Michael Jackson - Thriller

Details: Released - 11.30.82/2.12.08, 2 Discs/16 Tracks & 4 Videos ~1:35:38
Label: Epic Records

Original Track Listing ~ 41:13
1. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 6:02
2. Baby Be Mine 4:20
3. The Girl is Mine (with Paul McCartney) 3:42
4. Thriller 5:57
5. Beat It (with Eddie Van Halen) 4:18
6. Billie Jean 4:53
7. Human Nature 4:05
8. PYT (Pretty Young Thing) 3:58
9. The Lady in My Life 4:58
25th Anniversary Bonus Tracks ~ 25:02
10. Vincent Price Excerpt (From Thriller Voice-Over Session) :24
11. The Girl Is Mine '08 (Will.i.am) 3:11
12. PYT '08 (Will.i.am) 4:21
13. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ '08 (Akon) 4:14
14. Beat it '08 (Fergie) 4:12
15. Billie Jean '08 (Kanye West) 4:37
16. For All Time (unreleased track from Thriller sessions) 4:03
25th Anniversary DVD Content (Disc 2) ~ 29:23
1. Billie Jean Video 4:55
2. Beat It Video 4:58
3. Thriller Video 13:42
4. Billie Jean Broadcast 4:58
Non-US Bonus Tracks, Singles, B-Sides & Rarities (not included)
1. Someone in the Dark (ET Storybook, Thriller Special Edition, & MJtUC)
2. Carousel (Thriller Special Edition)
3. Vincent Price voice-over recording session (Thriller Special Edition) 2:52
4. Got the Hots (Japanese release of Thriller 25)
5. Can't Get Outta the Rain (The Girl Is Mine & Thriller Singles)
6. Somebody's Watching Me ('84 Rockwell)
7. State of Shock (The Jacksons with Mick Jagger, MJtUC)
8. Scared of the Moon (Unreleased Demo, MJtUC)
9. Buffalo Bill
10. Say Say Say ('83's Paul McCartney-Pipes of Peace)
11. The Man ('83's Paul McCartney-Pipes of Peace)
12. We Are the World ('85 Single with Lionel Richie)
13. We Are Here to Change the World (Captain EO, MJtUC)
14. Billie Jean Underground Mix (iTunes Thriller 25 Super Deluxe Edition)
15. Instrumental Thriller (iTunes Thriller 25 Super Deluxe Edition)
16. Extended Billie Jean (iTunes Thriller 25 Super Deluxe Edition)
17. Thriller Making of Film 1:00:00
18. Captain EO in 3-D Film 17:00
Factoids, Extras & Eggs:
0. MJtUC - is Michael Jackson The Ultimate Collection.
1. With over 104 million copies sold, it is the best-selling album ever. The album also became the first in history to spawn seven top-ten Billboard Hot 100 hit singles. Michael Jackson's rhinestone glove, a single white sequin glove and multi-zippered red jacket became iconic aspects.
2. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin': was originally written in 1979 and intended for the Off the Wall album.
3. That Girl is Mine: Jackson & McCartney recorded other duets, including the more successful "Say Say Say" & "The Man" in 1983, which were included on Paul's 1983 album Pipes of Peace.
4. Billie Jean: In about 1981, during a Jacksons tour, a woman known later to be a stalker had accused Jackson of not claiming the paternity of one of her fraternal twins. She went so far as to call herself "Billie Jean Jackson", and to claim she was married to the singer. The woman was later sent to a mental hospital. In a 1996 interview, Jackson said that he had known a lot of figurative "Billie Jeans" who had been Jackson 5 groupies.
5. Human Nature: is one of Jackson's songs that does not have a clear-cut meaning.
6. In November 1982, the storybook for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was released. It included Jackson reading the story as well as one original song, "Someone in the Dark".
7. Thriller Video: 14-minute music video for the song released on 12.2.83 directed by John Landis (An American Werewolf in London). It was the most expensive video of its time, costing $800,000, and the Guinness World Records in 2006 list it as the "most successful music video," selling over 1 million units. Massive airplay lead to it being packaged with the hour long featurette, "The Making Michael Jackson's Thriller." The documentary provided candid glimpses behind the scenes.
8. Billie Jean Broadcast: aired 5.16.83 on NBC, for the "Motown 25 Yesterday, Today, Forever concert," Jackson debuted his signature move, the moonwalk. Credited to former Solid Gold dancer Cooley Jackson, "The Back Slide" was given a new name by the media following Jackson's interpretation.
9. As part of a deal with Pepsi-Cola, Jackson agreed to star in some commercials. While filming in front of 3,000 fans the following year, a fireworks display behind him malfunctioned, shooting a shower of sparks on the singer’s head and setting fire to his hair. He suffered second-degree burns and later wore a hairpiece when collecting Grammys that year. In one of the commercials, a young Alfonso Ribeiro (who was starring in Broadway's The Tap Dance Kid, and later in The Fresh Prince) wears a "Beat It" jacket as he dances in the street with other youths before literally moonwalking into his hero.
10. Jackson was nominated for 12 Grammy Awards in 1984, winning a record breaking 8 in a year. Seven were for Thriller and the other for the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial storybook track. That same year, Jackson also won eight American Music Awards and the "Special Award of Merit" and three MTV Video Music Awards.
11. In 1985 Jackson co-wrote with Lionel Richie the "We Are the World," and featured a solo. The record helped raise money and awareness for the famine in East Africa.
12. Controversy began when Jackson purchased shares in ATV Music Publishing (a company which owned the publishing rights to most of the Beatles' songs), making himself the majority shareholder. This move angered close friend and songwriter Paul McCartney, who had also made a bid for the company. Ironically, it had been McCartney who advised Jackson on the merits of song ownership. Their creative co-writing ended after this. Following this controversial business deal, tabloid stories of Jackson sleeping in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to stall the aging-process, and an allegation claiming Jackson attempted to purchase the bones of the Elephant Man inspired the pejorative sobriquet "Wacko Jacko."
13. In 1986, Jackson starred in the George Lucas-produced, Francis Ford Coppola-directed 3-D film Captain EO. The film lasted 17 minutes but had costs estimated at $17 million. At the time, it was the most expensive film produced on a per-minute basis. In the US, Disney theme parks hosted Captain EO. Disneyland featured the film in Tomorrow-Land from 9.18.86 - 4.7.97. It was also featured in Walt Disney World in Epcot from 9.12.86 until 7.6.94.
14. To promote the 25th anniversary: 1. PepsiCo Inc.'s Sobe Life Water ran a Super Bowl XLII ad campaign spot, "Thrillicious," starring supermodel Naomi Campbell and a cast of animated lizards choreographed to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." 2. Upon the albums release (2.12.08) a 40-episode podcast, "ThrillerCast," launched with weekly updates throughout 2008. The series is about the first time people heard Thriller and includes various musicians and other celebrities downloadable on Jackson's website. 3. The Thriller 25 CD/DVD was available in three editions; two standard versions, one with the album's original cover, or new zombie art, and a deluxe edition in a hard-bound casebook format with a 48-page booklet. Both standard versions contain the CD and bonus DVD in a brilliant box with a rainbow holographic O-card and a 20 page booklet.
15. Special Edition '01 Comparisons: A 2:52 minute voice-over recording session of Thriller with additional verses of the rap performed by Vincent Price. The 25th anniversary is a :24 second clip of this. It also included 12 minutes 22 seconds of 6 Quincy Jones Interview clips, and 5 minutes 58 seconds of 2 Rod Temperton interview clips, all of which are not available on the 25th Anniversary. They also included the tracks, "Someone in the Dark" & "Carousel," which again, are not on the 25th.
17. Michael Jackson The Ultimate Collection comparison: includes 5 of the 7 hits, "Human Nature" was not included, and neither was PYT - except it did include the '81 PYT Home Demo version. It also contained "Someone in the Dark (From ET Storybook)" & "We Are Here to Change the World (From Captain EO)." They also included Unreleased Demos to "We Are the World," & "Scared of the Moon."