Published on Apr 3, 2001
I can hear the questions now: Why have we waited over four years
to feature Michael Jackson’s 1982 album
Thriller here on “The Daily Vault”? The answer is quite
simple: I like life, and I don’t like death threats.
Whether I had formed an opinion on this album or not, tackling
the best-selling album in history is no easy task. Daring to say
something that might not be positive about this record would be the
equivalent to playing a Slayer album during an audience with the
Pope. It can only invite opportunity to be slammed harder than a
professional wrestler.
Yet, here we are. And there Jackson was back in 1982. If one
steps back and thinks about the time this disc was released in,
Jackson happened to be in the right place at the right time. He had
always been the subject of idolatry since his days with the Jackson
Five, only now, he had streamlined his look (compare the cover
shots of
Thriller and
Off The Wall) and his sound. Oh – and he utilized a little
device known as the “music video”, despite MTV’s initial reluctance
to program his work.
It was a powder keg waiting to be set off – and Jackson’s
appearance at the Motown Anniversary, where he upstaged his
brothers for the umpteenth time, was the match that lit the fuse.
Thirty-five million albums later, the ka-boom is still heard.
Enough padding – how is this album? Musically, it’s a step up
from
Off The Wall, ditching the dancing references and getting
down to the funk at times… but there still is a little bit of
filler. More on that in a moment.
There is something to be said for the freshness of this record.
Nearly 20 years since its release (Christ, I can’t believe I just
wrote that – seems like only yesterday I was buying this record at
K-Mart), tracks like “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” still sound like
they could have been written and recorded yesterday. (Yes, they’re
overplayed – but that doesn’t mean they’re not good.) “Wanna Be
Startin’ Somethin'” tries to pick up the funk where he left off on
“Workin’ Day And Night”, and while it’s not quite in the same
league, it does feel like Jackson is trying to cut loose from his
freshly-pressed image by having some fun in the vocals.
Not everything has held up as well, though. “The Girl Is Mine,”
a duet with Paul McCartney (at least when the two were still
speaking to each other – did they ever kiss and make up?), sounds
about as flat as any of McCartney’s solo material from that time
period, and is more of a time capsule kind of song than anything
these days. Likewise, “Human Nature” sounds a little out of place
with some of the harder-edged stuff Jackson was doing on this disc
– but then again, I didn’t like this song back in 1982. “The Lady
In My Life” is a better love song than this. And the less said
about “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”, the better.
Still,
Thriller has held up surprisingly well over the years… and
Jackson has yet to prove he wasn’t deserving of all the fame and
accolade this record brought him. (Never mind the fact that he
seemed to go fruit loops with some of his eccentricities.) We could
argue for over several hours over several beers whether
Thriller truly is the best album ever recorded, and each
side would be right in their opinions. Let’s leave it at this: for
the time it was recorded in,
Thriller was the best album, and still is worth your time
and attention today.