Most underrated MJ’s work

[MAQ]

It was not a video for a comeback.

Also, I expected something more innovative & inspired, especially on the threshold of a new millennium…

Maybe Mike didn't want it to be a comeback album? He normally takes a 4-5 year break between all of his albums. It's pretty normal for him (except for OTW-Thriller and HIStory-BOTD). So maybe it wasn't intended to be a comeback album with a comeback video. As I said before, it was a laid back album much like Off the Wall with two albums jammed into one CD. If you look at it from that angle.

Michael didn't need to establish himself as the King of Pop. He already was, and the 2000s was supposed to be a decade where he could relax and enjoy the fruit of his efforts. Instead, the media turned it to be some sort of ceremony for his "return". And when the album came out, the critics labelled it as a failure of a comeback album. Did Michael actually say that it was a comeback? No! "This Is It" was supposed to be a comeback, after an absence from the Music business for around 7 - 8 years.

To enjoy it, take Invincible as an album; not as a sort of 'reclaiming-the-throne' album. As is evident in the first and last track, Michael is aware of his undeniable celebrity status and that he doesn't need to prove himself anymore - he's been doing that for 3 decades. His figures speak for him: best selling album, best selling new jack swing album, best selling double album, best selling remix album, highest grossing concerts, best selling international artist.

He might as well do whatever the eff he wants. Without any good promotion Invincible still sold 5 million copies worldwide in 5 weeks. I hope you get what I'm trying to say

 

[MAQ]

Oh and yes, Unbreakable was supposed to be the first single of Invincible, but Sony put it down so...

 

[analogue]

Oh and yes, Unbreakable was supposed to be the first single of Invincible, but Sony put it down so...

That shows that ''The suits'' don't always know what's best.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Maybe Mike didn't want it to be a comeback album? He normally takes a 4-5 year break between all of his albums. It's pretty normal for him (except for OTW-Thriller and HIStory-BOTD). So maybe it wasn't intended to be a comeback album with a comeback video. As I said before, it was a laid back album much like Off the Wall with two albums jammed into one CD. If you look at it from that angle.

Michael didn't need to establish himself as the King of Pop. He already was, and the 2000s was supposed to be a decade where he could relax and enjoy the fruit of his efforts. Instead, the media turned it to be some sort of ceremony for his "return". And when the album came out, the critics labelled it as a failure of a comeback album. Did Michael actually say that it was a comeback? No! "This Is It" was supposed to be a comeback, after an absence from the Music business for around 7 - 8 years.

To enjoy it, take Invincible as an album; not as a sort of 'reclaiming-the-throne' album. As is evident in the first and last track, Michael is aware of his undeniable celebrity status and that he doesn't need to prove himself anymore - he's been doing that for 3 decades. His figures speak for him: best selling album, best selling new jack swing album, best selling double album, best selling remix album, highest grossing concerts, best selling international artist.

He might as well do whatever the eff he wants. Without any good promotion Invincible still sold 5 million copies worldwide in 5 weeks. I hope you get what I'm trying to say

That “return” (or comeback) attitude originated from MJ & his closest environment.

Here are two examples:

"It looks like we're gonna be working this February, which will make it a year. But, it's all worth it, the whole year, because the stuff that we're doing is great, and we're gonna have a good year. It's been a while, and I think it's better that we take our time and not try to rush it, 'cause this is the most important album for him, you know, of his career." (12.01.2001, Rodney Jerkins)

"It's gonna be his US come back, it's true he feels very close to Europe now, but this will be an album that the whole world will want, it will be his biggest record." (Rodney Jerkins)

That shows that ''The suits'' don't always know what's best.

I think they did not want to undertake such a costly project.

 

[HIStoric]

I think they did not want to undertake such a costly project.

I can kinda see why Sony was more hesitant to actually do anything further expensive with Invincible, it costed waaaayyy more than it really should've. $30,000,000 or something... 14 years on and no album has yet to beat or probably even come close to Invincible's production cost (obviously I don't believe Sony was entirely innocent in the Invincible debacle).

You Rock My World probably seemed like the obvious choice to them for the first single since it was the most MJ-like, radio friendly song on the album. That was my guessing for Sony's push.

 

[mj_frenzy]

I can kinda see why Sony was more hesitant to actually do anything further expensive with Invincible, it costed waaaayyy more than it really should've. $30,000,000 or something... 14 years on and no album has yet to beat or probably even come close to Invincible's production cost (obviously I don't believe Sony was entirely innocent in the Invincible debacle).

You Rock My World probably seemed like the obvious choice to them for the first single since it was the most MJ-like, radio friendly song on the album. That was my guessing for Sony's push.

I agree, but the fact that no official explanation was ever given was really disrespectful…

 

[MAQ]

That “return” (or comeback) attitude originated from MJ & his closest environment.

Here are two examples:

"It looks like we're gonna be working this February, which will make it a year. But, it's all worth it, the whole year, because the stuff that we're doing is great, and we're gonna have a good year. It's been a while, and I think it's better that we take our time and not try to rush it, 'cause this is the most important album for him, you know, of his career." (12.01.2001, Rodney Jerkins)

"It's gonna be his US come back, it's true he feels very close to Europe now, but this will be an album that the whole world will want, it will be his biggest record." (Rodney Jerkins)

Isn't every album he ever made post Thriller named as his greatest album before it hit the stores? Invincible had a very very unfair hype. HIStory, I understand, the giant statues and all, but Invincible was hyped just so that it could be critiqued to shit. I mean, its opening week had sales of more than 366,000 albums, but people were comparing it to his previous album which sold 391,000 albums, not taking into account that the no.2 album had sold more than 100,000 copies less.

Nevertheless, I do think, like you, that the initial hype might be because of the producers or something, but it was soon blown way too much off course.

 

[MAQ]

I can kinda see why Sony was more hesitant to actually do anything further expensive with Invincible, it costed waaaayyy more than it really should've. $30,000,000 or something... 14 years on and no album has yet to beat or probably even come close to Invincible's production cost (obviously I don't believe Sony was entirely innocent in the Invincible debacle).

You Rock My World probably seemed like the obvious choice to them for the first single since it was the most MJ-like, radio friendly song on the album. That was my guessing for Sony's push.

Unbreakable would've been a really good lead single. A music video with it would be very unique as well, because the song's so different when compared to MJ's other anti-media/tabloid/hater songs. But YRMW was a good choice. If it had been commercially released it certainly would have been another chart topper in the US; the song got #10 based on radio airplay alone. Same case with Butterflies - it reached #14 based on airplay alone. If it had a music video accompanying it, it might have matched YRMW IMO.
Sony wanted MJ to fall since it favored them more. There is no other excuse.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Unbreakable would've been a really good lead single. A music video with it would be very unique as well, because the song's so different when compared to MJ's other anti-media/tabloid/hater songs. But YRMW was a good choice. If it had been commercially released it certainly would have been another chart topper in the US; the song got #10 based on radio airplay alone. Same case with Butterflies - it reached #14 based on airplay alone. If it had a music video accompanying it, it might have matched YRMW IMO.
Sony wanted MJ to fall since it favored them more. There is no other excuse.

MJ seemed very confident of ‘Unbreakable’ considering that he (reportedly) wanted to hire George Lucas in order to direct it.

Also, I am really curious about Sony’s concept of ‘You Rock my World’ video that MJ eventually rejected…

 

[HIStoric]

MJ seemed very confident of ‘Unbreakable’ considering that he (reportedly) wanted to hire George Lucas in order to direct it.

Coming from someone who loves Star Wars and enjoys the prequels... I would actually want to see this

Invincible's release was only ~7-8 months from the release of Attack of the Clones though so I can't really see George being free to direct this.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Coming from someone who loves Star Wars and enjoys the prequels... I would actually want to see this

Invincible's release was only ~7-8 months from the release of Attack of the Clones though so I can't really see George being free to direct this.

Maybe it was (just) another part of the anticipation process…

 

[HIStoric]

Maybe it was (just) another part of the anticipation process…

What do you mean exactly?

 

[mj_frenzy]

What do you mean exactly?

They were (on purpose) building up a lot of hype for ‘Invincible’ & its potential projects (videos, etc.) in order to boost sales...

 

[HIStoric]

They were (on purpose) building up a lot of hype for ‘Invincible’ & its potential projects (videos, etc.) in order to boost sales...

Oh right, I get what you mean.