Invincible

For a naive moment, there was hope for Michael Jackson: Invincible's first single, You Rock My World, arrived sounding contemporary, even understated. Maybe, it seemed, MJ had finally realized he could quit the martyr act, make good ol' R. and B. records, and people might just love him for it. C'mon! It could have happened! Instead, Invincible is a mess, with Jackson calling on rappers, a children's choir and chambers full of strings in a desperate bid to appeal to all his imagined constituencies. The only one served is Jackson, who fills 77 minutes with his hatred of the paparazzi and his love for children. The man is irrelevant until proven otherwise.