Thriller 25 Years Later

Technically, Thriller is turning 26 this year, since it was released in 1982. But, as it is, Michael Jackson's mammothly successful album Thriller is being released this week in a 25th anniversary edition. It seems MJ is finding any opportunity to celebrate his back catalogue, particularly his crowning achievement of Thriller. Sony, MJ's record company has released countless anthologies of MJ's work for the past few years: a number-ones collection, a box set, even a DVD-single collection called Visionary. In 2001, Thriller was re-released in time for its 20th anniversary. Now it's being re-released again with updated versions of classic hits such as Beat It.

Looking back, Thriller is an album that had incredible singles, but as a whole, it's not Jackson's best album. That distinction belongs to Off the Wall, Michael's first full-length album collaboration with Quincy Jones. Off the Wall was a superb mix of R&B, disco, and pop. Thriller continued that tradition, but it almost tried too hard; too hard to be the best pop album of its time, that it lost the spontaneity and fun quality that made Off the Wall so enjoyable. Thriller also pushed itself into more rock territory with "Beat It" (featuring Eddie Van Halen on guitar), so it's a bit more varied in its sound than Off the Wall.

But unlike Off the Wall, Thriller features a few duds. In particular, The Girl is Mine, a duet with Paul McCartney, is cheesy as ever, even 25 years later. Much better is their duet a year later, Say, Say, Say. Album filler like Lady in My Life remains unmemorable in 2008.

But Thriller released amazing singles, no doubt about it: Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Human Nature, P.Y.T, and course, Billie Jean. The videos themselves are still amazing to this date and rarely have been topped. And who can forget from 1982 to about 1985, Thriller's endless run of singles on the radio?

Thriller is, of course, an important album to have. But don't forget Jackson's other masterpieces, Off the Wall or even the underrated Dangerous. When you listen to these albums, you'll forget "Wacko Jacko" and remember when Jackson really was the King of Pop.