Review Summary: As a comeback Invincible is a failure, but that does not mean it doesn't have some enjoyable songs.
Throughout his career Michael Jackson became the famed King of Pop, a well-deserved title considering all his accomplishments. He created the number one selling album of all time with
Thriller, not to mention the numerous hit singles such as
Beat It,
Man In The Mirror, and
Black or White. During his peak, fans followed him like a god, but towards the end of his career people, followed him for different reasons. The paparazzi hunted Michael looking to catch the next moment of his seemingly strange behavior, and accusations of child molestation. The world watched news story by news story as Michael Jackson crumbled before their eyes.
During the accusations and the mess Jackson’s life had been tossed in, he tried once more to reach musical success. He began recording his tenth studio album
Invinciblewhich was released in 2001. Jackson could only sit back and pray that this album would save his career. Unfortunately though, it did not. Compared to the hits Jackson created in the past,
Invincible was disgustingly weak. Each of the sixteen tracks are around four to five minutes long, making the album stand at almost an hour long. This length and the weakness of the tracks both contributed to how forgettable this album is, at least for the claimed King of Pop.
Opening with
Unbreakable, a song that takes the classic pop Michael Jackson, and places him in a modern hip-hop styled song. Singing wise the track is strong, but through layers and layers of over-production and effects, the song is dragged down and really shows what modern record companies can do to great artists. The next track
Heartbreaker, is one of the strongest tracks featured on the album. It has the same hip-hop element used in
Unbreakable, but really lets Jacksons vocals take the wheel, and not fall in the same trap of over-production.
Similar is
Break Of Dawn, it actually showcases the vocals that made Jackson famous, with some backing vocals as well. The beat is a simple clap-and-snap beat that is slowed much more than the previous tracks. The single off the album
Rock My World, has an incredibly cheesy into featuring Chris Tucker, that references the Jackson hits of the past, but once you get passed that the song begins very well. The song has a quick and jerky piano part line over another simplistic beat similar to that of
Break Of Dawn. Although a pattern is beginning to form, each song has a vaguely similar sound that continues for the whole album.
The album seems to be going fair thus far. Except this is only the first half of the album. What seems like hours the album drags from here on, track by track, each slightly worse than the other. That is until the song
Speechless, a balled like that of
Heal the World. It has Michael hitting those classic high notes over a quiet acoustic guitar and building backing vocals, building to the last thirty seconds where it’s Michael singing by his own, with absolutely nothing else in the background. A beautiful song is also a reminder to the fans of the past that it is still the same old Michael Jackson. Unfortunately after this glorious breath of fresh air, the album jumps right into the technical song
2000 Watts. A song destroying everything great about the previous song, the voice is not even recognizable, and there is no actual singing in the song, just one or two word verses spoken over a heavy beat, sounding as if Michael joined a Nine Inch Nails session.
That is how the album continues, constantly switching back and forth for a pop ballad, to over-done and repetitive songs. In reality though, that is what a large portion of what pop music is today, it is just not what the fans wanted from someone like Michael Jackson, the man responsible for some of the most influential and beautiful pop songs of the past. It’s too bad that Jackson had to end without putting out an album topping
Invincible, not that it would be very difficult. Clearly
Invincible is not a new
Thriller, but still contains some excellent songs, but also some terrible songs at the same time.
