Opinions on every track.... Invincible

Invincitroll.

I'm also grateful we have it, rather the ending on a rather unpleasant (yet superior) note with the dark songs of BOTDF. I appreciate what he wanted to show with the album and I actually consider it to be a "spiritual sequel" of Dangerous regardless of what I think of the songs themselves.

If he didn't release it this and every other MJ board would have closed as inactive in 2012.

Yes I got a spiritual vibe from some of it too. I do wish he lived long enough to complete the album he was working on. At least we have hold my hand. I would have loved to hear what ne yo and even the douchbag John legend came up with for him

These 10 came out on top!

Unbreakable
Break of Dawn
Heaven Can Wait
You Rock My World
Butterflies
Speechless
Don’t Walk Away
Cry
Whatever Happens
Threatened

Ask and you shall receiveth. 

Unbreakable
Of the three opening tracks this is probably the best one. I think one of my initial issues with this album was that I felt the uptempo’s lacked warmth at various points; strings, acoustic guitars, synths etc. When the synths -and MJ’s very lush background layered vocals do come in- we do get a bit of that melodic warmth and a little more of the melody which lifts it all up. I like it. It’s not Startin’ Somethin’ or Jam but of this new style it’s great in my opinion. 9/10

Heartbreaker
My three main issues with Invincible can all be summed up on the opening three tracks; poor mixing, poor mastering and poor track sequencing. It’s a little too hard edged after Unbreakable. I think its a decent track buried beneath its mechanics. The sliding in and out vocals are actually nice if not a little abrupt -I get what they were going for- and as butterflies2 says, it’s got that lovely bridge that plays off the verses beautifully. I just wish that the track(s) was stripped back of a lot of the generic sound effects and the melody was brought more to the fore with strings and acoustic guitar layering because there’s a lovely melody in there, somewhere. 8/10 [update] I’m listening to this now and it’s actually really good. I’ve added a point and reserve the right to change my thoughts and scores on a regular and ongoing basis.

Invincible
Everything I said about the previous two can be applied to this. The tracks are at a disadvantage because of their hard boiled overproduction and they’re done a disservice because they’re all stuck together. And at the same time I like all three for their potential and the ideas buried way down. All this one needed was MJ, an acoustic guitar and some lite keyboard flourishes. It makes the opening 3 tracks one long over extended collage of outdated sound effects and takes from the initial impact of Unbreakable. 6/10

Break Of Dawn
Wonderful. The verse draws you in and the chorus explodes in to neon technicolour. It’s full of harmony and has that catchy melodic hook that you want from a great MJ track. I constantly see fans knock the backing vocals because it’s Doctor Freeze, but for me his vocals are part of what makes the track work so well -MJ’s vocals play off his wonderfully and the sound is modern and fresh, but in a more subtle way than the over production of the opening trio. To me this has shades of classic MJ. It’s vintage yet modern. 10/10

Heaven Can Wait
I’m sure it’s a great smooth slow jam of an r&b track. I’m constantly reading how incredible it is but it’s just never done anything for me personally. I’ve always found it to be a meandering yawnfest of a bore that doesn’t really go anywhere and with no real chorus. I just can’t connect with. 2/10

You Rock My World
Brilliant. One of a handful of truly great standout moments on the album. My only criticism is that gawd awful spoken intro with Chris Rock tacked on to the front of it. It’s amusing and slightly funny the first time you hear it and then it quickly becomes stale cheese that grates on you for the rest of eternity. But wonderful track that’s sprinkled with that MJ stardust. 10/10

Butterflies
A really good jazzy throwback to Off The Wall/Thriller. I like the way it builds musically and it’s a really decent album track. It’s not one I particularly reach for on its own, but I always enjoy it when I hear it within the context of the album. 7/10

Speechless
For me, this is one of the absolute standout moments. A track that only Michael Jackson could create. Wrapped up in sentimentality MJ manages to pull meaning from every single word. For me tracks like this are the difference between what separates a fan from a nonfan, because quite simply these types of syrupy sentimental songs are part of MJ’s spirit and his whole identity. They’re hymns with healing qualities that MJ sends out into the world to effect positive change, emotions and love. It’s MJ tapping into his spirituality and reminding us what truly matters in life. If you’re not a fan this is way too much. If you are a fan then you’ll have a moment. 10/10

2000 Watts
I’ve been very positive about it in the past, but ultimately it’s not worthy of being an album track. It would have had more value if it had been a B-side and given fans an insensitive to buy a CD single. Yes it’s different but at most it’s a novelty track and should have been used in such a way. There’s already too much sound effects on this album and this is overload. This is an example of MJ trying too hard to fit in to what was current and putting too many ideas on to an album that’s disjointed. 3/10

You Are My Life
Another one that’s always been a personal favourite but perhaps a little too much on an album that also contains Speechless and The Lost Children? I love it and for the same reasons I love all of these over-the-top sentimental Disney moments. MJ simply has an ability to extract meaning from every syllable and directly plug into your heart. 9/10

Privacy
I have Nigel to thank for my appreciation and enjoyment of this one. I still think it’s in parody and caricature territory but it somehow manages to do the trick of being so crazy it’s almost great in a weird sort of way. I picture Corey Feldman performing it with a deadly serious face and a hundred percent conviction in his eyes. 6/10

Don’t Walk Away
It’s nice and I like it, but it’s been done before. It’s got that beautiful warm acoustic guitar and as others have said it’s reminiscent of The Jackson’s late 70’s period. It’s not Man In the Mirror but it’s not Cry either. 7/10

Cry
It’s not Man In The Mirror but it’s not Don’t Walk Away either! But….. given that I’m amusing the inner nutjob screwball MJ fan within me, I really like it. Not sure what I mean by any of that. He’d done it to death and Man In The Mirror -see Moonwalker performance- was life changing. It could never live up to that absolute zenith billing but I still really like it for its Michael Jacksoness. 7/10

The Lost Children
Just when you thought he couldn’t confuse you, he’d fuck you up by trying to amuse you! Dazzle you and bemuse you!
At this point one is left feeling a little confused and wondering if the album is one long nervous breakdown. I like the song, sentiment, idea, but it’s preceded by so many ups and downs that almost throws you a bit due to it being so left of field yet completely Michael Jackson. Maybe it’s even a little too Michael Jackson. Maybe save it for a collect-ten-tokens-and-send-off-for-the-most-Michael Jackson -sounding-thing-you’ve-ever-heard-that-it’s-even-too-much-for-Michael Jackson! 6/10

Whatever Happens
It’s 2001, it’s the era of Carlos Santana’s Supernatural album, it’s Latin vibes everywhere, it’s senorita’s I feel for you, it’s the sun setting in Memphis Tennessee and all that whole vibe. This could have probably tapped into that whole scene and been a possible standout moment for MJ on the charts and radio. It’s arguably the one that got away the most from this era and a missed opportunity. 8/10

Threatened
An absolute trip of a track! It’s fun, it’s modern, it’s supernatural subject is intriguing and what you want from your MJ. The bright Latiny sounds on the keyboards occasionally remind me of the dance track Sunchyme by Dario G that was a massive summer hit in Ireland -an I’m sure the UK and across Europe- at the time. The Rod Sterling spoken intro is wonderful and gives the track as sense of wistful intrigue. One of the best. I’m completely miss-using the word “wistful” in the wrong context but I liked pairing it up with “intrigue” and wanted to use it. If the Japanese can misuse words all the time then so can I! 10/10

aazzaabb - That is the best thing you've ever written on this board. So many gems to unpack.



I love this. Beautifully put. This describes exactly how I feel when listening to Speechless. Nail on head. My brother is a "casual" MJ fan - he loves a lot of his stuff but always says he "can't stomach" songs like Speechless, Childhood, Heal The World, even WYBT. For me, I feel he's missing out on the spirituality in these songs. If anyone else performed these kind of songs in earnest, it would be a total cheesefest. But MJ pulls it off, because you know it's utterly, utterly sincere and he channels it from a truly spiritual place imho. MJ fans know what I'm talking about.



Yes, that's my main gripe with this song. I swing between enjoying it and feeling as if it's too throwaway for a place on an MJ album. A b-side would've made so much more sense. What on earth are Xscape and Hollywood Tonight doing on the cutting room floor and he puts this on this album? Madness.



Haha. It's funny because it's true. Brilliant stuff.

All in all, I pretty much agree with everything you put, although I'd rate The Lost Children higher, YAML lower and I adore Heaven Can Wait. The rest is bang on.

I already wrote my opinion on a French Michael Jackson forum. So I'm posting it here too, fully translated by Google Translate because my level of English is between A2 and B1 :')



Umbreakable: I like the tempo and the synth but the mechanical noise behind it in the background leaves me perplexed. I don't like choirs at all, oskour. The lyrics are powerful and effective and the tune is good but the song is long and the vocals in the background are limited. The bridge is super cool, the rap is pretty good. I like the brokenness of the song and the ending but I'm not a fan of the fade out for such a glitchy song. Nice and musical piece although confusing in the end. It's not my favorite even though it's quite nice.


Heartbreaker: The effect at the beginning gives me the impression that someone is vomiting (I prefer to clarify that it is not the song that makes you want to vomit but that the sound at the beginning conveys an image of a man vomiting) , this unpleasant sound effect is present in the rest of the song but will be less audible as soon as Mike starts singing. The trio Invincible, Umbreakable and Heartbreaker are a bit similar, of the three I prefer Umbreakable so I wouldn't be very very kind to the two songs that follow.
The subject of this song is still seen again and again. Then it's Michael the heartbreaker, not the girls who run after him finally Michael, not good to reverse the roles xD
More seriously, this piece is not very good. Another meh rap.
Too many effects that clutter the song. I feel like my phone is bugged.
Average as a piece.

Invincible: Well, the dig at Prince is not nice x)
Nice piece, nothing more. Very mechanical but sparingly. Another rap at the end, these three pieces are definitely brothers.

Break of Dawn: This song has a common ancestor with Hakuna Matata!
I love this song, it reminds me of Human Nature in the style, the soft and calm rhythm.
Each instrument is well tuned, beautiful production.


Heaven Can Wait: I love this track, unlike Phildaar, I appreciate the backing vocals that aren't from Michael for once, it's cool!
I really like the tempo, the instruments. It's an exception to the music that is from the 2000s. I like the lyrics and the angelic side of electro RnB.
Michael's voice is cute.
I'm more of a fan of the chorus than the verses, unlike Oka Liptus. I like the second verse with the choirs, it gives a very nice effect.
Michael's voice is very strong, very powerful!
One of my favorite tracks from the album.
Not a fan of Michael's repetitive "Dah". The ending is very poetic, Michael's voice is deeper.


You Rock My World: I don't like the music video.
Okay, so it is said. But every time I hear this song, I see the clip in my head, which I find bland. But the music itself is not bad but very lame (another love story).
The intro is funny with Chris and Michael.


Butterflies: There's a version of this song where two sisters sing it. Not a fan of the autotune on Michael's voice. Michael is in the treble, it doesn't always work, not very much here. In Smooth Criminal it works but not here.
I like the trumpets/trombones/horns on this song at one point. Nice fade at the end.
Very pretty piece, very calm and has its effect. Basically I love it.


Speechless: I like this song, it's very beautiful. Michael's voice is very lyrical. The coordination of the pieces is good, this should be highlighted. We are in the "magnificent" part of the album with songs that seem to come straight from a dream.
The beginning is gentle, the ending is very powerful. More successful than You Are Not Alone for me.
Special mention for Michael's voice at the very end which breaks under emotion and becomes shrill. My little kokoro is melting...


2000 Watts: We're off to a strong start. I love this song which I find very powerful, the instrumentals are well chosen and the tempo is electrifying. The effects complete the electric side of the piece. I really like this title. Only downside: Michael's altered voice which gives too deep an intonation spoils the piece. I like the chorus too. Not a fan of fading for this song.


You Are My Life: A cute song for Michael's babies. I really like the sweetness of the song. The ending is very beautiful. But the subject of the song is a little bland, too full of sugar.
To give you an image of how I see this song:




Privacy: I like the intro which demonstrates his celebrity. I'm not a huge fan of the song because of Michael's voice which I don't like. It's actually nice, I like the camera flashes. But I like the song even if the tempo is very slow.
yeh yeh.


Don't Walk Away: I don't really like this song, very slow, very soft. It's good but it's not one of my favorites.

Cry: No comment.

The Lost Children: I like this song, it's nice even if it's very slow. Childish noises are cute. I don't have much more to say.

Whatever Happens: This song is a masterclass! Michael comes out of his cocoon with this song.
Ooh, Shanananana!


Threatened: I love this track, a real gem! The lyrics are creepy, well written. I really like the instrumental, the tempo is not bad. Michael's voice is good (I only criticize his voice on the previous songs). The spoken intro is also a great idea! Flat: Michael who takes the role of the “monster”? What?
I love this song too!
On the other hand, to finish the album, it is a little too violent. I would have reversed with Whatever Happens.


That's my opinion ^^