8/5/2023 0 Comments Thriller access memories![]() ![]() Only Akon comes off well, flipping the meaning of “startin’ somethin’” and turning the song into a joyful seducer’s groove, and here it’s Jackson’s own mush-mouthed new vocal that spoils things. Fergie’s gift as a pop star is the way her crassness shifts into oddness-so on “Beat It” her nervous reverence is a waste of time. There’s a general reluctance to use what these guest stars are good at: will.I.am is a consistently slick, inventive pop producer but nobody wants to hear him rap, whereas on Kanye West’s “Billie Jean” a guest verse might have added dynamics to the mix’s clumsy claustrophobia. Will.i.am sets the tone: He takes Macca off “The Girl Is Mine” but decides it can’t work without someone sounding like an idiot and steps manfully in himself. “Thriller”’s joke-shop horror segues well into Eddie Van Halen’s headbanging guitar on “Beat It.” But to follow that into the paranoid celebrity funk of “Billie Jean,” the meltingly tender “Human Nature,” and the smooth R&B of “P.Y.T.”? These are all brilliant singles, though Thriller’s greatness lies in its great songs not in it “working like an album.”įor this edition Jackson called in some current big guns to provide remixes, and sadly they do provide the consistency the originals gloriously lack. Thriller is inconsistent in style, which gives it something to appeal to everyone, but it’s oddly tough to listen to even the great bits sequentially-its peaks are from different mountain ranges. But then you get “Baby Be Mine”-one of the original tracks that wasn’t a single-and the momentum fades: On the heels of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”, it should maintain the temperature instead, it goes nowhere, starts nothing. ![]() That one holds up for six minutes and two seconds, during which Jackson and Quincy Jones mix the tension of rock’n’roll with the rapture of disco and hit perfection. So there’s another theory: Thriller is the best-selling record ever because it’s the best record ever. “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” is pure confused, shocked teenage rush. When Thriller opens, those 100 million sales feel just. The album was focus-grouped for broader appeal-but then why haven’t focus groups worked so well since? Jackson made the racial crossover breakthrough on MTV-but once that door was opened, why didn’t the sales crossover work for others? Jackson’s stunning dancing and videos exploded pop’s visual formatting-but the Thriller album, until DVD-era reissues like this one, wasn’t a visual experience. Ann, I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts on the powerful women of 2013.And so people try to concoct explanations. According to the latest sales figures, Bey has sold 828,773 albums in just three days. I’m pretty sure Beyoncé doesn’t care what music critics think she’s probably too busy lounging on a fabulous yacht with Jay Z, in between selling out stadiums. Jay and Bey’s net worth has only increased since then Forbes notes that Bey’s surprise album means that 2014 will be her most lucrative year yet.īut hey, even if you don’t like Beyoncé, you can’t argue with her tour de force of an album. “Beyoncé has now become the world’s most prominent spokesperson for poor diets, obesity, and its health consequences, and marketing tied to the most vulnerable populations,” wrote nutrition and public health expert Marion Nestle. ![]() She also endorsed Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign, designed to encourage kids to eat healthy and exercise, making the deal seem even more hypocritical. In a damning essay in the New York Times at the beginning of the year, Mark Bittman wrote that Beyoncé is “part of an effort that promotes a public health crisis.” At that point, Beyoncé and Jay Z were worth a whopping $775 million, and presumably Bey could have done without the $50 million she reportedly received from the Pepsi deal. And I’d have more time for Beyoncé’s self-empowerment message if she wasn’t also shilling for Pepsi. ![]()
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