Michael Jackson
Thriller

THE REVIEW

What is a Black man doing on every television in the world in 1983? How does a Black man change popular white music forever and become a legend? How did a Black man manage to stay on the charts for 132 weeks and win 12 Grammys with just one album? How could a Black man in 1983 sell around 50 million copies with a single record? The answer to all these questions is just one, Thriller.

Young Jackson, who in 1983 was just 25 years old, had until then been a good interpreter of soul-black-dance music, an eclectic artist very much appreciated in the American Black music scene, a former child prodigy, seemed destined to join the ranks of many American singers with a strong inclination for dancing. However, it was often forgotten that this phenomenon was only 25 years old, and thus perhaps had not yet expressed himself to his fullest potential. In fact, his genius would soon explode and be confirmed until the succeeding scandals, which are better left unmentioned out of respect for the work we are discussing.

Engaging with an album like Thriller is not simple; the biggest challenge lies in finding the right approach. The individual tracks, except one, considered individually, could represent the career-defining hit of any other artist, yet they are part of just one album, the history of pop music collected in a record. So, I'll do this review in a haphazard way starting with the track I consider the least important, which is "The Girl is Mine", sung in a duet with the fabulous Paul from the Liverpool four, it's somewhat predictable and repetitive, not worthy of a collaboration between two geniuses, modest.

Having said this, the rest is a mix of Funky-Rock-Ballads-Dance-Electro pop, played divinely by the best musicians around and sung sublimely by the best singer, "P.Y.T." is a danceable track of great elegance and charm with the choruses from the little Jackson sisters (always an eye on the family), a beautiful chart-topping song, listening to it immediately transports you to the '80s, the bongos are played by MJ himself, a piece with Afro roots masked by an unobtrusive electronic base, and a soft electric guitar, we can only dream of such music today (I speak of pop music, obviously).
"Baby Be Mine" funky-dance rhythm with a pop base skillfully played and sung with heart.
"The Lady in My Life" a sweet love song, elegant and seductive, a timeless piece, it could be a hit today without any difficulty, the singer's voice is mature and warm.

Now, I don't know what else to say because I have to confront 5 sacred monsters. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", written, music, and lyrics, by Michael Jackson, possesses a driving rhythm until then almost unknown, the synthesizer functions as an emotion accelerator, I challenge anyone who is not MJ to dance to it, the iconic chant of mammasei mammasaa mammamsa... today recovered and sampled by a prominent artist 25 years later, defying the commercial music that MJ should represent, an eternal and unique piece in Jackson's discography and in the general one.

I am not a great technical music expert, but I pride myself on being a connoisseur, how do I describe Thriller? So, to get out of embarrassment, I simply say that, without insult and without wanting to make blasphemous comparisons, until 1983 only Pink Floyd had managed to tie special effects so well in a song, I repeat, to avoid misunderstandings, I absolutely do not want to compare the masterpiece of the latter with the excellent music of the album in question, the video, however, is the best in music history, an ongoing source of inspiration, a stroke of genius which, together with the last two tracks, if I can manage, contributed to the worldwide success of the album.
"Beat It" I am a fan of '70s rock music, I never loved the somewhat faded rock of the '80s, but here there is a mixture between white beat, the guitar of a sacred monster, and the danc-y verve that transforms into our hero's rock aggression, a level never reached again by anyone, a piece that created a genre, "so beat it just beat it... but you wanna be bad...", sonic perfection, written by MJ, so I ask, how can someone from a background of Black Music-Soul and at most Dance write such a piece? Is he perhaps a genius? Ok, we’ll answer this question later.
"Human Nature" fabulous lyrics, I’ll just add David and Jeff Porcaro, Paulinho da Costa.
"Billie Jean" in its simplicity a track that conditioned 20 years of pop music, the symbol of Jackson flying with the Moonwalk at the 25th anniversary of Motown and conquering the world, bass-guitar-drums-beatbox, alone it is worth the price of the record, the iconic track of the '80s, I bow to such greatness.

I have always wondered if it is right for this to be the best-selling album of all time, well I have given myself an answer and it is YES, not because it is the most beautiful, but because it is the most beautiful among those understandable to the general public, without ifs and buts.