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█ ARTIST: Michael Jackson █
█ TITLE: Thriller 25 █
█ LABEL: MJJ/Epic/Sony Music Japan █
█ GENRE: Pop █
█ GRABBER: EAC (Secure Mode) █
█ ENCODER: LAME 3.97 / -V2 --vbr-new █
█ QUALITY: 199 Kbps Avg / 44.1 KHz / Joint Stereo █
█ PLAYTIME: 1h 11min 44sec total █
█ SIZE: 102.1MB █
█ RELEASE DATE: 2008-02-20 ▐▌
█ RIP DATE: 2008-07-10 █
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▄▄▄ [ TRACK LIST ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄
█
█ 01. Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 6:02
█ 02. Michael Jackson - Baby Be Mine 4:20
█ 03. Michael Jackson - The Girl Is Mine (With Paul McCartney) 3:42
█ 04. Michael Jackson - Thriller 5:57
█ 05. Michael Jackson - Beat It 4:18
█ 06. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean 4:53
█ 07. Michael Jackson - Human Nature 4:05
█ 08. Michael Jackson - P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 3:58
█ 09. Michael Jackson - The Lady In My Life 4:58
█ 10. Vincent Price - Excerpt From 'Thriller' Voice Over Session 0:24
█ 11. Michael Jackson - The Girl Is Mine 2008 (With will.i.am) 3:11
█ 12. Michael Jackson - P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 2008 (with 4:21
█ will.i.am)
█ 13. Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008 (With Akon) 4:14
█ 14. Michael Jackson - Beat It 2008 (With Fergie) 4:12
█ 15. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean 2008 (Kanye West Mix) 4:37
█ 16. Michael Jackson - For All Time 4:05
█ 17. Michael Jackson - Got The Hots (JP Bonus Track) 4:27
▄▄ [ RELEASE NOTES ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄
█
█ Props to the other group for putting out the regular edition. There is one
█ Japanese bonus track that has yet to be released though. Since it is past 3
█ months since the other release was put out, here it is in its entirety.
█
█ -
█
█ The quarter-century mark carries weight for Thriller -- not necessarily for
█ the anniversary of the album's release itself, although it offers as good an
█ opportunity as ever to revisit one of the true pop phenomenons of the 20th
█ century, but rather for another anniversary: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, and
█ Forever, the television special where Michael Jackson performed "Billie Jean"
█ and unleashed the moonwalk, sending Thriller into the stratosphere. For those
█ who hadn't paid attention to Off the Wall -- and despite its success there
█ were some, often older listeners who didn't bother with discos -- this
█ performance was the unveiling of a marvelous, mature Jackson, a musician
█ whose growth seemed sudden, swift, staggering. Maturity isn't a word that was
█ much associated with Jackson over the next 25 years. Not long after Thriller
█ was logging its second year on the charts, well on its way to becoming the
█ biggest album ever (a title it eventually lost to the Eagles' Their Greatest
█ Hits, which is merely a technicality; that was a catalog item, not a
█ supernova that burned up the charts), Jackson methodically turned himself
█ into a man-child, first through his public appearance -- he was first seen
█ with ET, then Emmanuel Lewis -- and that antiseptic mass appeal crept into
█ his music, so by the tenth anniversary of Thriller, there was not much adult
█ about his music.
█
█ Because of this gradual morphing into something other, many listeners may
█ have not listened to Michael Jackson or Thriller in years, maybe even two
█ decades, so the album was given a much-hyped re-release in February 2008,
█ with Epic/Legacy releasing Thriller 25 complete with bonus tracks and an
█ extra DVD, in several different editions with different covers, too. There
█ was so much hype surrounding this reissue that it's easy to overlook the fact
█ that this is the second pumped-up reissue of Thriller within a decade. Six
█ years earlier, Michael Jackson's Epic catalog was refurbished to coincide
█ with the release of Invincible, so the album was given a bunch of bonus
█ tracks and a new cover -- an outtake from the photo shoot that produced the
█ gatefold pic of Jacko cuddling with a baby tiger, playing right into his
█ frozen childhood -- and it didn't garner much attention, possibly because
█ only two of the 12 bonus tracks were interesting (the rest were almost all
█ interview snippets). Those two songs, "Someone in the Dark" and a demo of
█ "Billie Jean," are left behind on that issue, and Thriller 25 likewise
█ contains none of the assorted oddities and rarities MJ released during this
█ era. Unlike the 2001 reissue, this is not targeted to listeners who care
█ about digging deep into the vaults, curious about how the album was made and
█ what was left behind. No, Thriller 25 is for fans who want to take a trip
█ back and for younger listeners who may have never heard the entire album
█ before -- and to rope the latter in, this reissue has five new remixes all
█ featuring modern stars. That sounds more impressive on the surface than it
█ actually is, as, for whatever reason, such Michael-mimicking superstars as
█ Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown did not participate, but Kanye West, Akon,
█ Fergie, and will.i.am did. By and large these are outright embarrassments --
█ only Akon has the guts to rework the original track, turning "Wanna Be
█ Startin' Somethin'" into moody piano murk, so he gets credit for vision; it's
█ not great, but it is better than Fergie parroting the lyrics of "Beat It"
█ back to a recorded Jackson, and it's better than will.i.am turning "The Girl
█ Is Mine" into a hapless dance number -- but it's also true that these artists
█ can't help but seem small when compared to Michael. Kanye is the closest of
█ these four to having anything close to the musical and cultural impact in
█ 2008 as Jackson did in 1982-1983, but even that is a bit of a reach, as Kanye
█ isn't nearly as close to being as omnipresent as Michael was at his peak.
█
█ Of course, those were different times, as one listen to the proper album
█ makes clear. Thriller built upon the disco breakthroughs of Off the Wall but
█ was designed to cross over to all audiences: baby boomers (a duet with Paul
█ McCartney on "The Girl Is Mine"), hard rockers (Eddie Van Halen's guitar on
█ "Beat It"), electro-funk (the paranoiac "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," the
█ stark "Billie Jean"), modern R&B (the bright "Baby Be Mine"), quiet storm
█ ("The Lady in My Life"), soft rockers ("Human Nature"), and kids (the
█ cartoonish title track). That large streak of softness is often overlooked in
█ memories about Thriller; it's rightly overshadowed by "Billie Jean," "Beat
█ It," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," and the visual extravaganzas of the
█ video (all documented here on the DVD, with only the overcooked "Thriller"
█ seeming old). But the genius of Thriller is that Jackson, producer Quincy
█ Jones, and writer/arranger Rod Temperton made it with L.A. studio pros
█ (including many members of Toto, Greg Phillinganes, and David Foster), so it
█ has an alluring slickness placing it as firmly within pop as it is within
█ R&B. Jackson, Jones, and Temperton meticulously assembled these tracks,
█ finding a balance where the tight grooves laid down by the studio musicians
█ and the synth sequencing by Michael and Rod felt precise yet pulsated with a
█ human heart. This polish helped bring Thriller to a mass audience who
█ otherwise might have paid no attention. Once Thriller got their attention, it
█ captivated because Jackson did everything and he made it seem so easy. Once
█ his dazzle wore off, the songs stuck around because there were no weak tunes
█ -- even the weakest, the slow-burning closer "The Lady In My Life," is a fine
█ generic R&B ballad -- and the best are eternal.
█
█ Even so, classic pop can be overplayed and several of the Thriller signature
█ hits no longer sound fresh -- that creaky title track and the clenched
█ posturing of "Beat It" are the worst offenders -- but "Wanna Be Startin'
█ Somethin'" and "Billie Jean" remain startling in their futuristic funk and
█ "Baby Be Mine," one of two songs not to be a hit single, sounds positively
█ incandescent, perhaps because it isn't as familiar, but more likely because
█ it is a brilliantly crafted piece from Temperton. And, again, it's that craft
█ that impresses after all these years -- it's possible to hear past the myth,
█ past the baggage that Jackson accumulated in the years since its release, and
█ hear what he created on this singular sensation. It's not necessary to
█ purchase the 25th anniversary reissue to appreciate this -- for those who
█ appreciate the craft behind the album, the only worthwhile extra is the
█ perfectly fine unreleased ballad "For All Time" -- but the set does have one
█ trump card up its sleeve: the DVD has that performance of "Billie Jean" from
█ Motown 25. It is the one thing on the set that comes close to capturing the
█ excitement that Thriller generated upon its initial release -- and since
█ excitement was as necessary to Thriller's success as craft, such a jolt is
█ needed for this, although it may not be quite enough of an enticement for
█ millions of fans to purchase this album a second time.
█
█ Don't forget to support the artists! We did.
▄▄▄ [ GROUP NEWS ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄
█
░ Questions? Comments? Contact us.
▒
▓ Greets to all who put out quality and those who have helped along the way.
█
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