Michael Jackson's "Thriller" at 40: How does the music hold up?

Eight Grammy Awards including Album and Record of the Year. Eight American Music Awards. Thirty-seven weeks at Number One on the Billboard chart. Seven Top Ten singles, including two reaching number one. Seventy million albums sold worldwide; the best-selling album of all time.

Those are just some of the achievements and accolades for Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking album, “Thriller.” What made this album groundbreaking? First, it basically signaled the end of the disco era. It combines pop, rock, soul and r&b in a way that hadn’t been accomplished before. Many artists have tried since, but no one has come close to what Jackson did.

“Thriller” changed the way music videos were thought of and produced. Instead of being used as a forum to sell records, music videos became an art form. Before this, the thought of fourteen-minute-long videos was ridiculous. The John Landis-directed “Thriller” was more of a short story than a music video.

The album also changed the type of music played on MTV. Before “Thriller”, MTV’s artist catalog resembled the Donald Trump cabinet. Afterward, and coerced by a threat from the president of CBS records, their artist list became much more diverse.

“Thriller” turned Michael Jackson into a full-fledged adult music superstar. Yes, he was huge when he performed with his brothers in the Jackson 5, but this album turned him into a phenomenon that we hadn’t seen since the start of The Beatles, almost two decades earlier.

Last week, the album “Thriller” turned forty. The accolades, awards and sales aren’t going away, but what about the music? How does it sound after four decades? Is it as great as we remember? Does the album hold up?

Let’s start from the beginning: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” is the opener and sets the tone for the rest of the record. From the first notes, you find yourself tapping your feet and bopping your head to the song's beat. It’s clearly my favorite song on the album.

Next comes the superstar duet of MJ and Paul McCartney in “The Girl is Mine.” I guess it was cute in 1982 but in 2022, it comes off as cheesy and a waste of the two legends’ talents.

Now on to the obvious: It’s hard to find a grouping of three consecutive songs greater than “Thriller”, “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” trio in the middle of the album. The legendary guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen on “Beat It” makes the song even more special. They were great then; they’re just as great today.

It’s hard, if not impossible, to follow those tunes, but Jackson gave it a great effort with “Human Nature.” While not quite up to the level of the other album hits, it does hold up well on its own. It would have been a great way to end the album; leaving you with an upbeat feeling.

So, how about an answer to the question in the title; does the music hold up? Oh yeah, it definitely does. The songs that made “Thriller” great in 1982 are just as great in 2022. Yeah, there are a few tunes that are just filler material but it’s hard to find an album that doesn’t have that.

I listened to “Thriller” three different times in its entirety while working on this review. That’s unusual for me. But, each time I found something new that I hadn’t picked out in earlier listenings. If you haven’t played the album in some time, and in many cases such as mine, it might have been decades, find forty-five minutes to give it full play. It’s well worth your time. You should like it as much as you did when you first heard it forty years ago.