36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A- Great pictures great stories (like how did the Beat It Jacket come about), January 22, 2009
This review is from: Thriller 25th Anniversary: The Book, Celebrating the Biggest Selling Album of All Time (Paperback)
Okay so I got this book and woooowww it has a slide cover to it like on some dvds. That was cool, alot of the pictures have been restored or they just look better than what I remember seeing it (from the internet) so that was kinda cool. I loved the interviews from everyone from Rod Temperton, Quincy Jones, Rick Baker (makeup-Thriller) dancers on set, directors, artists (new-Beyonce, Usher, etc and older), So basically it's a lot of stuff from the Thriller period (though there are a couple of pictures from other tours used for Billie Jean)
Sections mostly discussed The three videos, Victory tour, We Are the World
There's a section at the end on the impact of Thriller (I.E.- people using soundbites of songs- Rihanna, you can see pic of Indian guy doign the Thriller, Thriller from that prison. Wowo i didn't see the guy in a thriller jacket i just saw all orange. so that was a treat) Missy Elliot in the spray painted jacket of a Rock With You Mike (that's from the BET awards. I remember that, that jacket was HOTTTTTTTT, so was Bjork's dress but they didn't show her dress.
Pros-
1)Pictures-new, some rare, some just repolished (I.E. you get some of the blowup versions of the little pictures in the History album booklet. My favorite was of Michael in the werewolf cotume. IT's just beautifully done)
2) The photo concept and story behind the photoshoot of the Thriller album cover. Why was he in a white suit you ask? (BUY THE BOOK)
Why a tiger (OH MY GOSH SO I THINK THEY HAVE SOME PICTURES OF THE LITTLE BABY TIGER ALL GROWN UP!!!!! THAT WAS AWESOME)
3) Couple of rare pics (some blown up, which was awesome)
4) Super rare pic of Michael on the Bad tour in the second leg "Thriller Jacket" wow didn't know there were beads/crystals/rhinestones on that jacket. IT just looks amazing my mouth dropped!!!! I'm glad they mentioned that the Bad tour was the first performance of Thriller (which he nixed during the Victory Tour. Get the "On the Road With Mike" it gives hints on why he didn't do Thriller.
5) FANTASTIC BILLIE JEAN pics from the Victory tour. (Some super rare and awesome. Some awesome b/c they were blown up larger). Not only Billie Jean but Victory pics in general (remember the red jump suit for Working Day and Night, yeahhhhh)
6) Updated info on the impact of Thriller and Thriller related stuff. So at the end there's a section on the impact of Thriller from famous people, and you see a pic of when this guy decided to sell the MJ glove and socks on Ebay (I remember that), and you see new merchandise you can buy. (PIc of Usher doing MJ onstage, Chris Brown in the Thriller Jacket from teh World Music Awards, brief mention of Rihanna's song "Please Don't stop the music" using the mama se... clip.
7)Oh my gosh there's a pic that is a collage of maybe 100 magazine covers MJ was on in the 83-84 era. I've seen most of those magazines so that was awesome. Opposite of that is a page talking about all the merchandise during that time. Even there's a little pic of the MJ doll clothes in their own packages, though it would have been cool to show the different versions. Like Beat It had maybe three different doll jackets. (Unless my doll was left in the car window or something the silver on the shoulders was gold on one jacket I have. The other one is silver and then the third was computer generated zippers instead fo the silver strings on the first two jackets)
8) Lady in my Life- wow I just mentioned this song and played it and I saw a pic of Neyo and He apparently performed it on BET awards so i GOTTA WATCH IT b/c I wish Michael would have sung this at least one time for something. Maybe he can sing it for Barack and Michelle while they do a Waltz. heyyyyyyy I think Rod Temperton (who wrote Human Nature, Thriller, Off the Wall) mentioned what could have been with the album if Thriller, Beat It Billie Jean wasn't on there like how it'd be a great R AND B album (maybe the sound engineer mentioned this instead) but I thought about that and yeah this is SUCH A GREAT SONG that really didn't get a lot of attention it deserved. Same with Baby Be Mine. He mentioned how this would have been the song to run on the roller skating ring with your girl/boy. I laughed hard at that b/c that's exactly what happened when this song came up. Or it's the slow dance "prom" song besides "Don't Stop..." haha
9)Great Interviews!!!!- John Landis? maybe mentioned how big mike was at that time (basically saying how he really didn't get how big he was b/c he always referred to Michael as Micahel from J5 and not Michael would a year or so ago just did the 10x selling "Off the Wall" album.) so he mentions how Michael on the set of Thriller would get calls from all these big people, Fred Astaire, the president, etc that was comical and fun. They also mentioned how the then president of CBS/Sony didn't want their to be a third video (Thriller video) and Mike handed the phone to John and John got cursed out and Michael got the phone back and just said he'd pay for it. That was awesome I'm just hearing this story now, so it was good to read a shortened recap. They also talked of how this video pretty much invented the video rental industry (they even said a video would cost back then $85.) so they broke it down I liked that
10) Sound engineer interview (sorry this isn't my thing i kinda skipped it. But they did show the equipment that was used to make the Thriller album) So any producers and behind the scenes folk in the studio will love this section.
11) poem from MIke in the back. Plus his handwriting of different versions of song lyrics (wannabe startin somethin) for instance.
12) Vincent Price section about Thriller. Nothing new, really but cool pics. I wish there was a pic taken during the actual session. YOu do get lyrics of the unedited rap though. that's cool. Plus how much he got paid to the rap (which we now find out wasn't smart on him b/c if he got royalties, then Kachinnnngggg$$$$$$$$, but he said who knew it'd sell as much as it did) Plus you see that what he got paid he thought was a GREAT DEAL at the time, b/c he didn't foresee this album selling as much.
Cons- Okay I'm a huuuugggeee fan so, I felt there could have been sooooo many other pictures used instead of some of the ones in it that are already out there. So if you have any of the 80s MJ books (I.E. the Thrill of Michael Jackson, the red cover book) then you'll see some of the same pictures, BUT THEY'RE BLOWN UP BIGGER and are updated (I.E.- Motown 25 practice. In the book I had in the 80s it looks like 80s photos, in this book they're redone so they look like 100% quality. Not bad and it's good to see the old school pics to see it for historical purposes and fansake reasons but updated is good as well. Sorta like seeing an old comic book and then going to the book store and seeing the reprint). There was a couple of pictures from Moonwalk, which would have been great to have an alternate picture/take. Like in the Moonwalk book, where it's a pullout and you see him from Victory with the shirt torn open (probably during Lovely One), it's good for new fans but I already have that)
I was hoping to see more of the white glittered jacket from the Victory tour and maybe the different versions of it. I remember in "Moonwalk" he might have mentioned throwing the jacket into the audience. That would have been rad to see a pic of that. Or even of him wearing the different colored sashes. I saw maybe four versions (red white, blue and godl, blue and white with rubies, and white with light blue) is all I've seen but just fanatic stuff to see. lol
Would have been great to see the "Kreatons" (monsters) or have gotten info on why that was in the beginning and how that concept came about. They look amazing (see MJ teaser "Brace Yourself" on MJ Greatest hits dvd) It looked sooooo cool and made me wanna see MJ in concert and that was what the 80s were about having stories or other things going on at a concert besides the actual songs. You know a theme. Britney did that with Onyx (hotel scene, club scene). That's just a nice bonus.
I would have liked to have seen a pic of MJ about to go on stage (Victory tour or even Motown 25), you know more behind the sceens stuff. Maybe even after the concert him running to the plane,bus, van,etc.
It was cool to see the alternate snap from the camera roll of MJ with Bubbles in the red cowboy shirt (he's kneeled with bubbles in front of him)
No pic of MJ at Madame Tussaud's but you see a rare snap of him on top of the car in the black glittered military jacket in the UK, so that was probably on the day of or around the days of Madamme Tussaud's wax version of him in '85.
Another con is okay for real a LOT OF THE BOOK had info like it was copied from Wikipedia, interviews on thriller 25 cd or just off the internet in general. So again if you are a huge fan then yawn yawn.
Also why do I need to see lyrics to We Are teh World? Can't I just look at that on the internet?
But the little bits of trivia REALLY REALLY make up for it. Like when Michael calls Walter (head at the time of CBS/Sony) "my album's not number one anymore, what are we going to do about it?" "We're going to go back to sleep and deal with it tomorrow" Hahahahahaha I cracked up I swear Mike was messing with him, I hear so many stories about how Michael acts like a little kid to this guy and it's hilarious. I cracked up a good five minutes after reading this.
Would have been cool to mention "Captain Eo" b/c with the 3d movies coming out this would have been great to talk about that and maybe show pics, but Disney I'm sure probably would've wanted a cut. you know so,,,,, no biggie...
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Most THRILLING Book Yet!, December 29, 2008
This review is from: Thriller 25th Anniversary: The Book, Celebrating the Biggest Selling Album of All Time (Paperback)
As a Michael Jackson fan for several years, I can say without a doubt - this book is simply AMAZING. For the fans of Michael's that were following his music around the Thriller era, it offers a great walk down memory lane. However, for the newer Michael Jackson fans it offers a window into just how amazing the album, Thriller was and continues to be, along with the Thriller era in general!
It has everything from EXCLUSIVE NEW PHOTOS, to NEW INTERVIEWS with the people who were involved with the making of Thriller. (My personal favorites include the interviews with John Landis, Quincy Jones, and Rod Temperton!)
If you are looking for the perfect gift for a Michael Jackson fan or yourself, or if you are just a music lover in general, this is the ULTIMATE book for you! With the low price Amazon offers this book for, this book is required to be on the bookshelf of any Michael Jackson fan or music lover!
To sum it up..it is a THRILLER!
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