Thriller - Michael Jackson

Is there a more successful pop album than Thriller? Not only does every person in the world own this album, they all agree it is brilliant. It was recorded the year L was born and is still crisp and exciting.

Wanna Be Starting Something is electric. Pure disco pop energy. Manic guitar riffs, epileptic bass, a gospel choir and MJ at the peak of his talents. The cruel tragedy of the song is that all these elements make it impossible to dance not matter how much it incites you.

The Girl is Mine. Urgh. L hates it – it’s not just cheesy but creepy. B thinks it’s wonderful. Ownership of women is ok as long as you sing about it in high harmonies. 

What made this album ground-breaking in MJ's career is that every song is an epic. He'd already recorded perfect pop numbers with the Jackson 5 and on his 1979 album Off the Wall, but Thriller took his music it to another level. The songs were constructed layer upon layer upon layer in the studio and each has a narrative arc. The title track epitomizes this both in song and video. Much has been written about the video – it changed the music industry and pushed the then 25 year old Jackson over the edge into super-stardom which has rarely been matched. Aside from the beat and the dramatic synth riff, the most memorable thing about the song is how scary it is. I remember being petrified by the laugh that closes the song. We can't think of any other pop song that is genuinely terrifying for children (except, perhaps, for Katy Perry's exploding breasts).

While the album feels like it reaches its pinnacle on Side A with Thriller, Side B still brings it with Beat It and Billie Jean. Beat It is bad-ass. The choregraphed fighting in the video is priceless, evoking an early eighties West Side Story. You get the sense Jackson is both desperate to fit in, but at the same time, determined to go his own way. 

And then there is that unmistakable rousing beat of Billie Jean which still sends people squealing to the dance floor. I try not to think too much about the lyrics - the woman scheming after MJ kind of confounds me. 

The longevity of these songs is breathtaking. Thriller still sounds as exciting as it did when you first heard it. And Wanna Be Starting Something still makes me lose my mind. You know you've got it stuffed away in a cupboard somewhere. Find it and dust it off.