Background-
Comming a full 6 years after Jacksons last proper album, History (1997's Blood On The Dance Floor was more of a companion piece to that album), Invincible was Michael Jacksons attempt to reinstate his legend as the King Of Pop. History had already shown signs that Jacksons music was starting to echo his public image- i.e. bizarre with occasional flashes of genius. In the 6 interveining years, Jacksons personnal life and appearence were starting to get even more out of control and 1997s Blood On The Dancefloor remix album was regarded as a flop by his record company- though some would argue that selling 6 million for a remix album- the most ever for a remix album- is still impressive. Pop music was also changing and new artists were taking Jacksons place as premier pop star, though none anything like as talented or as popular as Jackson in his hayday. So regarded as somewhat of a joke by the public and an 'average' artist by his Sony record label, Epic, Michael Jackson finally released his highly anticipated 'comeback' album which was rumoured to be £30 million in the making...
The Review-
Well as a 'comeback' album, Invincible fails quite miserably to live up to its name though it does have its moments and its universal critical slaying was slightly, only slightly unfair in my opinion.
The album kicks off with what was meant to be the lead single for the album, well according to Jackson at least- 'Unbreakable' is actually one of the highlights of the album and must have been an obvious choice for an intro since its piano driven beat is oddly addictive and states Jacksons primary message- Hes not going to leave his pop crown behind without a fight. It also contains one of the albums many bizarre moments- The Notorious B.I.G. rapping from beyond the grave in a sample towards the end of the track. Somehow it works though as does the whole song. The following two tracks have a similar spirit to them- 'Heartbreaker' opting for more of a dance style and the title track opting for a similar sound to 'Unbreakable'. 'Heartbreaker' does contain one of most beautiful harmonies Ive heard (at 2.16), certainly on this album at least. Both tracks are reasonable, in some ways superior to alot of the pop in the charts at the time, but neither really hits the mark either in the same way as the opener.
The actual 'comeback' single- 'You Rock My World', which Sony opted to release, possibly quite wisely, is a throwback to the old Jackson of the 'Off The Wall' days. Its a decent song and another highlight, however it never quite takes off into being the classic Jackson track it could have been. Its a shame since it has alot of potential, as it is it is just a great track without being a classic. Its following track, however, is the gem of this album. 'Butterflies' is a modern classic and almost stands up there among Jacksons classics- 'Billie Jean','Human Nature' and the likes. The track was written by the English R'n'B duo Floetry and has a very mellow feel to it, the horns echoing Jacksons late 70s/ early 80s style.
Unfortunately the rest of the album doesnt stand up to 'Butterflies'. 'Break Of Dawn' is definetly one of the better tracks with its sensual lyrics and 'Speechless', one of the few solo Jackson penned tracks, has some superb melodies and is among his best modern ballads, though its love lyrics may grate. Much of the rest of the album is split between tired ballads, 'Dont Walk Away', 'You Are My Life' and angry, unmelodic rants- 'Threatned' and 'Privacy'-the latter a complete rip off of History's 'Tabloid Junkie'. '2000 Watts' sounds like Jacksons attempt to make a modern Pop/R'n'B/Hip Hop song and as expected it falls flat from the start. The albums real low point though is 'The Lost Children' a sickly sweet ballad about, yes you guessed it, children, at best sounding like a below par Broadway song. 'Cry' is an attempt to replicate the sucess of his other 'Save the world' type anthems- 'Man In The Mirror' and Dangerous' less good 'Heal The World'. Unfortunately the R-Kelly penned song is merely ok, with flashes of something much better.
Ive saved the best till last, well 'Butterflies' is a superior song but 'Whatever Happened' is one of the few classic songs that could rank alongside anything on Dangerous. This is the albums Rock/Guitar track, a Jackson staple, but this time he opts for more of a Latino sound with Carlos Santana offering the tracks superb solo. The chorus contains one of the albums best hooks and the lyrics come off as among his more mature than anything else here, if a little melodramtic.
Overall 'Invincible' is a major let down though as a 'comeback'. Its got too many ballads, 'Speechless' only really offering anything special, on the whole and its faster tracks like 'Heartbreaker' don't quite takeoff- with the exception of 'Unbreakable'. In comparison to Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad and Dangerous it is most definetly a poor album, however, it is a throughly underrated album in many respects containing a couple of real classics- 'Butterflies', 'Whatever Happens', 'Unbreakable' and 'You Rock My World' and to a lesser extent 'Break Of Dawn'. It is also an album that I did listen to alot when I first got it. I expected it to be without merit, however, its not a VERY unlikable album- and has enough going on to make it enjoyable up to a point. Its critical panning was I feel a little unjustified, possibily due to some bias about Jacksons character. Im not saying its a great album, or even a good album though- just underrated. In fact the album sold about 8 million which makes it a big album for any artist- just not for Jackson the man who made Thriller. Its sad that Jacksons amazing career has effectively come to an end like this- at least he can still pull out a couple of classics to remind people of the legend he once was though. As an overall album Invincible still manages to have enough quality to make it better than most pop albums but as a Jackson album its a real disappointment and by far his weakest album, other than Blood On The Dancefloor. Its really not at all as bad as most critics will have you think, but neither is it a particularly good album by any stetch of the imagination. The million dollar question, or rather the 30 million dollar question, is where did all that money go?
OVERALL- 2.2
Key Tracks-
Butterflies
Whatever Happened
Unbreakable
You Rock My World
Track By Track Score-
1. Unbreakable- 4.4/5
2. Heartbreaker- 3/5
3. Invincible- 3.5/5
4. Break Of Dawn- 4/5
5. Heaven Can Wait- 2.5/5
6. You Rock My World- 4.3/5
7. Butterflies- 5/5
8. Speechless- 3.8/5
9. 2000 Watts- 2/5
10. You Are My Life- 2/5
11. Privacy- 1/5
12. Don't Walk Away- 2.5/5
13. Cry- 3/5
14. The Lost Children- 1/5
15. Whatever Happens- 5/5
16. Threatened- 1.5/5
My advice is to download the key tracks I mentioned since they are really the main thing the album has got going for it, even if you are just a casual fan they are great songs. If you are a big fan of Jacksons music already then I recommend buying his first 4 albums and even the mediocre History before this. If you really cant get enough, then Invincible may be the way to go- I bought it for £2 in a sale and I listened to it alot when I first got it so its not a terrible waste of money if you find it cheap.
In fact I am a HUGE MJ-fan. ;D
