Thriller - Blender

Review

Thriller

(Epic)
Release Date: 10/25/1990 12:00

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Sometimes you can please everyone. If the best-selling album ever—26 million copies in the U.S. alone—oozes ’80s, that’s because it defined the ’80s, from its airbrushed cover to its immaculately buffed grooves to the tangle of sexual lies and fear at the heart of “Billie Jean.” Jackson’s grand crossover from R&B to pop gets over on variety (cameos by Eddie Van Halen, Paul McCartney and Vincent Price) as well as thrills and chills. And Quincy Jones’s production flatters Jackson’s virtuosic singing like a jeweler’s pillow beneath a gemstone.

Download: “Billie Jean,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Beat It”

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