes Mike was a genius... I still do not have a clue how Purple or Rain got into this thread

wow, really? Michael vs Prince (a "classic" of the org lol, both albums have 9 songs, both were huge hits, reasonably similar sound, etc.)

Well of course but MJ fans and Prince fans can never have mature cooperative discussion on those albums.

It never ends pretty

CrabalockerFishwife said:

Emancipation89 said:

Off the Wall, to me, has great disco-incorporated pop songs but 2 out of 10 songs are below average... 'Girlfriend' and 'It's the falling in love'.

+ "I Can't Help It" & "Burn This Disco Out"

The other six songs are all classics, imo.. but not those four.

I can see why Burn This Disco Out can be considered a bit weak compared to other Temperton songs on that album, but I gotta disagree with your opinion on 'I Cant Help It'. It's a soulful pop song that has jazz sound to it. To me, this song is the one that really helped make Off the Wall an MJ album. That jazzy vibe is the biggest difference between Off the Wall and the previous Jacksons albums.

Emancipation89 said:

brooks said:

Umm...I wonder which LP "listens" better today as a whole LP vs individual songs? How have they held up to time? I don't fully agree w/ you because I can appreciate how well crafted "Thriller" was because it accomplished EXACTLY what it set out to do....which was have something for everyone. "Purple Rain" was coming from an entirely different place. However, I think "Thriller" sounds far more dated than "Purple Rain", yet I listen to neither album frequently!

What does "sounding dated" really mean? Does that mean it was played way too much back in the day? I listened to the entire Thriller album for the first time only a few years ago, I was amazed how fresh it sounded.

Perhaps for me that's the case....a huge Thriller OD back in the day. There was like 5 years when this was bumped as his most recent work. However, it also might be that Thriller was specifically crafted to be something for everyone and that lack of cohesion and this specific intention seems extremely 80s to me. Nothing wrong w/ the 80s, per se, but it just doesn't seem all that fresh to my ears today. I find it lacks nuance, unlike say "OtW" or even "Purple Rain" (which feels like more of a concept album to me these days). Back then there was so much emphasis placed on crossing over that obvious attempts to do so sound dated to me now. In a sense, Thriller was way ahead of its time...it has an almost mp3 play list feel to it due to it being so eclectic, so maybe it's a combo of things that make me say "meh".

As an LP, I'd rather have "Dangerous" rather than "Thriller" if we're judging by the whole LP wrt MJ's post "Thriller" body of work, but I like "Thriller" in parts. Certain songs, like "Beat It", "Human Nature" and "PYT" still listen great to me, but the whole LP just doesn't get my blood going like it did when I was a kid.

mjscarousal said:

crazymouse said:

As far as music goes, Bad is my favourite MJ album, followed by Dangerous or History. But lyrically, i think History beats them all. Stranger in Moscow, Tabloid Junkie, Earth Song, Money, They Don't Care about US. Just beautiful. Guess what critics thought of it? Yeah, not the best things

Of course they wouldnt.. History was a political album...

Yeah! He was speaking out against everyone and mostly the press.... so obviously the critics, which are a part of press and media won't say it's a good album.

TROR said:

Off the Wall was better.

This.

TROR said:

Off the Wall was better.

JoeTyler said:

I'd say that Purple Rain is more consistent, but Thriller is the ULTIMATE crossover album: it has something for ERVYBODY: soul, rock, pop, dance, R&B, etc. Of course, the videos were just as important as the music. For me, Thriller is the FIRST pop album; the mainstream albums of the 50s, 60s and 70s were basically country, rock, soul/R&B, folk or adult/contemporary; Thriller "broke" the walls; the irony is that it "broke" the walls mixing genres...hell, I guess Michael was a postmodernist genius...

It should be ok,

If everyone stays on the Thriller album and period. It's cool

novabrkr said:

Purple Rain kicks it in the nuts.

Just wanted to say the obvious.

[Edited 2/28/12 1:14am]

I don't think it does.

smoothcriminal12 said:

novabrkr said:

Purple Rain kicks it in the nuts.

Just wanted to say the obvious.

I don't think it does.

In terms of pop music of the 1980's, Purple Rain and Thriller were monsters (in terms of cultural impact, sales, etc). It is a toss up between the two in terms of which is fave.

Thriller:

Lady in My Life and HUman Nature were always my top two. Least favorite songs is easily Baby be Mine. Ah, the memories....

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

I don't think it does.

In terms of pop music of the 1980's, Purple Rain and Thriller were monsters (in terms of cultural impact, sales, etc). It is a toss up between the two in terms of which is fave.

Thriller:

Lady in My Life and HUman Nature were always my top two. Least favorite songs is easily Baby be Mine. Ah, the memories....

They are too different to compare.

smoothcriminal12 said:

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

They are too different to compare.

smoothcriminal12 said:

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

They are too different to compare.

Meh, I guess they're both most commercially successful albums in their careers..so I can kinda see why people want to compare these two..

Emancipation89 said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

They are too different to compare.

Meh, I guess they're both most commercially successful albums in their careers..so I can kinda see why people want to compare these two..

But even then they're totally different animals. Them both being the most commercially successful albums in their careers is about the only thing these albums have in common.

Too bad this album never went anywhere. It had potential too.

You could make a case that because of "thriller", pop albums would never quite be the same again.

The formula of

1) Start with an uptempo

2) Include a high profile duet

3) "rock" song

4) "rnb" song

5) "ballad" song

"thriller" inspired alot of other 80's pop records to do the same. Heck, its influence is still probably felt slightly today. Certainly the mix of tempo's and styles to net the widest demographic possible was a genius move, even if it was not deliberate. Indeed the fact the album does not feel half as calculated as it should is one of it's charms. I can't see much commitee thinking on this record, which sadly you couldn't say that today now that the industry has changed so much.....

Anyway, it definately changed the album game, for better or worse LOL. And I do think it probably made some black artists to try and go that route (including Jermaine Jackson and even Prince made a more commercial album with "purple rain", though it's hard to say if that was inspired by the sucsess of "thriller" but I bet Prince knew about it regardless), and of course, it paved the way for Whitney's early albums and no doubt inspired Lionals "cover all bases" approach with his excellent "can't slow down" album.

Yeah. Michael was smart for doing that. Because he knew if the promotion was right - and it was - it would definitely bolster his appeal and bolster it did.

Timmy84 said:

Yeah. Michael was smart for doing that. Because he knew if the promotion was right - and it was - it would definitely bolster his appeal and bolster it did.

It's amazing all the stuff that was going on around 1982-1985. The second british invasion, new wave going overground, Prince and the rise of the minniapolis sound (which had a much more crossover appeal then the funk of the 70's I feel), mtv, the compact disc, new technology like synclaviers and early digital..., lots of exciting things happening at once....

All this and "thriller" of course, helped the music industry recover from what they said at the time was a "recession". Disco had died, albums were getting shorter (fucking 6 tracks an album bollocks), fm radio looked stagnent and was much too powerful, funk was getting stale/dying, punk never making it to the US.... Things looked pretty grim until around 1983, and Jackson was right in the middle of it all.

thesexofit said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah. Michael was smart for doing that. Because he knew if the promotion was right - and it was - it would definitely bolster his appeal and bolster it did.

It's amazing all the stuff that was going on around 1982-1985. The second british invasion, new wave going overground, Prince and the rise of the minniapolis sound (which had a much more crossover appeal then the funk of the 70's I feel), mtv, the compact disc, new technology like synclaviers and early digital..., lots of exciting things happening at once....

All this and "thriller" of course, helped the music industry recover from what they said at the time was a "recession". Disco had died, albums were getting shorter (fucking 6 tracks an album bollocks), fm radio looked stagnent and was much too powerful, funk was getting stale/dying, punk never making it to the US.... Things looked pretty grim until around 1983, and Jackson was right in the middle of it all.

It's actually amazing looking back.

Timmy84 said:

thesexofit said:

It's amazing all the stuff that was going on around 1982-1985. The second british invasion, new wave going overground, Prince and the rise of the minniapolis sound (which had a much more crossover appeal then the funk of the 70's I feel), mtv, the compact disc, new technology like synclaviers and early digital..., lots of exciting things happening at once....

All this and "thriller" of course, helped the music industry recover from what they said at the time was a "recession". Disco had died, albums were getting shorter (fucking 6 tracks an album bollocks), fm radio looked stagnent and was much too powerful, funk was getting stale/dying, punk never making it to the US.... Things looked pretty grim until around 1983, and Jackson was right in the middle of it all.

It's actually amazing looking back.

I forgot the rise of the VHS, which was inportant to Mike as that "making of Thriller..." sold by the shitload. Infact, it's an important product in the history of VHS, as videos before Jacksons "Making of...." were either retail only and/or very expensive to buy. Jackson's video was one of the first to be priced down from what was over 50 dollers before....

.... I think prices of VHS were even higher then that back then, but Jackson and Disney slashed the prices of VHS to an affordable price for normal consumers and not just geeks LOL, and so VHS helped Mike too and also Mike helped VHS LOL.

Notice how he put "can you feel it" on the "making of...", despite the fact the single bombed in the US . I guess Mike wanted to remind people who missed it the first time about that one LOL.