Any list like this is doomed to have things missed. That said, Thriller should be #1 easily. The thing is basically a movie and was probably the biggest “event” of all of these when it came out. It is sort of the “Star Wars” of music videos. I would say “A-ha” should be #2. The music is pure fluff, but that is…

I suppose two Michael Jackson videos are plenty, but I would have expected Smooth Criminal to make the list, too.  I think “the lean” and Jackson’s white suit have become pretty iconic.

But apparently this album was a huge hit. That’s what I found the most baffling. It’s not that M.J. wasn’t successful anymore is that critics wished he wasn’t. And Bad was more successful than any of Prince albums or Madonna’s. Even if we compare with today’s artists, Lordes, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars Beyoncé they never…

BAD is a great album and a stunning tour ..music critics love to make singers feel bad ...all albums cant be huge hits .....

The media didn’t start to attack him because he was elusive. They started to attack him right after he became the biggest star in the world. And he was black. That he bought the ATV catalog with the Beatles songs made the white media hate him even more. In 1985 the Sun called him Wacko Jacko for the first time. Jacko…

Fantastic article, Matthew! I appreciate you going against the grain of conventional wisdom and showing that Bad stands parallel with—and, at times, eclipses—Off the Wall and Thriller. My only point of constructive criticism is a mere fact check: Bad’s special edition reissue came out in 2001, not 1999. Other than…

I wasn’t alive at the time so I never knew that Bad received poor reviews. It seems so weird, and clearly expose the media bias that existed (and still exists today). It’s why critics are often mocked, this makes me think of the movie The Shining which is now considered one of Stanley Kubrick best work and yet…

Answer: Because you simply can’t top Thriller.