Thriller 25

Background

Jackson released his sixth studio album, Thriller, on November 30, 1982. With sales estimated to be over 65 million copies worldwide, Thriller became the world's best-selling album of all time; the album was the first in history to yield seven top-ten singles. The success of Thriller put Jackson into the dominating position of pop music, becoming an international pop-cultural icon.

Jackson was asked about a "second chapter" to Thriller on Access Hollywood in late 2006. He said he would discuss it with collaborator will.i.am but had not yet considered it, commenting "No I haven't really thought about it in that way but I would give it more thought. We haven't really discussed it yet, on that level, but I'm sure at some point we will. But it's a great thought." will.i.am served as executive producer; the album's release was announced in an Epic Records press release on November 30, 2007.

Release

Thriller 25 was released on CD and vinyl. Along with the original material there were seven bonus tracks. A ballad called "For All Time" (with backing provided by Toto), Vincent Price's voice-over and five remixes featuring contemporary artists like Fergie and Akon. It also includes a DVD featuring three award-winning music videos, the Emmy-nominated Motown 25 "Billie Jean" performance, and a booklet with a message from Jackson. "For All Time" supposedly dates from 1982, but leaks often credit it as being from Dangerous sessions. Despite this, a new bridge was used in the Thriller 25 release.

On the iTunes Store, Zune Marketplace, and Amazon MP3, a "Super Deluxe Edition" can be purchased which also features the bonus material from Thriller: Special Edition, "Billie Jean (Underground Mix)", an instrumental "Thriller" mix, an extended "Billie Jean" and a digital booklet. Copies bought in Target, Best Buy, Circuit City and Independent Music Stores in the US feature the bonus tracks "Billie Jean (Four on the Floor Club Mix)", "Thriller (Def Thrill Remix)", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (Extended 12" Mix)" and "Billie Jean (Four on the Floor Radio Mix)" respectively. Sony also released a "fan pack" containing Thriller 25 and the Number Ones DVD.

Promotion

To help promote the album, Jackson's website was recreated and accounts on networking websites like MySpace and Facebook were set up. On February 3, 2008 a Sobe advertisement was aired during Super Bowl XLII to over 95 million Americans, with Naomi Campbell and Sanam Nazar CGI lizards dancing to "Thriller". The ad aired again at the Grammys on February 10, 2008. In the United Kingdom, Odeon Cinemas ran free Thriller viewings on February 8 and February 9, 2008 and television adverts announcing the release were aired throughout Europe.

"The Girl Is Mine 2008" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" were the first singles taken from the album. "The Girl Is Mine 2008" reached number two in Japan, three in Mexico, six in the Netherlands and the top twenty positions in the major European markets. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" reached number three in Sweden, four in New Zealand, eight in Australia, ten in France and thirty-two in Canada, but had disappointing sales in America. These were Jackson's first singles since "One More Chance" in 2003. The album track "Beat It 2008" also began charting in European countries, reaching number 26 in Switzerland, 31 in Denmark, 43 in Sweden, 60 in Japan, 74 in Germany, 75 in Austria, and 77 in Canada. as did "Billie Jean 2008", reaching 91 in Germany.

Commercial performance

Thriller 25 was a commercial success. It peaked at number one in 11 countries and Europe. It peaked at number two in the United States, number three in the United Kingdom and reached the top ten in over 30 national charts. Thriller 25 spent three weeks at number one in France and two weeks at number one in Belgium. The album has been certified gold in 11 countries, including the UK. In Poland, the album was certified gold, reaching number six on the chart on its release day, and is Jackson's highest-charting album in Norway. In France Thriller 25 received a 2x Gold certification, and in Poland it was certified platinum.

In the U.S., Thriller 25 was the second-best-selling album of its release week, selling 166,000 copies, 14,000 short of reaching the number one position. It was ineligible for the Billboard 200 chart as a re-release but entered the Pop Catalog Charts at number one (where it stayed for 10 non-consecutive weeks), with the best sales on that chart since December 1996. That November, Thriller 25 spent an 11th non-consecutive week atop the U.S. catalog chart. This brought U.S. sales of the album to 688,000 copies, making it the best-selling catalog album of 2008, eventually selling 1.2 million U.S. copies and three million shipments worldwide until Jackson's death in June 2009. This was Jackson's best launch since Invincible in 2001.

Critical reception

Critics reacted positively to the album, much like their review on the original. All reviews noted that the album is still enjoyable, 25 years on. Allmusic explains, "... 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'' and 'Billie Jean' remain startling in their futuristic funk and 'Baby Be Mine' ... sounds positively incandescent ..." Rolling Stone gave it a full five stars while giving the original only four, saying: "Thriller [25] has MJ at his breathiest and most salacious ('PYT'), and his most beautifully fragile ('Human Nature', so open and brave it makes 'She's Out of My Life' seem phony)".

MTV said, "... it's pretty rare to see a reissue loaded with as much contemporary appeal as this one", and reacted positively to the new tracks, calling them "silver bars". The new material received further praise, with the ballad "For All Time" being described as "perfectly fine" by Allmusic. Rolling Stone described the new version of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" as "actually kind of great — he [Akon] slows it down into a piano ballad, lingering over the easily obscured lyrics." Pop Matters stated that the new version of "The Girl Is Mine" is better than the original, not losing anything with the removal of Paul McCartney. However, most critics agreed that the new versions were not as inspiring as the originals; some even said that the guest artists were the wrong choice. Allmusic notes, "for whatever reason, such Michael-mimicking superstars as Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown did not participate, but Akon, Fergie, and will.i.am did."

Track listing

Thriller 25: Limited Japanese Single Collection

In 2008 a limited edition of Thriller 25 was released in Japan.