Talk:Thriller (album)

"best selling album"

Several sources have the eagles greatest hits as the best selling record ? [1] [2] where is THE definitive source?--Bogger (talk) 09:25, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

That isn't an album, it is a compilation. The music industry does not consider a compilation to be an album because it is "cheating" in some sorts. Its taking the best songs from a long, established career and sticking it onto a cd. An album is a cd of new material. So you are right that the Eagles have the best selling record, but not the best selling album --68.199.39.111 (talk) 15:51, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

List of best-selling albums worldwide has the Eagles at only joint 4th with 42 million, whilst Thriller is on about 104 million. I think a lot of the confusion is because some of the sources are looking at only the US figures (see also List of best-selling albums in the United States), others at the worldwide figures. The Eagles album had 29 million in the US, but only 13 million in the rest of the world, whereas Thriller had 27 million in the US but far more worldwide. All of Jackson's albums had only about 25-30% of their sales in the US. Timrollpickering (talk) 17:48, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Thriller selling 104 million is a myth that was really perpetuated by Jackson himself. Reputable sources (i.e. - not Jackson or his fans) state that it has sold around 55-65 million.80.41.65.155 (talk) 13:55, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

There's more sources on that list for the figure than for any other. It also fits the general pattern of Jackson's alums. What are your "reputable sources"? Timrollpickering (talk) 16:02, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Time Magazine's July 2009 special edition states that Thriller was the best selling album of all-time "until it was eclipsed in 2000 by The Eagles Greatest Hits, 1972-1975." I suspect, however, that they are in fact referring to the US only sales figures that Timrollpickering mentions above.--Pawnkingthree (talk) 20:17, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, Time and Rolling Stone always seem to forget that other countries exist. That would definitely be the US certifications. 2000 was the year that The Eagles Greatest Hits, 1972-1975 went 27 times Platinum, Thriller stuck at 26. — Please comment R² 21:01, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Background

Hey keep the mention about the force from "Off the wall", it's real. The entire paragraph "In 1973, Jackson's father began a secret affair..." seems irrelevant to the content, creation and impact of this album. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.103.158.59 (talk) 15:46, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

deadlink

Ref 67 - the article is no longer available Parrot of Doom (talk) 19:10, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

I'll get around to updating that, thanks. — R² 09:31, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Songwriting

The page neglects the contribution of Rod Temperton, who wrote 3 songs (including the title track). The album was definitely the result of near equal parts Quincy, Michael and Rod. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.103.158.59 (talk) 15:43, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

bg:Thriller

Would somebody add bg:Thriller to the languages, please. —Preceding unsigned comment added by RaMzesss3 (talk • contribs) 18:46, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

It's been added now. --Rajah (talk) 03:03, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

#2 and #5 singles of 1983

According to this link Billie Jean and Beat were the #2 and #5 songs of 1983. I'm about to update the relevant articles on the songs. I thought it was worthy of mention here as well, but couldn't see an obvious place in the article to put it. Maybe someone else can see a good spot. Manning (talk) 03:35, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Undiscussed major change to opening section

Today this change was made which I thought was quite significant to make without any discussion. It concerns the total units sold figure, and changes our previously vague 47-109 million to a firm 109 million. I haven't reverted it but I wanted to have it be examined. Manning (talk) 08:22, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

The best sources for figures like this tend to be chart history books and the like. Personally I would revert the edit - I wouldn't consider the two sources used to be particularly knowledgeable on sales figures for Thriller. Best to be vague if uncertain. Parrot of Doom (talk) 10:15, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

In fact the change introduces text and sources not backed up by the body of the article, so I'll revert it. Parrot of Doom (talk) 10:24, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

It's sticking at 47-109, there are such a wide variety of claims by equally notable sources, it needs to be neutral. — Please comment R² 15:42, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Today's Featured Article

Shouldn't this say something about it being Today's FA like it does on Talk:Portal (video game)? It's also not on yesterday's FA. Spiderone (talk) 11:43, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Searching for a source of the "where the album was recorded" and the cost, can't find anything about either very quickly using google. I figure that the album cover/liner notes would say where it was recorded at least. Any ideas on the cost? Hires an editor (talk) 15:57, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

The cost is sourced in the article body. I imagine the location can be found in the album booklet, but I don't have it on me. — Please comment R² 15:59, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Blender refs

OK, there's a problem with the Blender references:

• First, there are two instances of the same full reference with the same name, "blender", when only one full citation is needed.
• Second, the description states that it links to "Michael Jackson, 'Billy Jean'" [sic] when in fact it links to the last page of "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".
• Finally, the link says "Billy Jean", not "Billie Jean". I find it doubtful that Blender would make this mistake and most likely to be an editor's slip, but I could be wrong.

If someone could fix that up, I would appreciate it. I'm really too tired to do it myself, especially given all the bloody edit conflicts going on. Thank to whomever undertakes it. DKqwerty (talk) 19:07, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

• I'll fix it in a few hours, it'll be off the main page soon. — Please comment R² 20:58, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

MTV controversy

As I also said on the Billie Jean talk page, this recent article in Jet (magazine), http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_14_110/ai_n16807343/, contradicts the claim that the video was only aired by MTV due to pressure by Jacksons record label. 76.117.1.254 (talk) 21:57, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Well that's a person who works for MTV, they are unlikely to admit to any racism, still his opinion is noteworth, so I'll add it. — Please comment R² 14:27, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Notable songs list

The line "Notable songs include..." seems a bit silly, as it then lists 7 songs from a 3-song album. Maybe this could be revised or simply worded better? The fact that 7 of the 3 songs were released as singles is already mentioned in the article, maybe that makes a list of notable songs stupid? 84.198.246.199 (talk) 01:37, 2 October 2009 (UTC)

Michael Jackson's Actual Musical Contributions

There is a claim in the recording section that Jackson played drums on Billie Jean. This is not stated on the album's liner notes, only that he played "drum case beater"(?) on Beat It. The drum track on the majority of the album is clearly provided by a Linn LM-1 and a Roland TR-808, Billie Jean clearly has the recognisable Linn handclap. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Marcvanderloo (talk • contribs) 22:26, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

TFA hit count

• 186.8 thousand hits while on the main page. –Juliancolton | ^Talk 02:47, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Of which, roughly 20K decided to vandalize the page? 124.5K hits today, and it's not even a feature. Oh well, the attention (and thereby vandalism) should settle down soon. DKqwerty (talk) 02:54, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Is 186.8 above average? — Please comment R² 19:15, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Sales

The album has sold 65 milion copies not 104!!!! Look at "United World Chart" where Thriller is at number 1 this week. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.47.40.192 (talk) 23:13, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Not only the "United World Chart" but also the Guinness Book of World Records claimed sales of 65 million. The album is 28xPlatinum in the US (28 M), 11XPlatinum in the UK (3.3 M), 3XPlatinum in Germany (0.6 M) sold 2.5 M in Japan and did not get an award in France (<0.1 M) that means that it had sales of 34.5 M in markets that represent more than 70% of the worldwide market. If we assume that the audited figures are 20% wrong then it is just about possible that we have 40M sales. The rest of the world adds a further 20M (since those five countries represents about 2/3rds). So 65-70 million sales is at the top end of what is believable. Sales of 110 would assume the rest of the world bought 70 million units, that is it would have to have been 3.5 times more successful in the rest of the world than it was in the major markets (and it was probably the best selling album ever there!). Repeating this unbelievable number just reduces the credibility of this article and the whole of Wikipedia. Steve.hawtin (talk) 14:17, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Merge

I think mergeing Micheal Jacksons Thriller with Thriller (song) is a good idea and it's basicly the song of a short movie, so we could do a section about the song in the musical. --Pedro J. ^{the rookie} 01:34, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

• Opposed to merge. Article is well written and well edited enough to deserve its own entry. Also the album, the single, and the music video are important enough each in themselves to deserve a separate entry.Tlatseg (talk) 18:47, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

• • Opposed to merge. Both articles are well done enough to be separate. I completely agree with Tlatseg, the album, the single, and the music video each deserves it's own page, because they all don't outshine the other in public knowledge, and pop culture. doctorwho295 28 September 2009