Musical milestones can be earth-moving. They can mark a sea change in the music world from how we create to how we listen, or how our musical tastes have evolved or shifted.

The weight of some of these monumental moments are felt instantly, others stew and simmer for a time, while others are not recognized until long after their tunes have faded into obscurity.

In 1983, Michael Jackson’s Thriller put a pin in that timeline of musical history almost instantly. But even amid the immediate success and sense that we were getting familiar with something very special, the far-reaching impact of this best-selling album of all time wouldn’t be clear until years later. 

Thriller revolutionized the burgeoning music video industry. It laid out a blueprint for how to release and market a pop album for success. And it paralyzed the top of the Billboard charts for months on end. 

I’m a statistical junkie, like a third-grader loves chocolate, so you’re in for a ride, because I think the names and numbers put quite an excalamation point on the year at the top Thriller enjoyed.

Full disclosure: I’m really not a fan. I mean, I enjoy some tracks on the album – “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” primarily – and I have intense respect for it as one of the most iconic albums of all time, painstakingly crafted by two of the most influential minds of pop – Jackson and Quincy Jones. Personally, I beieve Off the Wall is the better album, but we’re talking about the impact of Thriller and that can’t be denied.

Many fans know Eddie Van Halen played the guitar solo on “Beat It”. Toto’s Steve Lukather played rhythm guitar, in case you wanted another bit of trivia. But the Toto musical tree is a different rabbit hole for another day.

What’s not so common knowledge is Van Halen did the work in secret, against the wishes of his bandmates, and while you can’t argue it hindered the rock band’s monstrous success, it did create a point of contention that other members of Van Halen didn’t let the band’s namesake guitar genius forget. 

Here is where it’s time to imagine the wall of my office covered in 1980s magazine picture cutouts of rock and rollers, all connected by a web of tightly wound guitar strings in some conspiratorial symphony of chart movements and what ifs. 

Thriller was released in November 1982, and reached the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart on Feb. 26, 1983. From that day on, Thriller would hold on to number one for most of the next 14 months, dropping out of the top spot for the last time when Footloose reached number one April 21, 1984.

It was a down under favorite that Jackson first stole the number one spot from, after Men at Work’s Business as Usual spent 15 weeks on top. I can hear Colin Hay’s voice singing “Who Can it Be Now?” as he watches Thriller barrel toward them that February.

Now fast forward nearly a year. Van Halen’s 1984 – the band’s sixth studio album – was released in January 1984 and quickly shot up the charts, but it peaked at number two, failing to reach number one because of the dominance of Thriller. Van Halen went on to have four number one albums with Sammy Hagar, but the album with the 80s anthem “Jump” – alongside “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher” – that sold more than 10 million copies would fall just short. 

For me, the thought that Jackson kept the cigarette-smoking cherub and 33 minutes of the most rocking Van Halen work ever from number one glory is like entering a “House of Pain“.

It makes you wonder who else was perhaps not so thrilled with Michael Jackson’s success that year. There were 53 different albums that made the Billboard 200 top 10 during this time. Four reached number two before falling again. Along with Van Halen’s effort, Journey’s Frontiers, Def Lepard’s Pyromania, and “Culture Club’s Colour By Numbers could do no better than runner up. 

Only five of the 53 that found their way into the top 10 managed to temporarily bump Thriller from number one. The Flashdance soundtrack was the first as Thriller dropped to number two for two weeks after a 17-week run. After those two weeks it was back on top.

The Police masterpiece Synchronicity took over number one less than a month later and held it for seven weeks before Thriller returned once again. Synchronicity would eventually tally 17 nonconsecutive weeks at the top.

The most surprising band to elbow out the King of Pop was Quiet Riot, when Metal Health reached number one in late November. Go ahead, sing it out loud, it’s rumbling loudly and recklessly through your head right now.

Lionel Richie captured number one with Can’t Slow Down a few weeks later, but Jackson’s dominance wouldn’t end for four more months, until Footloose came along.

The other top 10 albums that never made the top spot read like a record collector’s dream. The Stray Cats, Styx, Hall & Oates, Prince, Duran Duran, Toto, Foreigner, Bryan Adams, Stevie Nicks, Billy Joel, Air Supply, Kenny Rogers, ZZ Top, The Rolling Stones and more all failed to wrestle number one away from Jackson.

You can’t assume they would have reached number one had Thriller never existed, but it makes you wander through a black and white George Bailey version of “It’s a Wonderful Album”, doesn’t it?

Thriller has gone on to sell an estimated 70 million-plus copies over the years. It is without question the best-selling album of all time. It’s one we all know. It almost feels like rock and pop music ran into a buzzsaw when Thriller came along, and then came back stronger than ever as the phenomenon dulled. 

It’s imposible to tie the success of Jackson’s album to what immediately came next, but we can see it took some heavyweight offerings from some of our best-known 80s favorites to make sure the thrill was gone. The week Thriller dropped out of the top 10, the top of the chart looked like this:

• Born in the U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen
• Sports, Huey Lewis & The News
• Heartbeat City, The Cars
• Footloose, Soundtrack
• Can’t Slow Down, Lionel Richie
• Rebel Yell, Billy Idol
• 1984, Van Halen
• Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Duran Duran
• Breakin’, Soundtrack
• Eliminator, ZZ Top

And Purple Rain debuted at number 11 that week before eventually dominating the chart as well weeks later. 

Only the West Side Story soundtrack – 54 weeks – cut its way through the competition like a dancing knife fight to hold number one longer than the 37 for Thriller. No album since Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours in 1977 has tallied more than 30 weeks.

Are there any albums you feel stole the spotlight from some of your favorites in a case of bad chart karma? How do you believe all these albums that spent two years in Michael Jackson’s shadow have fared against Thriller over time?