Michael Jackson-Thriller (1983)
Artist: Michael Jackson
Title:Thriller
Label: Epic/MJJ Productions
Sell Date: 5/15/25
Condition: VG+/VG+
Discogs Last Sold: 5/13/26 M/M $47.30
Low: $1.00 G+/VG 12/21/24 missing rear insert
Median: $3.97
Average: $5.64
High: $47.30 M/M 5/13/26
Current low price: $3.30 VG/VG+
Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 8
Have/Want: 228/550
Where Sold: Carol Stream, IL
Time It Took To Sell: 3 years
Where and When Bought: Facebook marketplace lot
Gwiz-gau Grade: B+
Sad To See It Go: No
Micheal Jackson's Thriller was the final album I bought strictly because it had hit #1 on Billboard. I always understood it was high end great pop. Thriller had unmatched genre jumping outreach with Paul McCartney, Eddie Van Halen and for God's sake Vincent Price in this Quincy Jones production. That said, I forever prefer Off The Wall and am starting to feel the singles from Bad are better than the middle tier of this pound for pound.
All that said, for me there are two tracks that are undeniable. That would be the opener "Wanna Be Starting Something" and "Billie Jean." I wrote about "Stayin' Alive" being amazing recently because it tells a musical story. That song does something similar to "Stayin' Alive" where my brain follows it all the way through every time. "Wanna Be Starting Something" I also find undeniable and probably my overall favorite. The call and response is Michael's bread and butter on this album. The headphone listen exposed how parts come in and out in a way you don't hear coming out of speakers. While this is a longer track you really can't deny mama se mama sa ma ma cu sa as a wrap of the song.
The next tier, the "all-star" singles are infuriatng in their own way. Top 10 hits all. The lead off single with Macca, "The Girl Is Mine" you couldn't escape in a drug store. The cheeky argument of the opposite ends of the boomer generation fighting over this mysterious girl gets less and less cute with repeated listenings but Michael rules the day telling us "after loving me she said she couldn't love another." Eddie Van Halen made a fairly brilliant approach to the "rock" song "Beat It." It really isn't Rock or R&B, or even a hybrid of style. That's why they call it pop, it isn't rocking or soulful and again you couldn't escape it for a time. The epic title track is a bit of big-ticket Broadway but you can't deny a side coda for Vincent Price. Vincent lived another decade and never went away. He was even in Edward Scissorhands in 1990 and some TV roles before his 1993 passing.
The final tier is the filler, some of it hit's. Heck even the unmemorable closer "The Lady In My Life" is now certified Gold by the RIAA as a single. "Human Nature" and "PYT" were later singles that both charted top 10 with the 5 main tracks. "Human Nature" is probably the better of these, there's a understated little guitar thing thoughout it that I'm hearing in headphones that I never really noticed on AM radio or the supermarket buried under the synths and Michael. "PYT" always seemed like a lesser song but I might actually like it more than the middle tier since it returns to the call and response. Odd that the second track, the jazz hinting ballad "Baby Be Mine" is the only song never certified Gold even in the digital era.
You can't say Thriller is overrated, it is too top-heavy for that. You can't even say it is conceptually flawed on start to finish listens. The music is there, Quincy knew what he was doing. Then the question becomes do I know most of side two because of where it rose in pop culture or do I know it because I wanted to hear it again and again. I think we all know the answer.
Oversaturation giveth and taketh away.
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