Michael Jackson: Thriller

Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2251
Stereo Hybrid
Pop/Rock
Michael Jackson
Putting into perspective the incalculable impact and pioneering significance of the best-selling album of all time – Michael Jackson's Thriller – has never been easy. Though Thriller lays claim to mind-boggling statistics that serve as reminders of how pervasive and indispensable it remains to music snobs and casual listeners alike, its essence always traces back to the greatness, power, and scope of the music. Now, as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, the record that reimagined pop; united audiences; made strides towards achieving racial equality; established the video as an artistic and commercial format; and taught the world how to dance sounds even more invigorating than it did during the advent of the Walkman.
Support this site by purchasing from these vendors using the paid links below.
As an Amazon Associate HRAudio.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Click here to report errors or omissions in the music details.
Comment by Downunderman - March 10, 2023 (1 of 2)
Such a popular (if somewhat overrated) album - My copy is MoFi numbered at 014881 - pretty good going given it was only released Nov 18, 2022.
The album was originally produced by Quincy Jones and released back in 1982. He did a good job on it from the get-go.
Mastered by Shawn R. Britton and he has done a very good job here and, given quality the source material, looks to have kept tinkering to a minimum. It is smooth clean and very well balanced. Separation and sound staging handily done as well. I could not detect any sign of sibilance or stridency.
Dynamic range comes in at an average of 13, which is pretty much in the historical ballpark for this album.
I have not heard the previous SACD iterations - The original US SACD dates from 1999 and there was also a Japanese issue (not logged here at HRAudio) in 2000. These appear to be based on the same Bernie Grundman master and there seems to have been a diversity of views on how good a mastering it was.
This release marks the first time that I am aware of that MoFi has used a cloth on one side and clear plastic on the other side disk sleeve - So you don't need to remove the disk from the sleeve to read the disk label.
And yes, there is a booklet included.
You can't really go wrong with this MoFi version and there is every chance it will be in print for some time yet!
Comment by Cool Customer - March 13, 2023 (2 of 2)
Based on the quality of this one (I also have it), I'm hoping MoFi will do the same for Bad.