Last week Michael Jackson's long-awaited album "Invincible" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart. It sold more than 202,000 copies in the first week.
The album's first single, "You Rock My World," is currently at No. 10 on the Top 40. And the song's video is in constant rotation on MTV.
On Tuesday, Jackson's CBS special, which featured a reunion performance with his brothers, raked in 25.6 million viewers, making it one of the most successful non-sports programs the network has aired in the past decade.
At the recent Britney Spears concert in Salt Lake City, 30 minutes before her opening act O-Town hit the stage, the video screens hanging on stage displayed the long version of Jackson's video "You Rock My World" — in its 15-minute entirety — and the audience, even those filing into their seats, watched in silence and cheered at the end.
It seems the King of Pop still has an audience. And the public is pretty hungry for some new music from this brilliant artist.
The only problem is that it isn't 1984. A lot has happened to the music scene in the past 17 years. And a lot has happened to Jackson, who, no matter what, won't be able to completely shake some of the scandals that have found their way into his life.
In 1984, "Thriller," and its singles "Beat It" and "Billie Jean," took home six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Best New R&B Song, Best Male Pop Performance and Producer of the Year. Jackson also won a Grammy that year for Best Recording for Children with his "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" album.
His videos were all over MTV that year, and dancers left and right were doing their own versions of the moonwalk in school performances, in talent shows — and even on the street.
That was before the allegations of child molestation (eventually settled out of court), before all the face-lifts, before his falling out with Steven Spielberg because of an apparent anti-Semitic slur in the song "They Don't Care About Us," before his bout with sleeping pills, before the tabloids, before his two failed marriages (one to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis) and before the stories of infighting with his siblings Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Randy, La Toya, Rebbie and Janet.
The new album, "Invincible," has already received mixed reviews, and it will never live up to "Thriller," which at one time was touted as the biggest-selling album ever.
But Jackson wasn't trying to top "Thriller." Nor was he trying to top "Off the Wall" or "Bad."
He was just releasing a Michael Jackson album in the day of 'NSync, Britney and Backstreet.
To be honest, "Invincible" is very good. From the heartfelt sentiment of "Speechless" to the angry declaration of "Privacy" to his staple call for unity on "The Lost Children," Jackson finds his way into the soul.
With the help of guitarist Carlos Santana on "Whatever Happens" and the rap bytes of the late Notorious B.I.G. on "Unbreakable," the album contains more credibility than half the rappers and all the boy bands and girl groups put together these days.
Still, this isn't 1984.
But, man, sometimes I wish it were.
E-mail: scott@desnews.com