(...Story Continued from Previous Page) Kids swooned, parents approved, and critics fell over
backwards to praise, praise and praise some more. It was the Perfect Storm of
pop-biz beautification, and listening to "Thriller" now, a generation on, what's
most stunning is the degree to which the record doesn't sound the least bit
dated, doesn't have a bum note in its grooves, and seems to encapsulate a
certain timeless grace, equally definitive and effortless.
Jackson's post-"Thriller" career is commonly thought to be a sharp
turn for the worse; the music suffers, the face distorts, the accusations fly.
However, while never again reaching the heights of "Billie Jean," "Human Nature"
and "Beat It," what Jackson offered up was still pretty slamming. One needs only
listen to "Leave Me Alone," from 1987's "Bad," "Remember the Time," from 1991's
"Dangerous," or "Unbreakable," the lead-off track from 2001's "Invincible," to
see that a talent this mighty can only fall so far. All three discs are, to say
the least, solid offerings, and had the regrettable accusations, sordid details,
and bizarro lifestyle not colored the context, these records would no doubt be
viewed in a more objective light. For what remains, at the end of the life of
Wacko Jacko, are the tunes and the talent. Twenty-five years after it initially
stormed the airwaves, and 100 million copies later, "Thriller" is still
incontrovertible evidence of Michael Jackson's place as, unsullied or otherwise,
the King of Pop.
Hear a "Thriller" sampler in the Listening
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