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Michael Jackson vinyl reissues due

michael-jackson-thriller-album-cover (1)

With the Michael Jackson Off The Wall reissue imminent, Sony will also reissue that 1979 album, along with the mega-selling follow-ups Thriller and Bad, on vinyl in April.

All three are straight reissues on 180g vinyl – there are no bonus tracks. The masters are taken from the latest MFiT versions (Mastered for iTunes), same as for the CDs that were released last year (and the forthcoming Off The Wall CD).

The vinyl reissues of Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad will be released on 15 April 2016.

pre-order

Off The Wall 180g vinyl

Thriller 180g vinyl

Bad 180g vinyl

track_listing

Off The Wall

Side 1
1. Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (Single Version)
2. Rock with You (Single Version)
3. Workin’ Day and Night
4. Get on the Floor

Side 2
5. Off the Wall
6 Girlfriend
7 She’s out of My Life (Single Version)
8 I Can’t Help It
9  It’s the Falling in Love
10 Burn This Disco Out

Thriller

Side 1
1. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
2. Baby Be Mine
3. The Girl Is Mine – Michael Jackson with Paul McCartney
4. Thriller

Side 2
1. Beat It
2. Billie Jean
3. Human Nature
4. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
5. The Lady in My Life

Bad

Side 1
1. Bad
2. The Way You Make Me Feel
3. Speed Demon
4. Liberian Girl
5. Just Good Friends

Side 2
1. Another Part of Me
2. Man in the Mirror
3. I Just Can’t Stop Loving You – Michael Jackson feat. Siedah Garrett
4. Dirty Diana
5. Smooth Criminal

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30 Comments

30 thoughts on “Michael Jackson vinyl reissues due

  1. Coincidentally, I happened upon some information that suggests Mastered for iTunes may actually be a *good* thing. Here’s why:

    • no special EQ is used
    • high-resolution files are delivered for mastering (“an ideal master will have 24-bit 96kHz resolution”)
    • Apple recommends that files include “a small amount of headroom (roughly 1dBFS).”
    • “The main thing a mastering engineer is looking for when ‘Mastering For iTunes’ is that after the encoding, there are no digital overs or clipping present in the encoded file.”

    Here are the pages I got this information from:
    http://theproaudiofiles.com/what-is-mastering-in-2016/
    http://theproaudiofiles.com/mastered-for-itunes/

  2. Could some let me know if I’m correct in my assumption that “Mastered for iTunes” means “completely unlistenable if you actually care about music”? Or is there some special thing about iTunes mastering that makes it some great improvement (which I really can’t imagine)?

  3. Who needs reissues of the most best selling albums in history? You will find mint or very good copies everywhere! You can’t enhance Sound Quality with digital brickwall masters!

    I am still waiting for a comprehensive Box including all his Original 7″ Mixes. “Human Nature”, for instance, was only released on a japanese 3″ which has ben long oop now.

  4. And for crying-out-loud go back to the photographer for the original Thriller prints instead of the really grainy cover they did with Thriller 25. I haven’t seen the Music On Vinyl Thriller basic reissue to know the quality of the cover photo but I wonder if it was the same or any better?

  5. To me pressed from MFiT masters means not really meant for serious play, like picture discs, so why not make them in crazy color pressings just for collecting? Do Off The Wall in disco glitter vinyl, Thriller in blood splatter or tiger-stripe color vinyl, Bad in a black & white split, Dangerous in some confetti colors with gold & silver junk… All these albums are widely available on vinyl in regular editions (and special anniversary editions of Thriller and Bad) so do something more fun with them for this.

  6. Well these are pointless releases. Just buy the original versions in a charity shop. I’m growing frustrated by the increasing flow of vinyl reissues selling at over-inflated prices when you can already buy the original by looking around. I mean, I’m sure they look nice, but with no additional content, these are a bit of a rip off.

  7. According to my spirit guide, OK, Wikipedia

    “The original LP, cassette pressings and first CD issue of this album contain the original mixes of “Rock with You” and “Get on the Floor”.”

  8. I feel a bit daft asking this as I am sure I am asking something obvious, but why does Off The Wall contain the single versions of the three hits and not the original album versions?

    1. Only early pressings *don’t* have that. At least that’s my understanding. This isn’t something they’re doing for just for this reissue.

  9. Gotta agree with Ben…it’s sooo easy to find good copies in charity shops/record shops. Talking of charity shops, Paul you havent done one of your ‘charity shop bargain’ pieces for a while…

    1. Yes Ben and Tim. Picked up my almost mint copy of Thriller some years ago for just 79p (!) from a charity shop. Couple of years later landed a copy of Off The Wall for around the same price. I did pay full price for Bad when it was first released. All still good stuff so don’t need these reissues. That’s a mint of money saved!!!!!!!!

  10. No added value again Sony and £21 WTF – No chance just money grabbing exercise. My advice go to a few car boot sales or charity shops and ou will find these for next to nothing

  11. I bought an original copy of Thriller from my local record store for £1 – absolutely mint. Sounds great. Pressed from original masters and not made for itunes mp3 etc… Just sayin’… I’m all for reissues, but Sony seem to be really cocking up the Michael Jackson catologue. These vinyl reissues should form part of ‘super deluxe’ versions of his 3 best albums, Fleetwood Mac style or alongside the deluxe edition, Phil Collins style. With the iminent Off The Wall reissue too, Sony seem to be just throwing these packages out there without any real care or attention and it just makes me sad.

    Come on, Sony – we want a super deluxe version of Thriller!!

    1. The Deluxe Versions they have done have been abhorrent. No one wants to ruin masterfully crafted songs by creating a remix with a modern day rapper… So awful. These albums should contain the original 12″ versions where applicable and also, same-era tracks. For example, with Thriller, “Say Say Say” (original 12″), “State of Shock” with Mick Jagger, “Somebody’s Watching Me” with Rockwell, “Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming” with Jermaine Jackson, etc. I mean, sure “Tell Me I’m Not Dreamin” and “Somebody’s Watching Me” are othe artists’ songs, but something tells me that Rockwell and Jermaine Jackson wouldn’t mind getting royalty payments….

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