YMMV tropes for the Michael Jackson album.
See
Michael Jackson's Thriller for entries regarding the title track's music video.
- And You Thought It Would Fail: Several executives at Epic Records thought Thriller would bomb. It goes without saying that the album's unprecedented success proved them wrong.
- Critical Dissonance: While the album as a whole is universally beloved, some
reviewers do take issue with the title track, feeling it's campy and causes Mood Whiplash compared to the rest of the album. Listeners still find it a classic, particularly due to the video it spawned. - Even Better Sequel: Jackson's previous album, Off the Wall, was already the best-selling album by a black/Afro-American artist ever, but Thriller grew out to be the best-selling music album of all time. While fans and critics have been split over which one is better quality-wise up to and especially nowadays, Thriller was certainly a major improvement in terms of album sales.
- Narm Charm: The title track is a campy post-disco song celebrating Jackson's love of '50s B-movies. It's cheesy and has goofy lyrics, but it's also one of his best-regarded songs.
- Refrain from Assuming: "Billie Jean" is not actually titled "The Kid Is Not My Son".
- Sampled Up: The famed "Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa" of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" led to a lawsuit by Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango, who recognized his own "Soul Makossa" (Michael admitted that the hook originated from it, and settled out of court). And depending on your audience, that chant is only a part of Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" (Dibango sued again, but was dismissed).
- Spiritual Successor: The first two tracks of Thriller, "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Baby Be Mine", sound much like songs that wouldn't fall out of tone on Off the Wall, as does a couple Thriller outtakes, "Got the Hots" and "Sunset Driver" (in fact, Jackson meant for the latter song to be recorded for and included on Off the Wall).
- Suspiciously Similar Riff:
- According to Daryl Hall, Jackson apparently admitted to lifting the bass line of "Billie Jean" from Hall's "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)". Hall wasn't bothered, telling Jackson he himself had lifted it from somewhere else. Jon Anderson of Yes also felt "Billie Jean" was inspired by a track he recorded with Vangelis called "State of Independence", but considered it an example of "cross-pollination in music" and wasn't bothered either: “they took the riff and made it funky.” In the same year as Thriller's release, Quincy Jones produced a Donna Summer cover of "State of Independence" (with Jackson on backing vocals) that was a hit too, so Anderson's assessment about cross-pollination seems accurate.
- The iconic synth intro to “Beat It” sounds exactly like the Synclavier’s demo tape’s riff showcasing the gong tone. The composer of that demo tape would ultimately be credited in the liner notes of Bad.
- Tough Act to Follow: Thriller was and still is the best-selling musical album in history, even if many other albums have more plays on streaming services than it nowadays. How could anyone surpass it in commercial terms? Even Jackson himself, who had an ambition in doing so with Bad, couldn't.
From the Boris Karloff series
- Complete Monster: "The Incredible Doktor Markesan": Uncle Konrad Markesan is a scientist whose own genius allowed him to return from the dead using a formula derived from the mold found in graves. In rage at his former colleagues at Penrose University disbelieving his theories, Markesan revives them after their deaths, spending each night torturing and tormenting the three, forcing them to relive their "crimes" against him as they suffer in pain from being revived while begging him to be allowed to die. When Markesan's nephew Fred and his wife Molly surprise him, Markesan allows them to stay, but plots to dispose of them as well. Capturing Fred at the end, Markesan plans to murder him and it is only after he is killed for good that Fred discovers Markesan has already murdered Molly and transformed her into one of his undead slaves.
