Both pandering to R&B trends. Both are very ballad-heavy and have cheesey rap cameos in a shameless attempt to appeal to the kids. Both are very hit-and-miss albums, terribly compiled. Both were a commercial and critical disappointment.

Which one do you prefer?

Whilst I think Invincible could've been a wonderful ten track R&B album, it lacks a killer anthem. "We've Had Enough" was the song "Invincible" desperately needed.

"Speechless" and "You Are My Life" are sweet, genuine, timeless sounding ballads. The thing that really plagues this album is the way it was tracklisted. The up-tempo-ballad-up-tempo juxtaposition really ruins the flow of the second half of the album.

One thing both albums have in common is that they definately fall short on the up-tempo front. As for the dance tracks on "Invincible", "You Rock My World" and "Unbreakable" were cool, but the rest are fairly weak, uninspired and contrived.

As for "Rave", using an already decade-old bootleg as the title track and the album opener doesn't show much confidence in your newer material. "Undisputed" is a terrible second track, Eve's cameo on "Hot Wit U" is the most blatant attempt Prince has ever made at pandering to R&B trends for a hit. The only up-tempo that really cuts-the-mustard for me is "Strange But True."

However, some of the ballads/mid-tempos on this record are killer. Firstly "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" is one of his finest ballads, period. His voice really cuts deep... The strings in "The Sun, The Moon & Stars" are really beautiful! Props to Clare for that! And I still reckon that with better promotion, "The Greatest Romance" could've been a big hit for Prince. UK radio stations played it to death when it came out. Then it ends with the beautifully-anthemic "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do".

Both records show promise, but fall short in a lot of places. But for me, I think "Rave" is a more interesting comeback attempt. A lot of the work on "Invincible" doesn't really go beyond the surface. There isn't a great deal of passion on the record, yet I think "Rave" - for all it's flaws - has some of Prince's most heartfelt break-up songs.

why?

Why not?

they, like Dangerous and D&P, suffer from the need to fill up a disc with filler, when a 10-track or 45-minute album would have had more impact. as they are, neither of them is really worth voting for.

For me, the decision would be one between Baby Knows and Whatever Happens. And I don't want to dismiss either.

I agree with your first post, that RAVE is more interesting and had more potential in a better album if it was cut down,,,

am afraid i do actually play Invincible more then the RAVE album,, thats only because Prince has sooo much more better albums to play if i was in a mood for Prince,...

vote Invincible

Invincible.

"Rave" is definately one of Prince's worst albums. The best track on this album, to me, is the title track. Most of the rest of the album sounds like attempts to attract the younger crowd, especially by bringing in guest stars.....in other words, "sellout".

I don't have "Invicible" because when I heard the first single, which was midtempo, hip hop sounding, and basically sounding anything else on shitty current radio stations these days, I said the hell with buying it. I started to take a chance and buy it because I remember weak lead singles like "The Girl Is Mine" and "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" and the rest of those two albums were good. "HIStory" even had some good funk on it and it was released at a time when everyone else's music at the time sounded like shit. "Invicible" is the only Michael Jackson album I don't have and I've started to buy it simply to complete my collection. After reading reviews of it, I don't think I will because there's enough weak bullshit music out there without major older artists contributing to it and helping it continue to grow and I be damned if my money will help it grow.

you can't really compare these 2
cause theirs too much of a gap between them

it would be more like The Rainbow Children Vs Invincible

and the rainbow children wins for me lol

Luv4oneanotha said:

There's only two years between them... and I don't really feel like there's much room for comparison between Invincible and The Rainbow Children...

MattyJam said:

Rainbow children is great depending on the individual ears.... the other 2, well are juat weak...

2001: Rainbow Children vs. Invincible...

Rainbow Children hands down

BlueNote

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
Undisputed
The Greatest Romance Ever Sold
Hot Wit U
Tangerine
So Far, So Pleased
The Sun, The Moon & Stars
Everyday Is A Winding Road
Man 'O' War
Baby Knows
Eye Love U But Eye Don't Trust U Anymore
Silly Game
Strange But True
Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do
PrettyMan

Invincible

Unbreakable
Heartbreaker
Invincible
Break Of Dawn
Heaven Can Wait
You Rock My World
Butterflies
Speechless
2000 Watts
You Are My Life
Privacy
Don't Walk Away
Cry
The Lost Children
Whatever Happens
Threatened



comma edit.
[Edited 4/10/05 6:40am]

Cloudbuster said:

i love the title track. His strained, throaty vocals and are just great on this. personally i'd give it an extra

Marrk said:

Yeah, I like it... but I prefer the music to the song.

So you think my other ratings are pretty spot on?

Cloudbuster said:

Pretty much, i wouldn't give YRMW 5 's though. i like Speechless more than you though.

As for Rave, It is a relatively poor Prince album, but i think you're being a bit harsh in some cases. But what the hell, i never listen to it anyway. if there was a 10 CD 'best of Prince' set, i'm struggling to see two songs off Rave that would make it.

Marrk said:

I love You Rock My World. I didn't much at first but it grew on me the more I played it. Speechless is lovely but I have to be in the mood for it.

As for Rave... It's just that I know what he's capable of and I found it to be quite slack. I don't hate the album but I can't honestly remember the last time I played it. It's nice enough, just nothing special.

Cloudbuster said:

Really?? That bad huh.

Chico319 said:

Okay, don't go overboard.

Cloudbuster said:

u wish!!!!

The lost children is easliy one of the worse songs of michaels career though

ThaCat said:

No argument there.

DavidEye likes it, tho'.

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

The Greatest Romance Ever Sold
Everyday Is A Winding Road
Baby Knows - I love the LIVE version though off the official DVD
Eye Love U But Eye Don't Trust U Anymore
Silly Game
Strange But True
Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do - I don´t like the song as much, but it has a very nice lyrics.
PrettyMan - my favourite off the album, silly and funky - my favourite combination.


Invincible

Unbreakable
Break Of Dawn - not crazy about the chorus, otherwise love this song
Heaven Can Wait - heavenly beautiful
You Rock My World
Butterflies
2000 Watts
Privacy - I love that pissed attitude on this one.
Don't Walk Away - very touching
Whatever Happens

Although the number of my favourite songs are almost equal on the albums, I listen more to Invincible than Rave, cause when I am in Prince mood, there are better albums for me to play, but with Mike there aren´t as many choices. I like Invincible for its smoothness. I definately listen to it more than to Thriller for example.

dag said:

great minds think alike
its almost a quote word by word what i said in my answer. ,

i guess its not hard to come up with similar answers since its TRUE.

rave
undisputed
baby knows
so far, so pleased
wherever you go, whatever you do
strange but true
greatest romance
pretty man

invincible
heartbreaker
unbreakable
threatened
privacy
2000 watts
you rock my world
butterflies
break of dawn

i'd have to go with invincible. rave gets little to no play from me while invincible gets a spin here and there.

While RU2TJF is a fairly weak album, Invincible is the worst of MJ's career. Its his New Power Soul. The only song I can stand on that pile of festering dung is "Butterflies".

"invincible" kicks "raves" ass. "rave" was very dissapointing. "so far, so pleased" is just so average and smacks of laziness, as does most of the album.
A few nice cuts. I only ever hear the title track and "wherever u go, whatever u do", which is short and sweet.

"invincible" for the first 3 tracks alone beats "rave".

thesexofit said:

the first three tracks are the same song lined up 3 times in a row. just for that, it doesn't hold up. and there are many other reasons as well. though Rave is no great shakes either.