MICHAEL JACKSON
THRILLER 40
SONY LEGACY
© Alamy
★★★★★
Four decades on, it might be harder than ever to untangle Thriller from its troubled creator’s storied life, but there’s no denying the most successful album of all time still sounds totally fresh, urgent and vital.
Across its nine tracks – no fewer than seven of them hit singles – Michael Jackson and producer Quincy Jones took a match to the pop playbook, with a heady fusion of R&B, disco and rock, from the kinetic funk of Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ to the skittish paranoia of Beat It and Billie Jean, in which the drama of the singer’s life was starting to come out in both the words and a tougher, flintier edge to the music.