Michael Jackson, Invincible
Featured Album
Quick: name one song from this album. Even the most ardent pop fans would have trouble — and for good reason. Nothing on Invincible sticks. One sign of trouble from the start: You'll find the most crowded songwriting credits on any Jackson disc of his adult career, indicating its over-thought, over-worked nature. The beats on the disc — many of which were created by Rodney Jerkins — seem even more mechanical than the ones Teddy Riley devised for “Dangerous.” On top of that, the songs that Jerkins and so many others penned seem like flat re-workings of pieces we've heard from the star before. At one point, (the finale, “Threatened”) Jackson drags in an old Rod Serling voice-over to try and revive the commercial ka-ching of Vincent Price's turn on “Thriller.”
Even Jackson's voice seems to have diminished. He sounds uncomfortably pinched, perhaps as a result of his apparent nose and facial work. The result brings to mind an actress who has pulled her face so tight she's incapable of her greatest and most necessary asset: expression.
Fortunately, Jackson's last CD needn't have the final say on his work: we can look to the peak of his catalogue for that — a record of achievement that stands ready to be spun and savored wherever we wish.
