CoronaVinyl Day 101 (RIAA Certified Diamond): Thriller by Michael Jackson

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is RIAA Certified Diamond.  Everyone has heard the terms "gold record" or "platinum record," and those terms have different meanings depending on which country's recording association is awarding them.  In the U.S., the Recording Industry Association of America -- the RIAA -- is the music recording industry's trade organization that, among other things, certifies albums and singles as gold, platinum, or diamond.  With respect to albums, a "gold" certification now signifies 500,000 units sold in the U.S., a "platinum" certification signifies 1 million units sold in the U.S. (with "multi-platinum" for 2 million units sold and above), and a "diamond" certification signifies 10 million or more units sold in the U.S.  The RIAA has also updated what it considers a "unit" to be more in line with digital sales and streaming, so a "unit" for RIAA certification purposes means any of the following:  (1) the sale of a physical album; (2) the sale of a digital album; (3) 10 track downloads from the album; or (4) 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video streams from the album.

From what I have been able to gather, there are currently 84 albums that have been certified diamond by the RIAA.  I have several on vinyl, but today's selection is arguably the biggest album ever, Michael Jackson's seminal 1982 album Thriller.  In the U.S., it is the second-best-selling album of all-time, with 33 million units sold, behind only The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), which has 38 million units sold in the U.S., although I wouldn't be surprised if Thriller eventually takes the top spot.  Worldwide, Thriller is the best-selling album of all-time, with a ridiculous 66 million copies sold.

If you were alive in the '80s, you know how massive an album Thriller was.  It would almost be impossible to overstate how gigantic this album was and is.  This is the album that took Michael Jackson from a big star to being considered the King of Pop.  The accolades and stats speak for themselves:

• It spent a record 37 weeks at #1 on the Billboard album charts, and it went to #1 on the album charts in at least nine other countries.
• In addition to being certified diamond in the U.S., it has been certified platinum or diamond in 21 other countries.
• It is only the second album that topped the Year-End Billboard album charts in two different years (1983 and 1984).  (FYI, the My Fair Lady soundtrack was the other, in 1957 and 1958.)
• It was the first album that ever produced seven Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100:  "Beat It" (#1), "Billie Jean" (#1), "The Girl Is Mine" (#2), "Thriller" (#4), "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' " (#5), "Human Nature" (#7), and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (#10).
• It won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards at the 1984 Grammy Awards and a record-breaking eight American Music Awards at the 1984 American Music Awards.
• It became the best-selling album of all-time worldwide in 1984 and has held that title since then.  By comparison, the previous longest reign was 11 years, which was for the Oklahoma! soundtrack (1945-1956).

My album cover for Thriller is hanging in my office, along with 31 other album covers, which is why I had to use a general photo of the album cover above.  

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Thriller"
The title track is an all-time classic, with its monster themes and Vincent Price cameo.  Of course, the video was monumental in the history of music videos, stretching the boundary between music video and short film.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Beat It"
Between "Beat It," "Billie Jean," and "P.Y.T.," choosing a favorite from Side 2 was tough.  I went with "Beat It" because it was my first "favorite Michael Jackson song" back when the album came out.  Also, Eddie Van Halen plays the guitar solo, so that's cool.