I chose Thriller as the first “historical album” to appear on Caruso’s Critiques for a multitude of reasons. For one, it is widely regarded as one of the most (if not THE most) influential albums ever. Thriller is the King of Pop’s magnum opus, and it is the perfect album for me to review as a historically well-known album. Another reason that I chose this album is the fact that up until the writing of this review, I had never listened to Thriller in its entirety, and I wanted to experience it fully. Thriller by Michael Jackson was released on November 29, 1982, and was Jackson’s 6^th studio album. Paul McCartney features on “The Girl Is Mine,” which marked the first credited feature on a Michael Jackson album. The album contains a number of hits including “Thriller,” “Beat It,” and “Billie Jean.” The album handles many genres, including pop, disco, rock, funk, and R&B. Thriller is considered by most to be Michael Jackon’s best album, if not his best then at the very least his most influential and well-known, with its only competition being Bad. This is for good reason, as the album features excellent music, stellar vocal performances by Michael Jackson, and catchy tunes that get everybody who listens into the dancing mood. In contrast with the fun sound of many of the songs on Thriller, the album’s themes are a tad dark, with some songs like “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Startin Somethin” showing off shades of paranoia and the fear of bad situations caused by Michael’s fame. “Thriller” itself is a dark song, leaning into horror-sounding elements and the theme that you can never achieve safety from “The Thriller.” I believe that the themes don’t matter too much with Thriller, as it is perfectly acceptable to enjoy the music and dance without thinking too deep into it. Michael Jackson simply has that kind of effect.

My standout tracks for Thriller are rather unsurprising: “Thriller,” “Billie Jean,” and “Beat It.” These three songs are by far the biggest hits from Thriller, and this is no mistake. These tracks are incredible, and all three of them deserve (and will be given) a 10. Thriller actually surprised me with how much I liked it. I hadn’t listened to the song in a while, and I was reminded of what a good song it was. I was not expecting to give “Thriller” a 10, but here I am. It has an infectious beat, and it makes you want to dance. Michael gives an incredible vocal performance, as he does on all of his songs, but the background vocals in “Thriller” were especially potent. “Thriller” is also a decently long song, sitting at 5:58, but the listener likely won’t notice because of the excellent pacing and sound of the track. Overall, an extremely good showing from the titular song. Now for “Billie Jean”. “Billie Jean” is objectively the most popular song that Michael Jackson ever created, but it came in second on my personal list. Do not take this as me saying that there’s anything wrong with “Billie Jean”, though. This track is a defining song for an era, and it deserves its place among the greats. The chorus and verses are both electric, and I couldn’t help but sing along to the chorus. The beat to this song is very well crafted, and it gives a great base for Michael to do his work. “Billie Jean” is definitely a 10/10 song for me. Finally, we come upon one of my personal favorite songs: “Beat It.” There are so many things I love about this song. From the astounding vocals to the spine-tingling guitar, this song delivers on every level. “Beat It” never drags for a second, never trips up at any moment. It is an almost perfect song in my opinion. It is a 10 in every aspect. “Beat It” is the best track on this album, of Michael Jackson’s career, and of his time period.

Now, I don’t really have much of a stinker for Thriller. Every song on this album is good, with none of them earning anything lower than a 6. Thriller is extremely consistent, which I will get to in my conclusion, but I have 2 songs that I will highlight as being the lowest on the totem pole for roughly the same reason. “Human Nature” and “The Lady in My Life” both drag on a bit too long for my liking. “Human Nature” isn’t actually that long at only 4:07, but it reaches its natural end a good amount of time before its over. Eventually, the song starts repeating itself a bit too much and loses its luster. Again, I enjoyed this song and “The Lady in My Life,” but I needed to pick at least 1 stinker, so I picked 2 similar ones. “The Lady in My Life” is a slow song in general, which is not a bad thing, but it is over 5 minutes long. This causes the song to drag a bit, and that brought its grade down. Not much to say here for either one, as Michael Jackson did a very good job of making good songs for Thriller.

Now for the individual song ratings and one-word descriptions:

1. “Wanna Be Startin Somethin” – (6.5/10): Long
2. “Baby Be Mine” – (9/10): Dance!
3. “The Girl Is Mine” – (8/10): Chill
4. “Thriller” – (10/10): Haunted
5. “Beat It” – (10/10): Vocals!!!
6. “Billie Jean” – (10/10): Classic
7. “Human Nature” – (6/10): Drag
8. “P.Y.T.” – (8/10): Fun
9. “The Lady in My Life” – (6/10): Slow

I went into this review knowing that “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” were two of my favorite songs, but I was surprised at the quality of this album as a whole. “Thriller” surprised me even though I had listened to the track before, and there isn’t a single bad song on the album. I enjoyed listening to Thriller from beginning to end, and it was certainly a good palette cleanser after Eternal Atake 2. Michael Jackson provides an impressive vocal performance throughout Thriller as expected, and his ability to put an insane amount of energy into his songs shines. “Baby Be Mine” was a pleasant surprise, as it was an instant favorite for me after listening to it. The song is actually the least popular track on Thriller, which is disappointing. “Baby Be Mine” deserves more love, and so does “The Girl Is Mine,” which was another great song that I noticed was at the lower end of popularity on Thriller. Regardless of popularity, the album is incredibly consistent, with no song earning lower than a 6 and almost half of the tracks earning a 9 or higher. Thriller truly is one of the most influential albums ever, and should be considered by most to be one of the best albums ever made. The only grudge I have with it is that some of the songs tend to be a bit too long or drag on a little. This is noticeable in all of the songs rated lower than an 8, of which there are 3. If not for this factor, Thriller would have received a perfect overall score from me. Here is my final verdict: Thriller by Michael Jackson deserves all the love it gets, and some of the lesser-known songs on the album deserve even more. The combination of great music, incredible vocals, and good vibes creates an atmosphere that is second to none. While some songs are a bit too long and tend to drag on, Thriller covers this issue quite well by simply pumping out great music that people can’t help but want to listen to for a long time. 9.5/10