Planet Earth

Many seem view “Planet Earth” as a weak album. Is the reason the quality of the songs or the cumulative effect of the listening experience? I like each song individually and consider each of them “good”, however I think where Planet Earth falls short is in coherence. Its plays as a collection of unrelated songs with no underlying theme or sound to unify it and give the whole set a distinct personality. So when one thinks of Planet Earth it doesn’t conjure an image. I think other fans have noted this has well.

With this mind I believe Prince heard the “constructive criticism” and birthed MPLSound and LotusFlower with cohesion of sound and structure more realized. Also taking note fans clamoring for a rock album while others begged from funk led to the two for one multi-album project. Prince indeed listens to his fans and tries to please them to some extent. Those who think otherwise aren’t really paying attention.

I also submit that the probable reason that “Elixer” was included in the set stems from what happened with Tamar’s CD. I think Record label politics lead to the CD being shelved. Prince decided to insure that the same thing would not happen to Bria by including the CD as a bundle with his. Thoughts?

The problem with PE is that it was NEVER a real project 2 begin with.

I don't see "Planet Earth" being any less cohesive in theme than most of his classic albums from the 80s, but I guess perceptions in that regard may vary. Funny how people were longing for the Dream Factory sound to return for so long and when they actually got some of it on "Planet Earth" they decided to spit on it.

I still consider it a better album than either "Musicology" or "3121". At least it's more interesting sonically.

Wrong forum, btw.

Tricky, you my boy but this is the wrong forum.

Prince.org is a cemetery where folks mourn Prince instead of celebrate him and his music. Last time I checked, Prince isn't dead yet.

purplecam said:

Tricky, you my boy but this is the wrong forum.

Edmonton, AB - - If you're happy and you know it your hands, if you're happy and you know it do a

To begin with, I think the title threw me off. I was expecting perhaps some experimentation with music from different regions of the world incorporated into his sound. That surely would have been interesting, but I don't blame Prince for my expectations.

I love the title track and like 4 other songs but I lost interest in the album as a whole pretty quickly...same with Musicology.

novabrkr said:

tricky99 said:

Elixer is very nice..... I have been listening to it alot. I especially like "home".

Planet Earth is the best album of the 00's, by far.

pplrain said:

ernestsewell said:

Hello... I'm Come funkateer 'Danceelectric'
from Housequake.com

Love, "Planet Earth."

For me, PE is upbeat and positive in its entirety, second only to TRC in the 00's. My very first impression of it was that it evoked a happiness. It is lighthearted and stands out to me as a work possessing a purity and almost innocence. Definitely a "feel good" album. My husband said it reminded him of "Up with people"

It was a decent album, far more interesting than Musicology.

How someone can play Planet Earth and not be reminded of his Sign 'o' The Times era is beyond me.

All The Midnights of the World, one of his best short ballads ever IMO, could easily have been a bootleg hit like Heaven from Dream Factory. Even Planet Earth's title track could have been a Dream Factory era song.

The problem with Planet Earth to me is just that it had no emotional resonance. It had no 'classic' single. Guitar wasn't just unimpressive for a song about his guitar, it was bland and generic sounding---Prince , if anything, wasn't meant to sound normal.

Overall, it's one of my least favorite Prince albums of late, but I don't think it's as terrible as folks say it is.
[Edited 5/9/09 7:11am]

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I like it more than 3121, but not as much as Lotus/MPLSound or maybe Musicology.

It does feel like a mish-mash of things, though. I think in retrospect it's pretty easy to tell that it's outtakes from the 3121/LotusFlower sessions. The r&b/funk/soul tracks (and a couple of the rockers) suffer slightly from overproduction of 3121 and most of the rockers have the more organic sound of LF.

thedance said:

Planet Earth is the Newpower Soul of the 00's

Tame said:

Love, "Planet Earth."

Minus "Mr.Goodnight" & "All The Midnights In The World"... Planet Earth is a Great Album !

Imago said:

saafiir said:

Minus "Mr.Goodnight" & "All The Midnights In The World"... Planet Earth is a Great Album !

There were only two songs I didn't care for on the album, the rest of it to me was pretty good, the title track opening alone had me convinced. I was expecting something different as someone had mentioned before, but most of the album was entertaining enough for my appetite. I was hoping it would've been a little longer but the fact that he released it & that I wasn't really expecting anything from him for awhile & then boom he dropped it was pretty cool. I was just excited that he released something so soon.

I like Planet Earth a lot. I've never thought about the album as inchoherent. Although he could've placed the title track at the end, it's rather gloomy.

It's hard to say if Elixir was included partly because of what happened to Tamar's CD. In any case, it was a good move to include it. If you're an artist starting out and you get a chance to be included next to Prince, that's very good.

peter430044 said:

ernestsewell said:

I really like PE, much more than 3121 but i do like Musicologyalot aswell.

With the CD being given away for free in the UK and Ireland, I wonder if some of the tracks were more/mere throwaways which Prince saw as a way to release them. The album starts off quite strongly (IMO) with the first three songs and goes through the motions afterwards, finishing off with two pleasant songs.

I think that a difficulty with Planet Earth was the two songs that were released afterwards, F.U.N.K. and Turn Me Loose both being of a strong tracks.

All in all though, I quite like Planet Earth, although I'd rate 3121 higher.

Smillan said:

ernestsewell said: