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RussTCB

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I think there was a lot of record company pressure on MJ at the time to deliver something modern and updated, but really, much of the work he did with Rodney Jerkins was uninspired.

It's crazy to think that songs like We've Had Enough and Hollywood Tonight were left on the cutting room floor, when they are two of the strongest cuts recorded around this era. Invincible would be a much better album if they had replaced dross like Don't Walk Away and Privacy with these two tracks.

To me, this would've been a brilliant album, with no filler:

1. Unbreakable

2. Hollywood Tonight

3. Heaven Can Wait

4. Butterfies

5. You Rock My World

6. Heartbreaker

7. Speechless

8. We've Had Enough

9. Xscape

10. Whatever Happens

11. The Lost Children

12. Threatened

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Yeah, Speechless is definitely one of the more inspired ones on Invincible. No coincidence that it is one of only two tracks on the album that he wrote without outside songwriters/producers. MJ always did his best work alone (Billie Jean anyone?).

Edited by Towelie
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Man o man, honestly how can you all defend that turd of an album? By comaprision CD is a freaking masterpiece compared to Invinciable. I am as big of an MJ fan as they come, but really that album is not very good. Once the calanders turned to the 2000's, MJ's time was over. I know that is hard for you all to realize, but it's true. Age, fame, stress, pressure, whatever, they all finally caught up to him. I was actually a little happy for him that he died (because he could finally have some peace). Don't misunderstand me, I was not happy he died, I was just releaved for him. Being Michael Jackson no longer looked fun. Ya he looked like he was having fun back in the 80's, maybe even in the 90's some what as well, but not in the 2000's. Too many plastic surgury operations, too many law suits, too many accusations, too much MJ. He just seemed like a really sad, broken man. I was happy for him when he stopped making music and just was being a father. His biggest mistake was trying to make a comeback, he should have just stayed retired. When you watch This is it, you can tell he is no longer the same performer he used to be, he was weak.

I say these things as a massive MJ fan, but they are true. He was in his fat Elvis stage. I didn't like seeing him like that, I would much rather remember the MJ from the 80's or early 90's. At least in death, he has peace, and he has some respect. He wouldn't have gotten any respect if he was still alive. Honestly I feel the same way about Axl now. He needs to reunite with the old band, or call it a career as well. The next NUgnr album will probably be a lot like MJ's Invinciable, not very good. It will be looked at as the moment when the once mighty (MJ or Axl) is no longer mighty. It's like when Mike Tyson lost to Kevin Mcbride. The fall is complete. I have no desire to see Axl do that, just reunite, tour the world, maybe release one more classic band album, tour some more, than retire. Anything else is just folly, sad but true.....

Edited by Mike420
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Comparing Invincible to Chinese Democracy in an effort to show how bad it is won't work with me since I love CD. To me it's an amazing album. However none of us in this thread have said Invincible was an amazing album. All we've said is that it does have some good tracks on it. It is my least favorite MJ solo album (that he released as an adult) but calling it a turd of an album is exaggerating imo. Look at these pop acts who were out there at the time of Invicible's release, most of them sucked so hard and to me Invincible will always beat their shit albums. Yes, Invincible may not be great for MJ standards but for pop music standards it still beats most of the stuff out there. It's cool that you don't like it but I disagree with basically everything you said in your post.

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I did compare CD to Invincible for a moment, but really I was comparing CD 2 to Invincible. HIStory is the album that I compare to CD. But my main point is that MJ was on a downward trend with his albums. Each one was steadily becoming worse that the previous one, same could be said about gnr (hence the comparision).

If you like that Invincible, than good for you. But for me, it is at best 5/10 (and even that is being gracious). HIStory was a very good album (not great imo) but a very solid showing by MJ imo. Blood on the dancefloor's original tracks were all great, the remixs don't do much for me tbh, but the new tracks carry that album. So imo, HIStory is a solid 7.5/10, BOTDF 7/10, Invincible 5/10. So yes each album was slightly worse than the previous one. That is more or less how I feel about a possible CD2, I feel very strongly that it will be similiar yet inferior to CD. So like MJ, Axl will also be on a downward spiral. (For the record Illusion1 8.7/10, Illusion2 8.5/10, TSI 7/10, CD 8/10).

But beyond all of that, his mental well being was just not very strong. As a human being, I was worried about him. Like I said, he just didn't seem that healthy, being MJ had caught up with him. I just wish he stayed retired, raised his kids, lived a semi normal life....

Just so we are clear, my gnr and Mj album rankings:

MJ

off the wall 9.5/10

thriller 10/10

bad 9/10

dangerous 8.5/10

HIStory 7.5/10

Blood 7/10

Invincible 5/10

GNR

appetite 10/10

Lies 8.3/10

illusion1 8.7/10

illusion2 8.5/10

tsi 7/10

CD 8/10

CD2 (even without hearing it, I believe it will be in the 6 or 7 out of 10 range. Which isn't bad, but a long way from the solid albums of yesterday.)

Edited by Mike420
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If he'd had a choice he'd have stayed retired. He was in debt, he had no choice but to perform these shows.

First he signed on for 10 shows (I got tickets to the second show) and then all of a sudden it was 50 shows which was just crazy. According to people who talked to MJ he felt tricked into doing the 50 shows, he only wanted to do the 10. All of this stress and anxiety over this led to him not being able to sleep which led to Dr. Murray and we all know what happened from there. The whole thing just makes me so sad. He just wanted to be left in peace to raise his children and now his children have been without him for almost 5 years.

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Did anyone on here see MJ perform live?

Yup. Saw him on the History tour at the old Wembley Stadium. Best concert I've ever been to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmMk3pAnAI4

First single from Xscape, recorded in '83

Meh.

Didn't rate the demo and I don't particularly rate the spruced up version. I see what they're going for, but it's just a blatant attempt to cash in on the success of Pharell and Daft Punks recent hit.

Still looking forward to the album though.

Edited by Towelie
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmMk3pAnAI4

First single from Xscape, recorded in '83

I was nervous about this but I really, really love it! Been listening to it al morning. I'm definitely buying the album now.

There's a version with Justin Timberlake on vocals along with Michael too.

Edited by RocketQueen1985
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My problem with it is that they've tried REALLY hard to make it sound professional and fleshed out, but the vocals still sound like a half-assed demo. It doesn't mesh well.

It's like they took a track he recorded in the shitter and tried to make a legit single out of it.

Edited by bacardimayne
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I always loved his vocals on the demo :shrugs: On the chorus especially his vocals are strong imo. On the verses it's more relaxed but I feel like it gives the song a good flow. But that's just my opinion.

I'm going out now but later I'll check the MJ forums and see what the other fans feel about it.

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I'd never heard that demo before so for me it's fresh. I agree that they're pretty much just trying to cash in on the Daft Punk success. The clip I heard last night reminded me of Can You Feel It, but listening to the whole track doesn't give me that vibe at all.

Shit. I may end up buying Xscape now.

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I think they are going about this all wrong by taking demos and adding lots of stuff and releasing them as a 'new Michael Jackson album'. It might have been better if they had just put out the demos, as they stand, as an archive release.

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I think they are going about this all wrong by taking demos and adding lots of stuff and releasing them as a 'new Michael Jackson album'. It might have been better if they had just put out the demos, as they stand, as an archive release.

They are releasing the demos. They are on the deluxe edition of the album.

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I think they are going about this all wrong by taking demos and adding lots of stuff and releasing them as a 'new Michael Jackson album'. It might have been better if they had just put out the demos, as they stand, as an archive release.

They are releasing the demos. They are on the deluxe edition of the album.

That is good to hear; I would be more interested in those than some, interpolated, recording.

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