At what point does a musician’s record become considered a success? Maybe when it is the best selling album of all time for more than 25 years, wins eight Grammy awards, and is the first album to be certified 32 times multi-platinum. Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, I am speaking of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album.

Instead of reviewing the original record, I chose the 25-year anniversary edition as it embodies the success and greatness of Jackson’s sixth studio album which was released on February 8, 2008, more than 25 years since Thriller’s initial release on November 30, 1982. Thriller 25 was not panned by critics as a cash grab supported by such an immensely iconic album but as a good refresher as to how great Michael’s music holds up after so many years later. Even though it may have sold 3 million copies worldwide in its 12 weeks, many believed the new remix versions of Thriller tracks from current artists included in the CD lacked the originality that made the songs so great in the first place.

Thriller 25 includes Thriller’s nine songs, seven of which were singles on the Billboard top 10, along with seven tracks which are remixes with artists such as Akon and will.i.am as well as previously unreleased tracks like ‘For All Time’. The album is a great reminder of the amazing music which explored pop, funk, post disco, and rock and that helped to break down racial barriers in the world of music.

This album allows fans to reminisce on the music that established Michael Jackson and his style as iconic and I give it a 9.5 out of 10 due to the extra remixes that were wholly unnecessary.