Prince, Planet Earth: * * * 1/2 Retro new wave & R&B

Leave it to Prince to go against the grain. While most artists and labels are going to great lengths to keep music from leaking before it’s released, Prince gives away 3 million copies of this album in the U.K. through a newspaper promotion. If that didn’t get things buzzing, then the music should, as the guitar-wielding enigma unleashes a torrent of riotous anthems and funked-up jams. On the title track, he taps into his vintage ’80s sound while delivering a very now environmental message. Elsewhere, the grooves don’t stop, whether he’s being slyly seductive or downright randy. It may not be 1999 anymore, but Prince still knows how to party as if it were. — Steve Jones

>>Download: Planet Earth, Guitar, Somewhere Here on Earth, Mr. Goodnight, Chelsea Rodgers >>Skip: Future Baby Mama