Is Michael Jackson's Thriller Overrated?

Here’s my hot take on this classic album.

It’s pretty hard to write about early ‘80s records without acknowledging that 1983 and 1984 belonged to Michael Jackson. He was everywhere.

Despite not even owning a copy of Thriller then, I knew almost every song from the record back to front. It wasn’t until many years after the album passed out of the charts that I bought my first copy on compact disc. A few years on and I picked up some used vinyl versions, as one does.

Thriller revisited

When I re-listened to Thriller as an adult – well after the hype had settled – I recall being struck by two things:

1. All the background noise about M.J.’s complicated private life melts away when you put the needle down.
2. Most of Thriller is nowhere near as great as I’d remembered.

Now don’t beat up on me, I get why Thriller is the best-selling record of all time. It’s the quintessential cross-over album with something for everyone, and it built bridges between black and white audiences. With producer Quincy Jones, Jackson embraced electronics, funk, soul and rock, and synthesized them into an impressively coherent whole. It boasts some of the most enduring songs of the 20^th century.

My compelling theory about Thriller

But when I take a look beyond the iconic tracks, dare I say it’s tempting to say the album should’ve been titled “Filler.”  

Too harsh? Yeah probably, but it’s telling that its best songs are the ones Jackson penned himself. I can’t shake the feeling he had a handful of obvious hits on his hands, wanted to put them into the world, but needed to enlist the support of professional songwriters like Rod Temperton to round out a full record.

Revisionist Thriller

Could you imagine a version of the album with only the Jackson compositions? Granted, it would be damn short, but it would’ve been the bona fide “killer” M.J. intended all along:

• Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’: Despite being jittery and synthetic, the album’s kick-off feels warm, celebratory and is firmly rooted in Afrobeat (a tip of the hat is given to Manu Dibango’s Soul Makossa with the “mama se, mama sa, mama coo sa” refrain). An undisputed classic.
• The Girl is Mine: A harmless duet with Paul McCartney that captures a moment of genuine friendship before they fell out. Funny – had the former Beatle released this under his own name, he woulda been lambasted for it. Seriously, how often does Paul get dragged for schmaltz like this, but if said schmaltz is on Thriller, all is forgiven. #disgruntledMcCartneyfan
• Beat It: Jackson ventures confidently into rock territory and owns it. Twin guitar riffs interlock to support the song’s tight, danceable arrangement. Dropping in a solo by Eddie Van Halen may seem hare-brained on paper, but it was Quincy Jones’ masterstroke: not only does it actually work, it also carved out a new audience for Jackson.
• Billie Jean: Go to a New Year’s Eve party in the year 2099 and they’ll still play this song close to midnight, and partygoers will still go nuts over it. Billie Jean encapsulates everything that’s great about Thriller: simple hooks, a deep groove, loads of polish, a dash of paranoia, all capped off with an outstanding vocal.

The filler

Jackson’s four tunes are the ones he performed with the most conviction and invested with the most personality, by far. I can buy that he “felt” others like PYT (Pretty Young Thing) and even the title track, but they are lesser compositions compared to M.J.’s own creations. (Let’s be honest, Temperton’s Thriller only enjoys status as a “classic” because of its epic zombie video.)

Most of the remaining tracks fit comfortably into the easy listening category. It doesn’t mean they’re bad; it just means they aren’t particularly remarkable or challenging. Jones’ production on these is slick to a fault, more or less rendering them as funky lounge music of very high quality.

With the exception of the guest appearances noted above, Jackson rarely shares the spotlight and is firmly the star of Thriller. Unfortunately, the decision to put him so far out front and centre comes at the expense of the album’s backing tracks. When Jackson doesn’t step up to make the songs sparkle, Thriller falls short on character.

Can we talk about a couple more things?

I’ve got two other quibbles about this record:

• Serious sequencing error: Each side has good flow, but whose idea was it to have the album limp across the finish line with The Lady in My Life? My pro-tip: When playing this album, start with side two – it kicks off with the one-two punch of Beat It and Billie Jean, and when you conclude the record on the flipside it ends with Vincent Price’s show-stopping rap and villainous cackle on the title track. It just makes so much more sense.
• Thriller’s embarrassment of singles: When I say this, I don’t mean it as a compliment. What I mean is Jackson should’ve been slightly embarrassed to have released all but one of the songs on his album as official singles. C’mon, man.

I don’t wanna be startin’ somethin’

No disrespect is intended with this blog post. I understand that Thriller is beloved by millions, and the album deserves the praise it’s received for all the reasons I gave above. I just think it’s important to get a little perspective on the record and remind ourselves that sales and popularity don’t necessarily equal top-notch quality (see McDonald’s). Aw shucks, that was too harsh again – sorry about that.

When all is said and done, I still own three copies of Thriller – one on CD and two on vinyl. Both LPs are on Epic (catalog QE 38112), which are Canadian pressings dated to 1982. I have no plans to give any of them up anytime soon, so how bad can Thriller be, right? Not bad at all – just a little overrated.