Poll

Best song on Thriller

Wanna Be Startin' Somerthin'
Baby Be Mine
The Girl Is Mine
Thriller
Beat it
Billie Jean
Human Nature
P.Y.T.
The Lady In My Life
Someone in the Dark
Carousel
  

Author Topic: The Thriller Thread  (Read 876 times)

white Boy

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Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #30 on: May 01, 2007, 03:52:30 AM »
Shallow, I'm twice the fan of Zeppelin, Hendrix and Dylan that I am of Michael but to me, P.Y.T and Billie Jean is on the level of Purple Haze, Communication Breakdown, and Like A Rolling Stone easily.

-T
i agree with the first part, but billy jean is on the level of like a rolling stone, or purple haze? or communication breakdown? i think plant sings the pants off michael.
 

StevenQBosell

Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #31 on: May 01, 2007, 07:08:54 AM »
Lady In My Life was smapled By Cool J for "Her Lover" of some shit.

lol and am I the only one who voted Carousel? Me and my wife LOVE that song, it should have been on the 1st pressing of the LP
 

Paul

Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #32 on: May 01, 2007, 07:29:29 AM »
i always enjoyed off the wall more than thriller


P.Y.T and Billie Jean is on the level of Purple Haze,

the cam'ron one ;)
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Shallow

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Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #33 on: May 01, 2007, 07:57:59 AM »
LOL, Off The Wall was much more Saturday Night Fever than Thriller.

And you're trivializing the 40 million in sales.  Sure, people bought it 2 or 3 times.  If the album was just average they would have bought it once (or not at all) and been satisfied there.  People buying it multiple times is a testament to how great of an album it was.  Now please don't get me wrong, I'm not a record sales type of guy, but saying he sold 40 million because of Reaganomics is beyond a stretch.

And BTW, Guiness Book of World Records shows that Thriller has sold over 104 million albums worldwide.

Michael Jackson was a true child prodigy, and emerged as one of the most gifted and talented singer/dancer/entertainers ever.  Quincy Jones is regarded by some as the greatest record producer ever.  Rod Temperton is also regarded as one of the greatest songwriters ever. 

I do agree with part of what you're saying (I think).  There are times that it's just a little over the top production wise, and sure some of the lyrics can be a bit cheesy (particularly "The Girl is Mine").  But compared to the immensity of this album those are minor flaws.



Yeah Off The Wall was but if Quincy had Queen and Van Halen to borrow from and he produced SNF then it would have sounded like Thriller. That's what I meant.

Worldwide sales are usually unreliable because they are often juiced or just sold and bought back by the company just to sell it agaim and create another sale. At other times it's just lies. The RIAA isn't perfect but it's way better at measuring record sales than the other types around the world.

Regardless of that here are the facts; the Yuppies bought up shit like no other generation. Look at the diamond plus albums of the 80s. 2 Def Leppard albums, 2 AC DC albums, Prince, 2 Springsteen albums (one was a 5 lp box set which only sold about 5 million but sold at a very high price, Pink Floyd. Boston sold it's most records in the 80s. Billy Joel had a few. GnR. Bon Jovi. Kenny Rogers. Eagles. The list keeps going. There were more record sales in that time period than any other time in history. It wasn't just MJ benefitting. The Yuppies had cash and they bought multiple copies of a lot of the se albums, like the Eagles greatest Hits, which is still ahead of Thriller in the US.

As for the hundred million by Guiness; In 2006 they stated it sold 51 million. I doubt it sold double what it sold since '82 in the last year and a half. And I still claim that Back in Black will eventually top it.



And Tanj; You have every right to think of the those songs as on the same level. I'll just disagree till I die. Some people think Titanic is as good as Godfather. That's their right. I find it it silly to compare the two. One is a highly produced gimmick infested addition to pop culture while other is a gritty piece of masterful art that changed the artform by challenging all the other artists to try and top it. You can apply that statement to the songs and the films in question.

Comparing this;

 Where did you come from lady
And ooh won't you take me there
Right away won't you baby
Tenderoni you've got to be
Spark my nature
Sugar fly with me

with all it's glossiness

to this:

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it
You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him do you want to make a deal?

with it's gritty explosion


Just doesn't make any sense to me, but to each his own.
 

ToOoOoN!!!

Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #34 on: May 01, 2007, 08:39:48 AM »
 Wanna be Startin Somethin' ! when  i hear that song in the clubs ( yeah it still get spins in the club) i go nuts!
 

GangstaBoogy

Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #35 on: May 01, 2007, 01:16:11 PM »
"Billie Jean" was my favorite as a kid. Now I listen to "Baby  Be Mine" the most. Damn, if only I could've me MJ when I was a kid  :-\
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Paul

Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #36 on: May 01, 2007, 02:56:10 PM »
Damn, if only I could've me MJ when I was a kid  :-\

 ???
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Shallow

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Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #37 on: May 01, 2007, 03:36:21 PM »
"Billie Jean" was my favorite as a kid. Now I listen to "Baby  Be Mine" the most. Damn, if only I could've me MJ when I was a kid  :-\


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Trauma-san

Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #38 on: May 01, 2007, 09:53:39 PM »
This shallow character is an idiot.  Elvis Presley is far and above anything that ever walked the face of the earth, Jackie Wilson doesn't deserve to sing back up on an Elvis record.  Of course Shallow can't see because he picked the right username for a music message board. 



Simply put: You could believe some idiot like this motherfucker who thinks it's o.k. to compare records by fucking a.c.d.c. to Elvis Presley, or you could just believe the millions and millions and millions and millions of people who are of the opinion that Michael Jackson AND Elvis Presley are the coolest most talented motherfuckers to ever walk the earth.  What is there to explain?  Here, wait a minute, I got a picture that will sum it all up.


 

M Dogg™

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Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #39 on: May 01, 2007, 11:12:58 PM »
Shallow just doesn't like things that are too popular. If Thriller was a flop, he'd call it the most underrated classic, and say Michael Jackson was the greatest artist since the Beatles, and Prince is a freak.

And of course Quincy borrowed to produce, hasn't that been the theme of music since radio, borrow from the past, and make it your own. Thriller sounds nothing like a Van Halen or Queen album, you can tell the simularities, but Quincy just made that album amazing. But I digress. This is a cat that would put Canibus as a better rapper than Biggie just to try and prove a point.
 

eastcoast timbs

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Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #40 on: May 02, 2007, 06:16:36 AM »
Carousel is mad short, like 1:40, but it's dope

PYT & Baby Be Mine are slept on cuts...shoot, every song on that album is single material. It woulda been dope if it was Prince was on The Girl Is Mine rather than McCartney. Seriously, was Paul any type of comp for Mike when it came to hoes in '82-83'?
 

Shallow

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Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #41 on: May 02, 2007, 07:09:26 AM »
Shallow just doesn't like things that are too popular. If Thriller was a flop, he'd call it the most underrated classic, and say Michael Jackson was the greatest artist since the Beatles, and Prince is a freak.

And of course Quincy borrowed to produce, hasn't that been the theme of music since radio, borrow from the past, and make it your own. Thriller sounds nothing like a Van Halen or Queen album, you can tell the simularities, but Quincy just made that album amazing. But I digress. This is a cat that would put Canibus as a better rapper than Biggie just to try and prove a point.

Once again you are assuming I just go against the grain for the sake of it. You simply don't know my musical tastes well enough. If everyone bashed on Thriller I wouldn't join in because there'd be no point and I may point out some of it's good qualities but I wouldn't like it any better because I don't like it to begin with. I'm not a fan of that album in that regard. I don't take it serious. As a fun pop album it's great, but so is Backsteet's Back in my opnion.

For the record Thriller sounds a lot like Queen's Another One Bites the Dust in parts and I was referring to Beat It with the Van Halen comment. The template for the slightly rocked out pop song with the intense tapping solo in the bridge was created with Beat It and it would not have existed with out Eddy.

And Trauma can say all he wants. He only likes shit that's spoon fed to him. We're talking about a guy that still thinks Iraq has WMDs. For the record I love Elvis and always have, and I didn't compare him to AC DC (but back in black does have like 46 million sold worlwide. 4 million more and 50 Million won't be wrong again). I just realistically believe that if Elvis was black and Chuck Berry was white we'd all be listening to Maybelline instead of That's Alright or if Elvis married his cousin while Jerry Lee did not it'd be Killermania running wild. And his Jackie Wilson comment further proves his spoon fed stupidity. Elvis himself was a huge fan and to say what he said would imply that everyone who sang back up on Presley records is better than Wilson. Trauma is the epitome of what Richard Nixon thought of the American people; dimwit drones who need to shut up and learn something.
 

Tanjential

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Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #42 on: May 03, 2007, 03:51:55 PM »
shallow, you're cool but trauma is an OG who has been speaking from a diverse standpoint since the late 90s.

I feel you are misjudging Thriller but that's cool. Zeppelin had the worst lyrics of all the great classic rock bands, even the lyrics of their deepest songs sound contrived in an attempt to sound as deep as Floyd or even the Beatles. They were dope as shit, but to say Zeppelin were great lyricists is a stretch. They're a sonic band, bands like Floyd, beatles, doors, and especially Dylan, could be poetry.

furthermore, being a sonic artist is a perfectly valid thing to be. look at jazz, lot of it has no words, still has a musical depth. songs like Billie jean and PYT, as well as the songs off the wall and i can't help it from off the wall are well crafted songs, very very effective melodically and musically. homey, I SAW Bob Dylan, I love that man and his art, but I won't front on michael J just cause he's glossily produced. so is 'modern times' but that shit still bangs. sometimes it's good to have shit well produced. preferring poor production reminds me of cats who buy torn up jeans, but hey that's just me.

i agree all the other bands you mentioned are dope as shit, but ACDC? to me, there's nothing they offer me that zeppelin can't give me. they can rock like zeppelin, but they couldn't make 'going to california' or 'that's the way'.

-T

 
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Shallow

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Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #43 on: May 03, 2007, 08:11:32 PM »
shallow, you're cool but trauma is an OG who has been speaking from a diverse standpoint since the late 90s.

I feel you are misjudging Thriller but that's cool. Zeppelin had the worst lyrics of all the great classic rock bands, even the lyrics of their deepest songs sound contrived in an attempt to sound as deep as Floyd or even the Beatles. They were dope as shit, but to say Zeppelin were great lyricists is a stretch. They're a sonic band, bands like Floyd, beatles, doors, and especially Dylan, could be poetry.

furthermore, being a sonic artist is a perfectly valid thing to be. look at jazz, lot of it has no words, still has a musical depth. songs like Billie jean and PYT, as well as the songs off the wall and i can't help it from off the wall are well crafted songs, very very effective melodically and musically. homey, I SAW Bob Dylan, I love that man and his art, but I won't front on michael J just cause he's glossily produced. so is 'modern times' but that shit still bangs. sometimes it's good to have shit well produced. preferring poor production reminds me of cats who buy torn up jeans, but hey that's just me.

i agree all the other bands you mentioned are dope as shit, but ACDC? to me, there's nothing they offer me that zeppelin can't give me. they can rock like zeppelin, but they couldn't make 'going to california' or 'that's the way'.

-T


(Sorry in advance for the long read you're going to go through)

I don't have a beef with you or your musical tastes. If you want to like Thriller that's great. You are however missing all my points;

1. I never gave any credit to the lyrics of Led Zeppelin. Not once did I even mention that aspects. I mentioned Communication Breakdown, but I wasn't referring to the words. It was the whole package that I was highlighting. The singing, the playing, the production, the music and most importantly the sound. Nothing on Thriller or anything by MJ comes close to that track for me. If I wanted to showcase lyrics I'd use something from Springsteen's Ghost of Tom Joad album. If Bruce is William Faulkner or John Steinbeck then MJ is Dan Brown.

2. Yeah MJ has well crafted tunes and so do the Backstreet Boys, and that's not an insult to MJ. MJ (and Temperton) knew how to craft with in the mold. Simple sometimes cheesy lyrics to a catchy melody and makes people want to sing a long. You could play those songs for just about anyone anywhere in the world and they'll have fun listening. Just like you could play Rocky 4 for just about anyone in the world and they'll have fun watching it. Then you take a film like The Shawshank Redemption; kids will think it's boring, jocks might think its stupid, girls may want more romance, frat brother want comedy. Rocky 4 made about 300 million while Shawshank made about 30. One has a lot more in it than the other. I used to have an English teacher who would read over any book you chose to do an essay on. He said a good essay needs to be on a book that is like a think stew, and any time we showed him a book that didn't have much to it he'd say "the broth is thin, find another book". As it pertains to an MJ song; the broth is thin.

3. Who ever said AC DC was all that good? I just said they had an album that sold well and I predicted it would out sell Thriller. I think so because while Thriller sounds very 80s, Back in Black doesn't sounded very dated and can appeal to harder sound fans as well as pop fans. I'm no huge AC DC fan. I have fun listening to their cuts, just like I do MJ's cuts.

4. Where did I mention that "good" production is bad? I didn't say Thriller's production was too good, I said it was too much. It was overproduced. It was too glossy. I'm going to use another film analogy because in my opinion all truly great songs are in fact short films that take place in your mind when you listen to them. Let's take a film like Spider-Man; not a bad film (I wasn't a huge fan but that was because I'm a comic book kid who think Hollywood ruins most of their adaptations) but not something that will have a profound affect on the art of filmmaking either. It looks great, because it has to. I don't mean the special affects, but the quality of the images on the screen. They are very hi-res easy on the eye shots that are meant to grab the attention of all those who look in the direction of the film. Now take a film like Memento or Unforgiven. They have a very grainy look to them; a rugged beauty if you will. Darker shots with less light and not much over dramatic shots that aren't so in your face. If you gave either of those films the high cost images that went into Spiderman it would ruin them because it wouldn't fit. It wouldn't make sense. It would take away from the story and it's meaning by adding too much to the film. If you took a song like Lennon's Working Class Hero and gave it to David Foster and he added synth drums, a tapping guitar solo for the bridge, a gospel choir on background vocals chorus, and a full out orchestra for the last verse and chorus; the song would no longer make sense. It would cease to be what Lennon wrote it as and become something else, something less in my opinion. It's not that I prefer bad production it's just that when you have too much its makes it worse. Imagine the Godfather directed by Tim Burton done in the style of Edward Scissorhands with all those bright colours and shots of the beautiful suburban scenery. It just wouldn't make sense. It works with Edward Scissorhands because it's that kind of film. Kind of like how Oops I did it Again is that kind of song. You could give that song to a Neil Young and he could try his hardest to make it seem brooding and rugged but no matter how hard he tries you can't sing those words and play that melody and be taken seriously. It would be seen as comedy, great comedy, but that's all it can be.


And me and Trauma go way back. I know what he's about and I know he knows his shit. I also know he can be a clown who has fun antagonizing people and that's what he's doing here. He's just trying to get under my skin. He may take his music very seriously but he doesn't take his character on this forum very seriously and that's what he's called it, a character. He has fun with it, and that's fine. What I put on this forum is all me and I mean what I say. I joke around sometimes but I don't use the character to ever say thing I don't really think in real. Shallow is just the screen name. There is no difference in thoughts or opinions of Shallow and Peter Kosmas. I'm simply stating what I think of Thriller and MJ's music in general. To be honest even if I thought the production was great I'd still not think too highly of the songs. That's just what I think. I have no desire to make you change your tastes. I'm just expressing mine.


(One day I'll learn to apply my less is more feelings on production to my posts)
 

Tanjential

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Re: The Thriller Thread
« Reply #44 on: May 07, 2007, 02:13:23 AM »
shallow, you're cool but trauma is an OG who has been speaking from a diverse standpoint since the late 90s.

I feel you are misjudging Thriller but that's cool. Zeppelin had the worst lyrics of all the great classic rock bands, even the lyrics of their deepest songs sound contrived in an attempt to sound as deep as Floyd or even the Beatles. They were dope as shit, but to say Zeppelin were great lyricists is a stretch. They're a sonic band, bands like Floyd, beatles, doors, and especially Dylan, could be poetry.

furthermore, being a sonic artist is a perfectly valid thing to be. look at jazz, lot of it has no words, still has a musical depth. songs like Billie jean and PYT, as well as the songs off the wall and i can't help it from off the wall are well crafted songs, very very effective melodically and musically. homey, I SAW Bob Dylan, I love that man and his art, but I won't front on michael J just cause he's glossily produced. so is 'modern times' but that shit still bangs. sometimes it's good to have shit well produced. preferring poor production reminds me of cats who buy torn up jeans, but hey that's just me.

i agree all the other bands you mentioned are dope as shit, but ACDC? to me, there's nothing they offer me that zeppelin can't give me. they can rock like zeppelin, but they couldn't make 'going to california' or 'that's the way'.

-T


(Sorry in advance for the long read you're going to go through)

I don't have a beef with you or your musical tastes. If you want to like Thriller that's great. You are however missing all my points;

1. I never gave any credit to the lyrics of Led Zeppelin. Not once did I even mention that aspects. I mentioned Communication Breakdown, but I wasn't referring to the words. It was the whole package that I was highlighting. The singing, the playing, the production, the music and most importantly the sound. Nothing on Thriller or anything by MJ comes close to that track for me. If I wanted to showcase lyrics I'd use something from Springsteen's Ghost of Tom Joad album. If Bruce is William Faulkner or John Steinbeck then MJ is Dan Brown.

2. Yeah MJ has well crafted tunes and so do the Backstreet Boys, and that's not an insult to MJ. MJ (and Temperton) knew how to craft with in the mold. Simple sometimes cheesy lyrics to a catchy melody and makes people want to sing a long. You could play those songs for just about anyone anywhere in the world and they'll have fun listening. Just like you could play Rocky 4 for just about anyone in the world and they'll have fun watching it. Then you take a film like The Shawshank Redemption; kids will think it's boring, jocks might think its stupid, girls may want more romance, frat brother want comedy. Rocky 4 made about 300 million while Shawshank made about 30. One has a lot more in it than the other. I used to have an English teacher who would read over any book you chose to do an essay on. He said a good essay needs to be on a book that is like a think stew, and any time we showed him a book that didn't have much to it he'd say "the broth is thin, find another book". As it pertains to an MJ song; the broth is thin.

3. Who ever said AC DC was all that good? I just said they had an album that sold well and I predicted it would out sell Thriller. I think so because while Thriller sounds very 80s, Back in Black doesn't sounded very dated and can appeal to harder sound fans as well as pop fans. I'm no huge AC DC fan. I have fun listening to their cuts, just like I do MJ's cuts.

4. Where did I mention that "good" production is bad? I didn't say Thriller's production was too good, I said it was too much. It was overproduced. It was too glossy. I'm going to use another film analogy because in my opinion all truly great songs are in fact short films that take place in your mind when you listen to them. Let's take a film like Spider-Man; not a bad film (I wasn't a huge fan but that was because I'm a comic book kid who think Hollywood ruins most of their adaptations) but not something that will have a profound affect on the art of filmmaking either. It looks great, because it has to. I don't mean the special affects, but the quality of the images on the screen. They are very hi-res easy on the eye shots that are meant to grab the attention of all those who look in the direction of the film. Now take a film like Memento or Unforgiven. They have a very grainy look to them; a rugged beauty if you will. Darker shots with less light and not much over dramatic shots that aren't so in your face. If you gave either of those films the high cost images that went into Spiderman it would ruin them because it wouldn't fit. It wouldn't make sense. It would take away from the story and it's meaning by adding too much to the film. If you took a song like Lennon's Working Class Hero and gave it to David Foster and he added synth drums, a tapping guitar solo for the bridge, a gospel choir on background vocals chorus, and a full out orchestra for the last verse and chorus; the song would no longer make sense. It would cease to be what Lennon wrote it as and become something else, something less in my opinion. It's not that I prefer bad production it's just that when you have too much its makes it worse. Imagine the Godfather directed by Tim Burton done in the style of Edward Scissorhands with all those bright colours and shots of the beautiful suburban scenery. It just wouldn't make sense. It works with Edward Scissorhands because it's that kind of film. Kind of like how Oops I did it Again is that kind of song. You could give that song to a Neil Young and he could try his hardest to make it seem brooding and rugged but no matter how hard he tries you can't sing those words and play that melody and be taken seriously. It would be seen as comedy, great comedy, but that's all it can be.


And me and Trauma go way back. I know what he's about and I know he knows his shit. I also know he can be a clown who has fun antagonizing people and that's what he's doing here. He's just trying to get under my skin. He may take his music very seriously but he doesn't take his character on this forum very seriously and that's what he's called it, a character. He has fun with it, and that's fine. What I put on this forum is all me and I mean what I say. I joke around sometimes but I don't use the character to ever say thing I don't really think in real. Shallow is just the screen name. There is no difference in thoughts or opinions of Shallow and Peter Kosmas. I'm simply stating what I think of Thriller and MJ's music in general. To be honest even if I thought the production was great I'd still not think too highly of the songs. That's just what I think. I have no desire to make you change your tastes. I'm just expressing mine.


(One day I'll learn to apply my less is more feelings on production to my posts)

I see what you're saying, but I just really disagree with sayign MJ is like backstreet boys and that the broth of the songs is thin. alot of the music, especially on off the wall is just as textured and funky as Boz Scaggs, Chicago, Tower of Power, P funk, Quik, etc. other soulful funky people. I think because he is commercially succesful it's tempting to just pigeonhole him into pop, but the reality of the era that I'm talking about is that Michael Jackson's first two quincy jones albums are largely funk based and the same things I look for in g funk, i look for in his music which is popular in its crossover appeal and effectiveness but to say that makes the broth of the songs thin is rather biased. songs like PYT and OTW may not be deep in some somber way, but I'm just as impressed by songs that can melodically capture happiness and exuberance in a lighthearted way like much of MJ's work. the musicianship of most of his work is solid too, I feel saying it's just cheesy lyrics over a catchy tune is a supreme understatement. On a musical level what's so different about Off the wall from say, a 70's stevie wonder album you know? Given the actual merit of the work, I feel you are being dismissive of the work because of its extreme popularity while I do see(and never disagreed with) many of your points.

furthermore, I'd say more like if Bruce Springsteen is John Steinbeck, Michael Jackson is Oscar Wilde. MJ is not as candy/fad like as Dan Brown and that you said further leads me to believe you're understating dude by alot.

-T

 
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