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1. Michael Jackson All Songs
2. Michael Jackson

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Off the Wall was a massive success, spawning four Top Ten hits (two of them number ones), but nothing could have prepared Michael Jackson for Thriller. Nobody could have prepared anybody for the success of Thriller, since the magnitude of its success was simply unimaginable -- an album that sold 40 million copies in its initial chart run, with seven of its nine tracks reaching the Top Ten (for the record, the terrific 'Baby Be Mine' and the pretty good ballad 'The Lady in My Life' are not like the others). This was a record that had something for everybody, building on the basic blueprint of Off the Wall by adding harder funk, hard rock, softer ballads, and smoother soul -- expanding the approach to have something for every audience. That alone would have given the album a good shot at a huge audience, but it also arrived precisely when MTV was reaching its ascendancy, and Jackson helped the network by being not just its first superstar, but first black star as much as the network helped him. This all would have made it a success (and its success, in turn, served as a new standard for success), but it stayed on the charts, turning out singles, for nearly two years because it was really, really good. True, it wasn't as tight as Off the Wall -- and the ridiculous, late-night house-of-horrors title track is the prime culprit, arriving in the middle of the record and sucking out its momentum -- but those one or two cuts don't detract from a phenomenal set of music. It's calculated, to be sure, but the chutzpah of those calculations (before this, nobody would even have thought to bring in metal virtuoso Eddie Van Halen to play on a disco cut) is outdone by their success. This is where a song as gentle and lovely as 'Human Nature' coexists comfortably with the tough, scared 'Beat It,' the sweet schmaltz of the Paul McCartney duet 'The Girl Is Mine,' and the frizzy funk of 'P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).' And, although this is an undeniably fun record, the paranoia is already creeping in, manifesting itself in the record's two best songs: 'Billie Jean,' where a woman claims Michael is the father of her child, and the delirious 'Wanna Be Startin' Something,' the freshest funk on the album, but the most claustrophobic, scariest track Jackson ever recorded. These give the record its anchor and are part of the reason why the record is more than just a phenomenon. The other reason, of course, is that much of this is just simply great music. [A 25th Anniversary Limited Edition featuring the singles from Thriller on seven separate discs was issued in Japan in 2008.]

The quarter-century mark carries weight for Thriller- not necessarily for the anniversary of the album's release itself, although it offers as good an opportunity as ever to revisit one of the true pop phenomenons of the 20th century, but rather for another anniversary: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, and Forever, the television special where Michael Jackson performed 'Billie Jean' and unleashed. Sing alone or all together for $2.99 Whether you like singing or hosting karaoke parties, enjoy thousands of songs from our catalog. Just choose your style, download your video and sing along with your favorite songs.

Michael Jackson All Songs

1. Top dance songs of all time based on sales, Billboard charts and airplay. Notable artists include ABBA, Madonna, MC Hammer, Bee Gees, Michael Jackson.
2. Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and philanthropist. Referred to as the King of Pop, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records.

Michael Jackson