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— The Analog Vault // Essential Listening —

While the Jackson 5 and his solo albums on Motown Records already made Michael Jackson a superstar, it was not until Thriller that the prodigy took the throne as the “King of Pop”. It instantly topped the US Billboard charts, where it would spend a record 37 weeks at number one, before becoming the best-selling album of all-time. Coinciding with the rise of MTV, Jackson’s iconic music videos for "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Thriller" didn’t just make him a household name worldwide, they permanently revolutionised music videos as artform.

But beyond its accolades and cultural significance, just musically, Thriller’s cohesive confluence of rock, funk, disco, soul and R&B changed pop music forever. From its seven juggernaut singles to its other two underrated tracks ("Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady in My Life"), every one of these Quincy Jones-produced songs remains a masterpiece. — The Analog Vault

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Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP set is strictly limited to 40,000 numbered copies: experience the transformative songs as if hearing them for the first time. 1/2" / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe.

Putting into perspective the incalculable impact and pioneering significance of the best-selling album of all time – Michael Jackson's Thriller – has never been easy. Though Thriller lays claim to mind-boggling statistics that serve as reminders of how pervasive and indispensable it remains to music snobs and casual listeners alike, its essence always traces back to the greatness, power, and scope of the music. Now, as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, the record that reimagined pop; united audiences; made strides towards achieving racial equality; established the video as an artistic and commercial format; and taught the world how to dance sounds even more invigorating than it did during the advent of the Walkman.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and limited to 40,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP set does for Thriller what Jackson's unforgettable appearance on the "Motown 25" TV special in 1983 did for his career: It makes the music personal, human, desirable, relatable, imaginative – the definition of cool. This extraordinary reissue does so by presenting the songs in lifelike fashion, zeroing in on the fundamentals with laser focus, and magnifying the brilliance of the production, arrangements, and vocals in ways that let everyone experience Thriller as if hearing the album for the first time.

Surpassing the sonics of earlier reissues and pressings, Mobile Fidelity's 180g LP set strips away prior limitations and provides a clear, dynamic view of a landmark that crashed through every conceivable barrier and permanently transformed music, culture, and society. The expanse and depth of the soundstage, range of detail, percussive textures, air around the vocals, and natural decay of notes come through with demonstration-grade realism.

The gorgeous packaging of the Thriller UD1S pressing befits the album's select status. Housed in an open-ended slipcase, the set features a special foil-stamped jacket and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. Aurally and visually, this reissue is made for discerning listeners who desire to fully immerse themselves in everything involved with the album.

Its effect on multitudes of subsequent artists cannot be overstated. Thriller opened up a new galaxy in which Prince soon strolled. It's the same universe that Usher, Maxwell, and Jamiroquai joined in the ‘90s and that contemporary headliners like Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, and Bruno Mars orbit today. Their style-blurring identities, R&B-rooted foundations, and interdisciplinary approaches directly link to those on Thriller. Notably, the album's first single – "The Girl Is Mine," a duet and co-write with Beatles legend Paul McCartney – captured the record's unwillingness to cater to a specific race, generation, class, or style. Eddie Van Halen – at the time, the world's premier rock guitarist – performed a similar bridge role by supplying the electrifying solo on "Beat It."

Jackson, Quincy Jones, and company do the rest. Drop the needle on any track on Thriller and the insatiable desire to move takes hold. So do sensations of familiarity, pleasure, fun, and soulfulness. Be it the breathless, bass-laden swagger of the Moonwalking "Billie Jean"; horn-accented, post-disco slide of the gossip critique "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"; rousing tempo of the lush, sequin-adorned "P. Y. T. (Pretty Young Thing)"; gentle balladry and liquid vocal phrasing of "Human Nature"; vivid hybrid of funk-disco and horror-film drama of the title track; or streetwise strut and rhythmic fantasia of "Beat It," Thriller never lets up. — (via Label)

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It’s hard to believe now, but when Michael Jackson’s Thriller was released in the UK in time for Christmas 1982, there was an initial sense of misfire. In choosing the album's most lacklustre track, The Girl Is Mine, as its lead single, the postcard delivered was mildly disappointing. The playful duet with Paul McCartney, chosen no doubt to emulate the success McCartney had had earlier the same year with Stevie Wonder on Ebony and Ivory, was simply not what the listeners were expecting. It reached number eight on the UK chart, and the album sold well, but certainly not in the manner that the man who’d delivered Off the Wall should have done.

By the following Christmas, Thriller had become the phenomenon it remains to this day. Singles kept dropping off the album like golden fruit from a platinum bough: the precision snap of that snare on UK number one Billie Jean; the raucous Eddie Van Halen guitar on Beat It; the groove-driven frenzy of Wanna Be Startin' Something. It became apparent that this was a remarkable, ever-yielding pop jukebox.

By 1984, the album got an extension on its lifecycle with the John Landis-directed video for Thriller, which took the album from successful pop record to cultural icon. Casting the then-clean cut, scandal-free singer as a werewolf in a 15-rated short film was a risk, but one that truly paid off. Soon enough Thriller had become a greatest hits package – seven of its nine tracks were issued as singles.

Love it or hate it, Thriller is pop's great, immovable Everest. Marketing departments realised that more and more singles could be pulled from a record to prolong its shelf life, and Michael Jackson became the King of Pop with the whole of the recording industry at his investiture.

It was, of course, never the same for Jackson after Thriller. All that followed was a long, gradual downhill slope that culminated in some forgettable records and a tragic early death. But this view from the summit remains unparalleled. — (via BBC)

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• Special Audiophile Edition.
• Limited edition of 40,000 stamped numbered copies. 
• 1/2" / 30 IPS / Analog Master → DSD 256 → Analog Console → Lathe
• Release is housed in a cardboard slip case, and includes fold out poster (that largely replicates the original art), lyric sheet, MoFi Archival Master sleeve, and white cardboard insert.
• Vinyl is accurately identified as black, but is slightly translucent.
• Mastered by Krieg Wunderlich, assisted by Shawn R Britton at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab®, Sebastopol, CA on The Gain 2 Ultra Analog System™.
• Specially Plated and Pressed on 180g High-Definition Vinyl SuperVinyl™ formula developed and manufactured by Neotech.

Vinyl Tracklist
A1 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
A2 Baby Be Mine
A3 The Girl Is Mine
A4 Thriller
B1 Beat It
B2 Billie Jean
B3 Human Nature
B4 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
B5 The Lady in My Life

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Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab / Epic / MJJ Productions
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, 180g SuperVinyl
Box Set, Limited Edition, Numbered, Special Edition
Reissued: 2022 / Originally Released: 1982
Genre: Funk / Soul, Pop, Rock
Style: Disco, Funk, Soul, Rock, Male Vocals

File under: TAV Essential Listening
File under:   Funk / Soul
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