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",
Behind the Mask (Michael Jackson song) broke down when the management of Yellow Magic Orchestra disagreed and it prevented the song from being released on Jackson's sixth studio album, "Thriller". It remained unreleased for 28 years. However, as a part of Sony Music's 10 album recording deal with the Estate of Michael Jackson, the song was announced to be released on the posthumous album of Jackson's, titled "Michael". It was also as a radio single not only in France, but also the United States, Canada, and Japan. The song received mainly positive reviews from music critics. Jody Rosen from "Rolling Stone" called the song "a fiercely