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Michael Jackson
"Thriller"
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1982
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Wanna be startin' somethin'
Baby be mine
The girl is mine
Thriller
Beat it
Billie Jean
Human nature
PYT (pretty young thing)
Lady in my life
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Michael Jackson's Thriller is the bestselling
album of all time, with 45 million worldwide sales
powered by seven Top 10 U.S. singles and eight
Grammy Awards.
The 1982 album was also a success from which the pop
superstar never really recovered--subsequent albums
seemed to have no other goal than to beat the
records set by Thriller. The highly-polished
sound of Quincy Jones's production sounds almost
organic compared to Jackson's more recent work, and
in the same regard, Thriller was
significantly slicker than its predecessor, Off
the Wall.
Both albums established a Jackson style that aimed
for the dance floor with songs built on a
state-of-the-art bed of percussion and keyboards.
Elements of milestone Thriller tracks like
"Billie Jean" (arguably Jackson's best-ever
performance) and "Beat It" (with its hard-rock solo
by guitarist Eddie Van Halen) influenced not just
Jackson's records, but those of the entire dance-pop
world.
On the song "Thriller," Jackson indulged his taste
for the juvenile and invited Vincent Price to rap in
a really scary voice. With Thriller the
album, Jackson created a different kind of
monster--a hit album of such magnitude that it would
have an irrevocable impact not just on the singer's
art, but on his altogether kooky life. --John
Milward |
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