Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Music

All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

70 AFI
65 Air
71 Alice In Chains
77 Amerie
85 The Antlers
75 Arctic Monkeys
68 As Tall As Lions
82 Atlas Sound
75 The Avett Brothers
67 Backstreet Boys
56 Bad Lieutenant
68 Devendra Banhart
72 Lou Barlow
88 Baroness
69 Basement Jaxx
81 David Bazan
72 Brendan Benson
72 The Big Pink
96 Big Star
46 Billy Talent
75 The Black Crowes
51 Black Mold
68 Blitzen Trapper
75 BLK JKS
77 A.A. Bondy
73 The Bottle Rockets
63 Box Elders
65 Boys Like Girls
76 Brand New
73 Tyondai Braxton
87 Brother Ali
70 Ian Brown
75 Michael Buble
78 Built To Spill
61 Colbie Caillat
79 Califone
68 Mariah Carey
84 Brandi Carlile
73 Julian Casablancas
83 Rosanne Cash
69 Castanets
65 The Cave Singers
84 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
79 Vic Chesnutt
75 Choir Of Young Believers
81 Circulatory System
68 The Clean
84 The Clientele
71 Cobra Starship
85 Converge
71 Eric Copeland
80 Cymbals Eat Guitars
71 Datarock
59 Dead By Sunrise
76 Dead Man's Bones
88 Destroyer
63 The Dodos
77 Drive-By Truckers
66 Bob Dylan
44 The Entrance Band
67 Esser
69 Fanfarlo
63 Felix Da Housecat
68 Fink
78 The Flaming Lips
66 Flight Of The Conchords
79 Florence And The Machine
67 John Fogerty
83 Fuck Buttons
71 Nelly Furtado
47 Gary Go
68 Ghostface Killah
79 Girls
69 Gossip
62 David Gray
66 David Guetta
79 Richard Hawley
74 Mayer Hawthorne
66 Headlights
79 HEALTH
77 Joe Henry
66 Hockey
69 Whitney Houston
68 Imogen Heap
59 Jack Ingram
79 Islands
73 Jessie James
74 Jamie T
65 Jay-Z
51 Jet
69 Daniel Johnston
76 Karen O And The Kids
72 Toby Keith
69 Kid Cudi
65 Kings Of Convenience
62 Sean Kingston
64 KISS
76 Kris Kristofferson
68 KRS-One & Buckshot
76 La Roux
84 Miranda Lambert
72 Ledisi
75 Sondre Lerche
56 Juliette Lewis
82 Lightning Bolt
73 Little Dragon
44 Pixie Lott
73 Lyle Lovett
66 Lovvers
75 Baaba Maal
77 Madness
84 Madonna
85 Manic Street Preachers
62 Maps
55 Massive Attack
57 Matisyahu
67 Reba McEntire
66 Tim McGraw
65 Brian McKnight
79 Mew
77 Malcolm Middleton
77 Mika
68 Amy Millan
76 Mission Of Burma
76 Molina And Johnson
80 Monsters Of Folk
62 Morrissey
85 Mount Eerie
78 The Mountain Goats
62 Múm
72 Muse
66 Willie Nelson
78 Nirvana
97 Nirvana
72 Nisennenmondai
80 No Age
71 Noah And The Whale
75 Noisettes
79 Nudge
47 Dolores O'Riordan
74 Os Mutantes
73 Osso
81 Owen
76 Paramore
76 Pastels And Tenniscoats
51 Sean Paul
80 Pearl Jam
66 Jemina Pearl
72 Jack Penate
65 Phish
82 Pissed Jeans
61 Pitbull
79 A Place To Bury Strangers
66 Robert Pollard
79 Polvo
72 Porcupine Tree
80 Q-Tip
80 R.E.M.
89 Raekwon
69 Rain Machine
70 Ramona Falls
75 Dizzee Rascal
75 The Raveonettes
76 Jay Reatard
82 Reigning Sound
81 Rodrigo Y Gabriela
79 Russian Circles
69 Buffy Sainte-Marie
73 Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61 Sally Shapiro
78 Shudder To Think
70 Simian Mobile Disco
58 Simple Minds
72 Six Organs Of Admittance
69 Slaughterhouse
80 Slayer
61 The Slits
62 Mindy Smith
78 Soulsavers
77 Speech Debelle
58 Spiral Stairs
58 Squarepusher
55 Steel Panther
73 Sufjan Stevens
52 Rod Stewart
65 Joss Stone
75 George Strait
83 Barbra Streisand
76 A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74 Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78 The Swell Season
76 David Sylvian
83 Taken By Trees
78 Tegan And Sara
68 The Temper Trap
72 Themselves
82 They Might Be Giants
67 Third Eye Blind
66 J Tillman
69 Times New Viking
57 Tokio Hotel
67 Trey Songz
71 The Twilight Sad
58 Carrie Underwood
56 The Used
68 Various Artists
70 Various Artists
74 Various Artists
77 The Very Best
71 Kurt Vile
67 Vivian Girls
71 Volcano Choir
76 Rufus Wainwright
59 Weezer
80 White Denim
76 Why?
83 Wild Beasts
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59 Andrew W.K.
71 Patrick Wolf
67 Wolfmother
84 The xx
79 Yo La Tengo
83 Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
51 Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59 Zero 7

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Invincible

EMAILPRINTby Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson reviews
51
8.4 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 60 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >

Album Info

Label: Sony/Epic

Release Date: 30 October 2001

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Pop

Summary

The King of Pop's first full album of new material since 1992's 'Dangerous' features 16 tracks.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

91

Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

At 78 minutes this is too long, and especially given his history, "The Lost Children" is offensive. But the first three tracks are the Rodney Jerkins of the year, "2000 Watts" is the Teddy Riley of the past five years, and even the prunables offer small surprises.

Read Full Review >
90

CDNow

Formula or not, with Invincible, Jackson reclaims his pop crown and wears it well.

Read Full Review >
70

PopMatters

The mix is such that the saccharine ("You Are My Life" and "Heaven Can Wait") is outweighed by the brilliant ("Whatever Happens" and "The Lost Children"), creating a record that is quite relevant while at the same time being experimental and fresh.

Read Full Review >
60

All Music Guide

Ultimately, the record runs too long, losing steam halfway through.... Fortunately, Jackson was clever enough to front-load this record, loading the first seven songs with really good, edgy dance numbers.

Read Full Review >
60

New Musical Express

'Invincible' is a relevant and rejuvenated comeback album make overlong and embarassing by the unavoidable fact that Michael Jackson is a) exceedingly rich and b) a bit of a wanker.

Read Full Review >
60

Rolling Stone

We're placed squarely in Michael Jacksonland, a bizarre place where every sparkling street is computer-generated, every edifice is larger than life and every song is full of grandiose desperation.

Read Full Review >
60

Village Voice

To really care about this album you have to be able to get into the pure hard sounds of the dance-track percussion and the way Michael tends to garnish them with his voice.

Read Full Review >
60

Q Magazine

Though fatally flawed, Invincible does boast its fair share of sonic exhilaration. [#184, p.132]

50

Spin Cycle

Halfway through the album, Michael ruins the good mood with a seemingly endless run of soggy, would-be anthems and self-pitying celebrity complaints.

Read Full Review >
50

E! Online

The fortysomething performer doesn't have the stamina he used to, and the album quickly turns into a long run of listless ballads and silly cries for privacy.

Read Full Review >
50

Playlouder

It does at least manage to include several of the things we hold dearest about Michael Jackson the singer, and it also steers clear of anything as laugh-out-loud as 'Earth Song'.

Read Full Review >
42

Entertainment Weekly

For all of the energy and money that went into it, ''Invincible'' is curiously lacking in excitement or thrills, cheap or otherwise.

Read Full Review >
40

Billboard

It simply isn't his best work.

Read Full Review >
40

Blender

A long-winded, soulless soul album of the kind Levert might have once turned in. [#4, p.117]

40

Dot Music

'Invincible' is an album almost unbearably mired in schmaltz.

Read Full Review >
30

New York Magazine

Invincible is an assembly-line bore.

Read Full Review >
30

Uncut

Starts badly and gets worse for a very long time (77 minutes). [Jan 2002, p.146]

30

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Jackson has lived a bizarre train-wreck life of mystery and tragedy, but following such a lengthy absence, Invincible just reeks of desperation and aimlessness.

Read Full Review >
20

Mojo

Tired, frightened-sounding and hopelessly misjudged.... Hugely disappointing. [Dec 2001, p.116]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 60 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ritesh N gave it a7:
If the album was kept limited to only 10 songs and if the last 5 songs had been kept off the final album , this would have been an album better than Thriller. The initial 10 songs are AMAZING ! Best songs are - Heaven can wait, Heartbreaker, Break of dawn, 2000 watts.

Tebit E. gave it a10:
Invincible album is not a video album but yet listening to the lyrics filled the gap left out.Invincible was not well received by critics but yet it sold very well as compared to albums in 2000s.Micheal is still "alive" and he will still do more "Great works". Just sit back and watch.

H J. gave it a10:
There key elements in a song that makes it stand shoulder above the rest. The instruments arrangements, vocal tempo and sonic accuracy. Then their are major vendor critics who score their rating +-2 of their industry peers before they have a listen to a single track. We know you haters, There is very few good materials out there to compare with.

Dan B gave it a6:
Some really well crafted songs like "Unbreakable" "Break Of Dawn" "You Rock My World" "Butterflies" and "Whatever Happens", but for every good song there are 2 that are bad on this album. All of the songs sound virtually the same and are pretty boring. This album seems to only incorporate r&b and doesn't include other great genres that Michael has incorporated into his other albums like rock, funk, soul, pop, and gospel. This album doesn't deserve a 10 in any strech of the imagination, but certainly doesn't deserve a 0 either. Since I like Michael Jackson's music so much, I'll give this album a 6.

Super N. gave it a10:
I vehemently disagree with the majority of the critic's estimations on the supposed mediocrity of this album. It is not only excellent, it sounds even better 6 years on. Michael Jackson's inward perspective, that the critics interpret as self-pity, seems more like a revelation to his public of the feelings inside the most famous living human being on earth. I think that is quite acceptable. The criteria for music criticism is so cynical as to not be a true reflection of the public's perspective, which is based more on emotional impact than advanced musicology and snide remarks.

Jason M. gave it a10:
Absolutely brilliant album, with an appearence from the late Notorious B.I.G. - genius, 'Unbreakable' just great and inventive plus good opening track, 'You Rock My World' another album highlight, 'Butterflies' awesome ballad, 'Whatever Happens' totally rocks, 'Privacy' - brings truth and reality, 'Cry!' another catchy ballad, 'Heaven Can Wait' - great piece of songwriting, '2000 watts' - futuristic track with a good appearance by Teddy Riley- this shows Michael can adapt to current times, I truly great 10 out of 10 album, people shouldn't review this so bad the album is awesome, can't wait for his next offering. BY the way Michael Jackson fans NEW TRACK OUT - Gangsta (No friend of mine) try and download it now it's brilliant, new and exciting new MJ tack with a rap performance by Temperamental. Can't wait for the BAD 2Oth anniversary Re-Release OUT October 2007' the 15th. Can't wait for the new album!!!!!!!!!!

Holly gave it a10:
I thought it was one of his best albums ever. We have to remember...we are no longer living in the 80's. If he were to release another Billie Jean or something, no one would buy it people would think he was crazy. The guy has to adapt to the current time, and I think he did that very well. I thought it was a little long though and to many ballads. But, i still loved it! I'm a huge fan! long live michael jackson1

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use