I usually try to avoid dating myself in reviews of classic albums, but with the 25th anniversary release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller it can hardly be helped. Instead, I’ll date you: You’re probably at least 30, maybe 40, if you have tangible memories of the influence the world’s all-time biggest-selling album had on music, video, pop choreography, and fashion. (You know you had that jacket with all the off-center snaps, buckles, and zippers.) You probably recall trying to moonwalk with your gym-class buds the day after Michael dropped the mind-blowing move while debuting lead-off single “Billie Jean” on the Motown 25 TV special. 

Musically, I prefer the rhythmic density and flat-out exhilaration of MJ’s earlier Quincy Jones joint, Off The Wall, but Thriller is undeniable pop perfection. It is an early-’80s pop record, which means plenty of programmed synth-bass. Guitarist Steve Lukather played bass on “Beat It”, but otherwise it’s all Thunder Thumbs himself, Brothers Johnson bassist Louis Johnson. LJ’s hypnotic ostinatos underscore “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Something,” and he gooses the groove on the upbeat “PYT,” then slips in some slow-jam slapping on “Lady in My Life.” There are groany moments, like the Paul McCartney duet “The Girl Is Mine”—which in retrospect seems like a sonic archetype for ’80s cheese. 

The anniversary edition comes in a bound gold book filled with photos from both the album and the music videos, all of which appear on an included DVD, together with the Motown 25 performance. There’s new material, too, the kind of stuff a jaded, sorta-old guy like me is usually skeptical of, but will.i.am and Kanye West reworked some tunes with Michael in surprisingly hip and relevant ways—even “The Girl Is Mine.”
—Bill Leigh