I remember a sticky summer day in 2005, waiting tables in my hometown.

The lunch rush was gone and I was in the kitchen with the cook, toasting with a plastic cup of warm cooking sherry that was kept, appropriately, above the toaster. A news radio station had just reported the verdict in Michael Jackson’s most recent court case: not guilty on all counts. The King of Pop was off the hook.

Not too long after that, I saw a newspaper article heralding Justin Timberlake as the new King of Pop. My initial response was shocked opposition — nobody can take MJ’s place!

Jackson has taken a lot of flak in recent years, and far be it from me to say it’s undeserved. Nor do I think any preferential treatment or legal leeway should be granted him solely on account of previous achievement. Michael Jackson has, it would seem, made some pretty poor decisions over the years. Rather than go out in a whimper or a bang, his artistic acclaim has steadily dropped as his tabloid infamy has gathered momentum.

But Sony’s re-release of Jackson’s best-selling “Thriller” harkens back to a time when his career was arguably at its peak. He could do no wrong, and the ground he stood on was literally aglow.

“Thriller” was replete with radio hit “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” the outro of which is riffed on Rihanna’s hit, “Don’t Stop the Music.” But the big-hitter was the eponymous “Thriller,” with its thoroughly developed and endlessly exciting narrative. Clichéd though it may be, I distinctly remember shielding my eyes from the TV screen as those zombies clambered toward the house in the song’s epic music video.

Along with the original tracks are new versions of the hits today’s performers had the audacity to tackle (“Thriller,” understandably, is too far beyond the talent of Kanye or Akon).

It’s cute that will.i.am participates in the new edition of “The Girl Is Mine,” in the way that a 6-year-old might pretend to shave just like Dad does, but the track is a glorified mash-up. And it’s no surprise that Kanye’s version of “Billie Jean” supplants over-the-top symphony instruments where the original had synthesized violins, but the result is gaudy and excessive.

Though they do almost nothing for the disc; these misfires highlight the real talent showcased in the original release. Jackson’s sound is typically synthesized for an ’80s album, but far from embarrassing — even through the weird, Optimus Prime/Alvin and the Chipmunks vocals in “Pretty Young Thing.” “Billie Jean” might have been ahead of its time, considering the “baby mama” movement in music today. The album is arguably Jackson’s greatest, and a lasting tribute to his ability.

I consider the Timberlake headline again. A dignified exit would have been preferable to a gradual fame/infamy swap. Justin’s got the talent, he’s got the production, he’s got the style. No one king can reign forever.

Still, let us not dwell on Jackson’s recent foibles, but bask instead in the enduring talent of his better days.