View Full Version : 'Thriller,' the Michael Jackson album that remixed pop culture, turns 25


Brian Damage
11-29-2007, 09:44 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2007/11/29/2007-11-29_thriller_the_michael_jackson_album_that_.html

Love him or hate him, Michael Jackson changed music with this album. Twenty-five years ago - on Saturday, Dec. 1, 1982 - Jackson delivered "Thriller," a nine-song set that threw so huge a boulder into the pop pool that it ripples to this day. It wasn't just the music: "Thriller's" related products and performances affected video, dance and fashion on levels that had to do with everything from esthetics to race.

Dean Winchester
11-29-2007, 05:20 PM
wow, scary that it's been 25 years. I remember my older sister buying me this on vinyl when I was 3 or 4 years old. I still remember my older sister asking me if I wanted her to buy me Thriller or a Culture Club record, how 80's is that? LOL

Cactus Jack
11-29-2007, 05:23 PM
wow, scary that it's been 25 years. I remember my older sister buying me this on vinyl when I was 3 or 4 years old. I still remember my older sister asking me if I wanted her to buy me Thriller or a Culture Club record, how 80's is that? LOL
Extremely

catlover79
11-29-2007, 05:29 PM
Thriller is still a very enjoyable collection of songs. Who knew what MJ would be like 25 years later?? That's sad.

Dean Winchester
12-02-2007, 07:41 PM
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jdj%2Bxoh7L._SS500_.jpg

From billboard.com:
As expected, Michael Jackson will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his iconic "Thriller" album with a new edition of the set, due Feb. 12 via Epic/Legacy Recordings. It will include remixes by Kanye West, Akon and will.i.am, plus rare and unreleased material from the time period.

West remixes "Billie Jean," while will.i.am has revamped "The Girl Is Mine" and "P.Y.T." The album also features a new version of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" with both Akon and will.i.am.

Among the unreleased tracks is "For All Time," which was recording during "Thriller" but left on the cutting room floor. Jackson has personally mixed and mastered the song. Also featured is Jackson's original "Billie Jean" demo and the rarities "Someone in the Dark" and "Carousel."

"Thriller" will include a bonus DVD with the "Thriller," "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" videos, plus Jackson's performance of the latter cut during the 1983 NBC special "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever."

Jackson has been working on and off on his first studio album since 2001, but the status of the project is unknown. There have also been whispers of a tour with his brothers in 2008.


Here is the track list for "Thriller -- 25th Anniversary Edition":
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
"Baby Be Mine"
"The Girl Is Mine"
"Thriller"
"Beat It"
"Billie Jean"
"Human Nature"
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
"The Lady in My Life"
"Carousel"
"Someone in the Dark"
"Billie Jean" (demo)
"The Girl Is Mine 2008" with will.i.am
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 2008" with Michael Jackson and will.i.am
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" with Michael Jackson, Akon and will.i.am
"Billie Jean 2008" with Kanye West
"For All Time"
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AbN0gDlEL._SS500_.jpg

Looks to be 2 versions, one probably having limited edition artwork and packaging.

Dean Winchester
12-02-2007, 07:44 PM
what is the point of the "new remixes" with Kanye, will.i.am and Akon. Granted, those three are very popular with younger listeners but most people who grew up on Thriller don't give a rats ass about any of those. It'd be as preposterous as doing a special edition of a classic Beatles or Rolling Stones record and pulling this, when someone buying a 35th anniversary special edition of "Exile On Main Street" doesn't really care about having a "2007 Remix" of Rocks Off with Alicia Keys.

Ireneparalegal
12-02-2007, 08:40 PM
I was in my senior year in high school when that album came out...:faint:

That album was and still is DA BOMB!!!!! That album rocks. :rock:

SBTB Geek
12-03-2007, 03:13 AM
I was born in 1985 (after Thriller's reign) and I still consider it the best album ever. Classic songs from beginning to end.

Dean Winchester
12-03-2007, 03:28 AM
I was born in 1985 (after Thriller's reign) and I still consider it the best album ever. Classic songs from beginning to end.
yep. Say what you will about MJ's personal life, Thriller is one of those albums that you know like the back of your hand but yet it still rocks all these years later without anything to skip, same thing with Purple Rain

SBTB Geek
12-03-2007, 03:31 AM
I like Purple Rain, but unlike Thriller, it sounds dated and soooo 80's! In the other hand, MJ's record STILL sounds fresh and innovative.

Dean Winchester
12-03-2007, 03:42 AM
a few of the songs off Purple Rain are *very* 80's (I Would Die 4 U, Take Me With U and Computer Blue come to mind) but I think stuff like Darlin' Nikki and When Doves Cry still sounds fresh today. There's a lot of stuff off Thriller that totally reeks of 1983 as well, Human Nature, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Baby Be Mine and PYT all scream early 80's just as much, if not more than the Purple Rain album does

catlover79
12-03-2007, 01:07 PM
I still crank up the volume whenever Beat It comes on!! :rock: