When they call this "Volume One", you kinda get the feeling there’s going to be more. But this is probably the one that’s going to sell the most, because it takes the best of Jackson's work, all the ballast that has made the man soar, right from the days when his tunes were as distinctive as his moonwalk, and on through pieces that underpinned a baggage of social awareness campaigns in a demonstration of just how he injected the fizz into pop.
"Billie Jean", the more sedate "Rock With You", his striking "Man In The Mirror", "The Girl Is Mine", "Thriller" - these are the more obvious singles on this album. "Startin’ Something" defined staccato sound, while "Bad" promoted the basement car park as the nonpareil of street spinnin’. Finally, "Beat It" - my favourite after all these years - and its hard disco rhythms, amazingly, still sounds better than most of the music currently playing on the radio.
Jackson made some very good music, and was one of the first real pop superstars - if you want a sample of his greatest hits, nothing tells it better than this!
This article was first published on20 Jan 2002.