Michael Jackson's "Thriller": The Rankdown (COMPLETE)

[gonecountry]

Thanks Soulsista for another great rankdown.  Not surprising top 2, really challenging to rank this album.  

If you've never heard the 1983 mashup medley by the Italian band Club House, they did IMO a great medley of Steely Dan's "Do It Again" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", titled "Do It Again Medley with Billie Jean". Hit the top 10 in Ireland, No. 11 in the UK and No. 75 on the U.S. charts. The same two songs in Club House's 1983 medley were also recorded as a note-for-note dance medley by the Detroit, Michigan band Slingshot, which hit number-one on the dance chart with its cover version. There was a further version by Brooklyn Express, a New York studio project by Began Cekic and Eric Durham, also in 1983.

[Ivy Leegue™]

Yeah, go anonymous poster!! Meanwhile, that's probably my best showing in a rankdown. I was hoping to get a perfect score but I knew it would get dicey at the Top 4. Great rankdown!!

[HamedM1 💔]

Great outcome, thanks for hosting Soulsista!

[zippy]

Thank you for hosting Soulsista.

If there were any surprises in these results, I wasn't exactly expecting "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" to place above the titular track. Anyway...

"Human Nature" is a great soothing track that I've also heard at least one jazz cover of, although I still prefer the melody of "The Lady in My Life".

It is odd to see "Thriller" have the highest standard deviation. I could not imagine what this album and Michael Jackson's legacy would be like if this track was never made. I've known this song since my childhood, but in recent years I haven't felt overexposed to it and realized how much I enjoyed it, especially its production. It is the best song out there to experience Halloween, with or without the music video.

I also love "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" for its funky vibes that make me feel like dancing and that "Mama-say mama-sah ma-ma-coo-sah" coda makes this song especially memorable.

"Beat It" is without a doubt an iconic and memorable song, however, it is MJ's hit song that I've gotten the most tired of hearing over the years the most which is why I ranked it lower than most people would. It's still a very good hit song, but I prefer MJ's later rock song "Bad".

And finally, I think "Billie Jean" is without a doubt a legendary song that also (in my experience) has been overplayed to the point that I cannot consider it one of my top 3 from the album. Yet, it's of such high-quality song with catchy, unforgettable production and lyrics that still sound great after tons of listens unlike many other hit songs in this rankdown. So this is my way of praising this iconic song in a different way than most people would.

[annoymous1]

Ik it's late timing ,but thanks Soulsista for the rankdown. Solid Top 2 (Basically Solid Top 5)! i'm Happy Billie Jean won. I would've been just ok with beat it winning too. I Wasn't expecting to get a perfect rank. It only goes downhill now😅.

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

Thanks to Soulsista for the reveals.  No too surprised with the outcome. "Thriller" will always be my #1 song from this album, and "Beat It" my #2, but do you all remember my favorite Michael Jackson song? Love MJ songs with evil laughs.

[beyoncelover]

Catching up on this now!

9. The Girl Is Mine: Wow it's kinda crazy how there was a song, with 43 submissions, that there was a song that didn't get any Top 5 ranks. Ooh I'm fine with this coming in last as it was my #8. It's kinda crazy to believe that this song, while decent, was the first single off of Thriller. It's not nearly as memorable or iconic as the other singles.... and it sounds more like a 5th/6th type of single release. Not surprised this has the lowest SD with those stats.

8. The Lady In My Life: This is really nice but with this being my #7, I'm fine with this showing up here.

7. Baby Be Mine: Oh okay, phew... glad that this didn't beat out any of my Top 6 that I do really love. This was my #9. Hmmm ok listening to this now, I don't like that I ranked it last but with so many strong songs, something had to be there. This is a really fun and enjoyable song from MJ. Just not as iconic as the rest of the Top 6 here.

6. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing): Aww I had a bad feeling that "P.Y.T." was going to miss out of the Top 5 with all of the comments in here. :( This is such a fun and iconic song and I do really love this. Kinda crazy I was only able to rank this at #5 but goes to show how strong these songs are. I guess not too surprised this has the 3rd highest SD though I would have expected it to be higher.

5. Human Nature: Oooh okay, I'm glad that this showed up here as this was my #6 and that means my entire Top 4 makes the Top 4! This is a beautiful, stunning song and I do truly love it. I guess I'm not too surprised seeing this with being the 2nd highest SD.

4. Thriller: Oooh dangg and just like that, my #1 goes down. :'( When I saw a song with a lot of #1s and a song that would be the highest SD, I had a feeling it would be "Thriller" as I do often feel likke this song is one of the more polarizing singles from this album and some could find it overrated. :( But I LOVE this song, video and think everything about this is absolutely iconic! Sad this couldn't poll any higher but at least the other 3 songs are incredible. Although yay for no #9 rankings at least.

3. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin': I really love this song and think it's such a jam. It's SOOO fun, entertaining and iconic. I'm sad I could only rank it at #4 but still this is such a fun jam! Not surprised this has the 2nd lowest SD as I never imagined this as a polarizing song. Nice that this doesn't have any Bottom 2 ranks.

2. Beat It: I love "Beat It" and this is one of the many iconic songs from the album. I ranked this at #3 so I'm good with its ranking but also good with this losing out here too. Nice that this song also didn't get any Bottom 2 rankings.

1. Billie Jean: Again, this is truly an iconic and memorable song from Michael. I absolutely love this song and think it's such a fantastic and timeless song. I ranked this at #2 so if "Thriller" couldn't win, I'm glad this was able to pull off the win. Danggg 14 #1s for this is absolutely incredible! OMGG it would have been iconic if this had all of its rankings in the Top 5, but ugh at CJ3 The Great Tanker ranking this at #9.


Dangg I'm sad I never got any perfect ranks here but oh well. This was a really fun game and so fun to relive through this album game. Thanks for hosting this, Soulsista!