Michael Jackson

Adding a handful of remixes and a scrapped ballad from the original sessions, this affable, though hardly requisite, repackaging of MJ's unmatched kingmaker is roughly analogous to putting American Gothic in a day-glo frame. The extras are a mixed affair -- Kanye's downtempo retread of "Billie Jean" surfaces as the best of the bunch, where Fergie's duet treatment of "Beat It" is fairly absurd -- but even the best revisions don't hold a candle to the raging awesomeness of the original masterpiece.

Thriller is the sound of Michael Jackson in 1982, when he was the coolest, slinkiest,
prettiest pop star alive. He was Boy George times Rick James and beat both of them at their
games, although he did nothing but make the competition sound even better. He taught
Boy George fans and Rick James fans to hear each other's music, just as he taught Van
Halen, Lionel Richie, ZZ Top, Stevie Nicks and Bruce Springsteen to play to this g... More >