Re: So, Invincible is much better than everybody thought....
It's good for what it is, but having too many songwriters and too many producers really hurt the album IMO.
For me, that is not the problem at all!
Rodney Jerkins co-wrote and co-produced some amazing songs (You Rock My World, Unbreakable, Threatened, Invincible, We've Had Enough, Xscape), but he also produced not so good Heartbreaker and "poor" Privacy.
Dr. Freeze co-wrote and co-produced Break Of Dawn and A Place With No Name (both great songs) and not so good (in my opinion) Blue Gangsta.
Teddy Riley co-produced and "co-wrote" amazing Heaven Can Wait and maybe the best track on the album Whatever Happens, but he also co-produced some of the worst songs from those sessions 2000 Watts, Don't Walk Away & Shout.
Butterflies are just beautiful. Don't matter who co-wrote it and who co-produced it with MJ.
Then the material MJ wrote and produced by himself. Again some great stuff and some not so great stuff. Hollywood Tonight (probably his best song after Billie Jean and Who Is It), Speechless (beautiful and amazing), What More Can I Give and The Way You Love Me - all great songs. But The Lost Children & Beautiful Girl are not his best work.
Babyface co-produced song You Are My Life is nice, but not good enough. I'm sure there were better songs from those sessions!
R. Kelly wrote and co-produced Cry - one of the worst songs on the album, but he also wrote and co-produced great R'n'B gem One More Chance!
Fall Again - beautiful, Another Day - great, Chicago - amazing - All from different authors and all from different sessions.
So the problem is not "too many songwriters and too many producers" at all. The problem is the length of the album (too many songs) and the song selection (to many "fillers").