Thriller Michael Jackson

• 1Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'06:03
• 2Baby Be Mine04:20
• 3The Girl Is Mine03:42
• 4Thriller05:58
• 5Beat It04:18
• 6Billie Jean04:53
• 7Human Nature04:05
• 8P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)03:59
• 9The Lady in My Life04:57
• Total Runtime42:15

Info for Thriller

The sixth studio album from the late American singer-songwriter and musician and also the best-selling album of all time with over 45 million copies sold worldwide. The album features the singles 'Billie Jean', 'Beat It', 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'', 'Human Nature', 'P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing)', 'Thriller', and the duet with Paul McCartney 'The Girl Is Mine'.

„It’s hard to believe now, but when Michael Jackson’s Thriller was released in the UK in time for Christmas 1982, there was an initial sense of misfire. In choosing the album's most lacklustre track, The Girl Is Mine, as its lead single, the postcard delivered was mildly disappointing. The playful duet with Paul McCartney, chosen no doubt to emulate the success McCartney had had earlier the same year with Stevie Wonder on Ebony and Ivory, was simply not what the listeners were expecting. It reached number eight on the UK chart, and the album sold well, but certainly not in the manner that the man who’d delivered Off the Wall should have done. By the following Christmas, Thriller had become the phenomenon it remains to this day. Singles kept dropping off the album like golden fruit from a platinum bough: the precision snap of that snare on UK number one Billie Jean; the raucous Eddie Van Halen guitar on Beat It; the groove-driven frenzy of Wanna Be Startin' Something. It became apparent that this was a remarkable, ever-yielding pop jukebox.

By 1984, the album got an extension on its lifecycle with the John Landis-directed video for Thriller, which took the album from successful pop record to cultural icon. Casting the then-clean cut, scandal-free singer as a werewolf in a 15-rated short film was a risk, but one that truly paid off. Soon enough Thriller had become a greatest hits package – seven of its nine tracks were issued as singles.

Love it or hate it, Thriller is pop's great, immovable Everest. Marketing departments realised that more and more singles could be pulled from a record to prolong its shelf life, and Michael Jackson became the King of Pop with the whole of the recording industry at his investiture.

It was, of course, never the same for Jackson after Thriller. All that followed was a long, gradual downhill slope that culminated in some forgettable records and a tragic early death. But this view from the summit remains unparalleled.“ (Daryl Easlea, BBC Review)

Michael Jackson, vocals, percussion
Paul McCartney, vocals
Vincent Price, spoken vocals
Steve Lukather, guitar, bass
Eddie Van Halen, guitar
Dean Parks, guitar
Paul Jackson, guitar
Larry Williams, flute, saxophone
Jerry Hey, trumpet, flugelhorn
Bill Reichenbach, trombone
David Paich, piano, synthesizer
Greg Phillinganes, Fender Rhodes piano, synthesizer, programming
Steve Porcaro, synthesizer, programming
David Foster, synthesizer
Rod Temperton, synthesizer
Tom Bahler, Synclavier
Louis Johnson, bass
Ndugu Chancler, drums
Jeff Porcaro, drums
Paulinho Da Costa, percussion
Brian Banks, programming
LaToya Jackson, background vocals
Julia Waters, background vocals
Maxine Waters, background vocals
Oren Waters, background vocals
Becky Lopez, background vocals
Janet Jackson, background vocals

Recorded from April 14 – November 8, 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California
Engineered by Donn Landee; Humberto Gatica; Matt Forger; Bruce Swedien
Produced by Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson

Digitally remastered

Michael Jackson
born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, spent nearly his entire life as a public performer. At age four he was singing with the family group; a charismatic bundle of energy who was musically wise beyond his years, he soon became their lead vocalist and front man. Onstage, using every ounce of his old-school training, he modeled his dance moves and singing on James Brown and Jackie Wilson, and portrayed a self-confidence that belied his shy, private personality.

The Jackson Five-Michael, Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon and Tito-signed to Motown Records at the end of 1968, and were immediately groomed for stardom: “They’ll have three No. 1 records in a row,” Motown founder Berry Gordy famously announced before any records were released. In fall 1969 they exploded with “I Want You Back,” one of the greatest singles in pop history, and it was the first of four consecutive no. 1 pop hits, as “ABC,” “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There” followed. Flip sides such as “Who’s Lovin’ You,” a knockout performance by Michael with all the hallmarks of a great soul artist, illustrated his remarkable maturity.

It seemed inevitable that young MJ would spin off as a solo artist. The aching ballad “Got To Be There” was his first solo single, released October 7, 1971, and it shot to no. 4 on both the pop and R&B charts. His debut solo album Got To Be There was released in January 1972 and reached the pop Top 20. The LP also spun off “Rockin’ Robin,” a cover of a fifties smash that hit no. 2 pop and R&B, and “I Wanna Be Where You Are” (top 20 pop/no. 2 R&B).

In July 1972 Michael sang “Ben,” the title song from a movie about a trained rat, and it became his first solo pop no. 1. Michael’s emotional, sincere performance helped the song win a Golden Globe Award, and it was nominated for an Oscar®. The stylistically rich Ben album showcased Michael’s interpretive skills: the tracks included a moody cover of the Stylistics’ moody “People Make The World Go Round,” which in later years became a favorite of hip-hoppers; the happy, funky “We’ve Got A Good Thing Going;” and a nod to the great jazz singer Jimmy Scott, a man-child of another era, with a cover of Scott’s signature song “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool.”

MJ was still only 14 years old.

Music & Me, released April 13, 1973, was Michael’s next album-a push towards more adult contemporary pop like “Ben,” which backfired commercially, although it contains fine performances, including “With A Child’s Heart,” originally cut by Stevie Wonder, Motown’s sixties teen superstar, and a vocal version of “Happy,” the love theme from Lady Sings The Blues, the Gordy-produced film on the life of Billie Holiday released the previous that starred Jackson mentor Diana Ross.

Forever, Michael, released in January 1975, got things back on the R&B track. A more danced-oriented project that featured the return of Brian and Edward Holland to Motown, the LP hit the Black Album chart top 10, while its tracks “We’re Almost There” and “Just A Little Bit Of You” both peaked inside the R&B Singles top 10. In the two years prior, the Jackson 5, after a commercial lull, had been successful with dance tracks, particularly the smash no. 1 “Dancing Machine.”

Those four albums might have been the end of the story for Michael and Motown, as he and the group, sans Jermaine, left to go to Epic Records. Michael was 17 years old. While the group-now the Jacksons-kept the groove going, MJ set aside his solo career. He took up acting, memorably appearing as the Scarecrow in The Wiz with Diana Ross in 1978. He struck up a friendship with the film’s music producer, Quincy Jones and, in 1979, at age 21, MJ re-ignited his solo career, collaborating with Jones on Off The Wall. In the aftermath of its huge success, Motown issued the compilation One Day In Your Life, on March 25, 1981. Its title song-lifted from Forever, Michael-turned into a no. 1 hit in the U.K. and top 40 AC in the U.S.

Then came Thriller. The hits. The videos. The moonwalk on Motown 25. In May 1984 Motown released the LP Farewell My Summer Love, a batch of songs from the vault with contemporary overdubs; the title song went top 10 R&B. Two years later Motown issued Looking Back To Yesterday, a collection of more vault masters-some with the J5-that contained further unexpected gems.

Michael and his brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Michael went in as a solo artist in 2001. “He has transfixed the world like few entertainers before or since,” it says in his inductee biography. “As a solo performer, he has enjoyed a level of superstardom previously known only to Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra.”

It was at Motown where MJ first bared his young soul and was set on his path to becoming the biggest pop star of our time. He died at age 50, much too young, on June 25, 2009. He is loved, he is missed. He is Forever, Michael. (Source: Universal Music)

This album contains no booklet.