25 Years Later Michael Jackson's Thriller Remains a Landmark Album

I can't believe it is the 25th anniversary of Thriller, the album that pushed Michael Jackson from superstar into the sideshow freak that he is today.

It is impossible to overestimate how big this album was when it came out. This followed up Jackson's multi-platinum Off the Wall and just blew it away in total sales. According to Wikipedia, Thriller sold over 104 million copies and is the biggest-selling album of all time.

I was a senior in high school when this album was released and had no idea how many times I would hear it played in the next few years. It seemed like we got regular updates on how many copies it had sold and the only thing a person who wasn't a big fan could do was to shrug and make jokes. It was my belief that when the next single from the album was released, people who purchased it when "Billie Jean" came out didn't realize it was the same album, so they just bought another copy.

And did the album have hits!

Seven of the nine tracks on the album charted as singles, including "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" as number-one hits. Other singles released were "The Girl is Mine" (#2), "Thriller" (#4), "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (#5), Human Nature (#7) and P.Y. T. (#10).

And it wasn't just the songs. This was the age when video hit the scene big and Michael Jackson and his smooth dancing moves helped pave the way. The videos for "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Thriller" all were at least as popular as the songs, if not more so, especially the one for "Thriller". That was the video that pushed the envelope by making a mini-movie instead of just a three-minute clip.

Michael Jackson hit the big-time playing and singing with his older brothers in the Jackson 5. Of course, he had more talent than the rest of them combined, but it was his status as a "safe" child star which helped him break into an international sensation with white kids around the globe mimicking his every move.

This album came out around the same type Boy George and Culture Club were big. You couldn't help but notice the similarities between the two, as both seemed to strive to be sexless and colorless.

The picture of Michael Jackson from Off The Wall was unmistakably that of a black man. But the photo not quite three years later for Thriller shows a much lighter skinned Jackson with a nose looking more like Paul McCartney's than the honker he had in 1979.

The man who told us in 1987 that "It doesn't matter if you're black or white" had already begun his transformation into a white female all the way back in 1982 and Thriller".

It's hard to look at Michael Jackson today and think simply about what a fantastic entertainer he was. But if you were around in 1982, you remember what a sensation he was and how loved he was through all racial, gender and age demographics.

If you are looking to find out what all the fuss was about, Thriller is a great place to start. The album contains pop, R&B, dance and even rock, with Eddie Van Halen laying down the licks on "Beat It".

This album will never be in my collection, even 25 years later it is too overplayed in my mind. But for those who were not around at the time, it is a fantastic record which serves to remind everyone that at one time Michael Jackson was more known for his music than for the eccentricities and deviant behavior which people know him for now.