Michael Jackson
Invincible

"Invincible": or Michael Jackson's last album and the final attempt to still represent the very best of celebrities within a musical landscape in full evolution, where transformation, renewal, novelty, and change are the key words.

It's 2001, and Jackson, having abandoned the "me against the world" phase started in 1995 with HIStory, especially against the media, guilty of his alleged image decline, releases "Invincible", an anticipated work heralded by the single "You Rock My World". Unlike Jackson's previous albums, "Invincible" intends to pursue a more intimate and profound self-analysis in a less bombastic manner and with a much less angry tone, characteristics instead salient of the post-scandal 1993 phase.

The album can be conceived as an extreme, desperate attempt at musical and artistic renewal in a new music biz, drastically different from the times of "Thriller", "Dangerous", and "Bad", a often paradoxical situation where iconic figures are overshadowed by boys and especially girls not yet of age who, thanks to extremely simple songs, manage to attract a vast audience, mainly young people, to whom the music industry now seems to cater (Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera...).

The attempt at musical renewal, however, only partially succeeds: although almost shelving the New Jack Swing style, a genre that was the basis of the tracks of "Dangerous" and also "HIStory", Jackson seems incapable, at least in the more danceable and rhythmic songs, of detaching from his melodic tradition. It is true, there is an attempt to go beyond the usual r'n'b everyone knows, an effort to embrace an urban sound, in full development at the time, yet tracks like "Unbreakable" (with rap by Notorious B.I.G.), "Threatened", "Privacy" (again against the media), "Heartbreaker" and "2000 Watts", although quite catchy and danceable, do not dare beyond, do not surpass expectations. On the contrary, that sense of renewal is felt in the ballads, in lighter and mellower songs, where a new style of pop-r'n'b-urban-soul compared to previous releases can be heard: "Break of Dawn" and "Heaven Can Wait" are refined examples of melodic r'n'b, as are also "Butterflies" and "Whatever Happens", where the King Of Pop is aptly accompanied by the famous Santana’s guitar. Among the ballads, "Speechless" should be mentioned, which in its intensity surpasses similar melodies like "Cry" and "You Are My Life", perhaps overly sweet.

"You Rock My World" deserves special mention, the first single (even though Jackson actually intended to choose "Unbreakable" as the first release). While the track may not be listed among Michael's great masterpieces, it is tasty, danceable, engaging in itself, perhaps the track on the album where he performs with the most assurance and confidence. The song’s video, known as the last short film in which Jackson appears, is of pure Jacksonian craftsmanship: more than 10 minutes long, intended as a mini-film, although the plot is weaker compared to the concepts of "Black Or White", "Bad", "Thriller" and "Smooth Criminal". Nevertheless, the presence of celebrities like Marlon Brando, a classic feature of Jackson's videos, prevents the short film's stylistic downfall, set in a seedy club where Michael Jackson once again demonstrates his dance talent and vigor, throwing glass bottles against walls, defeating thugs...

The album itself is enjoyable and engaging but it is necessary to note an important flaw: the extreme length of the tracks, which often start after long and exhausting introductions.

Although the work itself commercially represents a milder success compared to previous works (mainly due to a dispute with the record label that prevented massive promotion of the record), having totaled more than 10 million copies, it showed the world the last Michael Jackson before new scandals that would completely overwhelm him, a Jackson still able to show the public that ancient vigor that seemed lost forever, even if it would be an ephemeral illusion.