“The 25th anniversary edition of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ comes with a CD of digitally remastered tracks and newfangled remixes, a DVD with all of the album’s classic videos and a 48-page color booklet, all bound in a lustrous gold cover emblazoned with the tag line ‘The World’s Biggest Selling Album of All Time.’ It’s fitting that ‘Thriller’ isn’t being commemorated as great art, though some of it is. After all, the album was recorded in a two-month rush at the tail end of 1982, born as a desperate measure to save CBS Records’ fiscal year. It ended up rescuing the entire recording industry from the post-disco doldrums, spawning seven Top 10 singles, spending more than two years on the album charts and selling 104 million copies globally.”
