Had the album that became "Invincible" been released in 1999

Fuzball

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What exactly is known about the tracklist for an unnamed album that was scheduled for release on 11/9/99?

From the little pieces I gathered from here and there it is most likely that these songs were considered for such an album in late 1999

Break of Dawn
Cry
Escape
Another Day
She Was Loving Me
Blue Gangsta
I Have This Dream
Rock My World
Thank Heaven
What More Can I Give
 
Some of those completed songs meant for inclusion on the album (for release in late 1999) were the following ones:

- ‘Cry’
- ‘Break Of Dawn’
- ’Speechless’
- ‘We’ve Had Enough’
- ‘Blue Gangsta’
- ‘A Place With No Name’
- ‘She Was Loving Me’
- ‘Xscape’ (which was titled as ‘Escape’ at that time)
- ‘You Rock My World’(which was titled as ‘Rock My World’ at that time)

Another one for inclusion was the ‘Do You Love Me’ song with a street sound, which Babyface and Michael Jackson together worked on and it was even completed a year earlier (late 1998).

‘Ekan Satyam (The One Truth)’ was also considered for inclusion on that album that was meant to get a release in late 1999.

‘Ekan Satyam (The One Truth)’ was a duet between Michael Jackson and A.R. Rahman, and it was even completed before the ‘Michael Jackson And Friends’ concerts because it was also about to premiere during those two concerts.

‘Ekan Satyam (The One Truth)’ along with ‘What More Can I Give’ were the two completed, brand new songs that were about to premiere at the ‘Michael Jackson And Friends’ concerts, and later to be included on the album for release in late 1999.

‘Ekan Satyam (The One Truth)’ and ‘What More Can I Give’ were planned to be the harbingers of his upcoming album meant for release in late 1999.

Generally, the album meant for release in late 1999 had generally a more soulful sound and feel, as compared to what it eventually became as 'Invincible' when it was released in 2001.
 
A Place With No Name was never meant to be released. It was recorded just for the fun of it.
 
I feel as though the arrival of Rodney Jerkins completely reshaped the album's course and led to its two-year delay from November 1999 to October 2001. Of the 16 songs that made the track listing, only two ("Break of Dawn" and "Cry") were recorded before summer 1999, i.e. when Michael and Rodney began recording in earnest; the other 14 surfaced between then and 2001.

The early material worked on for Invincible was golden in my opinion: "Beautiful Girl," "The Way You Love Me," and "Blue Gangsta" outpace about half of the songs that made the final album.
 
What exactly is known about the tracklist for an unnamed album that was scheduled for release on 11/9/99?

From the little pieces I gathered from here and there it is most likely that these songs were considered for such an album in late 1999

Break of Dawn
Cry
Escape
Another Day
She Was Loving Me
Blue Gangsta
I Have This Dream
Rock My World
Thank Heaven
What More Can I Give

Missing some of the best songs on the album... Unbreakable, Heaven Can Wait, Butterflies, Whatever Happens.
 
All of these songs were done in 2001, interestingly enough.

Even more interesting is that I, personally, can tell the difference in term of vocal performance from from the songs record in 98-00 to the songs recorded in 2001. In all those songs recorded in 01 MJ sounded really strained and overly nasally compared to the more warm,relaxed and lush vocal performances in Break Of Dawn, Rock My World, Cry etc. Compare let's say Unbreakable to Blue Gangsta, both very aggressive songs with an aggressive vocal approach. Blue Gangsta sounds much more balanced and less strained compares to Unbreakable. It sometimes felt like he was just screaming rather than belting, imo of course. I still like those songs
 
Even more interesting is that I, personally, can tell the difference in term of vocal performance from from the songs record in 98-00 to the songs recorded in 2001. In all those songs recorded in 01 MJ sounded really strained and overly nasally compared to the more warm,relaxed and lush vocal performances in Break Of Dawn, Rock My World, Cry etc. Compare let's say Unbreakable to Blue Gangsta, both very aggressive songs with an aggressive vocal approach. Blue Gangsta sounds much more balanced and less strained compares to Unbreakable. It sometimes felt like he was just screaming rather than belting, imo of course. I still like those songs
Has he worked on a regularly basis with Seth Riggs in 2001?
 
I feel as though the arrival of Rodney Jerkins completely reshaped the album's course and led to its two-year delay from November 1999 to October 2001. Of the 16 songs that made the track listing, only two ("Break of Dawn" and "Cry") were recorded before summer 1999, i.e. when Michael and Rodney began recording in earnest; the other 14 surfaced between then and 2001.

The early material worked on for Invincible was golden in my opinion: "Beautiful Girl," "The Way You Love Me," and "Blue Gangsta" outpace about half of the songs that made the final album.

I think MJ just not actively working on the album is what caused the delays. Didn't he rent out studios and just have people sitting around doing nothing.
 
We've Had Enough, Beautiful Girl, Someone Put Your Hand Out etc deserve to be released one day. The public is unaware of these gems.
I feel as though the arrival of Rodney Jerkins completely reshaped the album's course and led to its two-year delay from November 1999 to October 2001. Of the 16 songs that made the track listing, only two ("Break of Dawn" and "Cry") were recorded before summer 1999, i.e. when Michael and Rodney began recording in earnest; the other 14 surfaced between then and 2001.

The early material worked on for Invincible was golden in my opinion: "Beautiful Girl," "The Way You Love Me," and "Blue Gangsta" outpace about half of the songs that made the final album.
 
Even more interesting is that I, personally, can tell the difference in term of vocal performance from from the songs record in 98-00 to the songs recorded in 2001. In all those songs recorded in 01 MJ sounded really strained and overly nasally compared to the more warm,relaxed and lush vocal performances in Break Of Dawn, Rock My World, Cry etc. Compare let's say Unbreakable to Blue Gangsta, both very aggressive songs with an aggressive vocal approach. Blue Gangsta sounds much more balanced and less strained compares to Unbreakable. It sometimes felt like he was just screaming rather than belting, imo of course. I still like those songs

I completely agree. One of the worst examples in my opinion is "Heaven Can Wait," which sounds absolutely atrocious. I believe it was Korgnex who said that there were several takes where Michael's voice cracked because he just couldn't sing that high anymore. I don't know if it was vocal exhaustion, age, poor technique (even though he did daily warmup sessions, I can't imagine the aggressive, gritty style he adopted from 1991 onward didn't do some damage to his vocal cords), or all of the above, but he just didn't sound very good.

Thankfully his voice rebounded by some measures; he sounds fantastic in "Hold My Hand," "Best of Joy," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008," and This Is It (though allegedly some of his vocals there were processed).

I think MJ just not actively working on the album is what caused the delays. Didn't he rent out studios and just have people sitting around doing nothing.

Absolutely. I'd say that was the predominant factor. Progress on the album was hugely inconsistent from summer 1999 to spring 2001. On top of fatherhood and escalating drug use, Michael spent most of this time taking impromptu vacations without notifying Sony or his studio personnel, rehearsing for live shows, or establishing new charities. Bruce Swedien showed up in September 2000 to start mixing the album, worked on a handful of songs, and wound up leaving shortly after Christmas after Michael decided to stop attending studio sessions.

I feel as though Michael's passion for music was dissipating by the turn of the millennium. He said that Invincible (then-untitled) would be his final album in April 1999, and he allegedly produced several songs over the phone.
 
I think it's relevant to highlight that the surgical procedure Michael had done in late 1999 or sometime in 2000 (on his face/mouth area) inhibited his ability to enunciate as he once had. This would absolutely have an impact on his singing.
 
Has he worked on a regularly basis with Seth Riggs in 2001?

This is a very interesting question! What I do know is that MJ works with riffs in those early sessions, She Was Loving me for example. I would surmise that he continued with Riggs in 2001 but you never know.
 
I think it's relevant to highlight that the surgical procedure Michael had done in late 1999 or sometime in 2000 (on his face/mouth area) inhibited his ability to enunciate as he once had. This would absolutely have an impact on his singing.

When talking about physical appearance, the biggest difference for me is from 98 to 01. His features were radically different. His smile, cheeks, eyes, lips. So yes, I think that could have played a part.
 
When talking about physical appearance, the biggest difference for me is from 98 to 01. His features were radically different. His smile, cheeks, eyes, lips. So yes, I think that could have played a part.

Probably a reason for the extensive use of extra glaring spotlights directed upon his face in 1999. He obviously wanted to hide something.

 
He did not look very good in late-98 to 2004. - In the 60 minutes interview he does not look like Michael Jackson IMO.

But then magic happend - and from 2007 till he died he looked great. - I mean This Is It look is amazing. Like 1991-1992 really.
 
Themidwestcowboy;4293216 said:
This is a very interesting question! What I do know is that MJ works with riffs in those early sessions, She Was Loving me for example. I would surmise that he continued with Riggs in 2001 but you never know.

The ‘Invincible’ album booklet states that Seth Riggs was the vocal consultant of the album, which means that he was coaching Michael Jackson during the recording sessions of the songs that made that album.

Given that there were songs (on that album) that were recorded also in 2001, this shows that Seth Riggs was coaching Michael Jackson also during 2001.

Hess;4293349 said:
He did not look very good in late-98 to 2004. - In the 60 minutes interview he does not look like Michael Jackson IMO.

Michael Jackson looked physically and mentally lethargic in the ‘60 Minutes’ interview because he was on certain drugs.

He took those drugs (right before appearing on that interview) because he wanted to treat his anxiety and stress brought on by the recent accusations, but also he took drugs in order to alleviate his physical, persistent pains.

Michael Jackson did not want to appear on that interview at all, but he was forced to by his lawyer Mark Geragos.

Michael Jackson realized that this interview should never have happened, and that was the main reason that he later fired Mark Geragos.

He even intentionally overdosed right after that interview (during the night) and they had to resuscitate him.
 
mj_frenzy;4293368 said:
The ‘Invincible’ album booklet states that Seth Riggs was the vocal consultant of the album, which means that he was coaching Michael Jackson during the recording sessions of the songs that made that album.

Given that there were songs (on that album) that were recorded also in 2001, this shows that Seth Riggs was coaching Michael Jackson also during 2001.



Michael Jackson looked physically and mentally lethargic in the ‘60 Minutes’ interview because he was on certain drugs.

He took those drugs (right before appearing on that interview) because he wanted to treat his anxiety and stress brought on by the recent accusations, but also he took drugs in order to alleviate his physical, persistent pains.

Michael Jackson did not want to appear on that interview at all, but he was forced to by his lawyer Mark Geragos.

Michael Jackson realized that this interview should never have happened, and that was the main reason that he later fired Mark Geragos.

He even intentionally overdosed right after that interview (during the night) and they had to resuscitate him.

Intentionally overdosed?? - What do you mean? Suicide attempt?

I have never heard this before, do you have a source? - I must agree MJ did not appear well at all in that interview... - in many ways.
 
Everyone who keeps talking about all the drugs MJ was supposedly taking should seriously take a few minutes to look up “Lupus fog”.
 
I thought Michael looked pretty good during this interview from 1999
maxresdefault.jpg
 
Yeah, actually - come to think of it, it might be from late 2000 onwards he did not look too good.

But in the last couple of years of his life he looked great really.
 
Yeah, actually - come to think of it, it might be from late 2000 onwards he did not look too good.

But in the last couple of years of his life he looked great really.


Behind the scenes drama aside, I thought he looked fantastic in This Is It.
 
Has he worked on a regularly basis with Seth Riggs in 2001?

Seth is listed as a vocal consultant on every post-Thriller album, including Invincible. I don't know how involved he was during those sessions, but if the credits are anything to go by, he was involved.

Intentionally overdosed?? - What do you mean? Suicide attempt?

I have never heard this before, do you have a source?

I also heard about this. I can't remember the source for the life of me -- I'll have to do some digging -- but I clearly remember reading that Michael overdosed in 2003 and had to be resuscitated. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not though.
 
I know, but there were posts saying that he didn't look good in 1999.

I have to revise my statement a bit. I think MJ looked really great in 99. In The bollywood awards in 1999 MJ still looked like HIStory era MJ.
f089d9e247d8f359284a85a2ef1a3da4.jpg


Now back to the music, I think that Invincible in 1999 would have sounded much more organic.
 
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