•
Rating:
Have you done more than seven thousand reviews and embarrassingly overlooked "Thriller"?
Eh, this is a true flaw, Debaser!
Usually, I don't revisit an artist I've already discussed, but in this case, at this point, I feel obliged. In truth, the fact that even the most questionable albums of Michael Jackson have been reviewed here (see 'Blood On The Dancefloor') but not this one shows only one thing. 'Thriller' is an album that is easier to take for granted than to tackle. It is such a heavyweight in its category that it intimidates even the most relaxed music narrator. Why?
Firstly, because it has that damned, incredible title of "the best-selling album in music history", with 50 million and more copies sold just in the very first years after release, a boulder that already makes you feel like you're facing a beast not rare, UNIQUE.
A second reason might be that when seven top ten American singles are extracted from a nine-song record, with at least three (let's say "Billie Jean, Thriller, and Beat It") that have been injected into the cultural heritage of anyone who has had a pair of working ears in the last twenty-six years, it can be easy to conclude that just a few very famous tracks are enough to give us an overall idea of the work.
Besides a brisk laziness, another fact arises: 'Thriller' will never benefit from the periodic historical revaluations that so-called "niche" albums encounter; 'Thriller' can never become a "cult", an underground gem to be passed under school desks, generation after generation. It will never be an eternal treasure for a few like the debut of Violent Femmes, nor a formative bible like Nevermind, because Nevermind was an unintended blockbuster, the unexpected emancipation of alternative music that eventually became the soundtrack of a generation.
Here, instead, we clash with a real pop war machine, with the music mainstream's emblematic album. It is a masterpiece of musical construction, a Nietzschean will to power in wanting to become the number one. After the excellent success of that astonishing black music mix that was 'Off The Wall' in 1979, after having realized with 'Triumph' the following year the best album by the Jacksons, the future "The Gloved One" now had all the Afro-American audience on his side.
But an 80s Napoleon cannot settle for this, he wants it all, because he knows he has all it takes to have it. Almost a fifteen-year career behind, a distinctive, very particular voice, already almost an incarnation of the intermediate singing perfection between male and female. Grace, craft, passion, innovation, sensuality, and reassuring pleasantness - these are the key words. To which he adds a stunning and original dance technique that with the various moonwalks and associated steps would form a perfect combo with the voice for any type of performance, including music videos.
And the music videos are precisely the final ace in this commercial strategy. To reach everywhere, to come out from the radios and enter the homes of everyone, Jackson and his collaborators will invent the best videos made until then, short films released one every few months to ensure complete visibility and permanence of the album in the hit parades for at least three consecutive years, culminating with the short film of the song "Thriller", the first masterpiece in MTV's history. The Thriller project encapsulates in itself any strategy feasible to make one's music a universal language, comprehensible to all. And therefore, the final decisive step will be to conquer the white audience, the pop-rock audience completely estranged from the heroic Motown deeds of our child prodigy.
And so tactical collaborations proved to be spot-on with the "rivals" of the period, such as the famous Eddie Van Halen solo in the amazing funk-hard rock cross of "Beat It", the amusing duet with a Paul McCartney still for little longer in a state of grace in "The Girl Is Mine", and above all, the extraordinary "Human Nature", gifted by the then overly successful Toto (who that same year proudly reached second place in the best-selling album charts with their "Toto IV"). Small gestures, but which opened the doors to the pop Olympus to him (two years later he would be dueting with Mick Jagger for the records, an unthinkable event back then).
But the songs? So much smoke around this LP, but also so much roast. So much but not too much, even the quantity is perfect. From the exciting dance-pop intro of the infectious "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", where the afro roots and slowed funk groove dominate, we move to "Baby Be Mine", an homage to the elegant song structure taught by Quincy Jones already in the previous album, subtle variations on a complete sound fabric, an immaculate production. The title-track instead becomes a blueprint of R&B fantasy and fun, for the first time with curious special effects including even cinematic guest-stars (in this case an aged but delightfully eerie Vincent Price) giving us a visionary experience of complete entertainment, where every means is used casually for the sole purpose of leaving us satisfied and amazed, mouth agape like a child.
Everything is a litmus test of the decade to which it belongs; we talk about death, horror, sex, violence, unexpected pregnancies with a disconcerting superficiality, life becomes just a means to fill our days and songs. Indeed it matters little if a dance-floor giant like "Billie Jean" is about a dark and almost nightmare-like relationship, we dance on it, and Michael assures us that it's the best thing to do in these cases. We reach the album's second half and we are already addicted to the music, everything seems secondary, the stories being told, however credible and suggestive, become completely accessory.
We arrive at "Human Nature", pondering the human condition, endless walks through the mind and its sentimental-existential dilemmas. But everything is approached in such a candid, pleasant manner, that we feel transported as if on a small boat near tropical islands, drifting slowly without oars while we lie watching the clear sky above, with that magnificent falsetto accompanying us, wishing it would last longer. But as I mentioned, everything is measured, like the courses in the finest restaurant. Indigestion is absolutely not allowed, we must immediately try new dishes.
Does the soul of Sam Cooke find a conclusion in "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"? Percussions, whistles, spoken intro, whispered and teasing, the desired woman now reduced to an acronym, to a label (which before listening doesn't give a good impression, they seem like the initials of a police district...). We have grown tired and resigned in our attempt to categorize this music.
The difference between 'Thriller' and 'Off The Wall' lies precisely in this, black music so mixed with white music that it is almost unrecognizable. This is inter-racial melody, it can touch anyone's strings. Universal. While the epilogue "The Lady In My Life" flows with infinite class, almost irritating in its mutant smooth-soul and feigned improvisation (there can be nothing more calculated than Thriller), we realize many things. The legendary place that 'Thriller' has in all books of modern music is not undeserved but neither is it obvious. Michael Jackson is not like the post-1966 Beatles, Led Zeppelin, or Hendrix, where wherever you dip, you almost always find something good and relatively on the same line. Michael Jackson is such a singular phenomenon that one might have heard all his remaining discography without having the slightest idea of what this album has to offer. And 'Thriller' represents a unique case on its own, certainly the most accredited candidate for the competitive role of cultural emblem album of a decade.
An alien impeccability from which every mainstream author will never stop learning, a benchmark that it will be a joy to see surpassed one day by a new milestone –apparently yet to arrive– equally extraordinary.
PS:
just a few months ago put on sale in every store in Italy at the enviable price of 8 euros and 50.
PS:
highly recommended along with Sgt. Pepper and another couple of albums of your choice for the first absolute listens of life, ideally under-10
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (06:02)
Chorus
I said you wanna be startin' somethin'
You got to be startin' somethin'
I said you wanna be startin' somethin'
You got to be startin' somethin'
It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
1St Verse
I took my baby to the doctor
With a fever, but nothing he found
By the time this hit the street
They said she had a breakdown
Someone's always tryin' to start my baby cryin'
Talkin', squealin', lyin'
Sayin' you just wanna be startin' somethin'
Chorus
I said you wanna be startin' somethin'
You got to be startin' somethin'
I said you wanna be startin' somethin'
You got to be startin' somethin'
It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
2Nd Verse
You love to pretend that you're good
When you're always up to no good
You really can't make him hate her
So your tongue became a razor
Someone's always tryin' to keep my baby cryin'
Treacherous, cunnin', declinin'
You got my baby cryin'
Chorus
I said you wanna be startin' somethin'
You got to be startin' somethin'
I said you wanna be startin' somethin'
You got to be startin' somethin'
It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
You're a vegetable, you're a vegetable
Still they hate you, you're a vegetable
You're just a buffet, you're a vegetable
They eat off of you, you're a vegetable
3Rd Verse
Billie Jean is always talkin'
When nobody else is talkin'
Tellin' lies and rubbin' shoulders
So they called her mouth a motor
Someone's always tryin' to start my baby cryin'
Talkin', squealin', spyin'
Sayin' you just wanna be startin' somethin'
Chorus
I said you wanna be startin' somethin'
You got to be startin' somethin'
I said you wanna be startin' somethin'
You got to be startin' somethin'
It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
You're a vegetable, you're a vegetable
Still they hate you, you're a vegetable
You're just a buffet, you're a vegetable
They eat off of you, you're a vegetable
Ad-lib
If you cant feed your baby (yeah, yeah)
Then don't have a baby (yeah, yeah)
And don't think maybe (yeah, yeah)
If you can't feed your baby (yeah, yeah)
You'll be always tryin'
To stop that child from cryin'
Hustlin', stealin', lyin'
Now baby's slowly dyin'
Chorus
I said you wanna be startin' somethin'
You got to be startin' somethin'
I said you wanna be startin' somethin'
You got to be startin' somethin'
It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)
Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)
You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)
And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)
Ad-lib
Lift your head up high
And scream out to the world
I know I am someone
And let the truth unfurl
No one can hurt you now
Because you know what's true
Yes, I believe in me
So you believe in you
Help me sing it, ma ma se
Ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa
Ma ma se, ma ma sa
Ma ma coo sa
(Repeat/fade-out)
04 Thriller (05:57)
It's close to midnight
And something evil's lurkin' in the dark
Under the moonlight
You see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream
But terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze
As horror looks you right between the eyes
You're paralyzed
'Cause this is thriller
Thriller night
And no one's gonna save you
From the beast about to strike
You know it's thriller
Thriller night
You're fighting for your life
Inside a killer
Thriller tonight, yeah
You hear the door slam
And realize there's nowhere left to run
You feel the cold hand
And wonder if you'll ever see the sun
You close your eyes
And hope that this is just imagination
Girl, but all the while
You hear a creature creepin' up behind
You're outta time
'Cause this is thriller
Thriller night
There ain't no second chance
Against the thing with the forty eyes, girl
(Thriller)
(Thriller night)
You're fighting for your life
Inside a killer
Thriller tonight
Night creatures call
And the dead start to walk in their masquerade
There's no escaping the jaws of the alien this time
(They're open wide)
This is the end of your life
They're out to get you
There's demons closing in on every side
They will possess you
Unless you change that number on your dial
Now is the time
For you and I to cuddle close together, yeah
All through the night
I'll save you from the terror on the screen
I'll make you see
That this is thriller
Thriller night
'Cause I can thrill you more
Than any ghost would ever dare try
(Thriller)
(Thriller night)
So let me hold you tight
And share a
(killer, diller, chiller)
(Thriller here tonight)
'Cause this is thriller
Thriller night
Girl, I can thrill you more
Than any ghost would ever dare try
(Thriller)
(Thriller night)
So let me hold you tight
And share a
(killer, thriller)
I'm gonna thrill you tonight
[Rap]
Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'awl's neighborhood
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse's shell
I'm gonna thrill you tonight
(Thriller, thriller)
I'm gonna thrill you tonight
(Thriller night, thriller))
I'm gonna thrill you tonight
Ooh, babe, I'm gonna thrill you tonight
Thriller night, babe
[Rap]
The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
for no mortal can resist
the evil of the thriller
05 Beat It (04:18)
They told him don't you ever come around here
Don't wanna see your face, you better disappear
The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear
So beat it, just beat it
You better run, you better do what you can
Don't wanna see no blood, don't be a macho man (Uh)
You wanna be tough, better do what you can
So beat it, but you wanna be bad
Just beat it, (beat it), beat it, (beat it)
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong it's your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Uh!
They're out to get you, better leave while you can
Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man
You wanna stay alive, better do what you can
So beat it, just beat it (Uh)
You have to show them that you're really not scared (Uuh)
You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare (Uh!)
They'll kick you, then they beat you,
Then they'll tell you it's fair
So beat it, but you wanna be bad
Just beat it, (beat it), beat it, (beat it)
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong it's your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Chorus
Just beat it, (beat it), beat it, (beat it)
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong it's your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it (x 12)
(Guitar solo)
Beat it, (beat it), beat it, (beat it)
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong it's your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
(Oooh, right!)
(wooohooo)
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated (Oh, lord)
Showin' how funky (Eeh, eeh) strong it's your fight (Eeh, eeh)
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, (beat it), beat it, (beat it), beat it
No one wants to be defeated (Oh, no)
Showin' how funky (Eeh, eeh)strong it's your fight(Eeh, eeh)
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, (beat it), beat it, (beat it)
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong it's your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right (Who’s wrong)
Just beat it, (beat it) (Wooohooo)
Beat it, beat it, beat it
06 Billie Jean (04:54)
She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene
I said don't mind, but what do you mean I am the one
Who will dance on the floor in the round
She said I am the one, who will dance on the floor in the round
She told me her name was Billie Jean, as she caused a scene
Then every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the one
Who will dance on the floor in the round
People always told me,
"Be careful of what you do,
And don't go around breaking young girls' hearts."
And mother always told me,
"Be careful of who you love
And be careful of what you do 'cause the lie becomes the truth."
Now Billie Jean is not my lover
She's just a girl who claims that I am the one
But the kid is not my son
She says I am the one
But the kid is not my son
No, no.
For forty days and for forty nights
The law was on her side
But who can stand when she's in demand
Her schemes and plans
'Cause we danced on the floor in the round
So take my strong advice, just remember to always think twice
(Do think twice)
She told my baby we'd danced till three, then she looked at me
Then showed a photo my baby cried his eyes were like mine (oh, no!)
'Cause we danced on the floor in the round, baby
People always told me,
"Be careful of what you do,
And don't go around breaking young girls' hearts."
(don't break no hearts!)
But she came and stood right by me
Then the smell of sweet perfume
This happened much too soon
She called me to her room
Billie Jean is not my lover
She's just a girl who claims that I am the one
But the kid is not my son
Billie Jean is not my lover
She's just a girl who claims that I am the one
But the kid is not my son (No, no)
She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son
She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son
Billie Jean is not my lover
She's just a girl who claims that I am the one (ad lib)
But the kid is not my son
She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son
She says I am the one
She says He is my son
She says I am the one
Billie Jean is not my lover...
07 Human Nature (04:06)
Written & Composed by Steve Porcaro & John Bettis
Looking out
Across the night-time
The city winks a sleepless eye
Hear her voice
Shake my window
Sweet seducing sighs
Get me out
Into the night-time
Four walls won't hold me tonight
If this town
Is just an apple
Then let me take a bite
Chorus
If they say -
Why, why, tell 'em that is human nature
Why, why, does he do me that way
If they say -
Why, why, tell 'em that is human nature
Why, why, does he do me that way
Reaching out
To touch a stranger
Electric eyes are ev'rywhere
See that girl
She knows I'm watching
She likes the way I stare
Chorus
If they say -
Why, why, tell 'em that is human nature
Why, why, does he do me that way
If they say -
Why, why, tell 'em that is human nature
Why, why, does he do me that way
I like livin' this way
I like lovin' this way
(Instrumental section)
Looking out
Across the morning
The city's heart begins to beat
Reaching out
I touch her shoulder
I'm dreaming of the street
Chorus
If they say -
Why, why, tell 'em that is human nature
Why, why, does he do me that way
If they say -
Why, why, tell 'em that is human nature
Why, why, does he do me that way
I like livin' this way
(Repeat Chorus - Ad-lib/fade-out)
08 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) (03:59)
Where did you come from lady
And ooh won't you take me there
Right away won't you baby
Tendoroni you've got to be
Spark my nature
Sugar fly with me
Don't you know now
Is the perfect time
We can make it right
Hit the city lights
Then tonight ease the lovin' pain
Let me take you to the max
I want to love you (P. Y. T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You need some lovin' (T. L. C.)
Tender lovin' care
And I'll take you there
I want to love you (P. Y. T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You need some lovin' (T. L. C.)
Tender lovin' care
And I'll shake you there
Anywhere you wanna go
Nothin' can stop this burnin'
Desire to be with you
Gotta get to you baby
Won't you come, it's emergency
Cool my fire yearnin'
Honey, come set me free
Don't you know now is the perfect time
We can dim the lights
Just to make it right
In the night
Hit the lovin' spot
I'll give you all that I've got
I want to love you (P. Y. T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You need some lovin' (T. L. C.)
Tender lovin' care
And I'll take you there
I want to love you (P. Y. T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You need some lovin' (T. L. C.)
Tender lovin' care
I'll take you there
Breakdown
Pretty young things, repeat after me
(Michael) Sing na na na
(P. Y. T.'s) na na na
(Michael) na na na na
(P. Y. T.'s) na na na na
(Michael) Sing na na na
(P. Y. T.'s) na na na
(Michael) na na na na na
(P. Y. T.'s) na na na na na
(Michael) I'll take you there
I want to love you (P. Y. T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You need some lovin' (T. L. C.)
Tender lovin' care
And I'll take you there
I want to love you (P. Y. T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You need some lovin' (T. L. C.)
Tender lovin' care
I'll take you there
I want to love you (P. Y. T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You need some lovin' (T. L. C.)
Tender lovin' care
And I'll take you there
I want to love you (P. Y. T.)
Pretty Young Thing
You need some lovin' (T. L. C.)
Tender lovin' care
I'll take you there
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Other reviews
By tommithebest
"Thriller, Michael Jackson's masterpiece album... is undoubtedly something unimaginable, an incredible album in its completeness and variety."
"Billie Jean... the true dragging pearl of 'Thriller', perhaps the greatest success of all time for Michael Jackson, a real gem."
By lucumine74
The answer to all these questions is just one, Thriller.
Billie Jean... alone it is worth the price of the record, the iconic track of the 80s, I bow to such greatness.
By ronnie92
Thriller is such a rare musical phenomenon with no precedent.
If along with the superstar status, you add 9 beautiful tracks that deserve to be injected into the heritage of anyone who has turned on a radio in the last 25 years, then you can surely think that this is not a rare phenomenon, but a unique one.
By andrew1992
"Thriller is indeed universal. It bridges the two cultures, offering if not a 'new' genre, a refined and complete pop."
"'Billie Jean' is one of those songs that will be remembered as long as music exists. Immortal."
By jif09
Thriller is still the best-selling album of all time, with approximately 110 million copies sold.
A truly unique album that will always remain a true benchmark for any contemporary pop work.
