10 Songs You Know From The First SECOND

Most dance songs aim to get you moving from the moment the song starts. Whether it's starting out with some infectious drumbeat or a bouncy bassline, any act that's looking to make you move is expected to keep the groove going from the minute you hear it.

Then again, you never know what to expect when you get ahold of a Michael Jackson record.

On its own, Beat It is a fantastic blend of dance, funk, and rock, with Jackson flexing his chops as a frontman with guitar god Eddie Van Halen behind him. Instead of getting you hooked in on his new vision though, the song's opening of an ominous bass note sets the tone immediately.

While it doesn't really fit with the rest of the song, this initial ambience feels like the demented version of an Ancient Greek Horn Call, almost as if it's pulling you down into the underbelly of the city before the initial beat comes in.

The intro actually works that much better when you realize that you never really hear this sound again, which makes you want to replay the song again and again just to hear that initial bass drop.

Michael Jackson could have gone to the max on every one of the songs on Thriller, but it takes a master's touch to make a single synthesizer tone sound this epic.