# Michael Jackson throw down: Thriller vs Beat It **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 15, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892 "2024-03-15T22:25:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2024, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/21 "2024-03-16T17:01:15Z")
Michael Jackson as some sort of of supernatural undead creature, or Michael Jackson as a street-tough mediator between two rival gangs? If I was judging by which is the more fantastical, unbelievable scenario, I guess I’d go with ‘Beat It’. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/22 "2024-03-16T22:05:40Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Maybe “Smooth Criminal” My vote for best MJ song, but I also voted with you that Triller is the winner of the two selected songs _by the values the OP listed_. If I scored the same as the OP: Vocal quality: dead heat Musicianship: slight edge to Beat it Lyrics: moderate edge to Thriller because, duh, Vincent Price! Video: Thriller, and it’s not even close. So, pretty much everyone in the thread is right, but not everyone is choosing based on _all_ of the factors the OP mentioned, as much of the Beat it crowd are giving a (deserved) edge to Musicianship. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/23 "2024-03-17T07:41:08Z")
I think **Beat It** has a disappointingly flat sound to its production. My vote goes to **Thriller**. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/24 "2024-03-17T07:50:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Eddie Van Halen did the solo and also changed the arrangement. I love Van Halen and love Eddie Van Halen but not seeing how his 15-second solo in a Michael Jackson song makes that song great. It’s a novelty at best. Listening to it I am not sure it really fits with the Michael Jackson aesthetic. Orange juice and milk. They are both fine but do not go well together. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/25 "2024-03-17T13:29:02Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Listening to it I am not sure it really fits with the Michael Jackson aesthetic. Talking about Beat It vs. Thriller just reminds me of one of my favourite internet videos: the Yacht Rock episode about trying to get Michael Jackson to quit doing hard rock. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/O8if4LV_SzE/hqdefault.jpg "Yacht Rock Episode 5 (with Vincent Price & Michael Jackson!)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8if4LV_SzE) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/26 "2024-03-18T12:38:34Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Musicianship: I prefer the harder beat and guitar work of Thriller. Looks like you affirmed upthread that you meant Beat It in your OP. In which case I agree. I also like the break before Eddie’s solo (the one filled with the same electronic gongs heard in the intro). And I also like Eddie’s solo. > [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Lyrics: Thriller teaches us to run away when faced with an ass-whooping. I think that’s better than a song about watching a scary movie on TV. I assume you also meant Beat It here too? I think it was less about running away from an ass-whooping and more about refusing to participate in pointless street combat. Either way, yes, still better than a song about watching a scary movie on TV. Definitely Beat It over Thriller. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/27 "2024-03-18T12:50:58Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Looks like you affirmed upthread that you meant Beat It in your OP. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I assume you also meant Beat It here too? You see? No mere mortal can resist the evil of the thriller. 😈 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/28 "2024-03-18T14:28:12Z")
I think Thriller is the better effort. It manages to take something that would be so cheesy in most peoples’ hands, a disco Halloween song, and make it work. I like how it takes the rush and excitement of horror films and equate it with his thrillin’ lovin’: “Cause I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try.” I mean, it’s no “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah,” but it still tops Beat It. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/29 "2024-03-18T18:34:58Z")
I and my friend circle were very much into monster/horror/slasher media and Stephen King at the time, and the “Satanic Panic” was very prevalent in our hometown and schools, with teachers/clergy/counselors condemning us weird kids as being damaged and corrupt. We loved Thriller because it felt like the most popular artist in the world was legitimizing our niche to the world and reaching out to us to let us know that we were not the weird evil social outcasts that the moral majority claimed we were. Thriller gets the sympathetic vote for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/30 "2024-03-18T18:38:16Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Beat It is the better song. Thriller is the better video. Agreed! ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/31 "2024-03-18T18:57:44Z")
I also agree that “Beat It” is a better song, while “Thriller” is the better video… “Beat It” was probably my favorite song as a 4-yr old, and I’m listening to it now. The guitar solo is cool, but the rhythm guitar is as well. As an aside, I always thought the bass line to “Billie Jean” came from The Doors’ “The Soft Parade” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/32 "2024-03-18T19:12:45Z")
I find “Thriller” boring. I’m definitely Team Beat-It! ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/33 "2024-03-19T00:39:53Z")
The videos for both “Beat It” and "Thriller are superb, but I have to give the nod to “Thriller” for spawning a [worldwide phenomenon that’s endured over time.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrill_the_World) Also, of course, Vincent Price. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/34 "2024-03-19T01:14:32Z")
I don’t think I ever saw the video for “Thriller.” If I remember correctly, it was exclusive to MTV, which we didn’t have at the time it came out. (Those were the days of “Call your local cable company and tell them ‘I want my MTV!’”) I watched a lot of music videos on WTBS’s “[Night Tracks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Tracks),” including “Beat It,” and I heard the song “Thriller” on the radio, but never ran across the video. (And yes, I know nowadays I can watch it online, but I’ve never been motivated to.) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/35 "2024-03-19T01:17:52Z")
It’s pretty nice. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/36 "2024-03-19T02:25:03Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > It’s pretty nice… Overall, the video is outstanding. My only issue with it is that zombie makeup has progressed significantly in that past 40 (!) years and so it looks quite dated and cheesy. That’s the price (no pun intended) of being a groundbreaker. If I added a new category of “Dancing” to the OP, I’d have to give the edge to Thriller as its routines are longer and more complicated than those of “Beat It”. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/37 "2024-03-19T14:10:21Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Beat it and it’s not even close. Eddie Van Halen did the solo and also changed the arrangement. This. It’s even better than Thriller when [done on a single note](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlbmRGvLExY) (links to YouTube video). ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892/38 "2024-03-20T14:17:16Z")
That’s awesome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-throw-down-thriller-vs-beat-it/998892.md?page=1)