An Invincible Return

Invincible(adj): Incapable of being overcome or defeated; unconquerable.

The title of this album sums up the album perfectly. Michael Jackson's first album in 6 years. His first full album of all new material since 1991's Dangerous. The anticipation of this album has been killing us loyal Michael Jackson fans for years, and finally, we are given what we've been waiting for. Whereas Off The Wall was a disco album, Thriller a pop, Bad a pop-rock, Dangerous a rock-r&b-pop album, HIStory being an open forum for his aggression and anger, and Blood On the Dance Floor being a remix album, INVINCIBLE is introduced as a pop-hiphop-dance style album.

Let me explain what exactly that means. Most of the songs on this album will make you want to get up and dance. Even the slow songs on this album have a good groove to them. I'm not much of a lyrics guy myself, I'm a fan of good music, and how the artist makes his or her voice mix with that of the sounds. But when it comes to Michael Jackson, he actually has some good things to say. The tracks and descriptions:

1. Unbreakable - About him being Unbreakable; Tells how hes been through so much and how you can't "break him" or hurt him, and that he'll always be around. An upbeat tune, one of the best on this album.
2. Heartbreaker - A woman who is basically a big tease. An upbeat song...a little too repetitive, It's OK.
3. Invincible - A woman who he begs to get, but she won't "give into him"; she's invincible. Upbeat song, Very Good. A Favorite.
4. Break of Dawn - He doesn't want the sun to shine, he just wants to make love. A slow groove, one of my favorites.
5. Heaven Can Wait - "Tell the angels no, I don't want to leave my baby alone". Slow song, Very good.
6. You Rock My World - The first single, great song, a lot of energy. Very Good.
7. Butterflies - He describes what a particular woman does to him inside when she's not around, and how he feels when she keeps him guessing. Slow groove. Another Favorite.
8. Speechless - A classic sounding slow song, quiet in terms of not much of a hard background sound. Good.
9. 2000 Watts - A seemingly odd, pointless song; its about playing music really loud. "2000 Watts, 8 Ohms, 200 Volts, Real Strong, be careful what you say don't overload". You won't recognize MJ on this one he's got the LOW voice goin. Nice Work. Upbeat. Good song.
10. You Are My Life - A woman who is his life....once alone, now he's happy with her. Slow song. Good.
11. Privacy - very HIStory like, about people trying to find stories to "bring him down"...its aggressive, Upbeat. It's passable.
12. Don't Walk Away - About a woman walking away, and hes trying to convince her to stay. Slow. Good.
13. Cry - "You Can Change the world...I can't do it by myself". One of the best on the album, slow-upbeat (in between) groove. I've talked to a few people, read a little, this is a favorite by many, including me.
14. The Lost Children - about praying for children who are missing in the world, and wishing them well. Slow song. Good.
15. Whatever Happens - featuring SANTANA!!! Awesome song. Maybe the best on the album. About a man who works all the time, day and night, and a girl who prays that he doesn't let go of her hand. Santana's guitar work is excellent. Excellent Song, Very Santana influenced.
16. Threatened - I LOVE this one. This song is upbeat and uses clips of Rod Serling from "The Twilight Zone"...maybe now is a good time to mention how much I love the Twilight Zone. But irregardless of that fact, its very well put together. Rod Serling RAPS about half way through....keep in mind he died in 1975. They piece slips from the show and its sounds great. MJ claims hes some kind of supernatural being, he's everywhere. Awesome song.

Basically, the only song I don't really like is "Privacy" because I think the whole anger at the media has kinda gone down. Its a broken up song that is just like HIStory stuff...and to tell you the truth, I didn't like those kinds of songs at all from HIStory. They still attack him, yes, but HIStory dealt with all of that, and we lived with that album for 6 years....thats enough.

A very important thing to know about this album is that it sounds like classic MJ. I think its got an "Off The Wall" feeling to it, but with a completely modern feeling.

My favorites are Unbreakable, Invincible, Break of Dawn, Heaven Can Wait, You Rock My World, Butterflies, 2000 Watts, Cry, Whatever Happens, and Threatened.

Maybe you are wondering WHERE exactly fits in and compares with the other albums in the MJ catalogue. Well, I consider Thriller to be at the top, just because of its history, so not counting Thriller, I put Dangerous and Bad on the top. I HONESTLY THINK THAT Invincible fits in there with those two. Its hard to rank MJ's albums. But this one has some definite classics on it.

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT ALBUM BY THE KING. BUY IT NOW!!!