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.

Best Selling Album EVER!:

1 Michael Jackson: Thriller 1982
1 Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1976
3 Pink Floyd: The Wall 1979
4 Led Zeppelin: Untitled (IV) 1971
5 Billy Joel: Greatest Hits Volume I & II 1985
6 Fleetwood Mac: Rumours 1977
7 The Beatles: The Beatles [White Album] 1968
8 Shania Twain: Come on Over 1997
9 Whitney Houston Various Artists: The Bodyguard 1992
10 Boston: Boston 1976

One of only THREE albums in history to generate 7 top ten singles:

THRILLER w Michael Jackson, 1982
The Girl Is Mine [ Nr. 2 ]
Billie Jean [ 1 ]
Beat It [ 1 ]
Wanna Be Startin' Something [ 5 ]
Human Nature [ 7 ]
P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) [ 10 ]
Thriller [ 4 ]

the others with 7 top ten singles:
BORN IN THE U.S.A. w Bruce Springsteen, 1984
RHYTHM NATION 1814 w Janet Jackson, 1989

Please, please stop mixing reviews of cd's w/ sacd's, and dvd-audio discs!! Anyone in this area does notneed to be told what a "cool song Beat It is " If we are in this area we want to know the difference the sacd provides. Tell us about the mix Ect.!!

Please refrain from buying this title! Save your money! Myself, being a Jackson fan, found heartbreaking to realize what Sony has been trying to do to keep SACD alive. Lets understand that the beauty of DSD lies not only in its surround capabilities, but also in the unrivalled purity of its sound. The best SACD recordings you will ever hear are PURE DSD. This means: Source (instruments, voice, etc.) recorded on DSD, and not only re-mastered from tape. The irony lies in the fact that most of the titles that WE as consumers would pick from the shelf are NOT new releases, but rather hits from the past; making the whole native DSD capture at the time of the studio recording, impossible! Further more, there is another tragic fate: Tape deteriorates over time!!!! Back in the days of Thriller's release, engineers would order immediate mastering and duplication of the finished production, as many claimed to hear a deterioration of sound with just a few weeks past completion. IMAGINE WHAT 20 YEARS WILL DO!!! Brave attempt by Bernie Grundman (Mastering engineer for SACD), but futile. Use your ears! I have been a professional recording engineer for 12 years now, and A/B compared this SACD and the original CD released in the 80's. Its an unfair comparison CD WINS BY FAR, it is fuller, clearer, fatter and not as abrasive on the highs as the SACD, thanks to the fact that it was digitalized at an early age of the tape master.
Bottom Line: If you don't own Thriller, get the CD. It is one of Pop's historic jewels.

It's time to boycott Michael, because he's a grown man who sleeps with young boys. Boycott Michael, and save the children.