Invincible (Michael Jackson Album) - Critical and Public Reception

Critical and Public Reception

Invincible received generally mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 51 based on 19 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented that it has a "spark" and "sound better than anything Jackson has done since Dangerous ." Erlewine noted that while the album had good material it was "not enough to make Invincible the comeback Jackson needed - he really would have had to have an album that sounded free instead of constrained for that to work - but it does offer a reminder that he can really craft good pop." James Hunter of Rolling Stone critiqued that the album's later ballads made the record too long. Hunter also commented that Jackson and Riley made Invincible "something really handsome and smart", allowing listeners "to concentrate on the track's momentous rhythms" such as "Santana's passionate interjections and Lubbock's wonderfully arranged symphonic sweeps". Mark Beaumont of NME called it "a relevant and rejuvenated comeback album made overlong".

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice commented that Jackson's skills as a musician are often forgotten, but noting that the album seemed too long compared to other Jackson albums. While Christgau felt some material was "offensive", he described the album's first three tracks as being the "Rodney Jerkins of the year" adding that he did not "believe the hype matters". David Browne of Entertainment Weekly, rated the album a "C-" commenting that Invincible is Jackson's "first album since Off the Wall that offers virtually no new twists" but remarked that the album "feels like an anthology of his less-than-greatest hits". In a retrospective review for The Rolling Stone Album Guide, Jon Pareles gave Invincible one out of five stars and stated, "Only allowing himself one anti-tabloid song, he tried to play the gentle, adoring lover and concentrated on ballads. But three decades after he had first charmed the world, his old suavity was gone, and all that was left was grim calculation".

Shortly after the release of the album, in a poll conducted by Billboard magazine, "an overwhelming majority" of people - 79% of 5,195 voters - were not surprised by Invincible entering the Billboard 200 at number one. Billboard also reported that 44% agreed with the statement, proclaiming that Jackson was "still the King of Pop". Another 35% said they were not surprised by the album's ranking, but doubted Invincible would hold on for a second week at the top of the chart. Only 12% of people who responded to the poll said they were surprised by the album's charting debut because of Jackson's career over past six years and another 9% were taken aback by the album's success, due to light of the negativity that preceded the album's release. Invincible received one Grammy Award nomination at the 2002 ceremony. The album's song "You Rock My World" was nominated for "Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male", but lost to James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight". Due to the album's release in October 2001, it was not eligible for any other nomination from the 2002 Grammy Awards. In December 2009, readers of Billboard magazine voted Invincible as the best album of the decade, from their readers poll.