Deleted member 9375
Guests
[FONT=&]Would like to discus[/FONT][FONT=&]s the MOV version of Invincible and encourage fans to hear it. [/FONT][FONT=&]
A short little intro[/FONT][FONT=&]
Like many fans of a certain vintage Invincible was always an album that seemed separate from everything else Michael Jackson did. For a start there were no innovative ground breaking short films, no record breaking world tour, no dazzling TV performances or exciting soft drink sponsorship promos with a series of flashy advertisements that excited the child in me. Even the album cover seemed flat; a graphicy pixelated unremarkable, neither photographed nor painted image. In short, it lacked colour; think of The Jackson’s Victory album sleeve and to a greater extent the tour; all those lights and costumes. Even the singles artwork lacked colour and drew from the album sleeve; black and white pixel images.
Apart from that, the Sony debacle isn’t even worth discussing. It was only something that added insult to injury and had nothing to do with the music that appeared on the album -or the music that didn’t appear -I will get to that-.
So it was with much trepidation –am I being dramatic enough?- that I sat down to listen to the MOV (Music on Vinyl) edition of Invincible. After hearing good things about it (Innuendo said it was good) I decided that it was worthy of a shot –and my girlfriend got it for me for Christmas!
Hearing Invincible for the first time
let me preface this by saying ‘if you have not heard Invincible on MOV then you haven’t heard Invincible! At least you haven’t heard ALL of Invincible.
So I took the vinyl out of the sleeve –which looks much better given the dimensions- and put on the player. Slowly put the needle on and waited over a light crackling sound for it to begin.
These notes are the briefest of brief. Just some scribbles I threw down whilst listening so much of it will be me saying the same thing, constantly delighted by my listening experience.
Unbreakable
Everything has an overall warmth –as does the entire album actually- and the individual sounds jump out –like 3D- that I’m not sure I’ve ever heard. The moment it hit me that it sounded better was about 2 minutes in.
Heartbreaker
Same as above. The vocals and sounds are all amazing and when the levels are played with and tweaked on the mixing desk it sounds fantastic.
Invincible
Invincible sounds like a different song! Again all the individual sounds pop giving more of an isolated 3D effect, and the vocals are glorious -as they are throughout the entire MOV album- and the lines “She’s in-vinca-ble” have a rhythmic quality about them that you simply don’t hear on the CD.
Break of Dawn
The warmness in sound lends itself to the dreamlike synths, and the Dr Freeze vocals on the chorus sound truly beautiful. What comes to mind listening to this is that there’s more of an r&b quality within the track –and the complete album- that’s buried and lost in the clunky CD mix. The compression on the CD completely chops off the top and bottom ends of tracks that are as traditionally multi layered in sound and texture as ANY previous MJ album. There is a truly classic r&b vibe/sound/style that shines trough. I’m just going to say it, its f#%king sensational and it’s like I’m hearing this track for the first time, which to a large extent, I am. Side -1 has me sitting with my mouth open in bewilderment “Was that really as good as I imagined??”
Heaven Can Wait
2 tracks that had always alluded me were the fan faves ‘Heaven Can Wait and Butterflies –I’ll get to that- and again here, the warmth in sound, the equal opportunity in being able to hear the vocals as crystal clear as the instrumentation brings this track to a higher level. The background vocals from Freeze & Que were something I never noticed or was allowed to hear on the CD. The something-different sound that the Dr Freeze (& Que here) vocals add to this, embellish the track in the same way they do on Break of Dawn and give it that r&b flavour that is so so lost on the horrible CD. The vocals are fantastic and 100 times more audible throughout and I can finally say I kind of like this song –Butterflies even more so-!
You Rock My World
The r&b piano sounds great, the backing orchestration blends and the layering is allowed to be as versatile as was intended; here everything allows the dynamics of all the tracks to blend, melt, groove and sizzle in a way that the compression completely destroys on the CD. The vocals don’t sound as separate from everything as they do on the CD, the warmness takes away that flat sound. The middle 8[SUP]th[/SUP] instrumental sounds gorgeous and lush sound of the melody is more evident.
Butterflies
As I’ve said, like Heaven Can Wait, I always found this one boring, and now I know why! The rushed last minute dot com mastering and horrible CD mix failed to reveal to a large extent an album that’s primary strength was an r&b flavour. Before listening to this MOV version I would –and still would- describe the CD as a loud nosey abrupt dance pop album. After listening to the MOV version I would describe it as a multi layered r&b pop album with a bit of soul here and there; the warmness, the centring of vocals, the allowing the instrumentation to soar and dip. There’s horns on this track –I think played on a synth- that lifts this entire track towards its climax; sounds a lot like the material Prince did around the time of 3121 and Musicology. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the horns, at least with this much clarity and it gives this track the late night jazz feel that by passed me in the past.
Speechless
This was always one of my favourites. After the opening a cappella the instrumental comes in less abruptly -I might be getting slightly carried away with my descriptions by this point- This almost sounds stripped back. It’s a great song anyway in my opinion. That’s the end of Side-2. Like Dangerous, Invincible works incredibly well on the vinyl format because the way the tracks are grouped together fits everything nicely onto its own side.
2000 Watts
I’ve always leaned towards liking this because at the very least it gave us something different. Whereas the CD –yes, that horrible clunky thing I think I’ve mentioned once or twice or trice- gave us loud, gave us nose, this gives us melody as now I can actually hear the keboards, the syths, the samples, the vocals. It’s gone from an almost industrially loud fairground ride to an actual pop record with dance elements with vocals you can hear and enjoy and understand. You can hear Teddy Riley’s backing vocals on this –I didn’t even know he sang on this-
You Are My Life
At one point –there were many throughout the entire album- I could hear something for the first time ever!!!
Privacy
Lyrical content aside, sonically it actually sounds really good here. I never realised that the camera sound was embedded as part of the rhythm throughout the track! To be able to hear the top and bottom ends of the vocals and music elevates everything. The guitar solo sounds great –if it had actually been Slash he would have been proud of it-
Don’t Walk Away
This was originally one of my faves. By this point I’m saying the same things over and over but it is great to hear everything that was actually recorded. The instrumentation is beautiful as are the vocals, throughout. Did I mention that? That the vocals are great throughout?
Cry
Harmonies sound great and you can properly hear the drums toward the end.
The Lost Children
The strings have much more depth and beautifully accentuate. There’s a lovely choir or syth layered with the kids singing and it brings the melody out even more. The instrumental is beautiful.
Whatever Happens
It was always good, now it’s great! Not sure I’ve ever really heard the “sha nah nah’s” near the end, at least not this clear. Thank you Carlos.
Threatened
You can hear so much more. It’s dynamic and a tad more melodic when you can actually hear the music in something.
In closing
Listening to a version of Invincible that’s so much more dynamic, so much more versatile, you have to wonder what on earth happened? My main gripe with the album has always been about the track sequencing -which admittedly work a little better on a double album with 4 sides- and the mastering and compression on CD. So much music is lost on the CD and the loudness ruins what should have been a more melodic and catchy pop/r&b album. The Music on Vinyl version of the album is the closest you’ll get to something that should have been mixed and mastered as good as everything that came before it. If you love this album you need to hear it this way and if you don’t love this album you need to hear it this way. I can’t recommend it enough really. Has it changed my mind? Yes, to a large degree it has. I just hope that someday it’s remastered and sounds as good as, if not even better than this. I won’t hold my breath though as I have zero faith in the current administration.
Not sure where I rate this album now, but it’s gone up in my estimation. [/FONT]
A short little intro[/FONT][FONT=&]
Like many fans of a certain vintage Invincible was always an album that seemed separate from everything else Michael Jackson did. For a start there were no innovative ground breaking short films, no record breaking world tour, no dazzling TV performances or exciting soft drink sponsorship promos with a series of flashy advertisements that excited the child in me. Even the album cover seemed flat; a graphicy pixelated unremarkable, neither photographed nor painted image. In short, it lacked colour; think of The Jackson’s Victory album sleeve and to a greater extent the tour; all those lights and costumes. Even the singles artwork lacked colour and drew from the album sleeve; black and white pixel images.
Apart from that, the Sony debacle isn’t even worth discussing. It was only something that added insult to injury and had nothing to do with the music that appeared on the album -or the music that didn’t appear -I will get to that-.
So it was with much trepidation –am I being dramatic enough?- that I sat down to listen to the MOV (Music on Vinyl) edition of Invincible. After hearing good things about it (Innuendo said it was good) I decided that it was worthy of a shot –and my girlfriend got it for me for Christmas!
Hearing Invincible for the first time
let me preface this by saying ‘if you have not heard Invincible on MOV then you haven’t heard Invincible! At least you haven’t heard ALL of Invincible.
So I took the vinyl out of the sleeve –which looks much better given the dimensions- and put on the player. Slowly put the needle on and waited over a light crackling sound for it to begin.
These notes are the briefest of brief. Just some scribbles I threw down whilst listening so much of it will be me saying the same thing, constantly delighted by my listening experience.
Unbreakable
Everything has an overall warmth –as does the entire album actually- and the individual sounds jump out –like 3D- that I’m not sure I’ve ever heard. The moment it hit me that it sounded better was about 2 minutes in.
Heartbreaker
Same as above. The vocals and sounds are all amazing and when the levels are played with and tweaked on the mixing desk it sounds fantastic.
Invincible
Invincible sounds like a different song! Again all the individual sounds pop giving more of an isolated 3D effect, and the vocals are glorious -as they are throughout the entire MOV album- and the lines “She’s in-vinca-ble” have a rhythmic quality about them that you simply don’t hear on the CD.
Break of Dawn
The warmness in sound lends itself to the dreamlike synths, and the Dr Freeze vocals on the chorus sound truly beautiful. What comes to mind listening to this is that there’s more of an r&b quality within the track –and the complete album- that’s buried and lost in the clunky CD mix. The compression on the CD completely chops off the top and bottom ends of tracks that are as traditionally multi layered in sound and texture as ANY previous MJ album. There is a truly classic r&b vibe/sound/style that shines trough. I’m just going to say it, its f#%king sensational and it’s like I’m hearing this track for the first time, which to a large extent, I am. Side -1 has me sitting with my mouth open in bewilderment “Was that really as good as I imagined??”
Heaven Can Wait
2 tracks that had always alluded me were the fan faves ‘Heaven Can Wait and Butterflies –I’ll get to that- and again here, the warmth in sound, the equal opportunity in being able to hear the vocals as crystal clear as the instrumentation brings this track to a higher level. The background vocals from Freeze & Que were something I never noticed or was allowed to hear on the CD. The something-different sound that the Dr Freeze (& Que here) vocals add to this, embellish the track in the same way they do on Break of Dawn and give it that r&b flavour that is so so lost on the horrible CD. The vocals are fantastic and 100 times more audible throughout and I can finally say I kind of like this song –Butterflies even more so-!
You Rock My World
The r&b piano sounds great, the backing orchestration blends and the layering is allowed to be as versatile as was intended; here everything allows the dynamics of all the tracks to blend, melt, groove and sizzle in a way that the compression completely destroys on the CD. The vocals don’t sound as separate from everything as they do on the CD, the warmness takes away that flat sound. The middle 8[SUP]th[/SUP] instrumental sounds gorgeous and lush sound of the melody is more evident.
Butterflies
As I’ve said, like Heaven Can Wait, I always found this one boring, and now I know why! The rushed last minute dot com mastering and horrible CD mix failed to reveal to a large extent an album that’s primary strength was an r&b flavour. Before listening to this MOV version I would –and still would- describe the CD as a loud nosey abrupt dance pop album. After listening to the MOV version I would describe it as a multi layered r&b pop album with a bit of soul here and there; the warmness, the centring of vocals, the allowing the instrumentation to soar and dip. There’s horns on this track –I think played on a synth- that lifts this entire track towards its climax; sounds a lot like the material Prince did around the time of 3121 and Musicology. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the horns, at least with this much clarity and it gives this track the late night jazz feel that by passed me in the past.
Speechless
This was always one of my favourites. After the opening a cappella the instrumental comes in less abruptly -I might be getting slightly carried away with my descriptions by this point- This almost sounds stripped back. It’s a great song anyway in my opinion. That’s the end of Side-2. Like Dangerous, Invincible works incredibly well on the vinyl format because the way the tracks are grouped together fits everything nicely onto its own side.
2000 Watts
I’ve always leaned towards liking this because at the very least it gave us something different. Whereas the CD –yes, that horrible clunky thing I think I’ve mentioned once or twice or trice- gave us loud, gave us nose, this gives us melody as now I can actually hear the keboards, the syths, the samples, the vocals. It’s gone from an almost industrially loud fairground ride to an actual pop record with dance elements with vocals you can hear and enjoy and understand. You can hear Teddy Riley’s backing vocals on this –I didn’t even know he sang on this-
You Are My Life
At one point –there were many throughout the entire album- I could hear something for the first time ever!!!
Privacy
Lyrical content aside, sonically it actually sounds really good here. I never realised that the camera sound was embedded as part of the rhythm throughout the track! To be able to hear the top and bottom ends of the vocals and music elevates everything. The guitar solo sounds great –if it had actually been Slash he would have been proud of it-
Don’t Walk Away
This was originally one of my faves. By this point I’m saying the same things over and over but it is great to hear everything that was actually recorded. The instrumentation is beautiful as are the vocals, throughout. Did I mention that? That the vocals are great throughout?
Cry
Harmonies sound great and you can properly hear the drums toward the end.
The Lost Children
The strings have much more depth and beautifully accentuate. There’s a lovely choir or syth layered with the kids singing and it brings the melody out even more. The instrumental is beautiful.
Whatever Happens
It was always good, now it’s great! Not sure I’ve ever really heard the “sha nah nah’s” near the end, at least not this clear. Thank you Carlos.
Threatened
You can hear so much more. It’s dynamic and a tad more melodic when you can actually hear the music in something.
In closing
Listening to a version of Invincible that’s so much more dynamic, so much more versatile, you have to wonder what on earth happened? My main gripe with the album has always been about the track sequencing -which admittedly work a little better on a double album with 4 sides- and the mastering and compression on CD. So much music is lost on the CD and the loudness ruins what should have been a more melodic and catchy pop/r&b album. The Music on Vinyl version of the album is the closest you’ll get to something that should have been mixed and mastered as good as everything that came before it. If you love this album you need to hear it this way and if you don’t love this album you need to hear it this way. I can’t recommend it enough really. Has it changed my mind? Yes, to a large degree it has. I just hope that someday it’s remastered and sounds as good as, if not even better than this. I won’t hold my breath though as I have zero faith in the current administration.
Not sure where I rate this album now, but it’s gone up in my estimation. [/FONT]