Thriller (album)

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Thriller
Original release
Special Edition release
Album by Michael Jackson
Released	December 1, 1982
Recorded	April - November 1982
Genre	R&B /Pop/Soul/Funk/Rock
Length	42 mins 19 seconds
Label	Epic
Producer	Quincy Jones[#endnote_producer]
Professional reviews
All Music Guide [link] Robert Christgau (A) [link] Rolling Stone [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 one Jackson's better solo effort by the popular press, and helped define the artist as one of music's most popular solo acts.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Thriller is the world's all-time best selling album, with estimated sales over 51 million sales in the Guinness Book of Records [link]. Some sources put the figure closer to 60 million [link], while some maintain it has only sold 47 million. In the U.S, Thriller is the second best-selling album of all time with 27 million copies sold, (the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) is currently the best-selling album in the United States). The album's achievements are notable as it is one of only two albums to remain in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 for one full year (along with Falling Into You by Celine Dion), spending 80 consecutive weeks in the Top 10.

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."The sound was absolutely crunched up, was awful, unreleasable!" - Quincy Jones - Number Ones CBS TV Special. 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, Jackson then performed "Billie Jean" at the Special exposing the ghetto dance move, the "Moonwalk" 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.

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Track listing

Original album

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

Extra tracks added for 2001 Special Edition

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

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

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 )
• "Hot Street"
• "Nite Line"
• "Trouble"
• "Who Do You Know?"
• "Carousel" (also known as Circus Girl)

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

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	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	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

Certifications

Country	Certification	Sales
Argentina	10x Platinum	500,000
Australia	12x Platinum	840,000
Brazil	Diamond	1,850,000
Belgium	11x Platinum	550,000
Canada	2x Diamond	2,000,000
Finland	3x Platinum	90,000
France	3x Diamond	3,000,000
Germany	3x Platinum	1,500,000
Japan	Diamond	2,500,000
Mexico	Diamond	500,000
Netherlands	11x Platinum	770,000
New Zealand	10x Platinum	150,000
Portugal	3x Platinum	120,000
Spain	8x Platinum	640,000
Switzerland	6x Platinum	240,000
UK	11x Platinum	3,300,000
USA	27x Platinum (Diamond)	27,000,000
'''TOTAL		46,175,000

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.
• The original name for Billie Jean was "Not My Lover", since Quincy Jones feared people were going to mix up "Billie Jean" with "Billie Jean King".
• 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 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 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.
• "Thriller" is ranked #20 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
• In July 2006, "Thriller" was named the ninth biggest selling album in British history by the British Phonographic Industry. It was Jackson's second album inside the top ten all time list, with "Bad" at number two behind The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"[link].

Popular songs sampled from Thriller

• "Beat It" was sampled by musician "Weird Al" Yankovic for his 1984 parody-hit "Eat It"
• "Human Nature" was sampled by R&B group SWV for their 1993 remix follow-up to "Right Here"
• "Lady In My Life" was sampled by rapper LL Cool J and R&B group Boyz II Men for their 1995 hit collaboration, "Hey Lover."
• "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was sampled by rappers Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz for their 1998 song "Startin' Somethin'."
• "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" was sampled by rapper Memphis Bleek and singer Donell Jones on the song I Wanna Love U.
• "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" was sampled by R&B singer Monica for her 2002 song "All Eyez On Me."
• "Human Nature" was sampled by dance producer Jason Nevins and singer Holly James for their 2003 song "I'm In Heaven"
• Human Nature was sampled by 2 Pac for the song 'Thug Nature'
• Human Nature is sampled on rapper Nas' track It Ain't Hard To Tell produced by Large Professor
• "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" appeared on the video game

Music samples

Notes

1. ↑ 

See also

• List of best-selling albums worldwide

External link

• [Lyrics to all the tracks on Thriller]

 

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