Thriller (Michael Jackson album) 200 Albums of All Time". In a contemporaneous review for "Rolling Stone", Christopher Connelly called "Thriller" "a zesty LP" with a "harrowing, dark message". He compared the songs on the album with the life challenges that the 24-year-old Jackson had faced since "Off the Wall", while observing that he "dropped the boyish falsetto" and was facing his "challenges head-on" with "a feisty determination" and "a full, adult voice". John Rockwell wrote in "The New York Times" that perhaps Jackson was a "sometimes too practiced ... performer", that at times Quincy Jones may "depersonalize his individuality" with his "slightly anonymous production",
Thriller (Michael Jackson album) to suggestions that Jackson was bowing to a white audience. "The Girl Is Mine" was followed by the hit single "Billie Jean", which made "Thriller" a chart-topper. Success continued with the single "Beat It", which featured guitarists Eddie Van Halen and Steve Lukather. The title track was released as a single and also became a hit internationally. On December 16, 2015, "Thriller" was certified 30× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of at least 30 million units in the US. After the inclusion of streaming and tracks sales into the RIAA album awards in 2017, "Thriller"