Does ‘Unbreakable’ aim (also) at his record label?

[mj_frenzy]

MJ’s legal problems with his record label (licenses to the masters, music catalog share, etc.) did not emerge shortly before (or after) the release of ‘Invincible’ (although at that time their relationship came to a head when MJ informed his record company shortly before the release that he did not wish to renew his contract).

Is it really too far-fetched to think that the label company saw through these lyrics & decided not to release ‘Unbreakable’ as the first single & subsequently not to shoot an expensive video for that song (apart from the aforementioned reasons)?

“Now I'm just wondering why you think
That you can get to me with anything
Seems like you'd know by now
When and how I get down…

…And there's no way you'll ever get to me
Why can't you see that you'll never ever hurt me
'Cause I won’t let it be…

…Now you can't stop me even though you think
That if you block me, you've done your thing…

You can try to stop me, but it won’t do a thing
No matter what you do, I'm still gonna be here
Through all your lies and silly games…”

Also, I think that ‘Unbreakable’ does not aim (mainly) at the tabloids & media in general because MJ had already “devoted” (in an explicitly way) another song (of the same album) to the press.

 

[HIStoric]

I always felt they wanted You Rock My World as the first single since it was the most safest, radio-friendly song on the album (at least that's how I feel, it's the most 'Classic MJ' sounding song on the album). In addition, Michael wanted some huge flashy video for Unbreakable and Sony were probably not as keen giving the fact he spent a whole $30,000,000 making just the album.

I've always personally seen Unbreakable as a song aimed towards those who doubt and try to bring him down, so the tabloids would be a part of that. I don't see why Invincible could only have one song aimed at the media, certainly the previous studio album had a good few dedicated to that (obviously due to the themes on that album, but still, it's not like those themes were entirely devoid on Invincible).

 

[mj_frenzy]

I've always personally seen Unbreakable as a song aimed towards those who doubt and try to bring him down, so the tabloids would be a part of that. I don't see why Invincible could only have one song aimed at the media, certainly the previous studio album had a good few dedicated to that (obviously due to the themes on that album, but still, it's not like those themes were entirely devoid on Invincible).

I think that was one of the (many) weaknesses of ‘Invincible'.

The general public was starting to get bored of that long-standing battle between MJ & press...

 

[reibish]

It would help if the press didn't insist on starting those battles every 2 seconds Goodness knows Michael definitely didn't want to continue wasting his time on that garbage, but I can't imagine what he was going through being the subject of it all.

 

[mj_frenzy]

It would help if the press didn't insist on starting those battles every 2 seconds Goodness knows Michael definitely didn't want to continue wasting his time on that garbage, but I can't imagine what he was going through being the subject of it all.

Disregard (instead of mentioning paparazzi on his album for one more time).

He was just “feeding” them…

 

[HIStoric]

I think that was one of the (many) weaknesses of ‘Invincible'.

The general public was starting to get bored of that long-standing battle between MJ & press...

Yeah I see what you mean and I have seen other people say that online before. Personally, I'm not entirely sure yet where I stand on that topic as I can see and agree with certain points on both sides of the argument so... :s

 

[reibish]

Disregard (instead of mentioning paparazzi on his album for one more time).

He was just “feeding” them…

Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't, you know?

 

[MAQ]

I think that was one of the (many) weaknesses of ‘Invincible'.

The general public was starting to get bored of that long-standing battle between MJ & press...

That album had maybe 2 out of 16 tracks aimed at the press; Privacy and Unbreakable, and only 1 in which he's explicitly mentioning them. Whereas HIStory had 7 out of 15, Dangerous, Bad and Thriller all had 1 obvious press/tabloid related song. Invincible might have some weaknesses, but that was not one of them -_- .

 

[MAQ]

I think Unbreakable was more like... it kinda detracted the listener from the theme of his previous album. He was showing that he couldn't care less bout what his haters had to say about him anymore. It was a very good intro. However, in my opinion it was not aimed at Sony, rather at his critics. HIStory was very poorly received by critics, most of them gave it a positive review because of the Greatest Hits CD and BOTD was also panned but both albums were very successful commercially, given their type (BOTD was a remix album) and their cost/packaging (HIStory was a relatively expensive double album). So, Unbreakable kinda highlighted this thing, his critics and haters were trying to downplay him, but he always came out on top. The 'blocking' part might be related to the controversy that was surrounding They Don't Care About Us, like you can try to block me, but you can't stop my message from spreading. It might also be referring to the Black Or White video.

 

[mj_frenzy]

I think Unbreakable was more like... it kinda detracted the listener from the theme of his previous album. He was showing that he couldn't care less bout what his haters had to say about him anymore. It was a very good intro. However, in my opinion it was not aimed at Sony, rather at his critics. HIStory was very poorly received by critics, most of them gave it a positive review because of the Greatest Hits CD and BOTD was also panned but both albums were very successful commercially, given their type (BOTD was a remix album) and their cost/packaging (HIStory was a relatively expensive double album). So, Unbreakable kinda highlighted this thing, his critics and haters were trying to downplay him, but he always came out on top. The 'blocking' part might be related to the controversy that was surrounding They Don't Care About Us, like you can try to block me, but you can't stop my message from spreading. It might also be referring to the Black Or White video.

Given the title (& its meaning) of that album, I think that even one song on that record would have been too excessive (taking also into account all his previous songs that aimed at the press).

As regards ‘Blood on the Dance Floor’, that record came out as a result of a compromise (between MJ & his record company) rather than of an actual, pre-planned decision (hence those unfavorable critics for that disoriented record). Also, I think its big sales were mostly due to the fact that it was released in the midst of a giant world tour…