Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| 1. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' | |||
| 2. Baby Be Mine | |||
| 3. The Girl Is Mine | |||
| 4. Thriller | |||
| 5. Beat It | |||
| 6. Billie Jean | |||
| 7. Human Nature | |||
| 8. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) | |||
| 9. The Lady In My Life | |||
| 10. Voice-Over Intro Quincy Jones Interview #1/Quincy Jones Interview #1 | |||
| 11. Someone In The Dark | |||
| 12. Voice-Over Intro Quincy Jones Interview #2/Quincy Jones Interview #2/Voice-Over Intro Billie Jean (Demo) | |||
| 13. Billie Jean (Home Demo From 1981) | |||
| 14. Quincy Jones Interview #3 | |||
| 15. Voice-Over Intro Rod Temperton Interview #1/Rod Temperton Interview #1 | |||
| 16. Quincy Jones Interview #4 | |||
| 17. Voice-Over Intro Voice-Over Session From Thriller/Voice-Over Session From Thriller | |||
| 18. Voice-Over Intro Rod Temperton Interview #2/Rod Temperton Interview #2 | |||
| 19. Quincy Jones Interview #5 | |||
| 20. Carousel | |||
See all 21 tracks on this disc
| |||
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Michael Jackson's Thriller is the bestselling album of all time, with 45 million worldwide sales powered by eight Grammy Awards. The 1982 album was also a success from which the pop superstar never really recovered--subsequent albums seemed to have no other goal than to beat the records set by Thriller. The highly- polished sound of Quincy Jones's production sounds almost organic compared to Jackson's more recent work, and in the same regard, Thriller was significantly slicker than its predecessor, Off the Wall. Both albums established a Jackson style that aimed for the dance floor with songs built on a state-of-the-art bed of percussion and keyboards. Elements of milestone Thriller tracks like "Billie Jean" (arguably Jackson's best-ever performance) and "Beat It" (with its hard- rock solo by guitarist Eddie Van Halen) influenced not just Jackson's records, but those of the entire dance-pop world. On the song "Thriller", Jackson indulged his taste for the juvenile and invited Vincent Price to rap in a really scary voice. With Thriller the album, Jackson created a different kind of monster--a hit album of such magnitude that it would have an irrevocable impact not just on the singer's art, but on his altogether kooky life. --John Milward
Review
It’s hard to believe now, but when Michael Jackson’s Thriller was released in the UK in time for Christmas 1982, there was an initial sense of misfire. In choosing the album's most lacklustre track, The Girl Is Mine, as its lead single, the postcard delivered was mildly disappointing. The playful duet with Paul McCartney, chosen no doubt to emulate the success McCartney had had earlier the same year with Stevie Wonder on Ebony and Ivory, was simply not what the listeners were expecting. It reached number eight on the UK chart, and the album sold well, but certainly not in the manner that the man who’d delivered Off the Wall should have done.
By the following Christmas, Thriller had become the phenomenon it remains to this day. Singles kept dropping off the album like golden fruit from a platinum bough: the precision snap of that snare on UK number one Billie Jean; the raucous Eddie Van Halen guitar on Beat It; the groove-driven frenzy of Wanna Be Startin' Something. It became apparent that this was a remarkable, ever-yielding pop jukebox.
By 1984, the album got an extension on its lifecycle with the John Landis-directed video for Thriller, which took the album from successful pop record to cultural icon. Casting the then-clean cut, scandal-free singer as a werewolf in a 15-rated short film was a risk, but one that truly paid off. Soon enough Thriller had become a greatest hits package – seven of its nine tracks were issued as singles.
Love it or hate it, Thriller is pop's great, immovable Everest. Marketing departments realised that more and more singles could be pulled from a record to prolong its shelf life, and Michael Jackson became the King of Pop with the whole of the recording industry at his investiture.
It was, of course, never the same for Jackson after Thriller. All that followed was a long, gradual downhill slope that culminated in some forgettable records and a tragic early death. But this view from the summit remains unparalleled.
--Daryl Easlea
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Forget for a moment that this album has been released and re-released a good handful of times now, which is a big criticism of the reviewers below. If you've already got it in one of its previous incarnations and are cynical about this new release the simple option is dont buy it, no ones going to make you lol.
If you can get past that and want to know if its any good then i can tell you yes. i bought the 2008 vinyl LP version and this album has never sounded so warm and even though you know the acclaim of this album if you've not heard it for a while you forget just how ridiculously good it is. its over 25 years old but it doesnt feel like it at all.
the new stuff i was apprehensive about but ive got to say that in the main they are really cool alternatives to the original versions, particularly will.i.ams versions of the 'girl is mine' and 'pyt pretty young thing'. i was pleasantly surprised with how good 'beat it' was with fergie, a really interesting take. 'wanna be startin somethin' with akon is solid enough but i wasnt really impressed with kanye's 'billie jean' remix, it doesnt sound like he did too much with it but still made it sound below par, but how can you better one of jacksons best tracks?! kudos for trying i guess. the little vincent price intro to the new stuff is funny and the previously unreleased 'for all time' could of maybe made the original thriller album. i think spending a few pounds to put a big smile on your face and take you back to the good old 80's (even if its for the first time for you young ones) isnt such a bad thing. i think its just a nice new delivery of an absolute classic. and why not celebrate its 25th birthday in this way?
If you can get past that and want to know if its any good then i can tell you yes. i bought the 2008 vinyl LP version and this album has never sounded so warm and even though you know the acclaim of this album if you've not heard it for a while you forget just how ridiculously good it is. its over 25 years old but it doesnt feel like it at all.
the new stuff i was apprehensive about but ive got to say that in the main they are really cool alternatives to the original versions, particularly will.i.ams versions of the 'girl is mine' and 'pyt pretty young thing'. i was pleasantly surprised with how good 'beat it' was with fergie, a really interesting take. 'wanna be startin somethin' with akon is solid enough but i wasnt really impressed with kanye's 'billie jean' remix, it doesnt sound like he did too much with it but still made it sound below par, but how can you better one of jacksons best tracks?! kudos for trying i guess. the little vincent price intro to the new stuff is funny and the previously unreleased 'for all time' could of maybe made the original thriller album. i think spending a few pounds to put a big smile on your face and take you back to the good old 80's (even if its for the first time for you young ones) isnt such a bad thing. i think its just a nice new delivery of an absolute classic. and why not celebrate its 25th birthday in this way?
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album was the best thing to come out of the eighties - this WAS the eighties!
Okay, so people might be saying what a cop out to revive an old album, but this is probably the best album ever in the history of music. It reminds us why Michael Jackson was such a fantastic performer, and I guarantee you won't be able to stop yourself singing along to tracks like P.Y.T and Beat It. The DVD is excellent too - I'd forgotten how good the videos to Beat it and Billie Jean were, and the footage of Michael performing Bille Jean and doing that famous Moonwalk - is great. As for the Thriller film, well in my opinion, it will always be one of the best videos ever.
Who cares if the album's been revived, it's still brilliant 25 years on, and is one everybody should have in their collection.
Okay, so people might be saying what a cop out to revive an old album, but this is probably the best album ever in the history of music. It reminds us why Michael Jackson was such a fantastic performer, and I guarantee you won't be able to stop yourself singing along to tracks like P.Y.T and Beat It. The DVD is excellent too - I'd forgotten how good the videos to Beat it and Billie Jean were, and the footage of Michael performing Bille Jean and doing that famous Moonwalk - is great. As for the Thriller film, well in my opinion, it will always be one of the best videos ever.
Who cares if the album's been revived, it's still brilliant 25 years on, and is one everybody should have in their collection.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
25 years after the inimitable Michael Jackson created his undisputed masterpiece, he revisits it with some contemporary artists familiar to young people today.
But as most people would tell you, the remixes are not the main attraction here. That... goes to the remastered tracks from the original Thriller album. The sound quality on every song is crisp and clear, and every song sounds like it could have been made yesterday.
Along with 'Off the Wall' and 'Bad', 'Thriller' is the peak of Jackson's career, with the timeless songs like 'Human Nature' and of course 'Billie Jean' and the often forgot but poignent and beautiful 'Lady in My Life'.
As I've mentioned, the remixes are not the main attraction, but are interesting to listen to. The two outstanding of these tracks are 'The Girl is Mine' with Will.I.Am, and 'Pretty Young Thing' with Akon which is the version that Michael first recorded while making Thriller, with an additional verse and the tempo slowed down considerably. That version however was scrapped for the more upbeat, famous version that appeared on Thriller back in 84. Here it makes it's first appearance, and though it isn't as brilliant as the version we all know, it is still a rariety.
However the remixes prove that 50 year old MJ still can hit those notes! His voice sounds just as youthful as it did when Thriller was made.
Also included is a lovely track that was scrapped for 'Thriller' in 84 called 'For All Time'. It really is beautiful, and the lyrics are some of the best Michael ever wrote.
The dvd comes with four music videos, including the famous 14 minute long 'Thriller', named the best music video of all time, and 'Billie Jean', 'Beat It' and the outstanding live peformance of 'Billie Jean' at the Motown 25 show, where Michael stole the show with his now legendary 'moonwalk' that was first unveiled here.
A truly great revisiting to his masterwork, and well worth the money, don't miss it.
But as most people would tell you, the remixes are not the main attraction here. That... goes to the remastered tracks from the original Thriller album. The sound quality on every song is crisp and clear, and every song sounds like it could have been made yesterday.
Along with 'Off the Wall' and 'Bad', 'Thriller' is the peak of Jackson's career, with the timeless songs like 'Human Nature' and of course 'Billie Jean' and the often forgot but poignent and beautiful 'Lady in My Life'.
As I've mentioned, the remixes are not the main attraction, but are interesting to listen to. The two outstanding of these tracks are 'The Girl is Mine' with Will.I.Am, and 'Pretty Young Thing' with Akon which is the version that Michael first recorded while making Thriller, with an additional verse and the tempo slowed down considerably. That version however was scrapped for the more upbeat, famous version that appeared on Thriller back in 84. Here it makes it's first appearance, and though it isn't as brilliant as the version we all know, it is still a rariety.
However the remixes prove that 50 year old MJ still can hit those notes! His voice sounds just as youthful as it did when Thriller was made.
Also included is a lovely track that was scrapped for 'Thriller' in 84 called 'For All Time'. It really is beautiful, and the lyrics are some of the best Michael ever wrote.
The dvd comes with four music videos, including the famous 14 minute long 'Thriller', named the best music video of all time, and 'Billie Jean', 'Beat It' and the outstanding live peformance of 'Billie Jean' at the Motown 25 show, where Michael stole the show with his now legendary 'moonwalk' that was first unveiled here.
A truly great revisiting to his masterwork, and well worth the money, don't miss it.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not so great...
Well, it took me thirty years to buy it - and still not that impressed...
Despite the hype, media and popularity; this is not Michael's best album - 'Off The Wall' is... Read more
Despite the hype, media and popularity; this is not Michael's best album - 'Off The Wall' is... Read more
Published 1 month ago by FAMOUS NAME
Overrated album
And that's why I give it one star. It really isn't anything special, despite all the hype that's surrounded it. Disappointing.
Published 2 months ago by Twinkly
Thriller
I was disappointed with this CD, quality not as good as I had expected. When it arrived the case was damaged, so all in all not thrilled with this product.
Published 2 months ago by Emma
Bad vinyl!
The vinyl has a very bad quality: jumps on variuos songs and is not listenable. It also has hard plastic cover already cracked.
Published 2 months ago by Adrian Dima
Thriller 25th Anniversary.
Had wanted this CD because of one of the songs that did'nt make it on the original Thriller album. I was'nt disappointed Michael always delivers. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Billiejean
awesome record
this is my fave Michael Jackson album.
a great song is "Baby Be Mine" and it must of been hard to not make this a single. Read more
a great song is "Baby Be Mine" and it must of been hard to not make this a single. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Chris david james
thriller
Didn't read product guide properly, so getting both cd and dvd was a nice bonus. Was just what I was after, price was very good and delivery was quick. One Happy Little Bunny.
Published 6 months ago by J. Bowles
One of the best albums ever
Thriller it's the best-selling album in the USA and ha between 65 and 100 millions copies sold worldwide. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ionut84
Brilliant!
This album is still the best album of all time. So it was, is and will be. I think it's a good reason to buy this album.
Published 10 months ago by Katerina V
A Revolution in Songs
What this album represents is more than music. It is a life changing experience for me that has lasted now for 30 years. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Sam Hussein
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Music > Pop
- Music > R&B & Soul
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
