Posted on: Friday, November 9, 2001

Michael Jackson's new disc tops charts

By Nekesa Mumbi Moody
Associated Press

Michael Jackson's latest album has drawn critical disdain, but the criticism has failed to deter his fans.

NEW YORK — Michael Jackson proved "Invincible" to negative reviews. His first new album in almost six years has debuted at the top of the charts, according to figures released Wednesday.

Jackson's "Invincible" sold 366,272 copies in its first week of release in the United States; it also debuted at No. 1 in a dozen countries overseas. The album succeeded despite mixed to harsh criticism from music reviewers: The headline of Entertainment Weekly's review was "King of Pap."

Music industry watchers said the figures were encouraging for Jackson. "For someone who has not been visible musically in a long time, I think it's a very strong first week," said MTV's Tom Calderone.

"Invincible" sold far fewer than the 1.9 million copies that 'N Sync's "Celebrity" moved in its debut week last summer, however.

Still, it was one of the best debuts of Jackson's career, which is filled with top-selling discs, including the all-time best-seller "Thriller."

But Jackson's reign at the top of the charts is likely to be brief — Britney Spears' third disc, "Britney," was released Tuesday, and is expected to post first-week sales of near 1 million.

"The question now is: Were those the die-hard fans?," said

Alan Light, editor of Spin magazine. "Now we'll see what the effect of word of mouth will be, because he's got to compete against Britney this week and everything that's coming out in the next."

Jackson may get a boost when his much-hyped 30th anniversary concerts, held in September at Madison Square Garden, are aired as a two-hour, CBS prime-time special Tuesday. Calderone said it's critical for Jackson to keep a high profile since more top-sellers — including Creed and Kid Rock — will debut discs in the next few weeks.

"He's gotta continue this," Calderone said. "The people that he's competing against on the chart ... all these guys are out there all the time, and they're not hiding, and that's the way you maintain the sales story."

Audiences gave a lukewarm response to the first single, "You Rock My World." After debuting high, it quickly fell out of the top 10 and now hovers in the bottom half of Billboard's Top 100 singles chart. The video, however, has received heavy airplay on VH1, MTV and BET. Jackson was VH1's artist of the month in October. Another new single, "Butterflies," is already moving up the charts.

Whether it will be enough to sustain Jackson's latest comeback is another question. "I think what Michael really needs is an undeniable smash single," Light said.

"I just don't hear a single on this record that's big like that."