10 Non Rock Albums That Rock Music Fans Love

So it's not really that hard to find something to like in an album like Thriller. Despicable history of the King of Pop aside, the actual music that Jacko created on this record became the modern template of what pop music should sound like, with the tight performances of the band and Michael strutting his stuff across the stage, including the now iconic Moonwalk. The public may want to look at Michael Jackson all day, but all the rockers might want to pay attention to the band in the back.

For most of the record, Jackson's backing band included most of the band from Toto, who had much more groove in their performances than you would have thought coming off of songs like Africa. Outside of the overplayed songs like the title track and Billie Jean, there's much more of an emphasis on rock in a lot of these performances, whether that means duetting with Paul McCartney on The Girl is Mine or bringing in Eddie Van Halen to add a healthy amount of shred to Beat It, which paired Michael's classic pop sound right in the middle of hair metal.

There's even more than a few vocal accentuations that seem closer to rock as well, like when Michael delves into his deeper register and sounds a lot more nasty than before. Jacko might not have necessarily been the best human being during his time on this Earth, but the amount of ground he covered on this album will likely convince the 4 of you who still haven't heard it yet.