Thriller is the sixth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on November 30, 1982, as the follow-up to Jackson’s critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall. Thriller explores similar genres to those of Off the Wall, including pop, post-disco, rock and funk. Recording sessions took place on April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles with a production budget of $750,000, assisted by producer Quincy Jones.
Of the album’s nine tracks, four were written by Jackson. Seven singles were released from the album, all of which reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Three of the singles had music videos released. “Baby Be Mine” and “The Lady in My Life” were the only tracks that were not released as singles. In just over a year, Thriller became – and currently remains – the best-selling album of all time, with estimated sales of 65 million copies worldwide.
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Falling into You is the fourth English-language studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 8 March 1996, by Columbia/Epic Records. The follow-up to her commercially successful album The Colour of My Love (1993) and French-language D’eux (1995), Falling into You showed a further progression of Dion’s music. Throughout the project, she collaborated with Jim Steinman, who wrote and produced “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” among others. Several songs were produced by David Foster, including Diane Warren’s “Because You Loved Me.” Generally, Dion worked with fourteen producers on Falling into You and a variety of songwriters and musicians.
Falling into You won many awards around the world, including Grammy Award for Album of the Year and Best Pop Album at the 39th annual ceremony, during which Dion performed live. In April 1997, she also won three World Music Awards for World’s Best Selling Artist of the Year, World’s Best Selling Pop Artist of the Year and World’s Best Selling Canadian Artist of the Year. The album is on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Definitive 200 list. Falling into You became one of the best-selling albums in history, with sales of over 32 million copies worldwide.
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…Baby One More Time is the debut studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears. It was released on January 12, 1999, by JIVE Records. In June 1997, while Spears negotiated with manager Lou Pearlman to join female pop group Innosense, her mother asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song. Rudolph decided to pitch her to record labels, sending them a demo tape with an unused song from Toni Braxton. JIVE was interested and appointed the singer to work with producer Eric Foster White. After hearing the recorded material, JIVE signed Spears to a multi-album deal.
Spears traveled to Sweden to work with producers Max Martin, Denniz Pop and Rami Yacoub, among others. Martin showed Spears and her management a track titled “Hit Me Baby One More Time”, which was originally written for American R&B group TLC; however, they rejected the track. Spears later claimed that she felt excited when she heard it and knew it was going to be a hit record. By June 1998, the album had been finished.
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Come On Over is the third studio album recorded by Canadian country singer Shania Twain. It was released on November 4, 1997. It became the best-selling country music album, and the best-selling studio album by a female act. It is the 6th best-selling album in the United States.
To date, the album has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, shipped over 20 million copies in the United States, with 15.6 million copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan, and another 1.99 million through BMG Music Clubs. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and stayed there for 50 non-consecutive weeks. It stayed in the Top Ten for 151 weeks.
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Back in Black is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. Produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange, the album was released on 25 July 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. By the late 1970s, AC/DC began to achieve significant popularity outside their native Australia, with high-energy live performances and a string of successful albums. In 1979, they paired with producer Lange and recorded their international breakthrough, Highway to Hell. Shortly before the recording of their follow-up, lead vocalist Bon Scott died after a night of heavy alcohol consumption. The group continued with ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson.
Back in Black was recorded over seven weeks in the Bahamas in spring 1980. The area was hit by tropical storms at the time, making the sessions difficult at times. Johnson penned the album’s lyrics and melodies, while guitarists Angus and Malcolm Young composed the music. Its musical content consists of hard rock-styled numbers with lyrics relating to sex, alcohol, partying and rock and roll. Lange demanded perfection in the band’s recordings, particularly on Johnson’s vocals. Following its completion, the group mixed Back in Black at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The album’s all-black cover was designed as a “sign of mourning” for Scott.
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Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was released on June 4, 1984, by Columbia Records. It was written by Springsteen and recorded with his E Street Band and producers Chuck Plotkin and Jon Landau at The Power Station and The Hit Factory in New York City.
When Born in the U.S.A. was first released, it was met with positive reviews and massive commercial success. It produced seven top-10 hit singles and was promoted with a worldwide concert tour by Springsteen. Born in the U.S.A. became his most commercially successful album and one of the highest-selling records ever, having sold 30 million copies by 2012. It has also been cited by critics as one of the greatest albums of all time.
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Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album and international debut album by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, first released on June 13, 1995, through Maverick Records. Morissette had released two successful albums in Canada, after which she left MCA Records Canada and was introduced to manager Scott Welch. Morissette began work her next album after moving from her hometown of Ottawa to Toronto, but did not make much progress until she travelled to Los Angeles, where she met Glen Ballard. Morissette and Ballard had an instant connection, and began co-writing and experimenting with different sounds.
The experimentation resulted in an alternative rock album that took influence from post-grunge and pop rock, and featured guitars, keyboards, drum machines, and harmonica. The album’s lyrics touched upon themes of aggression and broken relationships, while Ballard introduced a pop sensibility to Morissette’s bitter angst. The album went on to be a huge success, topping the charts in ten countries, and has gone on to sell over 33 million units worldwide and ranked on numerous best-selling lists.