One hundred and four million albums sold worldwide.
Thirty-seven weeks at No. 1.
Eight Grammys.
Seven Top 10 hits.
And five unnecessary new tracks that nearly undermine that legacy.
Tonight, Michael Jackson is expected to appear at the Grammy Awards to celebrate the induction of his landmark 1982 album, "Thriller," into the Grammy Hall of Fame. On Tuesday he will release a 25th-anniversary edition of it. The expanded CD/DVD package will include the original nine-song album, one unreleased track from the original sessions, and five reworkings with contributions from contemporary artists that range from innocuous to downright damaging.
Associating with will.i.am, Fergie, Akon, and Kanye West is meant to lend Jackson credibility with today's urban music fans, but adding modern flourishes to a record like "Thriller" doesn't do anything to improve it. If anything, it diminishes the one unblemished chapter of Jackson's creative life.
The stats associated with "Thriller" have always been impressive on their own. But facts and figures don't tell the musical tale. Somewhere between the genuflection of fellow musicians such as Mary J. Blige (who has been part of the reissue's promotion campaign) and the undying devotion of Jackson's fans lies the inarguable fact that "Thriller" was, and remains, a splendid specimen of dance pop. Beyond that, it was a watershed moment in pop music history by any standard: a commercial giant, a critical home run, and a cultural gamechanger.
An element of nostalgia is involved in any reissue, yet this anniversary edition doesn't feel or sound like a museum piece. The percolating twitch of tracks like "Billie Jean" and the dreamy charms of "Human Nature" still hold up and, amazingly, haven't been sullied by the sideshow that eventually tarnished Jackson's public persona.
Production techniques from the '80s have sometimes made listening to music from the era a cringe-worthy exercise. And though Jackson and producer Quincy Jones indulged in the synth-mania of the times (notably on the title track's crashing opening notes), the unassailable melodies, sense of urgency, and freedom that saturate these songs still inspire involuntary neck twitches and impromptu re-creations of Jackson's moves at weddings, parties, and clubs.
For further proof of its enduring impact, look no further than YouTube, which is littered with clips that pay homage to the album - everything from homemade videos of Filipino inmates getting down in the jailhouse yard to last week's Super Bowl ad. Or you could just cock an ear toward the diverse array of current hitmakers who have cribbed from Jackson, from the suave, effortless glides and soul-boy pleas of Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, and Usher to the dance-floor confections of Justin Timberlake and Maroon 5.
It seems fitting, then, that the one extra track that is well-executed and worth hearing on the anniversary release is "For All Time." This sweet, earnest ballad - recorded during the original sessions but left off of the album - sounds like the daytime flipside to "Human Nature." It's similar enough to that song in vocal cadence and keyboard atmospherics to justify its exclusion but it's as good, or better, than the two non-hits ("The Lady in My Life" and "Baby Be Mine") that did make the cut.
If Jackson had simply appended this song and included the DVD - consisting of videos for "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "Thriller," and Jackson's electric appearance on "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" - this new "Thriller" would have been the perfect reissue. But the bonus tracks slowly deflate the joy of what came before.
Jackson has certainly made some puzzling moves over the years, but his belief that he could improve on perfection with the help of the Black Eyed Peas has to rank almost as high on his list of bad decisions as returning journalist Martin Bashir's call to participate in a British TV documentary.
Will.i.am, in partnership with co-producer Jackson, is the main criminal here, and there's nothing smooth about it. Working with a demo that predated Paul McCartney's duet vocal, will.i.am hacks up "The Girl Is Mine." A roughed-up guitar sound is head-bobbingly funky, but the addition of his own execrable rap - "she mine, she mine, she mine, she like the way I rock" - makes it unlistenable.
Not satisfied with victimizing one woman, he guts "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 2008" - another original demo remix - of its easy, silly charm by the inclusion of such thoughtful Will updates as "You're looking really cute in them jeans/ I'll peel 'em off like a tangerine." BEP bandmate Fergie does no irreparable harm on a remix duet of "Beat It" but adds nothing of value, either.
Akon goes out on a limb with "Wanna Be Startin' Something," with light-fingered faux-vibraphone runs and the addition of a new vocal track from Jackson. Akon's lyrics take the song to the club and then back to the bedroom. It's not a complete success but retains the fidgety essence of the original while feeling fresher than the approach of his peers.
Only Kanye West's chop-shop reworking of "Billie Jean" - he begins with the pre-chorus, ever-so-slightly slows the tempo, beefs up the drum echo - builds on an original without desecrating it. He also wisely limits his vocal contribution to a couple of wordless exclamations and a triumphant shout of "number one!"
You could argue it's a waste of Grammy airtime tonight to celebrate something that has already been endlessly praised. The show is supposed to shine a light on the previous year's best work, and if Jackson, who turns 50 this year, still holds out the slimmest hope of commercial relevance, this trip back to 1982 does him no favors. But considering its incredibly long legs, "Thriller" certainly deserves its place in the pop pantheon.
For those millions who remember the initial rush of "Thriller" and the subsequent generations who received it secondhand but undiluted, anniversaries are meaningless as long as the songs remain the same. Instead of relying on today's whiz kids to help him reminisce, Jackson the musician should summon that fearless 25-year-old and get back to the future.
