Invincible - Michael Jackson
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For such a boldly titled and apparently driven attempt to reinstate Michael Jackson at the center of the pop world,
Invincible is a listless thing. Split between scratchy funk workouts and midtempo ballads that might have appeared as
Bad B-sides, the album plays on and on while never seriously promoting dancing or romancing. Its handful of weird moments--the resurrection-by-tape of Biggie Smalls on the bridge of the title track, for instance--are hardly large-scale bizarre like the first disc of
HIStory. The title track turns out to be hardly the rampant egofest you'd imagine; instead, its subject is a female whom Jackson cheers on. Likewise, the most ear-catching moments of the "comeback" single "You Rock My World" come with Chris Tucker's jivey introduction. Despite a debt to "Payback"-era James Brown, "Rock" floats away like steam midway through. It's almost a relief when the old self-regard turns up: on the growling "Privacy," Jackson rants about muckrakers "stalking" him in search of "the stories you need to bury me," all this long after foundering divas and troubled boy-group members have replaced him on tabloid covers. The man may occasionally break away from the mirror but seems unsure where else to find inspiration.
--Rickey Wright
Album Tracks
1. Unbreakable
2. Heartbreaker
3. Invincible
4. Break Of Dawn
5. Heaven Can Wait
6. You Rock My World
7. Butterflies
8. Speechless
9. 2000 Watts
10. You Are My Life
11. Privacy
12. Don't Walk Away
13. Cry
14. The Lost Children
15. Whatever Happens
16. Threatened
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