Jackson, Michael : You Rock My World

Worth buying for the 32-second introduction alone, which features what sounds like Hollywood comic Chris Rock having a screwdriver gently inserted into his anus as he excitedly but distractedly tries to hold a conversation with MJ about a girl who's mmm-yeah-ow! looking real fine tonight.

Make no mistake, 'You Rock My World' is a brilliant single, old Meltface's finest five minutes since anything off 'Bad', and one of R&B guru Rodney Jerkins' best productions yet. Slicker than Jacko moonwalking on ice, this is lush urban soul that simply sounds luxurious and commands your respect. Over a pedestrian beat and a classic disco funk, sprightly strings and tasty scratching, Jackson is in fine voice, hollering and - ow! - whooping like he's 23, not 43-years-old, and has just discovered girls/boys/whatever. Impossible though it is to separate man from myth, we should at least acknowledge an immaculate return from a true great. Because when Jacko's around, things are never dull.

Piers Martin