[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=See4Y0hJyqI]

It’s the 25th anniversary of the release of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

Writing my review in the Washington Post gave me occasion to really think on the album’s importance, which runs so much deeper than it’s status as the greatest selling album of all time. More than all of that, in 1983, “Thriller” almost singlehandedly achieved the reintegration of American music.

P.S.: If you really want a renewed respect for the Jackson family, just listen to this home demo that Michael, Randy and Janet (yes) put together in 1978, setting out the now famous arrangement of “Workin’ Day And Night.” They are so in the pocket with the percussion, it’s insane.