Twenty-five years ago, Michael Jackson thrilled the world with his top-selling album Thriller. After selling 27 million copies and having seven of its songs on the top 10 charts for a year, Jackson?s famed album took home eight Grammy awards in 1984. This year, Thriller was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Thriller went on to become the best-selling albums of all time, and its continued iconic status shows Jackson?s songs have stood the test of time.
Now, the songs of Thriller have been pressed into a newly updated compact disc and are available on Thriller 25, the 25th-anniversary edition of the best-selling record. All of the album?s original nine tracks are there, including favorites ?Thriller,? ?Beat It,? ?Billie Jean? and ?PYT (Pretty Young Thing)? to please long-time fans of Jackson?s music.
Jackson has also attempted to market this album to new audiences by remixing some of these original tracks with a few top artists of the new millennium. This is a necessary sales technique, considering at least 27 million Americans already own Thriller. Jackson updates ?The Girl is Mine? by replacing Paul McCartney with Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, who also exercises his influence on ?PYT.? While these remixes are upbeat and bring a modern hip-hop twist to the ?80s pop song, they do not compare with their original tracks. ?Wanna Be Startin? Something? is also remixed with will.i.am and Akon. This song replaces the up-tempo tone of the track with a slow reggae beat that follows Akon?s twangy vocals. It?s interesting, but the original is once again preferable to this updated track.
Surprisingly, top artists Kanye and Fergie couldn?t pull together a remix as strong as will.i.am?s. ?Beat It 2008? is remixed with vocals from the ?Duchess,? but you can hardly hear them. Fergie sings over portions that Michael Jackson originally sang, yet it?s almost a challenge to tell the difference between their voices. Additionally, ?Billie Jean 2008? starts off strong with a rap introduction by Kanye West, but the excitement fades as the updated version is less upbeat than the original track.
Thriller 25 closes with ?For All Time,? a track that did not appear on the original album in any form. This track is a down-tempo exploration of the depths of love. ?For All Time? is slightly hard to swallow at first because of its ?80s tone, but it?s still great, and Jackson even hits some of his highest notes on this one.
But, if you really want to be taken back to the ?80s, make sure to view the DVD, which contains music videos of ?Thriller,? ?Beat It? and ?Billie Jean? as well as Jackson’s Emmy-nominated performance of ?Billie Jean? from the NBC special ?Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.? Michael?s entire outfit is dazzling in silver and black sequins ? even his socks sparkle. He twists, turns and even does the moonwalk while singing and sporting his classic white glove. This performance is definitely worth watching.
Yes, he has had endless nose jobs, has changed his skin color from black to white, has dangled his child off a balcony and shares his bed with little children, but despite his insanity, Michael Jackson is by far one of the most talented musicians any of us have ever listened to. Even though his remixes on Thriller 25 cannot compare with the original tracks, it is evident that Michael Jackson is still incredible and is still the king of pop.
3 stars out of 5