Thriller (Michael Jackson album) gifted vocalist". "Rolling Stone" critic Stephen Holden likened his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie Wonder, and wrote that "Jackson's feathery-timbred tenor is extraordinarily beautiful. It slides smoothly into a startling falsetto that's used very daringly." With the release of "Thriller", Jackson could sing low—down to a basso low C—but he preferred to sing higher because pop tenors have more range to create style. "Rolling Stone" critic Christopher Connelly wrote that Jackson was now singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness". "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", credited to James Ingram and Quincy Jones and "The
Thriller (Michael Jackson album) it had something to interest everyone. He believed it showcased harder funk and hard rock while remaining "undeniably fun", and wrote that "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", was "the freshest funk on the album [but] the most claustrophobic, scariest track Jackson ever recorded." Erlewine felt it was an improvement on Jackson's previous album, although he was critical of the title track, describing it as "ridiculous" and "sucked out the momentum" of the record. In "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide" (2004), Jon Pareles wrote that Jackson had "doubled his ambitions and multiplied his audience ... "Thriller" had extra musical help in