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Invincible [Picture Vinyl]
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Invincible [Picture Vinyl]
Current price: $12.99
Barnes and Noble
Invincible [Picture Vinyl]
Current price: $12.99
Size: CD
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Let's get the cliched bad joke out of the way to begin with: at the time
released
in the fall of 2001, he hardly seemed "invincible" -- it was more wishful thinking than anything else, since he hadn't really had a genuine hit in ten years, and even that paled in comparison to his total domination of the '80s. That lack of commercial success, combined with a fading reputation as a trailblazer, a truly ugly public scandal, and swirling rumors about his diminishing finances, along with a huge wait between albums (by teaming his
follow-up with a hits collection, it wound up being overlooked, despite a gaudy publicity push), resulted in
being deep down in the hole, needing to surge back out with a record that not only proved his talents, but his staying power. So, faced with a make-or-break record, what did
do to save his career? What he had done since
, take a turn toward the street and craft a hard-driving, hard-polished
album, heavy on the dance numbers and sweetened by lugubrious
. That's a proven formula for commercial success, but it didn't push his music forward, particularly when compared to the wildly rich, all-encompassing musical vision of
and
. Here, he is reined in by a desire to prove himself, so he keeps his focus sharp and narrow, essentially creating a sparkly, post-
update of
. However, the infectious joy and layered craft of that masterpiece have been replaced with a desire to craft something hip enough for the clubs and melodic enough for mainstream radio, thereby confirming his self-proclaimed status as the King of Pop. Since he is exceptionally talented and smart enough to surround himself with first-rate collaborators, this does pay off on occasion, even when it feels a little too calculated or when it feels a little padded. Ultimately, the record runs too long, losing steam halfway through, as it turns to a series of rants about
or a deadly stretch of uncomfortably treacly, sub-
songs about
or when he says that he can't change the world by himself on
Fortunately,
was clever enough to front-load this record, loading the first seven songs with really good, edgy dance numbers -- even the opening
isn't sunk by the creepy resurrection of
-- and lovely
, highlighted by
with its
-styled horns. Even if these are too self-conscious and a little mechanical, they still have a spark and sound better than anything
did since
. That's not enough to make
the comeback
needed -- he really would have needed an album that sounded free instead of constrained for that to work -- but it did offer a reminder that he could really craft good
. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine