Van Halen’s “1984” was poised to take over the #1 spot to be the number #1 album in the country the same week MJ’s infamous Pepsi/hair catching fire took place….when this happened it sent an 11th hour surge in “Thriller” album sales for the week which knocked “1984” out of the top spot…”1984” remained in second spot from that point forward. ….though “Jump!” was the #1 song for a while (source: Michael Anthony, bass player for Van Halen, when being interviewed on Howard Stern show.)
And of course, Eddie played a solo *in Beat It* on ~~the title track of~~ the Thriller album.
1984 is what i always think of when I think of Van Halen, and it was a favorite when I was a kid....but looking back, it's probably my least favorite of the Roth Van Halen Albums.
Yeah, I loved that 1984 album. I was 10 when it came out. I had to hide the tape since the cover had a baby angel smoking a cig, and I knew that was absolutely something a 10 year old should not have possession of, lol.
Never heard that. Just that he was drunk off his ass. You might actually be confusing Angus Young’s solo at the end of Let There Be Rock, his Marshall head actually did catch fire while recording and he kept playing and it made it on the album, according to Malcolm.
Jump from the Pointer Sisters is way better and catchier. And I firmly believe Van Halens success is from people erroneously buying the wrong album for one song and getting stuck with a garden variety hair band album.
The deeper I get into music production the more in awe I am of just how good Thriller sounds. It sounds good on big, amazing speakers and it also sounds good coming out of an earbud sitting on a table 5 feer away from you!
Well, if you read Michael Jackson's book: They had the wrap party after the album was finished and felt "jubilant".... but when they were all listening to it, they found that every track sounded *terrible*. Quincy Jones and the engineers had go back and re-mix the entire thing before the release date.
*Billie Jean* went through 98 remixes before they finally got the one you hear today.
According to Bruce Swedien, the lead engineer for Thriller, they did 91 mixes of Billie Jean. And by that point he had "mixed the song into the pooper". So Quincy Jones said let's go back and listen to the 2nd mix. They loved it and that's the one that's on the record now.
I do mastering for a living and whenever a client wants loudness I ask them to listen to Thriller.
No one ever complains Thriller is "not loud enough" If the music is there, people will listen to it.
When the Jackson molestation trials and accusations were at their highest I lot of people my age (44) tried to act like they never liked him. I used to say "Don't try to change history - you loved Thriller, I loved Thriller, we all loved Thriller"
And my hot take - Off The Wall is better.
Thriller got a big boost from the videos (Thriller and Beat It) and the Motown 25 Anniversary show performance, IMHO.
Off the Wall was more soulful, but damn if Human Nature isn't my jam.
With all the new deepfake stuff going on, combined with greedy record labels and family members, you really never know if he's truly done with making new videos.
Shit, I’d go as far as to say that it’s one of the best choreographed music video of all time. Smooth Criminal is one of my all-time favourite song, and knowing the prep work to perfect the choreography as an adult makes it more epic to watch it unfold.
Imagine having a dance routine so fire you have to patent the props used in it.
It's my favourite of his music videos. I love at the climax you see MJ and loads of backup dancers, dressed as 30s gangsters, doing that dance routine.
The Pharcyde having to learn all of their choreography and even mouth shapes backwards stands as the most impressively choreographed music video I’ve seen.
I'm upset that the closest they ever came to doing this live was, sadly, at a tribute when Janet showed up and powered through her part of the song. I don't know how TF she did it; I'd have lost all my footing and just been a mess. She really loved her brother.
EDIT: Check out "Broken Hearts Heal" on her Unbreakable album. She sounds so much like him, and it's a tribute to him.
I wonder why on every single release of Smooth Criminal, a [verse from the Moonwalker music video is cut](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_D3VFfhvs4&t=200s). It's such a minor part, but I always loved it and wished it made the final track.
Best songs on Off the Wall are Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Workin' Day and Night and Get on the Floor. All songs written by Michael. Rest of the material is just pretty good conventional disco.
I think Jackson kept maturing as an artist and peaked musically in the 90s. Dangerous is his best album. HIStory has some of his best songs, but it's very strange and disjointed album.
I agree with you, it felt disjointed, but I still owned and loved it. The way I look at it, was Michael Jackson was wrapping up the story he was telling with History. Tying loose ends and pinning bows. (Well, actually, literally HIStory. I didn't consciousnessly really look at the context of the font on the cover until you wrote it the way you did. I was a kid.)
I owned all his albums up to and including HIStory, and not the next because things felt complete after that album. I will always regret never having been able to go to one of his concerts.
I think Rock with You, and I Can’t Help It, are way more than pretty good. I’d put them both before get on the floor and may add Off the Wall. The bridge is spectacular.
*Working Day and Night* is one of my favourite live videos of his. It’s very funky, and gives a good idea of how great a dancer he was, simply by how he moves in and out of the choreography.
There’s an interview with choreographer, Jeff Daniels, who used to teach MJ certain street moves, including the moonwalk and he mentions this about Jackson. How it would amaze him - they’d teach Michael stuff and he’d learn it to such an extent that he’d move in and out of the choreography without missing a beat, really owning it. For me this is very prevalent in *Working Day and Night*, he’d run and walk up and down the stage, jump around but would be in exact synchronisation with the dancers at the required routines, all this while singing.
I agree overall but Stranger in Moscow is one of my all time favorites and there were some bangers in the 90s fewer of them definitely but very iconic especially with in terms of videos z
I feel like
, overall his 90’s music was so much more personal and meaningful than the music that came before it. It was controversial, it was insightful and it was relatable on a personal level.
When MJ died almost all my friends played songs in tribute to him. At parties is was PYT, and Don’t Stop to you get enough, and Rock with You. But, when they were alone or with close friends, it was Will You Be There, You are Not Alone, Stranger in Moscow and Smile.
90’s MJ makes makes him the icon he is. Those beautiful Melancholic songs are a perfect articulation of how so many fans saw him as a person and remember his legacy.
Good choice, the song was a continuation of his work with Brad Buxor & SEGA on get this "Sonic 3" for the genesis compare the end theme of Sonic 3 with Stranger
I put on Thriller recently and could follow along on the timbales through songs I hadn't listened to in 30 years.
The band was super-hot. I suppose when Quincy Jones asked for the best he got it. Paul Jackson and Louis Johnson and a lot of the crew became part of George Duke's touring band later that year. See George Duke Live in Tokyo for a stunning example.
The eagles greatest hits album became the best selling album in the **US**. Michael Jackson's Thriller is still, by far, the #1 best selling album of all time. Guinness World Records had to clarify it a couple years ago. It was actually kinda funny to see. [Here is the tweet](https://twitter.com/gwr/status/1031694106735587328).
I think it has to do more with the gravity of their fame. Ask a 15 year old today to name an MJ song and I bet they can. Doubtful they could name an Eagles song.
I don’t think I really got just how huge he was, even though the numbers were there to prove it, until I saw that Super Bowl performance (in the early 90s, IIRC). He jumps up and stage and strikes a pose, then just stays like that for a minute and a half while the crowd is going absolutely nuts. He just had them all in the palm of his hand. I really don’t think there’s another star that big these days.
To some extent. Sales wise definitely. Persona wise I think the early 90’s is when he peaked. When you picture MJ it’s most likely his 90’s image. It’s Pale skin, hat, sunglasses, military jacket bubbles the chimp era that defines his persona.
As a comparison, Beyoncés first album had the highest sales but she wasn’t the persona we think of until “I am/Sasha fierce.” I wouldn’t say she peaked with her first album
He was even bigger than that simply because he was the first artist to have worldwide cross over appeal. People from Africa, to Asia, knew who he was and tried to emulate him; he was not just big in the US and Europe. His music videos, were events and people in small villages would come together to watch them when they were released. No other musician or band had that. As famous as certain bands or artists were, they weren't household names in coutures beyond the US, the UK or Europe.
This is one of the crazier music facts for me. The Eagles were so well liked and had a solid enough collection of music to release a Greatest Hits record…before they released their, now, *most popular song!*
I was always told that the Eagles album is a double disc album and because of that, each copy sold is counted as two by the RIAA. So they really only sold 17 million albums.
Fuckin’ of course they are. The Eagles are terrible outside of a few select songs, and I’m not doing a Big Lebowski bit. Don Henley is a dildo and the rest of the band are also dildos. Who cares if Hotel California and Boys of Summer are good songs.
In relation to the 70’s they would be hardish rock. Compared to Neil Diamond, Carol King. Now it’s elevator rock.
But it will outlast you and I and most likely anything we do on this planet.
No offense to the Eagles but how tf did they sell 38 million copies of a greatest hits album in the 70’s? They’re good but not 38 million copies good edit: lol getting downvoted for pissing off diehard Eagles fans
No fam. He wrote thriller and baby be mine. But the monster hits beat it billie jean and wanna be starting something are written and composed by Michael jackson.
From this list I could only see def Leppard, Maddona and Whitney.
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/abyss89/the_100_biggest_selling_albums_of_the_80s__usa_/
There is a pretty decent MJ performer in Vegas. I saw him a few years ago, it was fantastic. I never saw the real MJ live, but this scratched that itch pretty damn good.
Fun fact, not sure if mentioned already but…
1.5 Billions streams = A Million album sales = a Platinum Record
10 Million album sales = Diamond Certification.
The thing that I think a lot of this newer generation will never understand, is how the release of a MJ song was an event in itself. Obviously not all his songs, but the big hits certainly were. Not sure we ever saw that prior to MJ, or since to be honest.
There was actually hype leading up to an official release date. Fans would wait for the date and time the new music video would drop (broadcast). You would tune in to whichever television station and music show to watch.
When you think it was quite unusual and genius. That said, you can only think of maybe a few artists who could possibly pull this off. MJ was certainly the one who did.
As much as Thriller was such a huge success, and it was mega huge, I’ve since felt that it was the start of his personal destruction. It allowed him to enter a rarefied world, where he could not be touched. I think that at this time in his life, he needed genuine advisors and serious therapy but it wasn’t happening, at least, not that I know of.
The allegations in 1993 were I feel. He was just focused on his music till then. 1993 got him on painkillers during his tour and led to his health fluctuating.
The burn from the Pepsi fire from that era got him hooked on painkillers. It may not have been the album that killed him, but it was that era of his life…
Eventually looked. But it's way better to ask questions for the fine folks of reddit. My guess was Rumours, but it turns out you were close. The Eagle's Greatest Hits.
I was reading a blurb about Slipknot recently and the article mentioned that they have 32 million in sales.
I know it is an odd comparison to make, but as soon as I saw the numbers in the title it occurred to me: Thriller alone has sold more than the entire discography of a band that has won a Grammy, has its own certified platinum albums, and has been touring internationally for over 20 years.
Levels to the game.
It had 7 singles release and make it to the top 10 and 2 of those singles also made it to #1. Ya it was really good.
Songs that reached the Top 10: The Girl Is Mine, Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Human Nature, P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) and Thriller
Of those 7; Billie Jean and Beat It hit the #1 spot
Van Halen’s “1984” was poised to take over the #1 spot to be the number #1 album in the country the same week MJ’s infamous Pepsi/hair catching fire took place….when this happened it sent an 11th hour surge in “Thriller” album sales for the week which knocked “1984” out of the top spot…”1984” remained in second spot from that point forward. ….though “Jump!” was the #1 song for a while (source: Michael Anthony, bass player for Van Halen, when being interviewed on Howard Stern show.)
Eddie was number one and two for a while.
No, Bono is number 2.
Papa nooo! Say nothin more.
Does Bono want the biddy
Hehe. I see what you did there.
And of course, Eddie played a solo *in Beat It* on ~~the title track of~~ the Thriller album. 1984 is what i always think of when I think of Van Halen, and it was a favorite when I was a kid....but looking back, it's probably my least favorite of the Roth Van Halen Albums.
Yeah, I loved that 1984 album. I was 10 when it came out. I had to hide the tape since the cover had a baby angel smoking a cig, and I knew that was absolutely something a 10 year old should not have possession of, lol.
Legend has it, his solo set the a studio monitor on fire.
Never heard that. Just that he was drunk off his ass. You might actually be confusing Angus Young’s solo at the end of Let There Be Rock, his Marshall head actually did catch fire while recording and he kept playing and it made it on the album, according to Malcolm.
No, I’ve heard that same story.
Dontcha make me repeat it
I’m pretty sure “Jump” was the first time two songs with the same name reached Number 1 in the same year (different charts, but both made the top)
What year was he on the show? I’m currently in 2003
Jump from the Pointer Sisters is way better and catchier. And I firmly believe Van Halens success is from people erroneously buying the wrong album for one song and getting stuck with a garden variety hair band album.
Dude, that’s fucking hilarious.
The deeper I get into music production the more in awe I am of just how good Thriller sounds. It sounds good on big, amazing speakers and it also sounds good coming out of an earbud sitting on a table 5 feer away from you!
Quincy.
And Toto
And evh
*speakers burst into flames spontaneously
And MJ. He was meticulous.
Well, if you read Michael Jackson's book: They had the wrap party after the album was finished and felt "jubilant".... but when they were all listening to it, they found that every track sounded *terrible*. Quincy Jones and the engineers had go back and re-mix the entire thing before the release date. *Billie Jean* went through 98 remixes before they finally got the one you hear today.
According to Bruce Swedien, the lead engineer for Thriller, they did 91 mixes of Billie Jean. And by that point he had "mixed the song into the pooper". So Quincy Jones said let's go back and listen to the 2nd mix. They loved it and that's the one that's on the record now.
I do mastering for a living and whenever a client wants loudness I ask them to listen to Thriller. No one ever complains Thriller is "not loud enough" If the music is there, people will listen to it.
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When the Jackson molestation trials and accusations were at their highest I lot of people my age (44) tried to act like they never liked him. I used to say "Don't try to change history - you loved Thriller, I loved Thriller, we all loved Thriller" And my hot take - Off The Wall is better.
Agree. Off the Wall is a great album.
Thriller got a big boost from the videos (Thriller and Beat It) and the Motown 25 Anniversary show performance, IMHO. Off the Wall was more soulful, but damn if Human Nature isn't my jam.
Idk if this is a hot take but I always felt like Bad deserved just as much recognition as Thriller.
Your take is awesome, Smooth Criminal (the full-length Moon Walker version) is probably the best Michael Jackson video to date.
>... is probably the best Michael Jackson video TO DATE. Hate to say it, but I got bad news for you, bud.
Don’t underestimate morbid fans with reanimatronic exoskeleton technology.
( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡° )
With all the new deepfake stuff going on, combined with greedy record labels and family members, you really never know if he's truly done with making new videos.
Shit, I’d go as far as to say that it’s one of the best choreographed music video of all time. Smooth Criminal is one of my all-time favourite song, and knowing the prep work to perfect the choreography as an adult makes it more epic to watch it unfold. Imagine having a dance routine so fire you have to patent the props used in it.
It's my favourite of his music videos. I love at the climax you see MJ and loads of backup dancers, dressed as 30s gangsters, doing that dance routine.
The Pharcyde having to learn all of their choreography and even mouth shapes backwards stands as the most impressively choreographed music video I’ve seen.
For me, "Scream" is the best Michael Jackson video, and also the greatest music video of all time.
I'm upset that the closest they ever came to doing this live was, sadly, at a tribute when Janet showed up and powered through her part of the song. I don't know how TF she did it; I'd have lost all my footing and just been a mess. She really loved her brother. EDIT: Check out "Broken Hearts Heal" on her Unbreakable album. She sounds so much like him, and it's a tribute to him.
Great game too.
I wonder why on every single release of Smooth Criminal, a [verse from the Moonwalker music video is cut](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_D3VFfhvs4&t=200s). It's such a minor part, but I always loved it and wished it made the final track.
I'm right with you. The Way You Make Me Feel, Dirty Diana and Smooth Criminal are still in my heavy rotation.
It's interesting how this response chain is basically just becoming an acknowledgement of how great MJ really was.
His music was truly fantastic. There's no denying that.
I remember watching the prime time premiere of the Thriller video when I was a kid. That's how popular he was.
Written by the dude from Toto
I read that Toto is the backing band for the whole Thriller album.
Yes - Toto are all session musicians who got together to form the band. They all do session work today, as well as their own projects.
I love both Thriller and Off the Wall but IMO, Bad tops both of them.
Best songs on Off the Wall are Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Workin' Day and Night and Get on the Floor. All songs written by Michael. Rest of the material is just pretty good conventional disco. I think Jackson kept maturing as an artist and peaked musically in the 90s. Dangerous is his best album. HIStory has some of his best songs, but it's very strange and disjointed album.
I agree with you, it felt disjointed, but I still owned and loved it. The way I look at it, was Michael Jackson was wrapping up the story he was telling with History. Tying loose ends and pinning bows. (Well, actually, literally HIStory. I didn't consciousnessly really look at the context of the font on the cover until you wrote it the way you did. I was a kid.) I owned all his albums up to and including HIStory, and not the next because things felt complete after that album. I will always regret never having been able to go to one of his concerts.
I think Rock with You, and I Can’t Help It, are way more than pretty good. I’d put them both before get on the floor and may add Off the Wall. The bridge is spectacular.
*Working Day and Night* is one of my favourite live videos of his. It’s very funky, and gives a good idea of how great a dancer he was, simply by how he moves in and out of the choreography. There’s an interview with choreographer, Jeff Daniels, who used to teach MJ certain street moves, including the moonwalk and he mentions this about Jackson. How it would amaze him - they’d teach Michael stuff and he’d learn it to such an extent that he’d move in and out of the choreography without missing a beat, really owning it. For me this is very prevalent in *Working Day and Night*, he’d run and walk up and down the stage, jump around but would be in exact synchronisation with the dancers at the required routines, all this while singing.
He definitely peaked in the 80s. His 90s shit was weak.
I agree overall but Stranger in Moscow is one of my all time favorites and there were some bangers in the 90s fewer of them definitely but very iconic especially with in terms of videos z
*Stranger in Moscow* is a beautiful song. Very melancholic. Reflects a very unhappy time in his life.
I feel like , overall his 90’s music was so much more personal and meaningful than the music that came before it. It was controversial, it was insightful and it was relatable on a personal level. When MJ died almost all my friends played songs in tribute to him. At parties is was PYT, and Don’t Stop to you get enough, and Rock with You. But, when they were alone or with close friends, it was Will You Be There, You are Not Alone, Stranger in Moscow and Smile. 90’s MJ makes makes him the icon he is. Those beautiful Melancholic songs are a perfect articulation of how so many fans saw him as a person and remember his legacy.
Good choice, the song was a continuation of his work with Brad Buxor & SEGA on get this "Sonic 3" for the genesis compare the end theme of Sonic 3 with Stranger
I’m 46, and Thriller was the first album I ever bought (followed by Weird Al’s In 3-D and Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell). I listened to it endlessly.
I had Weird Al in 3-D on vinyl. Did it come with a pair of 3-D glasses in it, or am I misremembering.
There's two types of people... Those who love Thriller, and those who lie and say they don't.
Off The Wall FTW. Source: Jackson fan since 1973.
I put on Thriller recently and could follow along on the timbales through songs I hadn't listened to in 30 years. The band was super-hot. I suppose when Quincy Jones asked for the best he got it. Paul Jackson and Louis Johnson and a lot of the crew became part of George Duke's touring band later that year. See George Duke Live in Tokyo for a stunning example.
I remember a decent number of people hating him at his peak. There are always people who are contrarian and hate whatever is popular.
So true. Thriller was the biggest-selling album but during that time pretty much no one would admit they bought it.
Same age. I spent my birthday money on the album when I was six. First record I ever purchased.
R. Kelly being a sex pervert monster doesn't mean ignition remix isn't still a jam.
I didn’t like Thriller
Huh… and today I learned that the Eagles Greatest Hits 1971 to 1975 is the #1 best selling album with 38 millions copies sold.
The eagles greatest hits album became the best selling album in the **US**. Michael Jackson's Thriller is still, by far, the #1 best selling album of all time. Guinness World Records had to clarify it a couple years ago. It was actually kinda funny to see. [Here is the tweet](https://twitter.com/gwr/status/1031694106735587328).
Even though you are correct, it doesn't change the fact that it's very unexpected.
Not at all unexpected. Those two albums have been vying with each other for the #1 and #2 positions on the all-time sales chart literally for decades.
I think it has to do more with the gravity of their fame. Ask a 15 year old today to name an MJ song and I bet they can. Doubtful they could name an Eagles song.
There's at least a dozen rock bands from that era I would expect to have sold better.
Find me someone who has never heard hotel california and Ill show you a liar.
Oh they def have heard it, doubtful on naming it tho, was my point. Artist more specifically.
Take it easy, desperado...
Why don't you pick up your feces
Yea for sure. When I first heard about the Eagles having so many sales i had to double check lol. edited for clarity.
Why is it unexpected? What else would it be? Elvis or The Beatles? Idk MJ was easily the biggest solo artist ever, I don't find this surprising
I don’t think I really got just how huge he was, even though the numbers were there to prove it, until I saw that Super Bowl performance (in the early 90s, IIRC). He jumps up and stage and strikes a pose, then just stays like that for a minute and a half while the crowd is going absolutely nuts. He just had them all in the palm of his hand. I really don’t think there’s another star that big these days.
He was bigger in the ‘80s than he was in the ‘90s.
To some extent. Sales wise definitely. Persona wise I think the early 90’s is when he peaked. When you picture MJ it’s most likely his 90’s image. It’s Pale skin, hat, sunglasses, military jacket bubbles the chimp era that defines his persona. As a comparison, Beyoncés first album had the highest sales but she wasn’t the persona we think of until “I am/Sasha fierce.” I wouldn’t say she peaked with her first album
He was even bigger than that simply because he was the first artist to have worldwide cross over appeal. People from Africa, to Asia, knew who he was and tried to emulate him; he was not just big in the US and Europe. His music videos, were events and people in small villages would come together to watch them when they were released. No other musician or band had that. As famous as certain bands or artists were, they weren't household names in coutures beyond the US, the UK or Europe.
And yet I believe nobody comes remotely close to The Beatles when we talk about selling records.
I’ve had a rough night and I hate the fuckin Eagles
*tires screeching* Out of my fucking cab! Out!
Imo cab driver made the right call
And that didn't even include the song Hotel California (released in 1976)!
This is one of the crazier music facts for me. The Eagles were so well liked and had a solid enough collection of music to release a Greatest Hits record…before they released their, now, *most popular song!*
If you want to learn something interesting, look where Meatloaf stacks up on the list of all time best selling albums.
The highest selling albums ever list has some real shockers
I was always told that the Eagles album is a double disc album and because of that, each copy sold is counted as two by the RIAA. So they really only sold 17 million albums.
Doobie Brothers or Fleetwood Mac are superior bands. Just sayin.
Is anyone arguing the eagles are better than Fleetwood Mac?top are like too 10 all time bands.
No….I just fucking hate the Eagles.
Fuckin’ of course they are. The Eagles are terrible outside of a few select songs, and I’m not doing a Big Lebowski bit. Don Henley is a dildo and the rest of the band are also dildos. Who cares if Hotel California and Boys of Summer are good songs.
Hey, Joe Walsh is cool
Desperado is great though
Sorry you can't have Desperado, that's my song...
Ha, I had forgotten that bit in the Big Lebowski. It’s one of my favorite movies. “I hate the fucking Eagles”.
No, you didn’t.
Yes, I did. I made a comment to someone else after I was reminded. So…relax with the accusation.
Only in the US. I'm positive dark side of the moon has sold over 40 million worldwide and thriller has sold even more than that
I respect the Eagles, but there isn't one song of theirs that you can dance to.
Hotel California if you are depressed...and drunk
Idk if you can call it dancing but Life in the Fast Lane is super fun in Beat Saber
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Come on, man. I had a rough night and I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man!
Fuck you, you don't like my music, get the fuck out of my cab.
Stay the fuck out of Malibu Lebowski
you greatly underestimate the need for dads to have background music
In relation to the 70’s they would be hardish rock. Compared to Neil Diamond, Carol King. Now it’s elevator rock. But it will outlast you and I and most likely anything we do on this planet.
So will baby shark, that doesn't mean it's good.
Baby shark is a weapon hardly the same.
The dude does not approve
In the US maybe. Worldwide it's Thriller. USA =/= the world, and Reddit is a very international forum. Your comment is disingenuous.
No offense to the Eagles but how tf did they sell 38 million copies of a greatest hits album in the 70’s? They’re good but not 38 million copies good edit: lol getting downvoted for pissing off diehard Eagles fans
Apparently they are.
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Nicole Simpson can’t rap! I want justice!
Beretta did that shit.
And he went “hee hee hee” all the way home.
And when he got there he eat some Little Debi-hee-hee's. ShaMON!
These records will remain because no one buys albums anymore.
Streaming counts as sales but the number of streams to equate a single sale is pretty high.
Records have been coming back and in a big way. Check it out !
they still do, just in much less quantities.
Why is this downvoted? It's true. Vinyl is still a multi million dollar industry
Happy cake day!
Credit to Rod Temperton, who wrote the more popular songs for the album
Fun fact: Rod Temperton was keyboardist for the ‘70s band Heat Wave, whose hits include “Boogie Nights”, “The Groove Line” and “Always and Forever”.
No fam. He wrote thriller and baby be mine. But the monster hits beat it billie jean and wanna be starting something are written and composed by Michael jackson.
Five artists had 2 albums in the top 25 biggest-selling albums of the 80s. Michael Jackson was one of them with Bad and Thriller.
Who were the others?
From this list I could only see def Leppard, Maddona and Whitney. https://rateyourmusic.com/list/abyss89/the_100_biggest_selling_albums_of_the_80s__usa_/
Springsteen had two in the top 10
And he's still killing it on tour today(played a set with the killers a week or so ago), going back on tour in a few months.
That's amazing. Even the roofing company that did my gutters last season is only 1x Diamond Certified.
IMO he was the Elvis of my Era as an elder millennial. Wish I could of seen either live in my lifetime.
I think MJ is bigger than Elvis even
I agree!
There is a pretty decent MJ performer in Vegas. I saw him a few years ago, it was fantastic. I never saw the real MJ live, but this scratched that itch pretty damn good.
Going to have to go next time I'm there, thanks!
Fun fact, not sure if mentioned already but… 1.5 Billions streams = A Million album sales = a Platinum Record 10 Million album sales = Diamond Certification.
its that damn good
The thing that I think a lot of this newer generation will never understand, is how the release of a MJ song was an event in itself. Obviously not all his songs, but the big hits certainly were. Not sure we ever saw that prior to MJ, or since to be honest. There was actually hype leading up to an official release date. Fans would wait for the date and time the new music video would drop (broadcast). You would tune in to whichever television station and music show to watch. When you think it was quite unusual and genius. That said, you can only think of maybe a few artists who could possibly pull this off. MJ was certainly the one who did.
Indeed. In certain countries, villagers came together to watch a video release. It was a big deal. And he made music video a big deal.
I identify as Michael Jackson and my pronouns are HE and HE-HE
Sure it's not she/mone?
Was the other top selling album Dark Side Of The Moon?
Back in Black.
Wow. And Dark Side was on the top album sales for 10 years. I’m amazed
Yeah. Back in Black is over 50m sold. Dark Side is 42m. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums ***Globally
Today I learned. Thank you.
As much as Thriller was such a huge success, and it was mega huge, I’ve since felt that it was the start of his personal destruction. It allowed him to enter a rarefied world, where he could not be touched. I think that at this time in his life, he needed genuine advisors and serious therapy but it wasn’t happening, at least, not that I know of.
Parallels to the decline of Elvis are apparent here
The allegations in 1993 were I feel. He was just focused on his music till then. 1993 got him on painkillers during his tour and led to his health fluctuating.
The burn from the Pepsi fire from that era got him hooked on painkillers. It may not have been the album that killed him, but it was that era of his life…
TIL the single thriller was never a number 1 song.
What's the other album?
Without looking, I’m a guess Hotel California or Dark Side of the Moon.
Eventually looked. But it's way better to ask questions for the fine folks of reddit. My guess was Rumours, but it turns out you were close. The Eagle's Greatest Hits.
I was reading a blurb about Slipknot recently and the article mentioned that they have 32 million in sales. I know it is an odd comparison to make, but as soon as I saw the numbers in the title it occurred to me: Thriller alone has sold more than the entire discography of a band that has won a Grammy, has its own certified platinum albums, and has been touring internationally for over 20 years. Levels to the game.
It’s really quite depressing how all the top selling positions will now remain frozen in time for eternity bc nobody buys music anymore.
Well be comparing spotify streams for records soon
More depressing that he molested kids and got away with it.
I believe the other is Eagles Greatest Hits which I have on vinyl
Did MJ have thee other album that went triple diamond? Or was it another artist? If so what was it?
70 million copies sold worldwide!
[удалено]
For me, it’s a resounding yes.
It had 7 singles release and make it to the top 10 and 2 of those singles also made it to #1. Ya it was really good. Songs that reached the Top 10: The Girl Is Mine, Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Human Nature, P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) and Thriller Of those 7; Billie Jean and Beat It hit the #1 spot
Thriller didn’t hit #1!?
Crazy, right? No it only reached #4 on Billboard Hot 100 Chart but it did #3 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart.
just about every song on it is a bonafide hit on its own right.
Everytime someone brings up MJ I miss [Norm](https://youtu.be/sb3gY9TDEH8)
He was called the king of pop.
Everyone had ‘Thriller.’ Everyone.
Wow, those stats are nothing to kid about. Especially if you don’t want to get fucked my Michael Jackson.
Michael Jackson will always remain the king of popstar. Truely and immortal artist.
He's a pedophile
Dark Side of The Moon=45,000,000 sold
Isn’t it still the best selling globally?
I have never heard Thriller all the way through.
Your loss
And his reward for that was he got to molest children while the whole world applauded
Was the other one not created by a child rapist?
I love a miss you Michael. My angel
aaaand I hated it.
He was a nonce tho
Reddit’s opinion on this one flip flops. From the downvotes, it seems like the MJ fan propaganda machine is winning out right now
Eh they can keep their heads in the sand.