Stereophile: Deluxe Edition

I think it was the only album my parents owned on both cassette and vinyl. So they could listen at home, and in the car. I remember looking at it and thinking I don't know what. This young black man in a gleaming white suit with a look on his face that says what. Looking all confident and comfortable and strange.

I remember listening to it. The cassette version because I wasn't allowed to play with the vinyl. I was five. I think I fell in love with "Pretty Young Thing" after listening only once. I wondered why such a great song was buried so deep into the album. But they were all great. "Human Nature," "The Girl Is Mine," "Billie Jean," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." And "Thriller."

I remember when "Thriller" made its debut on MTV. It was a big deal. My parents had friends over. We sat around our enormous Emerson television console, waiting. The lower left hand corner of the screen was marred by an embarrassing green blob where I had placed a large magnet. I never got over that. My father never let me forget it.

"We had the television for two hours, and look what he did."

There are bowls of potato chips and pretzels on the glass coffee table. The women are drinking wine coolers—Cherry Fizz, Tea Breeze. The men are drinking cans of beer. I'm sitting on the brown rug with my back up against the plastic-covered couch, wondering what we're waiting for.

When the video finally aired, I cried.

"I thought this channel was only supposed to show music videos."

"This is a music video."

"No, it's not. It's a scary movie."

"Don't watch it."

"I hate this video."

I watched it anyway. It soon became my favorite and my love for the album grew. I remember making mix tapes that began and ended with "Pretty Young Thing." That's the way I would have made the album.

I mentioned Queen Majesty's excellent Thriller tribute, Trilla, made up of Jamaican dancehall covers of American pop hits. And now you can pre-order copies of the Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition from Elusive Disc. The 180g 2LP Deluxe Gatefold package features previously unreleased tracks, including an excerpt from the Vincent Price "Thriller" voice-over sessions—spooky!—and remixes by will.i.am, Fergie, Akon, and Kanye West.

I don't really care about those extras, though. I think I'm more interested in revisiting something, in owning something, from my childhood. The Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition of Michael Jackson's Thriller is available for $19.99, and that sounds like a deal to me.

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Reader Comments

Posted Sun Jan20, 2008, 12:32 PM — By Hoser Rob

No way. Sorry. To me this was the beginning of his sad, strange downfall. In almost every sense. Now Off The Wall ... there's a classic. I still have that LP, bought when new. The only solo Michael Jackson I'd ever spend $$$ on.

Posted Mon Jan21, 2008, 4:27 AM — By Cihangir G�zey

Biggest live showman on this planet. He had to be seen to be believed for being the best show performer on live concerts. No one comes even closer. I am not a big MJ fan but his shows are really fantastic. Any other live concert show seems to you like a dead mans show after seeing a Michael Jackson live concert. You never get satisfied with any other concert through your life. It becomes a true benchmark for you and stays as "The Best Live Concert" for you. Thriller Limited Edition CD is a gold CD and has a lot of extra material. It is one of the best 2 albums (Bad and Thriller) he has done. Bad is not gold CD. So, this gives an idea about which album is really the best one.

Posted Tue Jan22, 2008, 5:16 PM — By D.C.

Thriller is the first album that I ever owned. I don't know of a single album that both young and old, across racial lines all gravitated to quite like the Thriller album. Every song on this album could be heard on the radio at one time or another. I think they were all top ten hits. Jazz legend Quincy Jones produced the album and did a tremendous job of infusing it with infectious melodies and propulsive bass lines. I remember watching the Thriller, Billie Jean and Beat It video premieres and they were definitely must see TV. Thriller redefined the way pop albums and artists were promoted, for better and for worse. Before MJ, did any other artist get more mileage out of his music videos? After Thriller videos became essential to pop super stardom. Image began to eclipse substance. Think about all of the cross marketing campaigns that were launched off this album. More than ever record labels starting to consider marketability and camera friendly looks when signing artists and there was no looking b

Posted Sat Feb16, 2008, 4:15 PM — By Dave

With the benefit of time, it's my opinion that Off the Wall has longer legs. You can pull that one out today and it still sounds fresh. But no one has been interested in doing pop like that in a long time.

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