Planet Earth - What's up with it?

OK, I know Planet Earth isn't everyone's favorite album.
As a matter of fact, it was so terrible that it turned
InsastiableCream gay upon one rotation.

But I personally don't mind the album. I actually like a few
of the tracks.


But one thing I did notice is that it is extremely
unfocused. I mean, with Prince, we've all come to expect
him to throw everything but the kitchen sink at you in one single
album with regards to all the styles/genres he's capable of
performing.

But on Planet Earth, none of the songs sound like they actually
belong together. Some of the tracks have a Prince & The
Revolution style feel to them, while others sound like
either Emancipation or Musicology outtakes. But none of them
sound as if they were written out of the box to be placed on
the same album.


Does anyone hear this too? Does anyone know how this album was
conceived or recorded? It was released 16 months after 3121
so, by Prince standards, that a decent stretch between albums.
But it doesn't sound like something he spent a lot of time on.
It sounds more like he pulled stuff out of the vault, polished it
slightly and threw it together in an 'eclectic' mix.




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C:\Otaassk~.exe




The new best Prince M&M thread ever: http://prince.org/msg/7/323876

vivid is my new boo!

well-in the UK-it was free

i actually have more than 10 copies-mainly from the o2

so for a freebie-its cool-but i'd be unhappy paying full whack for it

i think he did it to sell tickets and drum up publicity-which worked

it wasn't aimed at setting the charts on fire or winning awards-and i think it served its purpose well

you aint gonna sweat and fret too much over something your giving away-i sure wouldn't

to me it sounds like something he quickly threw together,
despite the 16 month gap between 3121 and planet earth.

the main focus was probably already on securing the best
songs for Lotusflower.

i've always felt like the planet earth album was mainly
to have a tool of promotion for the O2 residency.

I prefer it to 3121.

Well, I thought that alot of the songs were just leftover tracks from both Musicology and 3121. They were all cool to me, but lyrically the songs could've been better. It took me some time to really adapt to the album when it came out because it seemed very shorthanded of a standout track.

Somewhere Here On Earth is lovely.

Chelsea Rogers is fab.

The rest of it... A bit soulless.

dumbass thread

I think PE is a great album, and not unfocused at all. People could say unfocused about SOTT too. It was a whittle down of another album anyway. D&P is disjointed to me. It's a train wreck, and unfocused as hell. Even Controversy had that transitional feel, which some very different tracks on it.

PE is solid, but I could do without "Lion of Judah". Just to start it off with a ballad is pretty intense. "Planet Earth" is very much his "Earth Song" (which MJ did). Has that same ominous and moody feel to it.

luvsexy4all said:

IstenSzek said:

It's still spinning all the way around once every 24 hours, and making a full revolution around the sun every 365 days or so.

"Guitar" on Leno is the greatest performance in the history of rock ' roll

Second Funkiest White Man in America

It sure is nice having adults running our government now

hey if you like it (like i do) then screw the rest of the mofos who DON'T.
that's when you're a TRUE Prince fan. Eclectic goes hand in hand with P. And as has been said very FEW of his albums (or albums by few except Sade and a few others) sound sonically cohesive.

SHOE is sublime, Chelsea is quite funky, Lion of Judah I even like ("come wit it"), Guitar, repetitive but tolerable, Planet Earth (ambitious and sprawling, but it works for me), FBM (despite its haters) is a great vocal performance, Mr Goodnite (funny and a definitely a keeper), the 1 u Wanna C, fun, pure Prince pop. All the Mignights is the only song that sounds half done (despite the fact that he's done or mini-songs like Tangerine, etc.) or that i don't really care for.

So if YOU dig it, then DIG it! You Dig?! LOL

just goes to show you how taste differs. most people seem to dislike
"lion of judah" and "all the midnights in the world" the most whilst
they are my 2 favorit tracks from the album.

IstenSzek said:

just goes to show you how taste differs. most people seem to dislike
"lion of judah" and "all the midnights in the world" the most whilst
they are my 2 favorit tracks from the album.

I'm pretty sure that some of the tracks were holdovers from 3121. On Mr.Goodnight he evens calls out 3121! Chelsea Rogers was around during 3121 and that track was probably as well. I always thought his ballads were works that were sitting around until he finally felt ready to release them. Somehow they haven't felt "fresh" since SOTT. Elixer might be an exception to that statement though. It felt like he wrote it for Bria during a burst of recent inspiration.

I love Planet Earth.

x

yes l can never understand why most people arent too keen on planet earth album ???

for me personally l love planet earth and thought it is a generally a very good album as its all about saving the earth ....like how michael jackson did with his earth song... if u pay attention to him u will understand him more..
l think people dont understand planet earth album very well or have the same vibes as l do...
its one of his best alongside with musicology and 3121.....

l love S.H.O.E..one of my favourites all time..

everyone has their own opinions on this album....

IstenSzek said:

just goes to show you how taste differs. most people seem to dislike
"lion of judah" and "all the midnights in the world" the most whilst
they are my 2 favorit tracks from the album.

"PLanet Earth," is a nice album, The songs are Earth and Humanity conscious as well as sweet and romantic.

Somewhere Here On Earth is easily one of Prince's best sung ballads. Love when the trumpet fades in and out of the song. It is so romantic.

A few great songs, but as an album it's wildly uneven IMHO.

I got the album free with the Mail on Sunday but strangely coz it was free i listened to it with little interest-almost as if Prince didnt care then i dont. However now i quite like it. I agree with the consistency arguement but at the same time there is something very confident about it. There is a lightness to it and it lacks any self consciousness-this is probably its biggest strength and at the same time biggest weakness.

Planet Earth is the second album by Prince I got & I love it. Sure it may be a little tame for his standards but I like all the songs except "Lion of Judah" and "Future Baby Mama". To me it's very cohesive, and provides a nice arrangement of moods and emotions.

I do think he could have took the theme of "Earth" into a better direction if he spent more time thinking it through. It would be cool if each song was based around a country and he could write about something he experienced while in that country and encoperate sounds relating to that country into the song. E.g. India "sitar". It would be difficult but he could pull it off, he's been to so many countries so many time's I'm sure he'd have some amazing stories and imagery to use.

& hey I got it for free from the newspaper, so even if I didn't like it I wouldn't complain!

Hello Everyone.....
I agree that "PLANET EARTH" as a whole album is not PRINCE'S best effort, but the cd does feature some really great solid tunes on there like," SOMEWHERE HERE ON EARTH," " GUITAR," " FUTURE BABY MAMA," " CHELSEA ROGERS," " THE ONE U WANNA C," and the fantastic opening title cut," PLANET EARTH,"
Take note that on PRINCE'S 2007 LONDON RESIDENCY he performed much of what I mentioned above only from the album. These songs are the albums lifeline.
Thank You.....
Nicky Tuzio
e-mail: tuztones@optimum.net

By the way, let me say this. Let me say it loud and proud, for all to see and hear:

I LOVE "RESOLUTION".

Yeah, I said it.

"Guitar" on Leno is the greatest performance in the history of rock ' roll

Second Funkiest White Man in America

It sure is nice having adults running our government now

Wow. I like this album...love some of the tracks. I hope all you critics are gettin paid otherwise you all are wasting a whole lot of time talkin ishh for nothin...or maybe to find someone to agree with you...I don't know, any of you music appreciation teachers just tryin to share your knowledge? lol whats your purpose?

It offers a lot of different styles and is a bit like a collection of songs. Still, it has some excellent songs:

Planet Earth
Guitar
Chelsea Rodgers
Somewhere here on earth
One U wanna C
Future baby mama is also nice.

Imago said:

if u cant find joy in his material to some degree -what kind of fan are u ? doesnt mean u have to like all his stuff