Visionary: The Video Singles is a 20-disc box set by Michael Jackson released on 20 February 2006 by Epic Records. Each individual disc is a CD-DVD double-side: the audio single on the CD side, the music video on the DVD side. The release was structured as a chart-eligible reissue campaign — twenty discs in twenty weeks — and 13 of the 20 singles re-charted in the UK top 30.
Era: Invincible Era
The Essential Michael Jackson is a two-disc greatest hits compilation released on 18 July 2005 as part of Sony’s career-spanning Essential series. Disc one covers Jackson Five and early solo material; disc two covers Off the Wall onward. The set has remained a top-selling MJ compilation, particularly in the wake of Jackson’s 2009 death.
The Ultimate Collection is a four-CD plus DVD career-spanning box set by Michael Jackson released on 16 November 2004 by Epic Records. The set covers Jackson’s entire solo career from “I Want You Back” to “One More Chance”, with rare demos and unreleased recordings included on each disc. The bonus DVD features the complete Bucharest 1992 Dangerous Tour concert film.
Number Ones is a greatest hits compilation by Michael Jackson released on 18 November 2003 by Epic Records. It collects 17 of his biggest #1 singles plus the new track “One More Chance”, written and produced by R. Kelly. The album reached #13 in the U.S. and #1 in the UK and France, eventually selling over 9 million copies worldwide.
Invincible is Michael Jackson’s tenth and final studio album of original material released during his lifetime. Issued on 30 October 2001 by Epic Records, it followed a six-year gap since HIStory and was reportedly produced over four years at a cost of approximately $30 million — making it, at the time, the most expensive album ever recorded.
Jackson built the album with Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins as his principal collaborator, alongside Teddy Riley, R. Kelly and his long-time engineer Bruce Swedien. The result is Jackson’s most contemporary-sounding album: heavy on Jerkins’s layered urban production, with rock guest spots from Slash on “Privacy” and Carlos Santana, and ballads (“Speechless”, “Butterflies”) that recall his Off the Wall vocal range.
The album debuted at #1 in 13 countries and produced three U.S. singles: “You Rock My World” (#10), “Cry” (international only) and “Butterflies” (US R&B). However, Jackson’s high-profile public falling-out with Sony chairman Tommy Mottola in 2002, including Jackson publicly accusing Mottola of being “the devil” and “racist”, led to severely curtailed label promotion. Jackson never toured Invincible.
Despite the limited push, Invincible sold an estimated 13 million copies worldwide. Critics were divided at the time but the album has been retrospectively praised for tracks like “Heaven Can Wait”, “Whatever Happens” and “Speechless”. Jackson never released another studio album of new material; the posthumous Michael (2010) and Xscape (2014) were assembled from unreleased recordings.