*****

thriller

the legend of thriller was that it can't beat off the wall. now at 10 million worldwide. it would be impossible to top it. and the great thing about it is that they didn't try to top it. they just went for it. once again, quincy's genius is at the helm, because what was once six flags demos (''billie jean'' demo for starters) is now a lifelong staple. a cat like me woulda included everything that vincent price muttered on the title cut. quincy had the wisdom to trim some of the fat to make it more effective (second verse, and the ''can you dig it?'' refrain right before the cackle comes in). not to mention the stories behind the madness (rod temperton writing ''vincent's'' verse in a cab, eddie van halen cursing out quincy thinking it was a prank, ''human nature'' winding on toto's demo reject tape, the e.t. storybook distracting them from completion....i am a little disappointed that they didn't go into how crappy the album sounded when they first turned it in (they stole masters from epic at watergun point and took 3 weeks to mix each song again until they were satisfied). the extra's here include a diddy called ''carousel'' written by michael sembello (''maniac''/flashdance guy...i know he's kicking himself for not getting royalties on this baby) not bad, but not effective either. (although i did like all the chord changes every 4 seconds) i also wonder why they kept ''can't get outta the rain'' off here (b side to ''the girl is mine'' and ''billie jean'')--a brother's johnsonesque jam which sounds like a funkier ''you can't win''/ai no corida'' from the off the wall era. once again, answering machines across america will be occupied with some more fat that quincy trimmed. for they included for our delight the edited promo tag for the title cut that both vincent (as barry white) and michael (in his most ''gentle'' banter yet) attempt. poor mike can't even attempt to sound ''hard!'' or ''scary''. which i don't--or won't get into--- i really think he is a creation of jm barrie, but i do know that it is the most hilarious shit i've heard in a sec.