Michael Jackson is at last back!! And if is MJ it is right to expect the best from him. So does this album make u rejoice or make you feel u dejected .read on!
What do you get if you mix Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and Blood on Dance Floor?? Simple! Invincible!! After a hiatus of 6 years, MJ finally comes up with an ’original’ album. And as if to compensate for such a long hibernation, he packs a good 16 tracks into this album. It would be difficult to really write about all the 16 tracks; nonetheless I have made an attempt here. These songs can be classified into 3 categories, and I will try to explain them accordingly. An in true MOUTHSHUT style, I rate each of the songs accordingly as HR, R, or SR
INVINCIBLE: The Pops/Fast Tracks
MJ hasn’t been called as ’king of pop’ without a reason and the justification shows in this album as well. Though the tracks take time to grow on you, they do make an impression.
Unbreakable
This is probably the best track in the album. The lyrics as usual mean nothing to the tune, but it’s the way it’s been sung. MJ features Notorious big on this track. The background beats of this song is great. Check out the pauses between beats at different levels of the song. The pauses add that dramatic effect to the song. HR
Heartbreaker
I don’t know what MJ tried to do here. But whatever he tried, the output is less from impressive. This track is pretty ordinary, and contains nothing to make it a hit. For that matter I don’t quite know why he composed this song in the first place! SR
Invincible
This track bears resemblance to his previous hit track ’dangerous’ from Dangerous. In-fact it’s the similarities which make the song likeable. One could argue that there isn’t such a novelty in the track, yet you will find getting used to it. And finally you begin to like it at as well! HR
2000 Watts
If you hear it without knowing MJ sung this song, you would probably think this was a NSYNC or Backstreet boys song. The beats are upbeat, and clearly this is meant to be a club song. I am damn sure that MJ is gonna make a superb video on this song. I think this song basically tries to jell with the today’s crowd by using the beats. R
Threatened
Again this song has its fair resemblance to ’Thriller’. Though its nowhere near thriller, nonetheless, it’s a good song. I am looking forward to the video of this song as well, as I am sure its gonna be great. Its become customary for MJ to include at-least one Ghost track in all albums, and for this album its Threatened. HR
You Rock my World
This is the song which he released first. Well, what can I write about the song! Though its far from what we would call a Jackson songs, its great! I am in love with this song. Add to that the video is cool, which will only help the song becoming a super hit song. The jazzy beats add to the effect, and tune is great as well. HR
INVINCIBLE: Ballads/love-songs/R & Bs
Break of Dawn
This song is sort of okay. Its your traditional type mushy, mushy song, which neither makes you happy nor makes you sad. Its just a ordinary song. SR
Heaven Can Wait
Another traditional ballad-love song. Jackson simply loses his way in this song. The tune is insipid, and so are the https://lyrics. Add to that the main chorus of the song, looks absolutely out of tune with the whole tune of the song. The tune begins well, but becomes a bore later on.SR .
Don’t walk away
Just when you feel that MJ has lost the love-touch to his songs, he comes up with this song. A proper love song, is beautiful to hear. The lyrics are quite okay, but it’s the way he sings this song. It reminds one of ’you are not alone’ from his previous album. This one is a great song to hear. HR
Speechless
This is another gem of a song. The lyrics are good too. Again, it’s the way MJ sings it makes the song even more rich to hear. Its definitely one of the smallest, yet one of the sz best song in the album. HR
You are My life
This song is good too, but this song also sounds so much like a NSYNC-Backstreet boys type of love song. Though it’s a good song, I would have preferred if MJ has stuck to his style or maybe MJ too decided to give the boy bands a run for their money by emulating them. Anyway, the song is good to hear. R
Whatever Happens
Though some might think this is a dance or a fast track, I still prefer to keep the song in this section. This time around, MJ collaborates with Carlos-Supernatural-Santana and effect is seen immediately. The song has the Santana stamp all over it, and sounds very similar to his other songs. MJ sings well, with some good guitar work by Santana in the background. The guitar though less, does make a impression in the song. HR
Butterflies
This song will sound horrid if you listen to it for the first time. However, over a period of time, this song grows on you, and finally you have to admit, it’s a great song. Check out MJ’s vocals in the song, and add to that some excellent beats in the song make this a great hear. Let me warn you, this song takes its own time to grow on you, but once there, this song remains! HR
INVINCIBLE: World Peace songs
Its now become customary for Jackson to include tracks on children, world peace, humans, et al! I think its time MJ should move away from such songs! Nonetheless here are the ones in this album.
Cry
MJ released this song on September 12th;I think it must be for a publicity thing. Its all about being united, world peace and blah blah. MJ gained good publicity by releasing this song immediately after the attacks, but I am not sure how this song helped him. The song is pretty okay, and sounds so much like his older world peace songs. He tries to do a ’earth song’ here but fails. SR
The lost children
MJ reaches his creative low with this song! This sounds so much like a nursery rhyme. The tune is good, but the lyrics fail it completely, and it ends up being a ordinary hymn song. MJ desperately tried making it sound like ’heal the world’ and ’we are the children’ but yet again fails completely. The song also features his children’s voices, but I don’t know why it was required in the song! SR
And lastly, there is a song which doesn’t belong to any of the categories:
Privacy
MJ has been on a ’privacy’ spree ever since he got involved with the kid molesting stuff. He first released ’Ghost’ trading against his enemies, and now again he comes up with another track ’privacy’. The song looks so much like as if it had been composed for Diana, but sadly the lady died before she could hear it. Its almost like MJ is pleading for his privacy, which I admit he must get. But I think the tune could have been improved, coz the song is not very impressive at all. SR
So finally lets see: I got 8 HR, 2 Rs and 6 SRs here!! thats a commendable effort! I was gonna rate this album 3 stars but then MJ sounds so much better than those Boy Bands, Britneys, Christina, Enriques, Nysncs and all others put together, and he truly remains as the king of pop, hence I gave it 4 stars! For a music lover, this album is simply a great buy!
Happy listening!