I'd put a little less emphasis on the term 'influence' in a discussion of how this particular rec 'changed music.' Part of why is because of certain shifts that were taking place in the music business due to MJ & Prince, e.g. MTV opening up to African-American artists for the first time. The other, larger factor, is that this record yielded seven top-10 singles, which I think is unmatched--much like the sales totals for the record itself. I think that influence be damned, 7 charting singles, top 10 no less, changes music in a way that has less to do with influence and more to do with techniques: the technique of putting a record together, in the conceptual sense (and I'm not talking about 'concept albums,' obviously), production technique, concepts that involve specific attempts at crossover appeal; and a shift towards what we now know as 'urban pop.' Remember, AOR had spent 5 years or so killing top 40, which became a very uncool segment typified by You Light Up My Life, novelty songs (think Pina Colada, Dancin' Fool, Shaddup You Face, Stars On 45, Music Box Dancer, et al), a couple of very un-Queen-like Queen tracks, Christopher Cross, oddball country-ish offerings from everyone from Charlie Daniels to Rocky Burnette to a desperate-to-cross-over Kenny Rogers, various instrumentals like Herb Alpert's Rise, themes from films like Chariots Of Fire & Ice Castles & The Rose...and an occasional oddball breakthrough by AOR acts like Pink Floyd, Styx, Supertramp, and various ex-Beatles.

NONE of which could reasonably be pointed to by a music-biz executive as a way to capitalize on a potential long-term formula. If there was a dominant form, it was disco, which was of course reviled by rock fans, but which was mostly a case of one-hit wonders, with, for fairly obvious reasons, not an area where career development seemed like it might be a wise investment. Then there was rap, which, in spite of the underground success of the Sugarhill Gang & then Grandmaster Flash, wasn't exactly a top-40 juggernaut. And if the rock audience hated disco, they absolutely loathed rap (though, interestingly, rap was more popular with a number of 'rock' fans than disco was or ever had been...none more notable than Rick Rubin).

Meanwhile, AM was as uncool as Debby Boone by, say, 1978. Nobody wanted to listen to it, or be constrained by transistor radios with no FM band. And as top 40 AM died, it was replaced by fragments on the FM band--rock stations, and, now, stations that had leaned heavily on funk & James Brown, but now embraced disco and, later, rap (usually on shows devoted to it late at night or on the weekend or something). Early crossover attempts in the late 70s by FM stations to keep their rock audiences while also playing top 40 hits didn't really work out.

Thriller changed ALL this, with Prince's help. Changed music. Because of how radio reacted to it. By 1983 stations that had played rock exclusively for literally decades were now top 40 stations, which was unthinkable to people who treated their rock stations as though they were houses of worship or something. And all of a sudden top 40 on the FM band became HUGE, which led to AM eventually becoming pretty much all-talk/news and, later, sports, and it marginalized the rock stations, while emboldening the 'urban' stations as rap became more popular later in the decade.

By the time Madonna released her first album, the template was created to make her a superstar. She was better than the disco one-hitters, better-looking, sexier, and ripe for MTV as well. And rock fans started listening to Michael Jackson because he crossed over with the help of Eddie Van Halen, and to Prince because 1999 & Purple Rain rocked, and Madonna...because they knew if they sat through Madonna, they'd eventually hear a Bruce Springsteen song. Or, if you were willing to sit through Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton doing a duet, you'd eventually hear Twisted Sister. If you could make it through Shannon, you'd hear Elvis Costello. And fans of disco, which was now 'urban,' knew that if they endured Madness or Joe Jackson, they'd hear a Chaka Khan song. If they could roll with a Billy Idol song, they'd hear Earth, Wind & Fire. And for every play of a John Cougar Mellencamp song, there was a New Edition rec waiting to be spun.

And for the most part, people didn't turn the dial, which was pretty amazing. But there was no more important catalyst than Thriller, due in part to the videos, in part to the duet with Paul McCartney, more than anything due to the collaboration with Eddie Van Halen that so many people saw performed live on television, but, also, because they actually liked the stuff.

And in my opinion the reason they liked it, overall, had more to do with the songs & Jackson's considerable talents more so than the initial hook of EVH's solo on what for me was one of the weakest of the bunch.

A couple of years ago I heard some of the first Justin Timberlake album. I expected to hate it. It reminded me of Michael Jackson. Not as good, but definitely in the same vein, and there was little I could say about it that was negative. Haven't listened since, and I've heard this or that that didn't strike me the same way, but there are damned sure worse recs one could be influenced by so far as I'm concerned.