It was an evening of revelry when I was with some of my musician friends, chilling at my place, making some music and listening to some vinyls. A few hours into the evening, things had become a little mellow and that’s when someone yelled, ‘Let’s spin some Thriller’ and there was a unanimous and almost euphoric ‘Yes’ in reply. The moment the needle hit the funk driven frenzy of Wanna Be Startin’ Something, the first track on side 1, the living room just got re-charged and people started going for refills. And, mind you, none of us were big Michael Jackson fans.

To my mind, that’s what this iconic album is all about – instant happiness for all. It doesn’t matter whether you are a musician or not, it doesn’t matter what kind of music you listen to, it doesn’t matter which part of the world you come from, it doesn’t matter whether you like MJ or not; when Thriller plays, everyone starts grooving, happily. And that’s precisely the reason behind it being most popular album ever.

Coming back to the LP, the second track on side 1 is a disco laden Baby Be Mine followed by aschmaltzy (but good) tongue and cheek soft rock duet with Paul McCartney, The Girl Is Mine. The side ends with the now legendary, title track with its disco-funk created by the prominent bass-line and synthesizer. The song was later turned into a 14 minute music video with an eerie storyline and with the aid of early days of MTV; it gained a status that goes beyond iconic.

Side 2 is always a special delight for me, as three of my most favourite tracks from the album, appear consecutively. It starts with the angry and foot-tapping street fight mood of Beat It which gets brilliantly embellished by the metal guitar virtuoso, Van Halen’s solo. Then comes Billie Jean, probably the finest moment in the history of pop music and a sonic marvel, with its throbbing bass, Spartan keyboards and rich orchestra. Every listening of this song guarantees a gooseflesh moment for me. It’s also probably one of the best dance tracks ever. This gem is followed by Human Nature, the most delicately beautiful composition here with equally delicate lyrics like, “Looking out across the morning / The city’s heart begins to beat / Reaching out I touch her shoulder”. The next track ‘P.Y.T’is back to funk and then the album ends with a quiet ballad, The Lady In My Life.

And finally,the most remarkable aspect of this work – MJ’s incredibly amazing, velvety voice and versatile singing skills that uplifts everything about this album.Of course, Quincy Jones’s production does equal justice by using the man’s voice in the right fashion but this is King of Pop at his peak, presiding over his empire, with total authority.

Too much history, trivia and records are associated with this album andfor which one can always check its Wikipedia page. But, it’s noteworthy to mention that in the Indian context, this was one album solely responsible for bringing English music (and break dance) to the mainstream audience, even in a small town in Bihar where I was growing up, albeit not in the LP format, but in the form of the humble magnetic tape.

Year of release: 1982

Label: Epic

Duration: 42:19

Genre: Pop-Disco-R&B-Funk-Rock…but mostly pop

Rating: 4.5/5

Reviewed by Meraj Hasan

Meraj Hasan is a Mumbai based communication professional (and an amateur poet/musician) with a passion for listening to music the vinyl way. His 25 year old Technics turntable along with a humble collection of LPs across genres like Classic rock, Classical, Blues and Jazz (amongst others) are his prized possessions.

He can be reached at +91 9833410791 or email: meraj.hasan@gmail.com .