Michael Jackson - Thriller (SACD) (1982/2022) [CD-Rip]

Mastered from the Original Analog Master Tapes for Superior Sound. Putting into perspective the incalculable impact and pioneering significance of the best-selling album of all time – Michael Jackson's Thriller – has never been easy. Though Thriller lays claim to mind-boggling statistics that serve as reminders of how pervasive and indispensable it remains to music snobs and casual listeners alike, its essence always traces back to the greatness, power, and scope of the music. Now, as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, the record that reimagined pop; united audiences; made strides towards achieving racial equality; established the video as an artistic and commercial format; and taught the world how to dance sounds even more invigorating than it did during the advent of the Walkman.

Thriller holds a modern-day record of 37 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard. It was the first album in history to spend each of its first 80 weeks in the album chart’s Top 10, a feat only reached by one other album in the nearly four decades since. During its 112th week on Billboard’s album chart, it became the first title ever to be certified RIAA 20X multi-Platinum (October 30, 1984) and became the first title ever to be certified more than RIAA 30X multi-Platinum in 2015 and since has been certified at 34x Multi-Platinum.

Worldwide, Thriller went to #1 in practically every country in the world, including the UK, France, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and apartheid South Africa and remains the biggest selling album of all time with sales in excess of 100 million. Seven tracks from the album became Top 10 singles, and three, “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” and “Thriller,” went No. 1.

The music on Thriller was so singular for the time it defied any definition of rock, pop or soul that had gone before. “Beat It” was a new kind of pop-rock hybrid and demolished the longstanding segregation between black and white music with Eddie Van Halen’s incendiary guitar. On “The Girl Is Mine,” two men, one white and one Black, banter about the same girl. On the same album were songs like the African-rooted “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” and the rhythm and blues-based “Billie Jean.”

Michael set out to revolutionize how to tell a story and entertain on a grand scale through film but faced roadblocks. Despite the luscious cinematography, dramatic narrative and spectacular choreography of “Billie Jean,” a fledgling MTV, which was programming white rock artists almost exclusively, refused to play it. Epic persisted. Once the wall came crashing down, MTV’s ratings soared and a door was opened for a generation of African American artists. “He was MTV’s Jackie Robinson,” said cultural critic Touré.

Next, came the unforgettable short film for “Beat It,” which featured Michael bringing two gangs together through the power of music and dance. And then there was “Thriller.” Premiered at the AVCO Theatre in Los Angeles in 1983, it sold out every night for three weeks. No other video before or since has generated such excitement and has such a hold on our attention, such that 40 years later we all share it as a collective memory and it remains the only music video to be inducted into the elite National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Music from Thriller and Michael’s other hit albums is featured in the hit Las Vegas show Michael Jackson ONE, at the Michael Jackson ONE Theater in Mandalay Bay Resorts and Casino and in the acclaimed Broadway musical MJ The Musical at the Neil Simon Theatre in New York. Michael has sold more than 1 billion records and remains one of the top streaming artists in the world.

Tracklist
01. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
02. Baby Be Mine
03. The Girl Is Mine
04. Thriller
05. Beat It
06. Billie Jean
07. Human Nature
08. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
09. The Lady in My Life