Michael Jackson Thriller Blogspot

Michael Jackson a solo musician known for many number one hits and was first introduced to the music world as a singer for ‘The Jackson 5'. they became popular and managed a number of #1 hits such as ABC, and I want you back. There has been much speculation as to why Michael eventually stopped recording and touring with the Jacksons since it is not really known as to why he left the group it is widely considered that he left due to his albums off the wall and thriller became more successful than his work when he was with the Jacksons.

Michael's album thriller is regarded as one if not the greatest album he has ever produced as well as one of the greatest pop albums ever created.

The opening song the Album is called Wanna Be Startin' Something

The song immediately starts upbeat and quick to grab the immediate attention of the listener. It is started with the snare being hit 3 times but the song is played in 4/4the bass quickly joins by playing a repetitive yet groovy funk baseline based on the E

Major scale. The drums immediately changes to an up-beat and syncopated rhythm which works well to fuse with the fast and intricate bass line which when combined for a almost swing feel. The overall the song includes a good use of call response and range in the vocals with the main vocals sounding quick and abrupt giving an attacking feel inside the song. With the use of horns it give the song a very forceful sound yet still maintaining the upbeat and groovy feel it has a great use of dynamics a good example is the breakdown where a multitude of sounds are played and given a sort of crescendo then immediately are stopped and changed to a guitar solo or when the song cuts out and is supported only by the vocals and hands clapping. The song is still given a warm feel from the bass and drums as it is constantly repeating the 1 bar keeping the listener familiar to the song although everything else within the song has a consistent change.

The technology that has been incorporated within the song is mainly the drum machine and is used to create a clear and steady drum beat which has then been put on loop. It also features I wide use of multi-tracking because of it's with use of multiple sounds and instrumentation used within the song. Starting something will have also had mastering work done such and working on the equaliser for each track and will have also had panning worked on in each of the instruments.

Overall I feel that the song is quite funk based and features a wide range of instrumentation which keeps the song interesting and ear catching. I feel the song has a well made structure and features many variations such as the deep warm bass the up beat drums the occasional use of horns to add more character and the wide range of lyrics. The sound well composed but can get quite dull after listening to if for a while as it is the opening song to the album but is a very long 6 minutes as it seems to be quite repetitive even though a multitude of different uses of instruments and styles are incorporated into the song. the lyrics in the song also are on about how people start fights over nothing such as a simple argument or spread gossib which is not actualy true and in some cases has been related to beat it in the way that beat it's lyrics talkabout gang fights and violence for pety things like appeal or 'fun'.

‘Baby be mine' is the second track of the album thriller and features a slow almost dance disco feel to the song. It is very clear to hear the drums and bass guitar as they both repeat 1 bar with a slight change in the bass to feature as a small fill the bass features and the main rhythm towards the song while the guitar again features a staccato stammer riff. Other than the bass the keyboard features as a well played part in the chorus as it helps create a harmony within the song and when combined with the vocals forms a well formed disco dance feel towards the song. The song seems mainly prioritised on a pop disco feel as it is most likely made to be played as a dance song it features the keyboard to have a well balanced yet high sound in the song contrasting against the deep droning sound of the bass. The song features a soft bass and drums while the guitar and keyboard tend to be more on the attack the lyrics on the other hand are mellower but come on forceful and hard when brought into the chorus. It is easy to picture this song being created for the more dance generation and are more into songs sung by people such as Barry white. The song is based in F#m and is also in 4/4

Similar to the ‘Starting Something' Track this song features a drum machine to help keep a stable beat then allowing it to be looped quickly. Other technical features are the bass sounds like it has had some effects added to it due to its strong yet dull sound which sounds like it's been put through a filter. There have also been a number of loops put through the track to keep the son to its roots so it won't deviate as much as compared to ‘Startin something' you can also hear that the vocals have been boosted along with the bass and drums while all other instruments have been put pack a fraction to keep the leading instruments and preferably the vocals easily audible.

Unlike starting something the song stayed true to its roots and hardly had allot of instrumentation going on at once allowing it to give a soft warm feel towards the song. It was given an added punch the filtered bass which gave it its own character while the vocals sung high and sharp to cut through clearly. The song was well structured as it was given a good warm feel to the song similar to what you would find in a disco and had a great groove for those who would with to dance to it. Although it did seem like it was one of the weaker songs on the album when compared to the likes of Billy jean, Thriller and even Beat it.

The girl is mine is composed on a 4/4 rhythm and in the key of A Maj. The song is in a very slow tempo roughly at 70bpm and features a duet with sir Paul McCartney. The song unlike the first 2 tracks on the album is probably the first track to feature a melodic use of the guitar it start out playing in a similar style as the bass as they play like they are entwined into one another and then changes to a broken chord which is accompanied by a piccolo to add more clarity and sharpness while maintaining a smooth and happy harmony. The song has a happy warm melodic feel within the song yet the lyrics are about 2 people fighting for a girl that they love. The song starts out calm yet half way through the song there as a strong build up which adds strength to the song and as it increases Michael add character my sort of competing with the increasing crescendo of lyrics and then is interrupted by Paul McCartney who smoothly brings the song back to its original pace. The song also features a good use of dynamics and call and response with both Michael and Paul as if they are almost arguing against each other the song also has Michael or Paul call and responding with a group of backing singer within the song.

Unlike starting something the song stayed true to its roots and hardly had allot of instrumentation going on at once allowing it to give a soft warm feel towards the song. It was given an added punch the filtered bass which gave it its own character while the vocals sung high and sharp to cut through clearly. The song was well structured as it was given a good warm feel to the song similar to what you would find in a disco and had a great groove for those who would with to dance to it. Although it did seem like it was one of the weaker songs on the album when compared to the likes of Billy jean, Thriller and even Beat it.

The girl is mine is composed on a 4/4 rhythm and in the key of A Maj. The song is in a very slow tempo roughly at 70bpm and features a duet with sir Paul McCartney. The song unlike the first 2 tracks on the album is probably the first track to feature a melodic use of the guitar it start out playing in a similar style as the bass as they play like they are entwined into one another and then changes to a broken chord which is accompanied by a piccolo to add more clarity and sharpness while maintaining a smooth and happy harmony. The song has a happy warm melodic feel within the song yet the lyrics are about 2 people fighting for a girl that they love. The song starts out calm yet half way through the song there as a strong build up which adds strength to the song and as it increases Michael add character my sort of competing with the increasing crescendo of lyrics and then is interrupted by Paul McCartney who smoothly brings the song back to its original pace. The song also features a good use of dynamics and call and response with both Michael and Paul as if they are almost arguing against each other the song also has Michael or Paul call and responding with a group of backing singer within the song.

Some Technical features that are put within the song are the some samples such as the twinkling sound near the intro of the song just before the lyrics start. Other technical techniques that are featured would be a slight add of reverb on the guitar and then its quick fade out. Another would be its use of the crescendo when it has a number of over dubbing and its quick dynamic increase then suddenly its smoothed back into the original structure of the song

My thoughts on the song are that it is a smooth easy listening song that goes well in the album as it takes it down a notch from the rapid paced drums, the upbeat bass and fast melodic singing and replaces it with a slow easy listening calm enjoyable yet almost upsetting song. The reason for this is all of the song is based as a major key and even has allot of bright notes within the song but is made has given a slight emotional twist as the lyrics are about 2 people arguing over a girl they both wish to have. I especially like the song because of its eerie sound given from the piccolo a sample of the piccolo part is given below:

The self titled song thriller based on the key of C#m and in the time signature of 4/4 features a multitude of different samples such as footsteps, wolf howl, wind, scream's and clapping along with other instrumentation such as drums, bass, synth, guitar, and even brass such as trumpets and trombones. The song also featured a narration in the end where it describes multiple horrors and thrillers then ends with a laugh.

The song was advertised almost like a mini video and so doing became more widely known for the video which featured the song. The video featured a sort of intro which included a werewolf and then after kicks into the song. As Michael is outside with his date he starts singing the song towards his date and as they pass the graveyard a Narrator talks a type of enchantment that brings ghouls and zombies to life and slowly gang up on the couple. Michael is later seen as a ghoul himself and a group dance is then performed which brings the song back into life.

The start of the song is given a crescendo in the synth accompanied with the drums 40 seconds into the song it is then jumps into one of the main melodies inside the song just before bass comes into the song. I feel this is done to add character to the song and give it a synthesiser feel for the audience to listen to. Once the bass comes in with a 1 bar repetitive riff which the drums start to follow and gives the song a more upbeat and body moving character it then stays like that to give the listener the feel of the song and on the 9 bar is accompanied with the lyrics which are given a sort of dark and creepy style of words for example the opening line is ‘its close to midnight and something evil is lurking in the dark' giving a sort you a sore of horror movie but through words and song. Guitar then joins the song with a clean sound and is playing a short repetitive funk like staccato rhythm forming as a harmony.

An extract of the bass and vocal melody to the song is pasted below:

As seen in the score it is possible to see that the song is in the key of C# minor and that the there is a good use or repetition for each section such as the bass only repeating 1 bar and the lyrics also have a similar rhythm

Out of all the songs on the thriller album it is probably its self titled song with features the most technological improvements within the mix and it had had to have numerous amounts of samples tracked into it, a variety of instruments including horns, keyboard, bass, a drum machine, guitar a Theremin and not to mention vocals which have been overdubbed and even had Vincent Price do a narration into the song to add a more fearful insight to the song. The drum machine was used to keep a steady ongoing beat and then looped to keep a constant beat. While later in the mix down they will have then equalised each and every sample/instrument/vocal part to their own desire and then paned and mastered the volume to make it easier to depict the leading roles for each sample and instrument.

My thought on thriller is that it has had allot of work put into it and that the work put into it has been used very effectively each sample sounds like it should be their and each instrument sounds like its playing its own main role to contribute towards the song. It even features uses of crescendos and diminuendos for other part to come in and overlap the rest of the song such as Vincent price's narration where the whole songs dynamics have been turned down to be able to hear him clearly the slowly the song fades back into the original style and Michaels powerful vocals come back in like there was no change in the song at all. Over all I feel the work done to this song is a master piece and had a lot of work done to get it that way.

The song beat it is the 5^th track on the album thriller it is based in the E minor Scale and has a time signature of 4/4 the song has taken a more pop/rock approach to its style and has been given ‘Eddie van Halen' to help create the song for the album. The song features a 2 bar repetitive drum rhythm while the bass has a repetitive rhythm which varies in chords for the verse while the chorus is a catchy riff based groove which is used as the main force for the song the song has a fair use of dynamics such as its use of forte in the chorus and then its change to around mezzo-piano in the verse the vocals have been given a overdub to make to vocals stand out more and make the sound more thick when comparing it to the rest of the song. The vocals when combined with the guitar and bass create a well place harmony which work well without and contradictions and the repetitive yet driving drum beat is used to keep the song powerful and sturdy. Because the song has been a rock structure to the song it has even been given a guitar solo which in itself is very driving and fast and even contains techniques such as sweeping, tapping, raking and the use of a whammy bar which are all styles often used in heavy metal bands. The song has been well composed as even though it has its forcefulness it has also been given a very catchy riff a good use of harmonies and dynamics but what have been exposed the most in the song is Michaels wide range while combined powerfulness of his voice which you can hear him belt in the chorus.

The use of technology within this song would primarily be the keyboard and it has been given a touch up of reverb and the song also features a drum machine that was used to keep the sound tight and clean. More used of technology would be the use of slight distortion that was added to the guitar for Van Halen and in one section in the song Michael used a delay to repeat to words beat it before the start of the guitar solo the track is then mastered and made to fade out at the ending of the song.

My conclusion for this song is that I feel it had a good use of harmony and a very catchy rock based riff. The song featured a repetitive structure allowing the listener to keep track of what's happening within the song. Beat it seemed primarily focused on the vocal side of the song with its strong high and striking vocals and quick attacking lyrics which are meant to express the fact that violence is bad and should not be a way to doing things. I feel this is one of Jackson's better songs as it doesn't feature a numerous amount of backing tracks and overdubs but rather just a plain catch rock/pop song. A copy of the bass riff for Beat it:

The song starts off with a moderately fast up-beat drum rhythm at around 110-120bpm for 2 bars and then immediately kicks in with its famous bass line. The song is widely popular because of its upbeat yet relaxed style of arranging then its progression onto the chorus which although is still relaxed is given a more colourful and warm feel because of its contrast with change to the high and sharp lyric. The song features a number of vocal overdubs to make the song sound thick and the bass has been given a really deep EQ boost to get rid of any high end in its sound. The vocals within the song have been given a slight reverb to make sure the son is not to clean the song has even developed a sort of swing feel which adds to the songs already body rocking beat. The guitar is given a counter melody within the song at numerous points in the song and is also used in a call and response witch Michaels vocals in one of the verses. The keyboard is also giver the job to pick out the root notes in the song to let help the listener ease into the song. Over all the song is giver a constant groove which it keeps to throughout the whole song and even though varies every now and then to keep with the rest of the structure changes back to its original groove until its slowly fading out finish.
Based in F#m and in the time signature of 4/4 Billy Jean is probably one of Michael Jacksons most known songs with its famous yet repetitive baseline which is used as the intro for the song it has become a song that is instantly recognisable throughout the music world a 3 bar transcript of the son is featured below:

The song even though has a classy structure and a good use of instrumentation most of the instruments are made clean apart from the slight hint of reverb therefore there is not really much added to the song but there are a number of vocal dubs to keep the songs vocals thick and have probably overdubbed bass guitar and taken out as much of the high end in the bass possible to give it its thick warm flat sound the guitar seems pretty clean other than it has a mild level of reverb to keep it from sounding too dry and of course it also features a drum machine to keep the beats sounding tight and quick rather than having the notes spread out for to long.

Overall id probably say this is one of my favourite songs throughout the whole of the album mainly because of it heavy influence on the bass and how it rarely deviates from the melody i also enjoy how the structure of the song has been arranged along with the counter melodies that have been put it to accompany the bass along with the drums. I also enjoy how Michael has used the deep and flat tones of the bass to his advantage and not only giving them a almost swung like groovy melody but contrasted it but using the higher range of his vocals in the choruses and then coming back down again when the verses come back in.

The song is composed entirely in 4/4 and structured around the D major Scale.

The song starts immediately with a calming melody on the keyboard while harmonised with the bass and accompanied with the drums after about 2 bars the smooth calming lyrics of Jackson come in with a guitar that starts playing broken chords in the background to create a slightly different feel to the song as compared to the intro. The guitars broken chords are also used to replace the keyboard to help make its easier to add a change to the chorus. Human nature is a very smooth song that is based allot more on the vocals being accompanied with the guitar and drums with the occasional melody from the bass which is used to add a warm texture to the song in the chorus to the song when Michael sings. When the song enters the chorus it is then given a more staccato feel along with a percussion sound of wood blocks and changes to a part where the bass follows Michael's vocals down the scale and then repeats. The song in some ways is used to calm you down and relax from all the fast and upbeat songs that where in the album such as thriller beat it and Billy Jean the song was made for easy listening with its soft dynamics and warm comforting sounds from Michael's voice alternating between his lows and highs.

The technology that has been put in this song other than the well decided mastering and equalizing would be the drum machine and a number over vocal over dubs used to sing a number of different parts in the song at once. It also sounds like there have been a light reverb touch up on the vocals and guitar to give it a let harsh sound.

My personal thoughts towards this song is that it is a nice song to sit back and listen to when relaxing as it is has a strikingly contrasting sound to it with its use of staccato guitar and long almost tenuto sounding vocals its also incorporated a nice use of harmonious sounds which make you just want sit back and relax while the song just plays through. I feel that compared to the other easy listening songs within the thriller album this one is probably the more striking and easily the better one of them all.

Pretty Young thing is moderately fast song based at around 125 – 130bpm it is arranged around the B minor key signature and is played in 4/4. The song first starts out quite calm quiet but is quickly changed to a almost funk/pop based bass line that sounds like it has had a synth added to it making it sound hard and sharp. The drum beat like usual is given a repetitive rhythm to form as the backbone of the song while in the background your able to hear the keyboard play the root notes even sometimes a light melody through the verse while on the chorus it has a sort of counter melody that plays with and after Jackson does his quick spur of lyrics along with the guitar. The guitar has been given its skip beat staccato rhythms which play until the chorus which it then follows Jackson's rhythm of quick attacking lyrics. After the second chorus of the song it then immediately changes into a breakdown/bridge where the guitar then adds itself some distortion and creates an almost rhythmic riff for a while and then vocals come in singing over the top of it. around the same time the vocals come in on the break down the is introduced playing an intricate slap and pop styled bass solo and is then brought back into the chorused of the song where all the original structures come back in and play their parts until the fade out. Within the song the vocals are quite attacking and quick and are even replicated by the backing vocalists which in this song are Jackson's sisters. The vocals in this song also include a rapid call and response which are called by Jackson then responded by his sisters replying P.Y.T which then Jackson responds to them saying Pretty Young Thing and is done again but with alternative lyrics and is replicated in every chorus.

The technological sides of this song is defiantly bass guitar which has been given a filtered like synth to give the sound a sore of edgy hard sound which will make it easily stand out while the keyboard is given a high end organ sound. The drums are again played on a drum machine to give it its striking sound. Other tech features are the volume mastering as the bass has been turned down quite a bit while the vocals for both Michael and his sisters have been turned up so they are able to stand out in the song along with the guitar and keyboard which all together make the song a more high end based song that doesn't feature as much bass as compared to the albums other tracks

My personal opinion of this track is that it doesn't seem to strike me to much as impressive. My thoughts are that the song has been put together well and the quality of the recording is well mastered but I feel that the song was put in the album more as a filler than a song that was in Michaels words ‘supposed to blow everyone away' i didn't quite like the sound that was given out by the bass and feel that the sound coming from the keyboard was just a bit to plain.

Is another slow calm song at around 70 to 80bpm and its based on the 4/4 time signature. The song starts off with clean guitar playing arpeggios, drums in the background tapping the cymbals and the bass playing the root notes of the song. The dynamics sound like there being played at around mezzo-forte. The song also features a brass horn and a keyboard which is often giving off a twinkling counter melody. The song later builds into a minor groove in the pre-chorus and then just merges back into its old rut noted pattern until the bridge where the bass changes to a slap and pop technique and is giving of a minor breakdown while Michael moves to a slightly louder approach to his vocals where he probably moves the dynamics up a borderline mezzo-forte or forte once the breakdown is through he then arranges the song to go back to the chorus and once finishing the chorus he then goes back to the breakdown but this time uses it as a outro where he repeats the slap and pop bass line and stronger vocals until the song slowly fades out. While in the breakdown/outro the song also features a very delicate use of backing vocals which are soothed into the song to help thicken the texture of the song as it was a very quiet song which not much going on around it making the song very delicate.

Other than the drum machine and panning of the song the only technology that where featured within the song was the small amount of reverb that where put into the bass and guitar to lengthen the sounds of the instruments while the bass sounds like it's been given a flat sound as so you can hear each given note as it is. The song also features Michael overdubbing his own lyrics to make himself his own backing singers.