Per the Variety, Sony Music will republish Michael Jackson’s critically acclaimed full-length album “Thriller”.
The announcement comes on the heels of 10 Tony nominations for “MJ the Musical,” which features several songs from the album. Set for a November 18 release, the album will commemorate the 40 th anniversary since the original classic made its debut.
Dubbed “Thriller 40”, the double CD set will be released in collaboration with Michael Jackson’s Estate and will comprise of the original album and a second disc “full of surprises for fans, including never-released tracks which were worked on by Michael for the ‘Thriller’ album, according to the announcement.
Mobile Fidelity will also release the original “Thriller” album as a One-Step 180g 33RPM LP, pressed at RTI and strictly limited to 40,000 numbered copies, as well as a hybrid SACD, masterfully mastered from the original analog master tapes. (A later date will see the release of an UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP set of “Thriller.”)
Walmart will have an exclusive version of the original “Thriller” album with a commemorative “Thriller 40” vinyl slip mat in the United States, while Target will have an exclusive version of the original album with a commemorative “Thriller 40” vinyl slip mat.
Several events have been enlisted in the coming months to observe the album, which has won eight Grammys, spent more than 500 weeks on the Billboard albums chart, and sold over 100 million albums worldwide since its release on November 30, 1982. The first such activation is the release of new merchandise bearing the special “Thriller 40” logo, which is now exclusively available through the MichaelJackson.com webstore.
“Thriller” became the first title ever to be certified 20-times platinum by the RIAA (on October 30, 1984) during its 112th week on Billboard’s album chart. It became the first title ever to be certified more than 30-times platinum in 2015, and since has been certified at 34-times platinum. Seven tracks from the album became Top 10 singles, and three, “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” and “Thriller,” went No. 1. “Thriller” was the first album in history to spend each of its first 80 weeks in the album chart’s Top 10, a feat only reached by one other album in the nearly four decades since.
