LittleBLUECorvette said:

Let's talk about music again shall we.

Was this track intended for MJ? Was produced by Neptunes for Robin Thicke?

Nah, it wasn't. It's not produced by the Neptunes AND it's not Robin Thicke. One of the original creators of theneptunes.org (a Neptunes fansite) produced the song about 4-5 years back as a joke and some unknown artist (whose name escapes me) is the singer. It was put up on Thicke's official website for a short while until they did a little research on it and quickly took it off . People still tag it as "robin thicke" and the "neptunes" though. Can't tell 'em nothin! lol

bboy87 said:

1. Unbreakable

2. A Place With No Name

3. Break Of Dawn

4. Heaven Can Wait

5. You Rock My World

6. Butterflies

7. Speechless

8. Shout

9. Don't Walk Away

10. Another Day

11. Whatever Happens

12. Threatened

does that sound like a better tracklist for Invincible?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Add "One More Chance" and "The Way You Love Me"

Invincible - not a very good album, in my opinion. But it also has good songs:

Heaven Can Wait,

You Rock My World,

Butterflies,

Speechless,

2000 Watts (Michael's voice such a man, so unusual),

You Are My Life,

The Lost Children,

Break of dawn.

The remaining songs superfluous and uninteresting.8 good songs out of 16 total on record. This is weak, so I do not like the album.

I would leave this 8 songs, added A Place With No Name, Another day, Fall again, Shout and would have made a fine album of 12 good tracks.

We have a problem ....((:
Nobody likes the title track. How to call the album?

I still do not understand how Michael could release such an album ...

[Edited 8/28/11 13:09pm]

LiLi1992 said:

I still do not understand how Michael could release such an album ...

[Edited 8/28/11 13:09pm]

It's not like it is a horrible album... it's not a bad album, it just isn't as good as his other albums! Most likely his focus just wasn't that much in the music anymore, but in his 2 children.

LiLi1992 said:

Invincible - not a very good album, in my opinion. But it also has good songs:

Heaven Can Wait,

You Rock My World,

Butterflies,

Speechless,

2000 Watts (Michael's voice such a man, so unusual),

You Are My Life,

The Lost Children,

Break of dawn.

The remaining songs superfluous and uninteresting.8 good songs out of 16 total on record. This is weak, so I do not like the album.

I would leave this 8 songs, added A Place With No Name, Another day, Fall again, Shout and would have made a fine album of 12 good tracks.

We have a problem ....((:
Nobody likes the title track. How to call the album?

I still do not understand how Michael could release such an album ...

[Edited 8/28/11 13:09pm]

The 3 biggest problems with Invincible was that it was unfocused which led to it not being consistent, had too many stirrers in the pot which led to it being vastly overproduced, and it just didn't really feel like a Michael Jackson album, if that makes sense

Check the liner notes, how many people are credited for ONE song like Unbreakable, or Whatever Happens, or Threatened? It was calling for a more stripped down mix. Just listening to songs like Don't Walk Away (which was a kind of song Michael hadn't really done before), Speechless, Butterflies, Break Of Dawn, and Whatever Happens, you wish they had toned down all the effects on the album.

and NOBODY will ever convince me to listen to The Lost Children EVER AGAIN There aren't many songs of Michael's that I just flat out don't like, but that song is one of the few. Hell, I can even listen to Heal The World or You Are Not Alone (2 songs that I've never liked) and see why people like them, but The Lost Children? NO NO NO

bboy87 said:

LiLi1992 said:

Invincible - not a very good album, in my opinion. But it also has good songs:

Heaven Can Wait,

You Rock My World,

Butterflies,

Speechless,

2000 Watts (Michael's voice such a man, so unusual),

You Are My Life,

The Lost Children,

Break of dawn.

The remaining songs superfluous and uninteresting.8 good songs out of 16 total on record. This is weak, so I do not like the album.

I would leave this 8 songs, added A Place With No Name, Another day, Fall again, Shout and would have made a fine album of 12 good tracks.

We have a problem ....((:
Nobody likes the title track. How to call the album?

I still do not understand how Michael could release such an album ...

[Edited 8/28/11 13:09pm]

The 3 biggest problems with Invincible was that it was unfocused which led to it not being consistent, had too many stirrers in the pot which led to it being vastly overproduced, and it just didn't really feel like a Michael Jackson album, if that makes sense

Check the liner notes, how many people are credited for ONE song like Unbreakable, or Whatever Happens, or Threatened? It was calling for a more stripped down mix. Just listening to songs like Don't Walk Away (which was a kind of song Michael hadn't really done before), Speechless, Butterflies, Break Of Dawn, and Whatever Happens, you wish they had toned down all the effects on the album.

and NOBODY will ever convince me to listen to The Lost Children EVER AGAIN There aren't many songs of Michael's that I just flat out don't like, but that song is one of the few. Hell, I can even listen to Heal The World or You Are Not Alone (2 songs that I've never liked) and see why people like them, but The Lost Children? NO NO NO

That's the problem with a lot of these records out now. You got too many heads on ONE song .. There shouldn't be more than 3-4 people writing a song IMO. Michael had too many writers and producers on that album. Had he stuck with one or two solid producers, the album would have flowed nicely

Invinicble was proved to be one of the best albums released comparing to the god-awful shitty albums released today, or the disgusting music we hear today ........the best ballads are on that album!!!!

R.I.P MJ , you left the music industry empty , MJ would've cleaned the industry if he was alive , all his albums are gems comparing to shit we hear today..again..R.I.P

[Edited 8/28/11 16:19pm]

Kicking the album off with Unbreakable, the groove stutters and struts along with sounds and structures that matched the current crop of hit makers. Michael’s voice is in fine form, especially in the falsetto lead in to the chorus. Here also for the first time was an exploration of digital cutting of effects on the vocals in smatterings here and there. Though at 6 minutes, the song seems to go along the same trajectory and doesn’t really offer anything new for the listener. Lyrically it feels as though Michael was trying overly hard to prove his worth – something he no longer needed to do.

Heartbreaker at least offered a bit of excitement. The manipulation of the beat has a sense of energy to it that is infectious. If you just listen to the beat, there are little surprises laid all through it, one moment MJ is beat boxing, the next snare drums are being sliced and diced, the next filters are being used to twist and turn it. Maybe a bit of a nod to the grooves Jam and Lewis would lay out for Janet, Heartbreaker really comes into it’s own with the choruses and sublime bridge where Michael’s backing vocals float and weave with ease. Hard hitting, jiggered and abrupt, this was one of the highpoints for the album in terms of the dance-oriented tracks.

Sadly Invincible comes off sounding like more of the same, and almost a brother track to Unbreakable, though with more melodic hooks. Maybe it’s the overly electronic instrumentation on the track, or the sparseness in the arrangement but it ends up being a dance song by the numbers and perhaps suffers from playing too much to the current pop playbook than pushing new territory.

Whilst the album would be criticised for having too many slo-jams on it (especially in the way it was sequenced) it’s often these songs that provide the high points on Invincible. Break of Dawn is a prime example of this. With Michael in more of a laid back mood the song floats out of the speakers and easily seduces the listener. A perfect balance of lead and backing vocals, there’s a depth here to Michael’s vocals that were lacking in the lead up tracks. The musical arrangement also feels more organic and natural. It just goes to show that when Michael wants to get his groove on and drift more into a soul territory few can come close.

Heaven Can Wait is classic r’n’b and Michael delivers like only MJ can. Lush production doesn’t swamp the song but allows Michael’s vocals to come to the fore and be carried by the track. Immediately catchy, the chorus now holds a bittersweet lyric that in today’s world features greater tragedy. One of the stand out tracks it’s no wonder Teddy Riley has plans of re-recording the track for Backstreet.

With it’s one moment comical the next annoying intro with Chris Tucker, You Rock My World see’s Michael hit with a modern MJ classic. Annoyed that Michael fell into the “darkchild” callout at the start of the song, this soon passes as the song’s groove and melody kick in. Sadly what could have been even more blissful arrangement with the use of real strings (and a nice nod back to Don’t Stop) the song relies a little too heavily on synths as its base. But there is no denying that out of all the dance tracks on here, this is the one that has you wanting to the get up the most. Although it doesn’t really offer anything new to his catalogue of hits, it does have a sense of joy in the vocals that are hard to resist.

Taking on Neo-Soul with Butterflies, Michael makes this song soar. With a groove that strolls, the musical arrangement feels more authentic, with horns and percussion punctuating the chorus. Michael’s vocals are amongst some of his best work, especially in the second verse when he goes into the falsetto that has been missing from a lot of his work. Rich and luscious backing vocals keep the choruses warm and just surround the listener. When you compare Michael’s final version with the Floetry demo you see how Michael matches note for note the little runs and adlibs to perfection yet still puts his own little stamp on it.

Sadly post Butterflies is where the album loses its focus and direction.

Speechless, with its pure a Capella intro is captivating to begin with then falls into an overblown Disney-esque arrangement that seems to rob the song of the very heart it longs to convey. If it had kept just to a short a Capella song it would have been more captivating – take the first 30 seconds and last 30 seconds, and you have something truly special.

2,000 Watts ends up sounding like a generic cast off from Dangerous era recordings and too gimmicky to be taken seriously with lines such as “you may now apply your 3D glasses”. The mis-step here though is that this song replaced Shout – which was at least more inventive.

You Are My Life is ironically lifeless. With the classic hallmarks of a Babyface song it feels like it is 5 years late in it’s delivery and ends up sounding dated and redundant.

Continuing the media victim theme, Jackson presents Privacy and although edgier than songs such as Tabloid Junkie again it feels like Michael is treading old ground here.

Don’t Walk Away was one of the slow growers of the album. Reminiscent of a Janet ballad (Someday is Tonight springs to mind) Michael shows that he can still sing the heart of out a ballad and give it depth.

One of the increasing problems with Michael’s albums was there was a sense that he was trying to repeat previous success, and Cry is this album’s attempt to reimagine Man In The Mirror. Sadly it doesn’t come close and whilst not a bad song at all, it does make you think too much of MITM and therefore suffers in the comparison.

With his heart on his sleeve, and maybe still trying to sway public opinion, The Lost Children feels even more out of place here than some of the other mis-steps. Again it feels like Michael we have already heard in Heal The World and suffers from the same sappy production.

Thankfully when you are feeling less and less enthused with the album, Whatever Happens comes on. With a duet between vocals and Santana guitar, it is one of the freshest tracks on the album. Sure its in blueprint of “get a great guitarist on the track”, but instead of trying to repeat Beat It, Michael explores new territory with this Latin fused track and comes out the winner.

Sadly, the freshness of Whatever Happens doesn’t carry across into Threatened – Michael’s latest take on a Thriller style song. Although not the wisest choice lyrically as Michael paints himself as a threatening beast who preys on sleeping victims, the groove of Threatened is what makes it captivating, and since getting a live airing in This Is It, the song has become more appealing, but part of me wishes the groove had different lyrics, but as it is it feels like Michael is treating old ground.

As his last studio album, Invincible ends up suffering from the weight of it’s own ambition. Overly long, this mixed bag of tricks really fails to continue with the momentum that the first half of the album was building. If it was trimmed down to 9 or 10 songs, then I think the feeling the album leaves you with would be different, and maybe would have been the “come back” album many critics claimed it wasn’t. Sadly this is the last studio album Michael left us, and you can’t help but think if he knew that, this wouldn’t be the note he would have wanted to leave on.

And it's the 29th August here in Australia - remembering the man.

RIP MJ

LiLi1992 said:

This is weak, so I do not like the album.

I would leave this 8 songs, added A Place With No Name, Another day, Fall again, Shout and would have made a fine album of 12 good tracks.

We have a problem ....((:
Nobody likes the title track. How to call the album?

I still do not understand how Michael could release such an album ...

[Edited 8/28/11 13:09pm]

Does liking half of the songs really make it a weak album as opposed to it just being your least favorite one?

scorp84 said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Let's talk about music again shall we.

Was this track intended for MJ? Was produced by Neptunes for Robin Thicke?

Nah, it wasn't. It's not produced by the Neptunes AND it's not Robin Thicke. One of the original creators of theneptunes.org (a Neptunes fansite) produced the song about 4-5 years back as a joke and some unknown artist (whose name escapes me) is the singer. It was put up on Thicke's official website for a short while until they did a little research on it and quickly took it off . People still tag it as "robin thicke" and the "neptunes" though. Can't tell 'em nothin! lol

Ok, thanks for the background. Cause it sounds like Robin Thicke singing and a Neptunes production.

Happy Birthday to MJJ and my brother Barry

-

Happy Birthday, Michael.....

HAPPY B-DAY MJ

[img:$uid]http://pic80.picturetrail.com:80/VOL2084/9118410/16757117/368607738.jpg[/img:$uid]

Even though I am a die hard Prince fan. I do know real talent when I see it. U will be never forgotten

Happy birthday mickey

King of Pop day!

Happy birthday Mike!!!!

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Even though I am a die hard Prince fan. I do know real talent when I see it. U will be never forgotten

You do know it's ok to be a die hard fan of both

Many of us are - and we've never been banned from attending a Prince show or catching an MJ gig.

Being a fan of both does make you appreciate what the other brings to the table more I think.

La Toya posted this family pic to celebrate MJ's birthday - taken in 2004.

Happy belated Mike!

WildStyle said:

I like Heartbreaker so psssh.. whatever

Just keep it how it is. That's how Mike wanted it.

Happy Birthday Michael!

we are dancing today for you in Hungary

Swa said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Even though I am a die hard Prince fan. I do know real talent when I see it. U will be never forgotten

You do know it's ok to be a die hard fan of both

Many of us are - and we've never been banned from attending a Prince show or catching an MJ gig.

Being a fan of both does make you appreciate what the other brings to the table more I think.

Happy Birthday Michael!! I love and miss you so much

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL

If I knew how to moonwalk I'd moonwalk to all my classes today You were such an inspiration to all of us....I love you soooooo much!!

dag said:

OMG, Blanket.

This was nice, thanks for posting dag! Happy Birthday Michael!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!!!

From Bubbles Mr. Louis Tinkerbell

and me