Thriller (NSYNC Album)

Previous Album: *Off The Wall*

Next Album: *Bad*

**Thriler** is a second studio album of the American boyband NSYNC. Released on November 25th 1996 through Epic Records, the record was produced by Quincy Jones who also produced the group's debut album *Off The Wall* (1995). The album was mainly written by band member Justin Timberlake, along with JC Chasez, Rod Temperton and Paul McCartney, who also appeared on the album's lead single "The Girl Is Mine", all co-wrote songs.

Timberlake and Jones wanted to create an album where "every song was a killer", moving away from what Timberlake termed "dated disco", resulting in a mix of pop, post-disco, rock, funk, and R&B sounds. Recording took place from April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a budget of $750,000. The album became a bigger success than its predecessor, selling over 65 million copies worldwide, resulting in the album being named the world's best-selling album of all time, having sold 32 million copies within its first year on sale. Seven singles were released: "The Girl Is Mine", "Billie Jean", "Beat It", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' ", "Human Nature", "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", and "Thriller". They all reached the top 10 on the US *Billboard* Hot 100 chart, setting a record for the most top 10 singles from an album, with "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" reaching number one. Following NSYNC's performance of "Billie Jean" in a live television special, where Timberlake debuted his signature moonwalk dance, the sales of the album significantly increased, selling one million copies worldwide per week. The "Thriller" music video was premiered to great anticipation in December 1997 and played regularly on MTV, which also increased the sales. It was the best-selling album of 1997 worldwide, and in 1998 it became the first album to become the best-selling in the United States for two years.

With the success of the album, the group embarked on the worldwide, year long, *Thriller World Tour*. The album cemented the group's status as one of the most successful artists of all time, whilst the creativity of Timberlake was lauded by critics as fans alike. The *Thriller* music video is widely considered the best music video of all time.

## Background

NSYNC's previous album *Off The Wall* (1995) received critical acclaim and was a commercial success around the world. Despite the success of the record, Timberlake became overwhelmed by the struggles of promotion and in a leaked tape, he was heard on the set of the "Off The Wall" music video saying "Even at home, I'm lonely. I sit in my room sometimes and cry. It's so hard to make friends. I sometimes walk around the neighborhood at night, just hoping to find someone to talk to. But I just end up coming home."

Timberlake was also frustrated by what he considered a lack of respect from the music industry. In early 1996, Rolling Stone declined to run a cover story on the group, with Timberlake saying in another interview "We've been told since day one that a boyband won't sell magazine copies. Just wait, one day, those same publications are going to come to us for interviews, cover stories. Maybe we'll give them the interview, maybe we won't."

The other members of the group felt frustrated by the growing focus on 16-year-old Timberlake, who had co-wrote the entirety of their debut album and ahead of writing sessions for the next record, he was named the group's creative director.

## Production and Composition

### Recording

In early 1996, Timberlake and Quincy Jones reunited to begin planning the songs for the group's second record. Timberlake told Jones that he wanted "to create an album where "every song was a killer". He was frustrated by albums that would have "one good song, and the rest were like B-sides ... Why can't every one be like a hit song? Why can't every song be so great that people would want to buy it if you could release it as a single?".

Recording sessions for *Thriller* took place at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a production budget of $750,000 (US$1,926,319.15 in 2017 dollars). The recording commenced on April 14, 1982, at noon with Jackson and Paul McCartney recording "The Girl Is Mine"; it was completed on the final day of mixing, November 8, 1982. Timberlake and Jones wrote 30 songs for the record, later whittled down to seven. Unlike many artists, Timberlake did not write these songs on paper. Instead, he dictated into a sound recorder; when recording he would sing from memory. In mid-July, Timberlake invited Chasez into the recording sessions and they wrote two songs together.

The relationship between Timberlake and Jones became frustrated and strained during the recording. By August, the album was completed but both were unhappy with the final result. They decided that the album needed a different sound and spent a week remixing each song. "Billie Jean" was so personal to Timberlake, who struggled with obsessed fans. Jones wanted to shorten the long introduction, but Timberlake insisted that it remain because it made him want to dance. "Off The Wall", considered to be disco-heavy, led Timberlake to want to move in an entirely different musical direction. Timberlake and Jones were determined to make a rock song that would appeal to all tastes and spent weeks looking for a suitable guitarist for the song "Beat It". Eventually, they found Steve Lukather of Toto to play the rhythm guitar parts and Eddie Van Halen of the rock band Van Halen to play the solo.