IstenSzek said:

funny. i listened to this album for the first time in a long long time, last week.

it struck me that I still felt the same way about it though

I still have the title track. I don't know if it's because of the "could it be magic"

bridge or the lyrics or whatever, but it's one of probably 4 or 5 of prince's cuts

that I absolutely cannot stand. I faintly remember there being a rather nice or

at least okay guitarsolo near the end but I just couldn't bring myself to listen

to it again. That's how much I dislike it.

Guitar. Nice tune. I liked the 'demo' version too. This one is pretty nice. Though

I hardly ever feel the need to listen to it.

Somewhere here on Earth. Good song. Very good song. Boring as hell to me,

for some reason. I know it's good, but it just puts me to sleep. And I usually do

like his slow songs. This one is just a bit uneventful.

The One U Wanna C. Pretty good. Ruined by the "U don't have 2 shave Ur legs"

line. Much like the "could it be magic" bridge on Planet Earth, this line is just so

incredibly jarring to me that it makes me shudder all over. In a bad way. This

is still an ok song tho. Just another one I can't listen to.

Future Baby Mama. Ok. The vocals on this one are great. And I do like it. The

lyrics for the most part are fine, just the title. It's just so 'off'. It kind of goes

to show that it's still a great song when you want to listen to it again, even tho

it has such a silly title.

Mr Goodnight. Don't mind this one at all. It's fun, breezy, melodic and it's just

so silly that you can't take it seriously.

All The Midnights. Probably the highlight of this album, for me. Love it when he

does these seemingly off the cuff songs. Short and sweet and just weird enough

to be uniquely prince. I often feel the need to listen to this.

Chelsea Rogers. Ugh. I know many people like it a lot but I can't stand it. What

is so special about it? And he doesn't even sing it himself. Or at least his vocals

are buried so deep in the mix that I can only hear Shelby (?). All in all it's just

a middle of the road 'modern prince' funk song.

Lion of Judah. Yay. I'm not a fan of 'reverend prince', but when the tune is good

I don't mind at all. At least it's an actual song. Nice guitar solo too. Another one

that stands out on this album, to me.

Resolution. Meh. It's like "reflection", but only a gazillion times NOT as good. He

could write 10 of these songs a day. At least that's the feeling you get. Overall,

the message is pretty simple. It's like a teenager's solution to war and politics.

which is ok, as long as you're not a 50 yr old man. You'd think prince would be

able to make us think a little deeper.

all in all, I don't care for this album, yet I would hesitate to call it "bad". It's got

a whole shitlist of problems but for me personally, I feel that if I could just take

off the title track and replace it with something stronger, perhaps F.U.N.K. or so,

I wouldn't mind putting this one on and listening to it all the way through.

well, twice a year

Hey, great review! We seem to have the same taste! And I like Jack Russels, too.

Track for track we seem to like or dislike the same, or similar, details. And I can´t stand the songs that you can´t stand. Musically, this album isn´t so bad but the lyrics ruin it for me and it could´ve been a solid to good, maybe very good album if he had changed a few things about it.

(Dropped Chelsea Rogers in favor of a better song, put more thought into some of the lyrics, etc. etc.)

datdude said:

Planet Earth helped me understand how bitchy folks on the org can be. Don't understand the disdain for the album, so many do so much worse. One criticism might be that it feels incoherent. It has several tracks that I like. SHOE is one of his best ballads EVER and definitely recently. FBM was a catchy hit, great vocals. I like the arrangement of Lion of Judah and The 1 UWann C should've been a pop hit. Even the title track is interesting in arrangement. So nothing groundbreaking but not the audio turd ppl here would have u believe

Absolutely. I think it could´ve been a really great album. But I totally agree with Izstenczek here, the things that I dislike on this album may be small details, but they are so irritating that I hardly give this album a proper listen as a whole album. And this is something I feel about many Prince albums of the past decade or so....great musical ideas marred by partly horrible lyric ideas make a lot of his recent efforts sound less cohesive in terms of quality and less easy to relate to.

But hey, to each his /her own.

I think Prince is still capable of writing some really great songs these days...on the albums though, they are often buried among a lot of not so great songs, at least in my humble opinion. But I can find greatness on every single album, whether it´s this one or MPLSound or the much hated 20Ten. They all have some real gems on them.

imago said:

Love it!!!!!!!!!

I really like it. It's far from being a classic album, but I really like the Dream Factory -era vibe coupled with the Musicology / 3121 type of songwriting.

It's just a nice album to listen to and I think of his later work it just sounds more like a proper "Prince record" than 3121 or Lotusflow3r.

Future Baby Mama is excellent...

and the title track...

that's it. Forget about the rest.

First 6 songs are a good sequence... don't like it after that.

The only song I clearly enjoyed listening to off of this album was "Chelsea Rogers". The rest I would have to re-listen because I don't even remember how the songs went.

SHOE is it' only saving grace

here's what i remember about this album ..listented 2 it ........put on 3121 after that and danced my ass off

i amend about the only saving grace, i became real good friends with a orger after we started arguing how awful this album is and they liked it ..so i'm glad there is planet earth 4 that reason only

I'm 50/50 on this album. Musically it's so-so,lyrically I like it because it's quite honest and open in places

BEST lyric : ''Every nickle in this club looking for a dime, nothing less, nothing more''.

imago said:

ColAngus said:

another aspect to this album , that came out before this album was released ... was that Prince was listening alot to Beatles music ... and I thought that shined thru on this album .

of course if you hate the album , you think he completely missed it ...

but .. from a "peace and luv" album with no swear words, ala the beatles ... i thought it went well with the thinking ...

I always thought of Prince being more of a "led zeppelin , sly stone" influenced peddler of pop ... so I kinda took this as "not hype" and believed that maybe he was just starting to understand the Beatles influence etc ....

(remember the Lennon song he did at the Superbowl preview ) ... just my .02 ...

to the Chealsea rogers haters - i like the lyrics to the song ... and the beat ... but when he gets to the "of everyday make the most" , i think it just is somewhat inspirational ... and positive ...in a good way ..

It is very Beatle-esch, which is why it sounds like a Revolution era album to me. Much of the Revolution material sounded like Prince was getting high and listening to Beatles records.

Yes, I always suspected Prince wanted to make a very "English" sounding pop-rock record: jangly guitars, rather conventional classic rock-style arrangements, little or no funk or Prince-y wierdness to be found. And I think that's why he tied it into the 21 Nights in London residency.

Like you, I neither hate nor love this album. But Resolution is excellent musically, and I love the charmingly naive political/spiritual view we get from Prince here.

fms said:

imago said:

It is very Beatle-esch, which is why it sounds like a Revolution era album to me. Much of the Revolution material sounded like Prince was getting high and listening to Beatles records.

Yes, I always suspected Prince wanted to make a very "English" sounding pop-rock record: jangly guitars, rather conventional classic rock-style arrangements, little or no funk or Prince-y wierdness to be found. And I think that's why he tied it into the 21 Nights in London residency.

Like you, I neither hate nor love this album. But Resolution is excellent musically, and I love the charmingly naive political/spiritual view we get from Prince here.

wow, Resolution is just the opposite for me, horribly uncreative music (you can still be creative with chords and a melody) and embarrasing lyrics.

No, it's better than you guys think.

2freaky4church1 said:

No, it's better than you guys think.

Well thanks for setting everyone straight

One of, if not the, most disappointing Prince albums (even more than NPS, up there with Rave, maybe even tops it...)

The worst thing for me about it is that it's so lukewarm - I don't want to feel indifferent about a Prince record. It even annoys me a bit. There are NO Wow moments. No memorable songs.

I purchased the album a few days ago from Amazon and should be receiving it shortly. I have not listened to any tracks on it at this point. Wish me luck;)

Another listen to "Planet Earth"...do we HAVE to?

Barring "Somewhere Here on Earth"...*hears harps*.

It's almost 5 years since its RELEASED!

WELL...

It's not as bad as people make it, but one of the weakest from the 00's.

I LOVE: Lion Of Judah (One of the best songs he released in this period..IMO..That guitar and his vocals..I love it)

Guitar (Well LIVE..he makes the CD version become complete nonsense..lol. On Jay Leno he was on fire! BUT Still pretty Good on the CD..)

The One U Wanna C (I love this cut..So poppy and Prince is in a happy mode...the guitar at the end is just SO GOOD!)

All The Midnights In The World (One of the best songs he's done...JK..But it's one of my favorites. I love when he plays like this. It's a strange..where did that come from feel, but nevertheless a song that has a rich sincere emotion to it.

Planet Earth - Awesome SONG! The guitar at the end..gives me chills! SO much emotion and rawness to it!

Somewhere On Earth - Beautiful! It's like the father to the song 'Elixer'. It makes me feel 'Classic'. It stands timeless!

Resolution - It is a weird ending..but I get it. BUT it doesn't really give a resolution. Haha. It just talks about the problems..AND SURE we want a resolution.. How many people don't want a resolution? BUT what is it?

I KNOW!!

LOVE 4 1 ANOTHER. DUH!! Hahaha

Future Baby Mama - Classic! I love the beginning of this song so much! It just makes me flow & go!

Everything on this album has grew on me; including Chelsea Rodgers..(HATED it before)

I give it a 7/10

It's not one I listen to as a whole often, but it is not bad.

Never mind everything I said..this album is awesome! Haha

I literally just found Planet Earth used at Hastings for 99 cents the other day......

I got this album when i was in the mist of really getting into Prince, i think i heard Planet Earth few week's after it came out & after i just heard SOTT for the first time. It was of course a big difference, but Planet Earth, Somewhere Here On Earth, Guitar & Mr. Goodnight are some of my favorites from Prince's 2000's albums.

I can see why people dislike it, and why they like it. So i understand the mixed feelings on it

PE's biggest crimes are really that it followed 2 big comeback albums in the US, but didn't get a big proper release there - IIRC Guitar got some sort of cellphone promo thing, but still that was it - PE is the Euro-newspaper album to many and that's it.

Other than that it sounds thrown together rather than a whole project. Take individual tracks and you find fans, but as a whole it's off kilter. Lotus does it better, and I like to absorb my favs into Lotus for a tracklist that suits me.

imago said:

Songs like Mr. Goodnight and Guitar have their little

humerous moments and never sound bloody aweful to me.

What are your thoughts?

Well, I will go ahead and give some of my input. I listened to it for the first time yesterday.

Planet Earth: Wonderful song. I love the instrumentation and the iconic guitar soloing, of course. The chorus fits the song well too. The only thing with the lyrics is they mostly seem inconsistent and out of place, as if maybe the lyrics would be more meaningful coming out of Mohandas Ghandi's mouth or MLK's mouth, to be honest. (Even though I will not for one second doubt that P is being sincere.)

Guitar: Like a lot of other people, this song sounds a lot like "I Will Follow" by U2 (one of my fav bands btw), which I am assuming was his intention. It has a nice pop rock vibe to it that really catches my ear. Along with Planet Earth this is one of my favorites.

Somewhere Here on Earth: Second best song on album, hands down, right behind PE. This fits perfectly into his classic slow jam catalogue.

The One U Wanna C: Catchy song. I like that Prince can take on the country genre and tweak it to his style. The bassline sounds so funky. How does he do it? Beats me. Gift of God to say the least! I would say this song is good, not great, nothing more, nothing less.

Future Baby Mama: Too bad I don't dig the title as much as the song. This is so groovy, so smooth. I love this song. Definitely another one of my favs, and probably one of his best R&B tunes in awhile.

Mr. Goodnight: In the same vein as FBM pretty much, with a nice mellow rap in some parts of the song. Great song but not as good as FBM.

All the Midnights in the World: Decent, and not necessary. Seems like after the sixth track the album just kind of drops off and sounds inconsistent.

Chelsea Rogers: Sounds a little too long, and I would rather have Prince sing all the vocals, or at least most of them. Nice little funk tune but kind of average. Good song overall.

Lion of Judah: Great song. I totally dig the opening chords, they kinda put me in the mind of Purple Rain. I feel like the song could have been even better, but I will take it as is.

Resolution: Very nice laid-back poppy groove to the song. Pretty simple song and I think it works. Puts me in the mind of "Reflection". In the same boat as PE with the lyrics though. But hey, I will at least say I think it's great that Prince wants a utopian world and love4oneanother just like the rest of us sane folks with a soul!

Overall, I enjoyed the album. TRC and LotusFlow3r are hands down my two favorite 2000's albums of P but Planet Earth has its place. Not as good as 3121, maybe a little better than Musicology, maybe about the same. (I enjoy half of Musicology and the other half really does little for me.) I have yet to hear NEWS.

Really good album. Not great or spectacular, not horrible or bad. Just really good.

when i first heard it i was not a prince fan.. i thought it sounded amateur, the songs sounded lame like filler material, randomly stashed to an album & it felt like an 80's legend 'comeback' effort, i especially did not like SHOE

however with a few more listens i came to really love the album, the songs feel honest and fun, the video 4 SHOE was wonderful. i soon realised that prince has got his own style & this is no exception.

it flows lovely from start to finish, there is a sense of peace with this album, i can listen to this no matter what mood i'm in. it's a wonderful good all rounder

PLANNET EARTH

lyrically its up there with ''Sign O The Times'' .the melody an piano work to make it a haunting sounding song like EMPTY ROOM was ..The only diss of this is the chorus isnt very catchy an almost sounds like it dont match the verses .. but despite that .. its a fine produced track with great music an melodys

GUITAR

this is a cool song and a clever lyric .. i just aint sure this take or version of the track shoulda been the one on the album

PLANNET EARTH

lyrically its up there with ''Sign O The Times'' .the melody an piano work to make it a haunting sounding song like EMPTY ROOM was ..The only diss of this is the chorus isnt very catchy an almost sounds like it dont match the verses .. but despite that .. its a fine produced track with great music an melodys

GUITAR

this is a cool song and a clever lyric ..only diss is i just aint sure this take or version of the track is as good as it could be .. i think Play In The Sunshine & Housequake are good songs aswell .. but the studio cuts that made the album dont work aswell as they could have .. an often LIVE versions are better .. its a great rock song .. just feel it coulda been made slicker an funkier an sang better .. he makes some noizes that aint too easy on the ear ................ i still love it .but its a cream/kiss/gett off etc .. an this is like a rough draft

SWHOE

great ballad .. one of his classiest and finest slow grooves

THE ONE U WANNA C

this is a hit ... this is a feel good prince classic .. this is old school prince .. like I COULD NEVER TAKE THE PLACE .. WHEN U WERE MINE .. etc .. but it has better production .. this is a song and a sound i had been waiting to hear from prince in a long while .. it seems he kinda neglected this sound a bit .. this an chelsea are the 2 biggist hits .. that are as comercial and as good as anything on THE VERY BEST OF .. i love this song

FUTURE BABY MOMMA

nice sound an melody .. too much bragging though .. its kinda one of those lyrics that make u think .. is this for real .. is this guy that shallow an clueless in what attracts good women .. sure money will attract alot of women .. but not good women .. u need more

MR GOODNIGHT

its cool .. alot of braggin.. an materialistic stuff .. but SWHOE an ATMITW have a more genuine touch which makes this excusable an makes u realise that he aint all brag an has realness .. the music is kinda basic an sounds like a built in keyboard track .. but it works well .. i like this one alot

ALL THE MIDNIGHTS

This is one of the prettiest little songs he has ever done .. captures the listener straight away .. great melody. great vocal . great lyric . great vibe , great instrumentation .. aka its great

its short an sweet .. but that just makes u wanna play it again and again ...

CHELSEA

this is perfect .. it makes u wanna dance .. great lyric .. musically its something different than most prince .. and the 2 vocals go together really well .. this song is magic

LION

this is hot .. not much more to say .. its melodically,lyrically a bit off the wall an different .. but it is a damn near perfect track .. when it kicks in .. wind blowing in my hair .. u can feel the wind .. the music an lyrics all seem to fit together perfectly here .. they both tell the same story ... this is a track fans had been dreaming of a long time ... PRINCE THE GUITAR GOD .. PRINCE LIVE THE GUITAR GOD ... rock kids see PRINCE AT THE SUPERBOWL .. and think WOW i need to check him out more .. then they get his latest album .. an its full of KEYBOARD MUSIC 3121 with some guitar .. .. i think prince captured the LIVE GUITAR GOD thing he did at the superbowl in the studio here ... more of this kinda thing please!

RESOLUTION

great track .. makes me smile .. it has that funky sound of DIRTY MIND tracks .. an has that dreamy sound of AROUND THE WORLD/PARADE tracks ... can't go wrong

I love this song .. its a special track .. C'MON EVERYBODY .. ALL OVER THE WORLD .. i got goosebumps .. cos i was listening to one of the best of all time .. trying his best .. i think this album is an album he wokred hard on an made something special

^Didn't know that there's a May Fools' Day. Good effort btw!

Double post! Please delete!

[Edited 5/1/12 9:07am]

Just like most people here I find some some songs quite good or OK (not many though), some are real stinkers (Lion of Judah, resolution)... but most of all... or worst of all, it's a total non event. It's one of those albums I check out on a rare occasion because I'm a Prince fan, but asside of it's marketing gimmick value there is very little reason to play this CD. Same goes for 2010

It's totally forgetful. If not for this thread, I wouldn't have thought about this album again. Loved the concerts though.