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

In reverse of typical jazz-project chronology, in which a band forms, makes a record, and then hits the road in support (finally learning the tunes in the process!), Day Trip is the first recording from Metheny’s touring trio of the past four years. Top-flight bassist Christian McBride and drummer Antonio Sanchez would have slammed on any session, but hearing them interpret tunes that they’ve investigated collectively for a few years brings even more potency to the date. Metheny’s poised, architecturally rigorous compositions are intellectually stimulating, but always melodic and often pretty. McBride is his usual pitch-perfect self, with seemingly boundless strength and fluency all over his double bass.
- Jonathan Herrera

Freekbass, a Cincinatti bassist as brash and colorful as his mentor Bootsy Collins, makes his video debut with this hour-long concert from Bootsy’s Fall Ball festival. While Freekbass’s high-velocity aggressive slap technique (often splattered in envelope-filtered gloop) may or may not be your thing, this DVD offers a good chance to cop a lifetime’s worth of licks in E. A late-in-the-set jam with Bootsy, guitarist Buckethead, and DJ Animal Crackers is a highlight.
- Jonathan Herrera

Right from the opener “Combustion,” with its offbeat hi-hat and four-on-the-snare power-groove, there’s something new in Meshuggah-ville. They’ve slightly toned down the metric intensity from previous efforts. The result is a collection of compact, listenable songs, and Obzen is more powerful for it. Check out the riffs and grooves in “Bleed” and “Obzen” and feel your mouth form a perfect “O” from the sheer power of it all. The band’s über-low tuning makes it sound like an army of heavy metal baritone guitars on the march, but it’s so well-mixed that there’s always sonic room for the bass (played on this album by the band’s guitarists, Marten Hagstrom and Fredrik Thordendal) between the guitar chunks and the kick drum. This stuff is beyond just heavy and complex; this band is at the top of a game that it practically invented.
- Bryan Beller

It took a few spins to get hip to what Daniel Lorca adds to Nada Surf’s set of mellow, folk-tinged indie rock, since his subtlety all but masks his uncanny knack for tasteful melodic bass playing. A simple command for fans of great songwriting, sublime vocal harmonies, excellent production, and expert accompaniment: Buy. Spin. Repeat. Maybe you’ll get Lucky, too.
- Brian Fox