Thriller 25 Deluxe Edition : Michael Jackson : Review : Rolling Stone

Thriller is the sound of Michael Jackson in 1982, when he was the coolest, slinkiest, prettiest pop star alive. He was Boy George times Rick James and beat both of them at their games, although he did nothing but make the competition sound even better. He taught Boy George fans and Rick James fans to hear each other's music, just as he taught Van Halen, Lionel Richie, ZZ Top, Stevie Nicks and Bruce Springsteen to play to this grand new pop-thrills audience he'd called to the floor. After this, nobody claimed disco sucked again. "Billie Jean" was the hit, with MJ's voice aching with erotic longing and dread, and nearly five minutes of creepy strings and seductive bass and breathy gasps, though there wasn't a station on the dial that faded the song out early. "Beat It" was the one designed to get on rock radio — but "Billie Jean" got there first, since the rock stations played it, along with the rest of the world. They couldn't resist that bass. Who could?

Thriller has been the world's favorite pop album ever since, and this deluxe expanded edition shows why, even with six lame new remixes from artists like Fergie, Akon and Kanye West, as well as the mediocre ballad "For All Time," a rerecorded outtake from the original sessions, tacked on. The twenty-fifth-anniversary edition is like the I'm Not There soundtrack: All the new artists sound cowed by the originals, and they know nobody will ever play their versions twice. Even Kanye can tell he's in over his head, so he sends "Billie Jean" out there without the bass line, which is like putting Bobby Orr on the ice without a hockey stick. And in an early fast-track contender for the year's most pointless musical moment, there's Fergie's "Beat It 2008." How funky and strong is her fight?

Akon's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" is actually kind of great — he slows it down into a piano ballad, lingering over the easily obscured lyrics. Paul McCartney doesn't show for "The Girl Is Mine 2008," but that would be a sore subject anyway. (What can it mean that the music on "The Girl Is Mine" was played by the guys from Toto, who had that song about Rosanna Arquette — who has recently been linked to McCartney?) Instead we get Will.i.am, whose idea of production is dumb-thug bluster and trying to hide the goofy "doggone" hook, which is the whole point of the song, dude. "The Girl Is Mine" without "doggone" is like "Same Girl" without the Waffle House. Note: Though MJ's original vocals are on here, Jackson himself doesn't participate much in the new versions, showing previously well-hidden instincts of self-preservation.

So that leaves the original Thriller, which hasn't lost any of its fizz. One of the funny things about the album is that even though it's as close as you can get to timeless, it really only could have happened in 1982. That was a watershed year for pop music, with New Wave synth pop and disco feeding into each other, the year of Madonna's "Everybody" and George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and the Human League's "Don't You Want Me" and Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing." Jackson got this whole era grooving a few years earlier with Off the Wall, but at the end of 1982, right when everybody was still reeling from Prince's 1999, he dropped Thriller and shocked everyone. Madonna made her own version of "Billie Jean," retitled "Like a Virgin." Stevie Nicks called her version "Stand Back," Pat Benatar called hers "Love Is a Battlefield." Bob Dylan called his "Tight Connection to My Heart." Yet none of them could touch the original.

Thriller has MJ at his breathiest and most salacious ("PYT"), and his most beautifully fragile ("Human Nature," so open and brave it makes "She's Out of My Life" seem phony). The one hit that sounds tired now is "Thriller," killed off by the video, with its bid for middlebrow respectability. ("Billie Jean" and "Beat It" are great videos — "Thriller" is just a crap John Landis movie.) But the wiggly bass that kicks off the album in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' " feels like the sound of MJ's soul, and you can hear it all over his voice. (A big hand for bassist Louis Johnson, please, who also played on "Billie Jean.") By the time he came back with Bad, the wiggle was gone from his bass and his voice. Yet the weirdest thing about Michael Jackson will always be that he gave the world this work of genius.

ROB SHEFFIELD

(Posted: Feb 21, 2008)

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Give us your review of Thriller 25 Deluxe Edition

Review 1 of 13

5of 5 Stars

The man is a legend. His music is the best! He is the king. Thriller, best song ever in its category.

May 20, 2008 13:37:22

Review 2 of 13

Not Rated

The remix tracks are Michael's attempts to give himself some credibility with Top-40 kids. Thriller 25 is another repackaging that is unnecessary for those who have the 2001 remaster, which I recommend over this one. There are probably lots of people born after 1982 who don't own Thriller because the best songs are played everywhere. The inclusion of Akon and the Black Eyed Peas probably won't help if Michael is still viewed as old news and a pedophile. Still, Thriller is better than any pop music being played today, and like Led Zeppelin or AC/DC it should be remastered and packaged so it can be competitive with new music that it blows away in every department (if only Apple Records would get the message and do the same with the Beatles catalog!) But Michael should have known better than to reissue it with some lame remixes. I would have preferred alternate takes and different mixes from the original sessions like are usually issued with jazz remasters. Anything but Fergie trying to sing along to "Beat It." Oh, and he may have poor judgment and Peter Pan syndrome, but he's not a pedophile.

Feb 27, 2008 21:35:52

Review 3 of 13

1of 5 Stars

Jez will Akon not just f'off and die?? Same with that meth-face tart Fergie.And is there a bigger waste of space that that Wyclef Jean wannabe Will.I.AM, i just got bad aids from typing his name!!
The original album has a couple of the greatest pop songs ever in Billie Jean and Beat, i can take or leave most of the others.

Feb 17, 2008 15:04:57

Review 4 of 13

5of 5 Stars

As far as straight up pop records go, it doesn't GET any better than this and it likely never will. Regardless of what one's personal opinion of Michael Jackson may be, this is as close to perfection, in the realm of pop, as we will ever see. You CANNOT judge the art by the artist. It is not the fault of "Thriller" that it's creator is very likely a pedophile.

I can remember a world where the worst thing people said about Michael Jackson was that he might have been gay (...serious business back in the 80's). It didn't get any bigger than Michael Jackson - not Madonna, not Prince, not Springsteen, not ANYONE - and there was a good reason for it: "Thriller" It was so fresh and revolutionary that one couldn't help but love it...and this is coming from an aged American Hardcore kid. "Thriller" was my guilty pleasure (...found out years later that it was the same for many of my friends).

So, with that being said, know this: You can try to shoot all the holes in "Thriller" you want but it's bulletproof and it stands alone.

Feb 16, 2008 18:41:59

Review 5 of 13

5of 5 Stars

Seanebones: you're an idiot. Were you really one of the six or seven people who thought the "buying drugs supports terrorism" campaign was a legitimate anti-drug message? That's funny. You're funny. I bet you wish you could vote for George Bush again in November, right?

MJ's a genius; he's probably a pedophile too. But, with or without his kid-fiddling, "Thriller" is still a masterpiece.

Feb 12, 2008 10:29:58

Review 6 of 13

5of 5 Stars

OK...first thing is, I haven't listened to the new CD. Thriller was undeniably one of the best albums made since the beginnings of rock. I have no time for the new versions of songs that are performed by people that are not in the same league as Michael. I mean..COME ON!!Will anyone ever mention Fergie and Akon and especially Kanye West in the same breath as Michael. I can just put on the original LP and hear the completed work. How could they be any better or intersting? I must admit I am very biased, I can't stand that new genre of... music? But what Michael did was take the best of rock, soul and funk and put it all together. So, Thriller 25 has to be good, even with the fluff..but I won't buy it. And as an aside, I think we are rating the music here, not his personal life. He was and maybe still is one of the most talented performers ever.

Feb 12, 2008 07:03:45

Review 7 of 13

Not Rated

Why are any of the Blackeyed Peas alowed to contunue to ruin good music? I've never heard a good song from any of them, never seen a good review, yet they continue to exist in the music biz.

I was 12 in 1982, and you are correct Rob, 1981-1984 was the best pop era of music.

ZZ Top, Cindy Lauper, Human League, Van Halen, Billy Squire, XTC, The Police, George Clinton, Springsteen, Madonna, Kool & The Gang, Billy Idol, Queen and most of all Michael Jackson.

What other era could you like ALL of these bands at the same time (and they were ALL on the same radio station!)

Feb 12, 2008 06:47:23

Review 8 of 13

5of 5 Stars

Regardless of all the BS Jackson has been accused or put in the middle of you can not deny he was one the most influential solo artists through the 80s and early 90s. I am not trying to write off the Jackson 5 and they were also very influential, but I believe Jackson will be remembered because of albums like Thriller and Bad.I honestly doubt anyone who was alive during Jackson's prime can say they didn't enjoy atleast a few songs from him truthfully. Thriller is a certifiable classic and is the highest selling record ever if I remember correctly.It's really sad to see how many of his fans turned their backs on him because of accusations that have more facts proving them false then true. While no one can deny he has made some really bad, confusing, and strange decisions it does not change the fact he has more talent then 10 of some of the current artists/groups combined. As soon as he was accused of those crimes the media did anything to make him look evil. They even stopped reporting and talking about all the work he did for various charities. I have never seen any other artist put in even half as much time and support as he has. I only hope that within the rest of his life he is able to create atleast one more classic album. If he can then it would help him be remembered by history for the truly talented and generous artist he is, and not because of the accusations that have surrounded him, and plagued in his career. Even if I am not a huge fan of his work, but he still has my respect for his accomplishments.

Feb 9, 2008 02:29:56

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