Invincible (Michael Jackson album)
Invincible is the tenth and final studio album by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson, released on October 30, 2001, by Epic Records. The album features appearances from Carlos Santana, the Notorious B.I.G., Fats, and Slash. It incorporates R&B, pop, and soul, and similarly to Jackson's previous material, Invincible explores themes such as romance, isolation, and media criticism.
The creation of Invincible was expensive and laborious, featuring the work of ten record producers and over 100 musicians. Jackson started the multi-genre production in 1997 and did not finish until eight weeks before the album's release. With reported expenses of close to $30 million, it remains the most expensive album ever made. The lead single, "You Rock My World", was Jackson's final hit single during his career, as it reached number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 2002 Grammy Awards.
Invincible debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 363,000 copies. It also reached number 1 in thirteen other countries worldwide. Besides "You Rock My World", "Cry" was also released as a single, and "Speechless" and "Butterflies" were released as promotional singles. Invincible initially received average to negative reviews, becoming Jackson's most critically derided album. However, in retrospective reviews it has been viewed more positively, with praise for its musicality and production in particular.
In July 2002, following Sony's decision to abruptly end promotion for Invincible, Jackson openly condemned the CEO of Sony Music, Tommy Mottola. Jackson refused to tour to support the album, adding to the growing rift between him and Sony Music. Despite this, Invincible was certified double platinum in the US. The album has sold over 8 million copies globally. In 2009, the year of Jackson's death, Invincible was voted by online readers of Billboard as the best album of the 2000s.
Production
Prior to the release of Invincible, Jackson had not released any new material since the remix album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix in 1997; his last studio album was HIStory. Invincible was therefore viewed as Jackson's "career comeback".Jackson began recording new material in October 1997, and finished with "You Are My Life" being recorded only eight weeks before the album's release in October 2001 – the most extensive recording of Jackson's career. Most of the final album was written within the last year of production, with only "You Rock My World", "Privacy", "Break of Dawn", "Speechless" and "Cry" dating to an earlier period.
The tracks with Rodney Jerkins were recorded at the Hit Factory in Miami, Florida. Jackson had shown interest in including a rapper on at least one song, and had said that he did not want a "known rapper". Jackson's spokesperson suggested a New Jersey rapper named Fats; after Jackson heard the finished product of the song, the two agreed to record another song together for the album.
Rodney Jerkins stated that Jackson was looking to record material in a different musical direction than his previous work, describing the new direction as "edgier". Jackson received credit for both writing and producing a majority of the songs on Invincible. Aside from Jackson, the album features productions by Jerkins, Teddy Riley, Andre Harris, Andraeo "Fanatic" Heard, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, R. Kelly and Dr. Freeze Bill Gray and writing credits from Kelly, Fred Jerkins III, LaShawn Daniels, Nora Payne and Robert Smith. The album is the third collaboration between Jackson and Riley, the other two being Dangerous and Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix. Invincible is Jackson's tenth and final studio album to have been recorded and released during his lifetime. It reportedly cost $30 million to make the album, making it the most expensive album ever made.
Invincible was dedicated to the fifteen-year-old Afro-Norwegian boy Benjamin "Benny" Hermansen who was stabbed to death by a group of neo-Nazis in Oslo, Norway, in January 2001. The reason for this tribute was partly due to the fact that another Oslo youth, Omer Bhatti, Jackson's friend, was also a good friend of Hermansen. The dedication in the album reads, "Michael Jackson gives 'special thanks': This album is dedicated to Benjamin 'Benny' Hermansen. May we continue to remember not to judge a man by the color of his skin, but the content of his character. Benjamin... we love you... may you rest in peace." The album is also dedicated to Nicholette Sottile and Jackson's parents, Joseph and Katherine Jackson.
Music and lyrics
Invincible is an R&B, pop and soul record. The album's full length lasts over 77 minutes and contains 16 songs – fourteen of which were written by Jackson. It was noted that the album shifts between aggressive songs and ballads. Invincible opens with "Unbreakable"; the last line in the first verse recites the lyrics, "With all that I've been through/I'm still around". In a 2002 interview with the magazine Vibe, Jackson commented on his inspiration for writing "Speechless", saying:"Privacy", a reflection on Jackson's own personal experiences, is about media invasions and tabloid inaccuracies. "The Lost Children" is about imperiled children. Jackson sings in a third person in "Whatever Happens". The song's lyrics, described by Rolling Stone magazine as having a "jagged intensity", narrate the story of two people involved in an unnamed threatening situation. Invincible features four ballads: "You Are My Life", "Butterflies", "Don't Walk Away" and "Cry". "Cry", similar to Jackson's "Man in the Mirror", is about healing the world together. The lyrics to "Butterflies" and "Break of Dawn" were viewed as "glaringly banal" and it was implied that they could have been written by anyone. "Threatened" was viewed as being both a storyteller and a "Thriller redux". The song "You Are My Life" is about Jackson's two children at the time, Prince and Paris. The song features Jackson singing, "You are the sun, you make me shine, more like the stars."
Singles
The album spawned two official singles and three promotional singles, although all were given limited releases. "You Rock My World" was only released to radio airplay in the United States, consequently only peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Internationally, where it was released as a commercial single, it reached number one in France, number two in Norway, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, and the United Kingdom, number three in Italy, number four in Australia, and five in Sweden and Switzerland. The second single, "Cry", was not released in the United States. It was only moderately successful, with the song's most successful territories being Spain, Denmark, France, and Belgium, charting at number six, sixteen, thirty and thirty-one."Butterflies" was released in the United States only to radio airplay. It reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number two for five weeks on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Chart. A three-track commercial single of the song was scheduled for release on January 15, 2002, but its release was canceled. A remix of the song by Track Masters was released promotionally which features singer Eve. Jackson had reportedly wanted "Unbreakable" to be the album's first single, but it was ultimately only issued promotionally. The song peaked at number 62 on the Romanian Top 100 chart. "Heaven Can Wait" charted at number 72 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Chart due to radio airplay without an official release; the song did not chart internationally.
Promotion
It was reported that the album had a budget of twenty five million dollars set aside for promotion. Despite this, however, due to the conflicts between Jackson and his record label, little was done to promote the album. Unlike with Jackson's post-Thriller studio albums, there was no world tour to promote the album; a tour was planned, but canceled due to conflicts between Jackson and Sony, and the September 11 attacks There was, however, a special 30th Anniversary Celebration at Madison Square Garden in early September 2001 to mark Jackson's 30th year as a solo artist. Jackson performed "You Rock My World" and marked his first appearance onstage alongside his brothers since the Jacksons' Victory Tour in 1984. The show also featured performances by Britney Spears, Mýa, Usher, Whitney Houston, Tamia, Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, 98 Degrees, and Slash, among other artists. The show aired on CBS in November 2001 as a two-hour television special and was watched by 45 million viewers according to Nielsen.The album's promotion was met with trouble due to internal conflicts with Sony Music Entertainment and Jackson, largely based on his ownership stake within the company and the contract Jackson had originally signed with the label back in 1991. The issue stemmed back during the production of Invincible when Jackson learned that the rights to the masters of his past releases, which were supposed to revert to him after 1999, would be retained by Sony until the end of the decade. When Jackson consulted the lawyer who had negotiated his contract, he learned that the same lawyer was also working for Sony, revealing a conflict of interest of which Jackson was never aware. Not wanting to sign away his ownership to Sony Music Entertainment, Jackson elected to instead leave the company shortly after the album's release. After the announcement, Sony moved to cancel all promotional and marketing efforts for Invincible; this included stopping the release of a 9/11 charity single that Jackson had recorded.
In July 2002, Jackson publicly alleged that the CEO of Sony Music, Tommy Mottola, was a "devil" and a racist who used his African American artists only for personal gain. He accused Sony and the record industry of racism, deliberately not promoting or actively working against promotion of his album. Sony disputed claims that they had failed to promote Invincible with sufficient energy, maintaining that Jackson refused to tour in the United States.