Epic/Legacy

Thriller is that beautiful rarity of an album—like Sgt. Pepper’s or Nevermind, it’s both emblematic of its time and remarkably fresh-sounding. It’s been a quarter-century since Michael Jackson’s magnum opus took over the world, and while its savvy mix of R&B, pop, funk, arena rock, world music and eclectic guest stars boasts a vintage 1980s sound, it hasn’t lost an ounce of the mystique that made it so great (and so impossible to replicate, even by the King of Pop himself).

For the most part, Epic/Legacy has done Thriller justice with its 25th anniversary edition CD/DVD package. But while some of the extras are nice—especially the deluxe casebook packaging and a remix from Akon—none can hold a candle to the nine songs that comprised the original LP. Then again, how could they? There’s the quintessential album opener “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” the schmaltzy, “doggone” guilty pleasure that is the Paul McCartney duet “The Girl Is Mine,” the tender synth ballad “Human Nature” and the slick, hook-filled funk of “P.Y.T.” Oh yeah, and “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Thriller,” massive pop songs that aren’t even showing crow’s feet after 25 years and millions of spins. The opening bars of “Billie Jean” remain one of music’s most exciting moments, hands down.

For the many, many people that already have Thriller in their DNA, the 25th anniversary edition holds a few surprises, especially Akon’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ 2008,” which focuses exclusively on the original’s signature Afro-pop outro, “ma ma se ma ma sa ma ma coo sa” and all. But the other remixes are dominated by the Black Eyed Peas—will.i.am adds little more than the line “She like the way I rock/The way I rock” to “The Girl Is Mine 2008,” and Fergie’s effort on “Beat It 2008” is predictably heartless. Surprisingly, Kanye West’s “Billie Jean 2008,” the most promising of these tracks on paper, is the biggest lame duck. West slows the song down to the perfect tempo for one of his clever, addictively self-confident verses, and proceeds to add no vocals whatsoever, unless you count several “yeahs” and “uhs.”

“For All Time,” a previously unreleased cut from the Thriller sessions, would’ve made a halfway decent B-side. The sentimental ballad comes off like a lesser “Human Nature,” which may be why it was left on the cutting room floor 25 years ago. Still, Michael Jackson’s scraps from the early 1980s are better than a lot of what passes as pop and R&B music in 2008.