Since then the story of his life has been a colourful one, at times taking darker turns. However, despite the well-known accounts of his private life, Jackson's music has stood the test of time and is as popular now as ever. Cue the release of Thriller 25 - the 25th anniversary album celebrating Jackson's contribution to pop since his days as a 5-year old superstar.

All the old classics are present on the 18 track album, released last month, featuring the original listings along with remixes by guests such as Kanye West and Akon. 'Billie Jean' and 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' are among the tracks covered. The new version of the former is absolutely incomparable to the original dancefloor hit. The softness of 'Human Nature' juxtaposes perfectly with the brash genius of 'Thriller' - thankfully no-one attempted to cover the album's namesake.

While retaining all of its old magic this anniversary album calls to mind the advice 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'. These new artists are either paying homage to the King of Pop or simply want a piece of the action. Fearing it may be the latter, I feel they do Jackson's work a great disservice. Few artists get it so close to perfection as Jacko - so why tamper with something which retains its charm 25 years on?

It seems the man himself has had little to do with this new edition, the album relies mainly on original recordings - raising the question as to who exactly is going to purchase this latest offering? With long-standing fans such as myself already owning copies of Jackson's extensive back-catalogue, this new release offers little to us other than the aformentioned remixes.

Possibly trying to garner attention within the younger generation of Rihanna and Pharrell fans, producers have seemingly attempted to bring Jackson's music up-to-date. Again though, to a life-long fan this is unneccessary; Jackson's music could stand on its own just as well today as back in the early 80s.

As the New York Times said of Thriller's original release, "There's Michael Jackson, and there's everybody else'. Unfortunately Michael Jackson has, in this case, been forced to share this album with that 'everybody else'. Thriller 25 amounts to a crude attempt at freshening up an album that will remain fresh anyway on its 50th anniversary and beyond! Minus the remixes, it remains perfect.