Buying Event Starts on October, with a 10th
Year Anniversary Special held in Astroplus Mall of Asia on October 2 and
Astroplus SM North Edsa (Annex) on October 30
Michael
Jackson’s last studio album – Invincible – is approaching its 10th
year anniversary since it was released in 2001, this October. Old and new Michael Jackson fans are
launching a worldwide campaign to put this album back on top for its
anniversary, with 80 countries participating.
The album
has 16 tracks – a far cry from Thriller’s (album) 9 tracks. Almost a ‘double-album’ with its number of
songs, Invincible is considered a throwback to Jackson’s Motown roots with its
focus on Funk, Soul, and R&B.
Invincible’s
production lasted 3 years with the collaboration of 2 renowned industry
producers – Rodney Jerkins and Teddy Riley. Out of the 16 tracks, Jackson wrote and
co-wrote 14 of them. Typical of a
Jackson project, a myriad of award-winning and legendary artists are prominent
throughout Invincible. 11-time Billboard
award-winner ‘R. Kelly’, BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year ‘Babyface’, 14-Grammy
Winner guitar guru ‘Carlos Santana’, 2-time Oscar winner and The Godfather
himself ‘Marlon Brando’, and comedian Chris Tucker (best known for his Rush
Hour Michael Jackson impersonation) – are but a few names littered throughout
the project. Yet, the album did not
quite get the usual numbers expected of a Michael Jackson album. With such prominent names and its 3 extensive
years of production, what happened?
Two things
happened: Michael Jackson and a former Sony executive had a conflict which
affected the album’s promotion, and two, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on World
Trade Center happened. With 9/11, all
efforts to promote the album ceased. It
was a hard time in American history. And
thus, despite the album’s impressive first sales figures, Invincible took a
step back behind the 9/11 tragedy.
8 years
later, with the re-release of Michael Jackson’s albums on record stores after
the star’s passing, fans, new and old, rediscovered an album they never heard
before. The album quickly became a fan
favorite, it has even been used as a way to differentiate the ‘avante-garde’
fan, from the pedestrian:
Elena
Delgado of ‘Michael Jackson Fan Club of the Philippines’ (MJFCP) says:
“My favorite Michael Jackson album happens to
be Invincible, it is the most soulful of his work. In my opinion, Michael grew as an artist and
Invincible proves that. You will never
hear such songs as ‘Speechless’, which happens to be my favorite MJ track of all
time, with its depth & richness anywhere else. People who claim the 80s albums to be the
best are not aware of his later albums. I happen to be a lover of Classical
Rock & Celtic Music, and I need more than surface pop to move me like
Invincible has.”
Such
sentiment is shared by many in the fanbase.
MJFCP has taken the task of promoting this album and getting it heard by
the mainstream in the Philippines. A
collaboration with Astroplus has been anticipating 2 events this coming
October. An event filled with dancing to
Invincible songs, The Experience gameplay, a raffle, and prizes that will
kick-off the Invincible launching party in Astroplus Mall Of Asia on October 2,
and Astroplus SM North Edsa (Annex) on October 30.
3
Promotional Teasers were made, with 3 more in the works:
But the
worldwide support for the campaign is not limited to the Michael Jackson
community alone:
Highly acclaimed author and scholar Joseph
Vogel, author of the highly anticipated study of Jackson’s musicology ‘Man In
the Music’ (to be released in November), lent his support;
“what
would be cool is if #mjsinvincible was re-released as a double album
(with unreleased songs). MJ always wanted to do a double album.! I support #mjsinvincible.”
"Whether
protesting environmental destruction, racism, media distortion, materialism,
war or injustice, Michael Jackson consistently used music as a means to
challenge the status quo and change the world. While critics have been slow to
acknowledge his dissident role, he stands alongside musicians like Bob Dylan,
John Lennon and Radiohead as one of the most
astute and powerful protest artists of the past century."
Lynton Guest, former member of the 60s group
‘Love Affair’ and their hit ‘Everlasting Love’, and author of the controversial
‘The Trials of Michael Jackson’ says:
“I
am pleased to support this campaign.
Invincible is certainly one of the best albums Michael Jackson made and
it deserves to be recognised as such. I
for one hope it gets back to number one.”
"I
remember driving in London one day when Speechless came on the radio. I was blown
away. I had to stop the car and pull in to the roadside, to the annoyance of
the other drivers. I just couldn’t help it. How was it possible, I thought that
this man could top his previous efforts? And so effortlessly!"
Anthony Chidiac, otherwise known as DJ
2greendollars, who collaborated in the production of the film documentary THIS IS IT, also gives his strong
support with his remix of ‘Invincible’ and
‘Whatever Happens’:
“Michael's last album for Epic (and last
album made while he was alive) was arguably his best ever work….”
Debbie Francis a.k.a.
mjinvincible, founder of the
Invincible Campaign, discovered, like many new Michael Jackson initiates: “When he died I wanted to buy it in the
shops and could not find it, had to go online and then found out what had
happened….”
Thus the campaign
began, as a way for Debbie and other fans to vindicate Jackson, especially with
the upcoming Conrad Murray trial in tow.
The Campaign has since, reached over 80 countries worldwide.
Invincible Campaign Website:http://mjsinvincible.wordpress.com/
Invincible Campaign on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mjsinvincible/166837370048816
Invincible Campaign on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mjsinvincible/166837370048816
The album will hit shelves on October on all
record stores in time for its 10th year release. It must be
time for INVINCIBLE to be visible.
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