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Michael thank u for invincible

cgrimberg

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Its beautiful especially Speechless, Break of dawn, Lost children and Don´t walk away.

This is one of yr best album and last one , I really mean it. Just beautiful.

what is yr guys opinion on the album ?
 
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http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=8011
Invincible review

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?
 
:) Another review I found:

http://www.nme.com/reviews/name/5744

It's finally here, six years and 21 million dollars later. And while the production is never less than sumptuous, does it really contain six years' worth of great tune? NME heard it once in a room full of liggers, so our remarks should be understood with that proviso. But it didn't sound all that to us...

1. Unbreakable


Dramatic, machine-tooled opener operating at producer Rodney Jerkins' slightly-slower-than-you'd-expect patent tempo, this is the only tune that really stuck in NME's head the morning after hearing it. Featuring a rap by Notorious BIG, it's lyrically defiant and the longest track at nearly six and a half minutes.

2. Heartbreaker


A busy, percussive groove with a compulsive repetitive chorus but a classic soaring ***** middle eight. The words excoriate some girl who's, yes, broken Michael's heart.

3. Invincible


The riff is slightly reminiscent of Sly & The Family Stone's 'Thank You (Falletin Me Be Mice Elf Again)' (which Jackson used on his remix of 'Scream'). The lyrics describe ***** competing for the affections of a girl with another bloke who buys her "diamonds and pearls". ***** isn't getting anywhere because she's, yes, invincible. It's a good, hard R&B record, but on first listen not really much of a song.

4. Break Of Dawn


The first ballad and a typical mid-paced R&B production (by Teddy Riley) with bells and strings a-go-go. Features excellent Jackson vocals and even tweeting birds but it's hardly cutting edge.

5. Heaven Can Wait


Around this point you realise that Jackson is no longer pioneering - this would be a good Usher ballad. It has classic "if I should die tonight" love lyrics and swelling chords, but doesn't add up to all that much.

6. You Rock My World


Since this sounds unremarkable the first 16 times but suddenly turns mysteriously great on the 17th, it serves as a warning not to judge the rest of the album prematurely. It's the full version, including the annoying intro.

7. Butterflies


Slow, dragging funk with Fender Rhodes piano and huge harmonies, it's Michael talking about some girl who gives him "butterflies inside". It finishes with the lyrics "I wish I could be in you tonight". Oo-er!

8. Speechless


Written and produced by ***** alone, this is the first really soaring tune on the album. Possibly a tad sugary for some tastes, it at least has an indubitably strong chorus. It's also beautifully sung, with a good chord change at the end. A glimpse of what could have been before the production armies marched in?

9. 2000 Watts


Hard, hammering and chant-like, this is a definite highlight. With minimal, industrial production, it's a rough equivalent to 'They Don't Care About Us' on 'HIStory'. The tribal feel underlines that this album is really good at rhythm, but unfortunately less so at tune.

10. You Are My Life


A Carpenters-style ballad with a soppy key change, this is neither here nor there.

11. Privacy


Very slow funk, with the tempo (and tune) of *****'s old cover of The Beatles' 'Come Together'. It also sounds a bit like Bobby Brown's 'My Prerogative', before turning into Whitney Houston's 'Queen Of The Night'. Lyrically, the title says it all - but at least it has balls.

12. Don't Walk Away


Despite the title, this passed NME by. It's a ballad.

13. Cry


The first single in the US, this is an R Kelly-penned belter adorned with a massive gospel choir. It'll be released as the Christmas single over here. A proper song, it's about the death of a loved one and should strike a chord with the latent ***** massive.

14. The Lost Children


It's a waltz, with interesting chord changes and - yup! - a children's choir. Has refreshingly light production compared to the sonic assault of the rest of the album, but it's a bit wishy-washy

15. Whatever Happens


Bossa nova bollocks featuring Carlos Santana, this is like a lo-cal version of Terence Trent D'Arby's 'Sign Your Name'

16. Threatened


More Rodney Jerkins funk, this has a compulsive upward chord sequence and good drum rolls. Sporting a 'Thriller'-style rap, it's an emphatic end to a less than convincing album.

And that's it. On first listen, 'Invincible' is a good R&B record, but certainly not pioneering - and there's a question mark over too many of the melodies. It doesn't sound like the album that will save *****'s US career, and why it's taken so long remains a mystery.

6 out of 10
 
yes its a great album but your about 8 years behind lol
 
GUYVER said:
yes its a great album but your about 8 years behind lol
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haha dont tell me im 8 years behind because I was around during the release also. Been a fan all my life. I just wanted to honor this album one more time because its Michaels last album and I dont think people realise how good this album actually is. :)
 
GUYVER said:
yes its a great album but your about 8 years behind lol
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errrm....so if i was to say that i apreciated and liked the bad album would you say that i was 22 years behind?!?!

Invincible is as beautiful and timeless as the other albums. I think it was serverly underated by the general public.
 
danniilee said:
errrm....so if i was to say that i apreciated and liked the bad album would you say that i was 22 years behind?!?!

Invincible is as beautiful and timeless as the other albums. I think it was serverly underated by the general public.
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thank you danniilee :) yeah, it was very underated. just orded three copies lol.
 
Yes I love Invincible, after Thriller and Bad, I like Invincible A LOT. I had to listen to it a few times before I loved it, but I don't see how this is thought of as 'terrible' or worse than Dangerous, in my opinion it is a lot better than Dangerous.
 
The album is not bad but not in my top 3 MJ albums.

My top3 are

First place Off the Wall and Thriller
Second place Triumph and Bad
Third place Destiny and Dangerous


For me Invincible is miles away from Thriller. Where can I find a masterpiece like Human Nature on Invincible? Or where is the love ballad who has the same quality as Lady in my life? Where is the genius of Billie Jean?
Beat it versus Privacy- Beat it knocks Privacy out in 5 seconds
the same goes with Thriller vs. Threatened-Thriller wins in first round with a big knockout.
And this goes on Wanne be starting something against Invincible or Heartbreaker -Wanne be wins.
So for me Thriller plays in another world.
 
Has anyone heard any of the stuff that didnt actually make it on the album? its freakin amazing!
 
Rockin. said:
but I don't see how this is thought of as 'terrible' or worse than Dangerous, in my opinion it is a lot better than Dangerous.
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???? I hope you´re joking. Dangerous is much better than Invincible.
Alone Who is it is better than anything on Invincible.
Give in to me vs. Privacy? Give in to me wins
Dangerous vs. Invincible? Dangerous wins.
Gone to soon with Speechles- Gone to soon wins
Jam vs. Unbreakable -Jam wins
In the closet vs.Heartbreaker-In the closet wins
And the list goes on.

Black or white
Remember the Time two Masterpieces only MJ can put on record not to find on Invincible.
It is his weakest album because the songs don´t sound like MJ nothing sounds like Smooth criminal, Dirty Diana etc. A lot of the songs on Invincible could be on other artists album
The best songs on Invincible are Whatever Happens and You Rock my World.
So I think to release You Rock my World as a first single release was the right decision. After the uptempo You Rock my World Sony should´ve released Whatever Happens and as a third single release Unbreakable.
For me the Invincible album has a bad sound mix. In a lot of songs on the album Mjs voice is for my taste to quietly mixed to the music so I cannot hear the cd as loud as I normally would love to exspecially on the Song Butterflies. The voice is to quite mixed into the music. Why? He sounds so good but I cannot hear the album load because then the background music is much to loud. It would be a dream if someone could remix the Invincible album.
If Quincy Jones had produced the Invincible album it would´ve been much better. Rodney has not the same class and ear as Quincy when it comes to mix an album right. Bad Thriller have a much better sound mix.
 
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Arty said:
???? I hope you´re joking. Dangerous is much better than Invincible.
Alone Who is it is better than anything on Invincible.
Give in to me vs. Privacy? Give in to me wins
Dangerous vs. Invincible? Dangerous wins.
Gone to soon with Speechles- Gone to soon wins
Jam vs. Unbreakable -Jam wins
In the closet vs.Heartbreaker-In the closet wins
And the list goes on.

Black or white
Remember the Time two Masterpieces only MJ can put on record not to find on Invincible.
It is his weakest album because the songs don´t sound like MJ sounds like Smooth criminal, Dirty Diana etc. A lot of the songs on Invincible could be on other artists album
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I dont think its fair to compair. Invincible is VERY GOOD in its own way... I mean Speechless and Dont walk away, break of dawn , majgad so unbelievable great tunes :)
 
I gotta tell you, I didn't listen to it much after the first few listens and didnt really respect it as an album of quality, but since he passed i've been listening to it alot. It was the first album I turned to afterwards and it's ballads (cry, don't walk away, speechless, you are my life) have been helping me through. I find these songs quite comforting.

Since his passing, I have a newfound respect for Invincible. With the exception of 2000 Watts (which i still can't get into), it's a solid body of work.

And it's really two albums in one. There are many songs, most of which are long and varied in genre. In this age of itunes playlists and quick song selection, it makes me appreciate that we got so much to choose from. It's not the strongest album from start to finish, but when broken down, its pretty incredible.
 
I love Invincible.
Certainly without comparing it to his previous albums, it is totally under-rated.
Those that don't like, I feel perhaps they don't really hear the music and they don't understand it because most of the tracks on Invincible are, as individual songs, superb.
I think where it falls, is that as an album, it is a little all over the place and tracks are in the wrong place.

What I love most is that the composition and the vocals have been mastered to complete perfection, whether you think it is a good song or not, you can't deny that the 'sound' is incredible. I find even the 'weaker' tracks like Don't walk away or Privacy enjoyable to listen to for that reason.

I really believe that had the album been properly promoted and had numerous singles and videos, it would have sold in the range of Bad/Dangerous and people would not be so harsh in their opinion of it. Think about it! There may have been some weak songs on the album, but there was 16 songs to choose from as singles, and the number of strong songs make it easy to have numerous singles.
Unbreakable, Break of Dawn, URMW, Butterflies, Whatever Happens I would say are the absolute strongest on the album, thats 5 songs as potential singles already. Most artists can barely have 2 strong songs on their albums.
(Sigh)
 
I don't know how you can choose which songs to compare with each other. I don't like Jam, so on your comparision I choose Unbreakable.

I have my opinion because on Invincible I like Unbreakable, Break Of Dawn, Heaven Can Wait, You Rock My World, Butterflies, Speechless, You Are My Life, Cry, Whatever Happens, Don't Walk Away, Privacy...so most of the album, and some of those songs I love so much.

I know it isn't the normal MJ, it is different to his usual style and perhaps there weren't major stand out killer songs. It took me a few listens to get into it. I guess I like Invincible because of the way Michael shows off his voice in ways he doesn't on other albums...most of the songs are quality compositions, and guess I like the laid back Michael.

I do like Dangerous too..Remember The Time, Black or White, Who Is It, Give In To Me (LOVE THIS), Will You Be There, Gone Too Soon, and Heal the World.




Arty said:
???? I hope you´re joking. Dangerous is much better than Invincible.
Alone Who is it is better than anything on Invincible.
Give in to me vs. Privacy? Give in to me wins
Dangerous vs. Invincible? Dangerous wins.
Gone to soon with Speechles- Gone to soon wins
Jam vs. Unbreakable -Jam wins
In the closet vs.Heartbreaker-In the closet wins
And the list goes on.

Black or white
Remember the Time two Masterpieces only MJ can put on record not to find on Invincible.
It is his weakest album because the songs don´t sound like MJ nothing sounds like Smooth criminal, Dirty Diana etc. A lot of the songs on Invincible could be on other artists album
The best songs on Invincible are Whatever Happens and You Rock my World.
For me the Invincible album has a bad sound mix. In a lot of songs on the album Mjs voice is for my taste to quietly mixed to the music so I cannot hear the cd as loud as I normally would love to.
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Agree. What in the heck happened... why weren't they released.damn!

ps. As a MICHAEL JACKSON 'comeback' album I can see it probably isn't right in that perhaps there aren't songs that immediately HIT you hard, but its still a GREAT album.

Moogisland said:
Unbreakable, Break of Dawn, URMW, Butterflies, Whatever Happens I would say are the absolute strongest on the album, thats 5 songs as potential singles already. Most artists can barely have 2 strong songs on their albums.
(Sigh)
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Moogisland said:
What I love most is that the composition and the vocals have been mastered to complete perfection, whether you think it is a good song or not, you can't deny that the 'sound' is incredible. I find even the 'weaker' tracks like Don't walk away or Privacy enjoyable to listen to for that reason.
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For me the sound on Invincuible is not up to MJ Standard. The Sound mix is not good.
 
I think the sound quality is better on Invincible... do you have an old tape.. lol? What do you mean specifically?

Arty said:
For me the sound on Invincuible is not up to MJ Standard. The Sound mix is not good.
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cgrimberg said:
Escape Is amazing .. its sad it was leaked to the internet before the release of Invincible.
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When it´s so amazing why wasn´t the song on the album?

It doesen´t matter if it was leaked. The Mainstream hasn´t heard it. And songs like Another Part of Me and Come Together have been heard years before the album releases.
I think some people thought Escape isn´t such a good song afterall so they didn´t put it on the album.
 
Rockin. said:
I think the sound quality is better on Invincible... do you have an old tape.. lol? What do you mean specifically?
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I don´t like how his voice is mixed into the playback for example on songs like Heaven Can Wait and Butterflies. His voice is to quite compared to the instrumentation.So a lot of his vocal beauty and power is lost in the mix.
 
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And I don´t like the background singers on Break of Dawn and some other ballads. I don´t like their voices.Why hasn´t Mike record the background voices like he has in the past why rely so much on other singers? The songs would sound much better with MJ singing background and not some girl like on Heaven Can Wait that voice is just weak and sounds not good this voice ruins the whole song for me.
 
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I don't study music or anything, so I'm not an expert, but I liked what I heard, I thought the sound quality was good. I think I'll have to go back and listen and try to understand what you're saying. I like to hear your opinions. If you know about music I think its interesting.
 
To get this clear. Invincible is far away from a bad album it´s better than most artists best work but it´s not up to MJ Standard in many points.
I think many bad decisions were made during the invincible time.

1. Bad Sound Mix-Voice to low in the mix
2.Bad song selection. With over a hundred songs recorded with songs like A place with no name, Escape etc etc. Why did they put such weak songs like 2000 Watts, You´re my life, Heartbreaker on the album?
No one can say to me that out of the 100 songs recorded there wasn´t at least one song better than Heartbreaker.
3.Bad use of sound effects-exspecially on songs like Heartbreaker. Listen to Smooth Criminal or In the Closet. They both sound fresh to day but Heartbreaker has dated really really bad. Rodney did a bad job here!
4. The song order on the album. Why put all the power tracks in the first half of the album? With a better song order the album would flow much better. Again very bad decision.
5. Bad Background singers. Exspecially on tracks like Heaven can Wait. That woman voice sounds not good at all and takes away so much from the beauty of the song.
6. Bad Art design. From an artist point of view the Invincible album cover is very weak. It says absulte nothing. His face is there without any emotions and all you can see is his face. On History it worked but that was a statement Here it´s nothing no message at all. Bad choice for an album cover.Clearly is worst album cover.

And what´s up with the Rock my world video? I don´t mind a smooth criminal Part 2 video. The video was fun and I like it but one thing I cannot understand is this. We almost never see Mikes face in the video only we see it at the end when he talks to Brando. Why has someone put so much makeup on his face for that big face shot. He looks like a total different person. At the beginning of the video when he goofs around with Chris he looks good and handsome but for the last big shot of his face at the end of the video the makeup is different way too much he looks different. Who in his teams thought Ok the last big face shot comes so lets put this stupid makeup on Mikes face. I can´t believe it that somebody actually finds this good. Isn´t a makep artist suppose to make you look better? Again a bad decesion.

And I think the biggest mistake was to choose Rodney has the producer of the album in the first place. Rodney is a nice guy and I believe it´s a lot of fun to work with him but as a producer he is medicore.
Michael should have worked with Teddy Riley again and on few tracks with the Neptunes Pharell Williams as I think he was the better and much more creative producer at that time.
And record maybe one ballad with the old Quincy-you know just for the hype of it.
 
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