The stats alone for Michael Jackson's Thriller are astounding: Nominated for 12 Grammys and taking home
eight, the album spawned seven top-10 singles, spent 37 weeks as the No. 1
album (a record for any pop album), during which it sold 40 million alone, and
has since sold 104 million copies sold around the world, 27 million of which
have been sold in the U.S. Most tellingly, it still sells 60,000 copies each
year, and is set to sell even more next year with the re-release of Thriller, as the album quietly
celebrated its 25th birthday Dec. 1.
Just for some perspective, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon holds the record for the longest duration in
the Billboard 200 (741 weeks), but has sold a comparatively slim 40 million
units worldwide.
These stats certainly are impressive, but they may
overshadow the music itself, which is a shame. Thriller's nine songs that compose the biggest album in history are
a collection of everything that popular music had become until 1982. Quite
literally, there is something for everyone in the ensuing 42 minutes.
So why has the album become the behemoth that it is? Some
argue that MTV had something to do with it. Certainly, with videos like "Billie
Jean" and the iconic, mini-movie "Thriller," these critics have a point. A lot
has also been made about how
was MTV's first black star and that they forged a symbiotic relationship
between 1982 and 1984 (during MTV's zenith), lasting until the man went nuts
for the first time.
Others argue that it was the Michael Jackson persona — the archetypal
performer — that made the album so huge. Still others contend that it was
because the album did, in fact, have a little something for everyone: hard rock
("Beat It"), funk ("Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"), ballads ("Human Nature"), pop
("Thriller") and, oh yeah, a song with Paul McCartney ("The Girl is Mine").
I would contend that the main reason the album has become
this cultural phenomenon is a combination of all those above assertions, as
they are all interrelated, but most credit is due to the Jackson persona. From
the humble beginnings (comparatively speaking) in the Jackson Five until he
released Thriller, Michael was a
performer first and foremost.
Pop stars today are not forged in the music scene, they are
manufactured (ahem, "American Idol"). Performers, though the winners and
runners-up may be, these new individuals are not molded from years of releasing
singles and albums with the risk of them flopping, only to be dropped from a
label a year later. Instead, they are automatically pushed to the front of the
line via one of the biggest shows in TV history and have (relatively) no fear
of failing in the music business.
When
decided to leave Motown, people thought he was nuts. Alas, how wrong they were.
Off the Wall,
Motown, was a tremendous hit, selling seven million copies in the states alone.
He risked, essentially, his whole career with that album, and it worked.
Undeniably,
is lucky that Thriller came out when
it did. The biggest difference between then and now is how impatient record
companies are nowadays with an artist's sales. During the '60s, '70s and '80s,
record companies were willing to work with an artist and build their fan base. They
would give an artist a chance if his/her first record or two did not go gold.
Now, if after two records there is no gold (or, more importantly, platinum)
record in sight, they are dropped "like a bad habit." The music scene used to
look at an artist in the long term. Now, artists are treated like fashion
statements.
Thriller would not
work if it were released today, because the musical landscape is so vastly
different from the broad-based appeal of the '80s pop scene. Popular music is now
divided and subdivided, ad nauseum.
If
had released Off the Wall first in
this environment, people would have been scratching their heads, wondering just what
the hell it is. Even if Wall had gone
platinum, Thriller would have been a
flop. Releasing "The Girl is Mine" as the first single would kill any momentum
that an album like Thriller would
have today. "Billie Jean" might save it coming next, but by the time "Human
Nature" is released as single No. 5, people would already be moving on to the
new Kelly Clarkson record. Let us not forget that the centerpiece of the album,
the title track (and Thriller's best
song), was released as the last single.
More time would be spent trying to categorize the album as a
whole than the quality of the music and, thus, any intrinsic value of said
music would be lost. In addition, Thriller
was clearly conceived as an album rather than a collection of songs released
all together, as the iPod has forced albums to become.
It also would not work on college campuses, including the
types of music found around college — those being, of course, Dave Matthews
Band, Radiohead, indie and commercial rap. Add to that the fact that the city
of Madison is not very pop-friendly in terms of venues: The Orpheum and
Majestic scream indie bands and modern rock and the Alliant Energy Center seems
to draw almost exclusively arena rock acts, which Michael Jackson is obviously
not.
I suppose that it is a gift from above that Thriller was released when it was. In
the short quarter-century that it has been out, the collection has changed the
face of music forever and undoubtedly changed the ways in which music is heard
(and seen). If you have read this column and do not own Thriller, arguably the best and most important album of the 1980s,
what the hell are you waiting for? Go get it.
Steve Lampiris is a
junior majoring in political science. If you'd like to discuss whether or not
"Thriller" is the greatest music video ever, e-mail him at [email protected].
