Thriller

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• Mark "Technology, Music and Movies"

  February 23, 2013
  2:41 pm

  138 of 148 people found the following review helpful

  
  Thriller – Michael Jackson’s Masterpiece, Better Than Ever!, March 18, 2008

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  Mark “Technology, Music and Movies” (East Coast) –
  
    
  
    
  
    
  
    

  This review is from: Thriller, 25th Anniversary Edition (Audio CD)

  The 25th Anniversary edition of Thriller is a must own CD. The presentation of the CD is great, with top-notch production evident throughout. The original tracks still sound amazing. And the new remixed song versions should introduce younger R&B fans to the man who started it all.

  There are many reasons to buy this version of the album even if you already own it. This version includes remastered mixes that sound great. This album also came out at the height of vinyl and casettes, so a lot of people may not own the album on CD. Old school fans will be seduced by the awesome holographic CD dust jacket, sharper re-mastered original tracks and included bonus DVD videos.

  Younger music fans who love will.i.am, Kanye West, Fergie and Akon will be attracted by the remade versions. Hard-core Michael Jackson fans might not like those new versions as much. Still, no matter how you slice it, this 25th Anniversary edition belongs in your collection.

  It’s clear to anybody who follows R&B that so many artists over the past 10 years have made careers essentially emulating Michael’s singing style and dance moves. You can include on that list:
  - Justin Timberlake – FutureSex / LoveSounds
  - Chris Brown – Chris Brown
  - Usher – My Way
  - Omarion – O

  THE TRACKS AND EXTRAS

  It’s impossible not to hear the songs from this album from time to time, yet it had been a long time since I heard the original album in total, tracks 1-10 on this CD. When you listen to it again, it’s impossible not to realize how amazing of a production this truly was, and still is even 25 years later. Every single song is a number one hit, and Michael moves through genres including pop, rock and R&B with ease. See my awards summary at the bottom for more on this.

  The remakes can’t possibly match Michael’s original accomplishment. Yet they are not as bad as many say. I actually like the Akon version of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin.” And Kanye West’s “Billie Jean” mix highlights his abilities as a producer.

  The included DVD includes the short film music video versions of “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Thriller.” These videos are historic in their own right, each one a high budget production better than a lot of the movies made in 1982. There’s also a nice liner jacket with all the original lyrics and cool album art.

  There’s also the Motown 25 performance of “Billie Jean.” For those that don’t remember this performance, it’s the one where Michael first does the moonwalk on stage. It takes quite a performer to pull off a rhinestone shirt, rhinestone socks, sparkly jacket, high-waters and one white glove!

  It’s amazing to note that Michael Jackson actually wrote most of the biggest hits on this album, something today’s R&B artists rarely do. Most of the biggest hits from the album are his original works, including “Wanna Be Startin’ Something,” “The Girl Is Mine,” “Beat It,” and “Billie Jean.” “Baby Be Mine,” “Thriller,” and “The Lady In My Life” were written and composed by Rod Temperton. “PYT” was the work of the legendary James Ingram and Quincy Jones. And Steve Porcato wrote both “Human Nature” (with John Bettis) and the newly released “For All Time” (with Michael Sherwood), number 16 on this edition.

  I really liked this previously unreleased track, and it definitely has a sound akin to Human Nature. I can only speculate that that similarity is what kept it off of the original release.

  AWARDS

  It’s amazing to think this album won 8 Grammys,…

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• Mark "Technology, Music and Movies"

  February 23, 2013
  3:05 pm

  43 of 44 people found the following review helpful

  
  Thriller – Michael Jackson’s Masterpiece, Deluxe Casebook Edition, Better Than Ever!, March 18, 2008

  By 

  Mark “Technology, Music and Movies” (East Coast) –
  
    
  
    
  
    
  
    

  This review is from: Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller(Deluxe Casebook Edition) (Audio CD)

  Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller(Deluxe Casebook Edition)

  The 25th Anniversary edition of Thriller is an awesome release and a must have for serious fans and new inductees. This deluxe casebook edition also includes a fold out collectable book with bonus pictures, background information, album art and the original liner jacket with all the lyrics. There’s also more basic editions going for about $12 that don’t include the casebook. Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller No matter how you slice it, this 25th Anniversary edition belongs in your collection.

  There are many reasons to buy this album, even if you already own it. First of all, this album came out at the height of vinyl and cassette tapes, so there are a lot of people who don’t own the album on CD. Granted many people bought the previous re-releases on CD, but if you haven’t now’s your chance.

  Younger music fans who love will.i.am Songs About Girls, Kanye West Graduation, Fergie The Dutchessand Akon Konvicted will be attracted by the remade versions, even if hard-core Michael Jackson fans don’t like them as much.

  Old school fans will be seduced by the awesome holographic CD dust jacket, sharper re-mastered original tracks and included bonus DVD videos. It was a long time since I heard the original album in total, tracks 1-10 on this CD. When you listen to it again, it’s impossible not to realize how amazing of a production this truly was and still is, even now 25 years later. Every single song is a hit, and Michael moves through genres including pop, rock and R&B with ease, nailing each one.

  It’s clear to anybody who follows R&B that so many artists over the past 10 years have made careers essentially emulating Michael’s singing style and dance moves. You can include on that list:
  - Justin Timberlake – FutureSex / LoveSounds
  - Chris Brown – Chris Brown
  - Usher – My Way
  - Omarion – O

  Record labels have an army of executives that realize the marketing potential of putting some top stars together to add remakes to this re-release. The remakes can’t possibly match Michael’s original accomplishment. Yet they are not as bad as many say. I actually like the Akon version of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin.” And Kanye West’s “Billie Jean” mix really highlights his abilities as a producer.

  The included DVD includes the short film music video versions of “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Thriller.” These videos are historic in their own right, each one a high budget production better than a lot of the movies made in 1982.

  There’s also the Motown 25 performance of “Billie Jean.” For those that don’t remember this performance, it’s the one where Michael first does the moonwalk on stage. Let me tell you, it takes quite a performer to pull off a rhinestone shirt, rhinestone socks, sparkly jacket, high-waters and one white glove!

  It’s amazing to note that Michael Jackson actually wrote most of the biggest hits on this album, something today’s R&B artists rarely do. Most of the biggest hits from the album are his original works, including “Wanna Be Startin’ Something,” “The Girl Is Mine,” “Beat It,” and “Billie Jean.”

  “Baby Be Mine,” “Thriller,” and “The Lady In My Life” were written and composed by Rod Temperton. “PYT” was the work of the legendary James Ingram and Quincy Jones. And Steve Porcato wrote both…

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• Thomas Magnum

  February 23, 2013
  3:38 pm

  85 of 94 people found the following review helpful

  
  Don’t Be Afraid Of Michael Jackson, July 14, 2000

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  Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) –
  
    
  
    
  
    

  This review is from: Thriller (Audio CD)

  These days Michael Jackson seems to be more of a cartoon character than a recording artist. His exploits get more than attention than his music. Forget that his best friend is a chimpanzee and he lives at a place called Neverland and just listen to the music. The album crosses across all music genres and gives the listener a little bit of everything. There’s pop, rock, r & b and dance rhythms; slow, fast and midtempo songs. “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” gets the album moving. It’s a disco inferno and builds up to a chanting crescendo. The next two songs slow things down after the frenzied opening. One of the two non-singles, “Baby Be Mine” is a nice mid-tempo song and then comes the superstar duet with Paul McCartney “The Girl Is Mine”. The song shows off both the artist’s vocal talents as they trade verses fighting over a girl’s affection. You can almost see the song as a passing of the torch from the Beatles to Jackson as the world’s biggest act. The humorous “Thriller” follows and it contains Vincent Price’s debut as a “rapper”. “Beat It” is the song that pushed the album into the cultural phenomenon that it was. By employing guitar god Eddie Van Halen on the song, Jackson was able to break out of the mold of an R & B artist and reach a vast white audience. Jackson showed he was able to transcend all labels and reach listeners of all colors and musical tastes. The first number one song on the album follows. It was a searing performance of the song, “Billie Jean”, on the Motown 25th anniversary special that helped show Jackson’s amazing dancing abilities and push album sales into the stratosphere. It was also the first video by a black artist to gain major airplay on the predominately white MTV, setting the stage for other black artists like Prince to start reaching a more diverse audience. “Human Nature” is a pretty ballad and “P.Y.T.” is has more of a a hard edge. His sister Janet sings back up on the tune. The album closes with another ballad “The Lady In My Life”. This album went on to sell 25 million copies and for a long time was the biggest selling album in history. It almost single handily pulled the recording industry out of it late 70′s, early 80′s sales funk and made MTV into the marketing machine it is today. It takes a very special album to do that and this is exactly that.

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