There are albums. And then there’s Thriller. For the third installment of our four-part series on the King of Pop, Stereogum’s Tom Breihan returns for Pop Pantheon’s first ever A-Side devoted to a single album: Michael Jackson’s definitive 1982 pop blockbuster, Thriller. DJ Louie and Tom dig into every aspect of the best-selling album of all time, from iconic performances to choreography, fashion, and MJ’s radical reimagining of the then-nascent music video format. They also tackle all of the album’s genre-obliterating smash hits – seven top 10s and two number ones to be exact – and go deep on Thriller-mania, the album’s long-lasting impact on pop, its enduring legacy and how it made Michael Jackson a the biggest kind of pop legend.

Join us next week for our final installment of our Michael Jackson series, in which we discuss Bad, Dangerous, Michael’s later-era work and his complicated legacy.

Listen to Michael Jackson Pt. 1: The Jackson 5 (with Emily Lordi)

Listen to Michael Jackson Pt. 2: The King of Pop Rises (With Joseph Vogel)

Listen to Pop Pantheon's Episode "Do You Still Listen to Michael Jackson and Kanye West? (with Tre Johnson & Kemi Olivia Alemoru)"

Listen to Pop Pantheon's Michael Jackson Essentials Playlist

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Buy Tickets to our Dance Party Pop Pantheon Present: Main Pop Girls of '24 in NYC on August 2!

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Come to Gorgeous Gorgeous: Los Angeles at Los Globos in Silver Lake on 7/26

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