Thriller (album)

From Free net encyclopedia

Thriller
Image:Michaeljacksonthriller.jpg</br>Original release
Image:Music album record thriller.jpg</br>Special Edition release
Album by Michael Jackson
Released	December 1, 1982
Recorded	April - November 1982
Genre	R&B /Pop
Length	42 mins 19 seconds
Label	Epic
Producer	Quincy Jones Template:Ref
Professional reviews
AMG (5/5) link Robert Christgau (A) link Rolling Stone Image:4 out of 5.png link
Michael Jackson Chronology
Off the Wall (1979)	Thriller (1982)	Farewell My Summer Love (1984)

Thriller is an album by pop singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on December 1, 1982. The album is generally considered Jackson's best solo effort, and helped define the artist as one of music's most popular solo acts.

Thriller is the world's all-time best selling album. The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) is currently the best-selling album in the United States overall, placing Thriller in second place with 27 million copies sold, although the albums have traded position a number of times over the past few years. The first platinum certification came on 31 January 1983, and the most recent (number 27) was awarded 25 April 2005. Worldwide, however, Thriller holds the record, sitting at approximately 51 million sales in the Guinness Book of Records [1]. It could be said that this album was a godsend for Jackson; however, every album Jackson has made since has been judged by the standards of Thriller both commercially and critically. In 2003, the TV network VH1 named it the 23rd greatest album of all time, and in 2005 a poll on British TV station Channel 4 placed Thriller as the 4th greatest album of all time.

1 Recording
2 Track listing
- 2.1 Original Album
- 2.2 Extra tracks added for 2001 Special Edition
3 Out takes
4 Singles: U.S. chart positions
5 Chart trajectory
6 Certifications
7 Trivia
- 7.1 Popular songs sampled from Thriller
8 Music samples
9 Notes
10 External link

[edit]

Recording

Recorded between April and November 1982, Thriller was the second of Michael Jackson's solo albums to be produced by Quincy Jones, though this time showcasing Jackson in a more prominent position of control than the preceding Off the Wall album from 1979. Of the nine tracks that came to be on the final project of the album, Jackson had a hand in at least six.

Early versions of Thriller's songs were rougher around the edges than the slicker final mixes that eventually emerged, and were based on ideas cultivated by Jackson. After the album was retooled by Jackson, Jones, and engineer Bruce Swedien, Epic Records released the album in December.

The album's first single, "The Girl is Mine", a poppy duet with former Beatle, Paul McCartney, was a commercially successful if critically maligned song that was solely written by Jackson. The album's second single, "Billie Jean", was a more definitive hit. Despite the controversy surrounding the lyrics, which dealt with illegitimacy, "Billie Jean" catapulted Jackson and Thriller to the top of the charts and from there Jackson's success grew. Jackson's reinvention as a crossover artist was complete with his third single, the rock number, "Beat It," which features guitar work by Eddie Van Halen (of Van Halen)

[edit]

Track listing

[edit]

Original Album

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (Jackson)
"Baby Be Mine" (Rod Temperton)
"The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney) (Jackson)
"Thriller" (Rod Temperton)
"Beat It" (with Eddie Van Halen) (Jackson)
"Billie Jean" (Jackson)
"Human Nature" (John Bettis/Steve Porcaro)
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (James Ingram/Quincy Jones)
"The Lady In My Life" (Rod Temperton)

[edit]

Extra tracks added for 2001 Special Edition

"Someone in the Dark" (originally released on the "E.T. Songbook")
"Billie Jean" (home demo)
"Thriller" (voiceover session with Vincent Price)
"Carousel" (unreleased track, replaced by "Human Nature")

Note: Special Edition also includes interview clips with Quincy Jones and songwriter Rod Temperton

[edit]

Out takes

"Got the Hots"
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (this early version is completely different to the final album recording, also later appeared on Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection)
"Hot Street"
"Nite Line"
"Trouble"
"Who Do You Know?"
"Scared of the Moon" (also later appeared on Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection)

[edit]

Singles: U.S. chart positions

1982: "The Girl Is Mine" (duet with Paul McCartney) #2 Pop Singles Chart; #1 Black Singles Chart
1983: "Billie Jean" #1 Pop Singles Chart; #1 Black Singles Chart
1983: "Beat It" #1 Pop Singles Chart; #1 Black Singles Chart; #14 Hot Rock Tracks
1983: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" #5 Pop Singles Chart; #5 Black Singles Chart
1983: "Human Nature" #7 Pop Singles Chart; #27 Black Singles Chart
1983: "P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing)" #10 Pop Singles Chart; #46 Black Singles Chart
1984: "Thriller" #4 Pop Singles Chart; #3 Black Singles Chart

[edit]

Chart trajectory

Billboard 200 Chart trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Chart position	11	11	9	8	5	5	5	5	4	11	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1

Billboard 200 chart trajectory
Week	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60
Chart position	1	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Billboard 200 chart trajectory
Week	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90
Chart position	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	4	4	3	3	3	6	8	8	8	8	12	14	20	20	29	31	31	33	34

Billboard 200 chart trajectory
Week	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	100	101	102	103	104	105	106	107	108	109	110	111	112	113	114
Chart position	39	51	56	55	56	78	77	89	105	106	102	110	105	102	94	94	91	84	84	82	101	111	112	125

Billboard 200 chart trajectory
Week	115	116	117	118	119	120	121	122
Chart position	123	151	146	168	173	200	195	199

[edit]

Certifications

Country	Certification
Argentina	10x Platinum
Australia	12x Platinum
Brazil	Diamond
Canada	2x Diamond
France	2x Diamond
Germany	3x Platinum
Japan	Diamond
Mexico	Diamond
Netherlands	11x Platinum
Portugal	3x Platinum
Spain	8x Platinum
Switzerland	6x Platinum
UK	11x Platinum
USA	27x Platinum (Diamond)

[edit]

Trivia

The original name for the Thriller album and single was Starlight. "Starlight" was a song Jackson had originally written but was unsatisfied with. Jackson then had Rod Temperton write him a song he wanted for the album: a dance song with a horror theme.
Jackson had originally written "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" with his keyboardist Greg Phillinganes. The demo of that version can be heard on Jackson's Ultimate Collection box set. The song was later re-written by Quincy Jones and James Ingram as a more edgy funk-rock staple, rather than the original Stevie Wonder-inspired R&B version.
The album holds the record for the longest stay at #1 on Billboard's Pop Albums (Billboard 200) chart, staying at #1 for a non-consecutive 37 weeks. The most consecutive weeks Jackson spent at the top was 17, on two separate occasions.
At the time of its peak, Thriller sold a million copies a week.
Thriller is considered by many as the first album of the MTV generation.
Thriller is tied for the record for the most top ten singles from an album, with seven. Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 also contain seven top ten singles, however, Thriller was the first to reach seven.