I really don't like 'Life 'O' the Party'. Terrible song. 'A Million Days' is okay, I feel I want to like the song more than I do. But the rest of the album is really strong.

TyphoonTip said:

JoeTyler said:

hmmm. perhaps your remote control needs batteries?

My remote won't change the mastering. Perhaps you need to broarden your definition of loud.

perhaps you're still the same old *sshole

[Edited 11/2/13 9:23am]

JoeTyler said:

Life O' the Party is one of his WORST songs ever

and Reflection a rather weak ending (I always stop the album after Dear Mr.Man)

but other than that it was a true comeback and the tighest P album since TGE, Cinnamon Girl is one of his BEST SONGS EVER

the beginning of the Bronze Era, certainly not as good as the Golden Age, but without the horrible mistakes/sins of the Silver Age...

I like it better LIVE. Not one of my favorite trax on the album ...

PurpleLove7 said:

JoeTyler said:

Life O' the Party is one of his WORST songs ever

and Reflection a rather weak ending (I always stop the album after Dear Mr.Man)

but other than that it was a true comeback and the tighest P album since TGE, Cinnamon Girl is one of his BEST SONGS EVER

the beginning of the Bronze Era, certainly not as good as the Golden Age, but without the horrible mistakes/sins of the Silver Age...

I like it better LIVE. Not one of my favorite trax on the album ...

I think Reflection is one of his most understated and perfect songs. It sounds very personal to me. Add to that the version he performed on Tavis Smiley with Wendy (acoustic) -- sublime.

Whitnail said:

PurpleLove7 said:

JoeTyler said:

Life O' the Party is one of his WORST songs ever

and Reflection a rather weak ending (I always stop the album after Dear Mr.Man)

but other than that it was a true comeback and the tighest P album since TGE, Cinnamon Girl is one of his BEST SONGS EVER

the beginning of the Bronze Era, certainly not as good as the Golden Age, but without the horrible mistakes/sins of the Silver Age...

I like it better LIVE. Not one of my favorite trax on the album ...

Is it better live because he mixes it with a James Brown rift/hook.

JoeTyler said:

TyphoonTip said:

JoeTyler said: My remote won't change the mastering. Perhaps you need to broarden your definition of loud.

perhaps you're still the same old *sshole

[Edited 11/2/13 9:23am]

I'm sorry, do I know you?

controversy99 said:

controversy99 said:

Whitnail said:

From the perspective of his 90´s output Musicology is a strong album. Like one poster mentioned earlier, it was part of new age (bronze age) in P´s career. Musicology was the album that got me back into his music, after a term of absence resulting from the woeful output in the late 90´s ie RAVE. The unfortunate thing for me was I missed out on TRC album and tour because of that.

I know TRC gets hotly debated and divides opinion on here but for me it is one of his best works, alone from a musical point of view, I would rate TRC as one of his 3 strongest albums. I back up this claim with the sheer quality of the ONA tour. Apart from the regrets of not getting to see Lovesexy and SOTT in concert, missing out on the ONA tour is a huge regret of mine. Thankfully there is some great material capturing this tour out there. The other consolation I have is that it was hardly surprising to go awol after that dreadful RAVE 2000 DVD.

What happens in the 2010´s era remains to be seen...

Don't worry -- you didn't miss much. The Musicology tour was much better. On the ONA tour, you basically had Prince scolding the audience for not all being in the NPG Music Club and Prince scolding people for being racists and Prince scolding you for wanting to hear some of his hits. Not fun. And the outfits were dark, the stage was boring, and the overall feeling was negativity. The best parts of the ONA tour, by far, were the aftershows. Those were amazing, but only a few people get to those and you can always get bootlegs afterward. The Musicology tour had basically the same great band as ONA, except now it was a party atmosphere and everybody's having fun. Prince gets on the acoustic guitar and jokes around with audience. Candy, Greg, Mike Scott, and Prince dance around and play some super funky music. You get flash from John Blackwell. You get amazing guitar solos and bass parts by Prince. Brilliant. [Edited 11/2/13 18:35pm]

That's an interesting take on the ONA tour. I thought the bare stage was cool. It looked mature. My only complaint about the tour, was that Prince was too preachy. He preached nearly for every show about the sorry state of radio, the music industry, owning your master recordings, the history lesson on the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, slavery abolition. It seemed that his religious studies informed his life and music a great deal, but his comments to the audience too many times sounded condescending. Musically, Prince was playing with first-tier musicians and looked and sounded like a member of the ensemble. His talent as a bandleader is something that was fasicnating.

bashraka said:

I was deeply disappointed with the album at the time, coming on the heels of TRC and the One Nite Alone piano album. Just when it seemed like we really were entering into a new golden age, Prince came out with what amounted to another Diamonds & Pearls Pt. II.

The album is great on its own terms, much in the same way that 3121 and Planet Earth are. I just felt at the time that Prince was on the cusp of something really special, that he had finally rid himself of the urge to reclaim his mega-star status with a chart-topping album and would just be focusing on following his creative muse and making accomplished, adult music. Musicology to me proved that he still hadn't got it out of his system.

I don't think there's a dud on there - I think there are even pleasures to be found in Life of the Party. Call My Name is probably my least favourite track.

Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance is the standout for mine - one of my top five Prince songs of the decade.

controversy99 said:

bashraka said:

That's an interesting take on the ONA tour. I thought the bare stage was cool. It looked mature. My only complaint about the tour, was that Prince was too preachy. He preached nearly for every show about the sorry state of radio, the music industry, owning your master recordings, the history lesson on the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, slavery abolition. It seemed that his religious studies informed his life and music a great deal, but his comments to the audience too many times sounded condescending. Musically, Prince was playing with first-tier musicians and looked and sounded like a member of the ensemble. His talent as a bandleader is something that was fasicnating.

Condescending is exactly the right word. I felt bad for my friend who was seeing Prince for the first time. But we still had fun. The people in the row behind us kept yelling snarky responses to Prince's snarkiness. Hilarious. And I convinced my friend to see a show on a subsequent tour, and she had a great time.

Hmmm...while I certainly can see what you're saying about his "condescending" attitude during the ONA tour, in my mind that tour was massively more entertaining than the Musicology tour - and I really enjoyed the Musicology tour.

For one, I will always take a small venue to a large one, for any artist, and perhaps especially Prince. I'm sure my feelings are partially due to the fact that I was 2nd row, in the center, for ONA ... right in front of Prince. It was...surreal being so close, and amazing. Also, as a member of the NPGMC, he played a really cool soundcheck for us that included Paisley Park and Empty Room, so that was great.

ONA was also much more centered on his guitar playing than Musicology, and that's what I love about Prince more than anything...so to see and hear him playing guitar a foot or two in front of me - nothing can beat that.

I had some decent seats for Musicology through the NPGMC at one of the shows, but the other ones were obstructed view and pretty crappy, actually.

Biggest pile of crap he has ever released tried to like it but just can't life is too short to ever play this lp ever again

davidnapo said:

davidnapo said:

Biggest pile of crap he has ever released tried to like it but just can't life is too short to ever play this lp ever again

So you think 20Ten is a better album?

MIRvmn said:

The only good song on this album is A million days and that song was recorded in 1995 according 2 princevault so it was a 9 year old track at the time. The rest of the songs are dull and boring. [Edited 11/1/13 5:24am]

1995 "A Million days", really? Well ya learn something new everytime ya come here.

This is a VERY GOOD album.

I consider Call My Name to be a Prince classic that rivals songs like Adore. Adore is an untouchable ballad, but Call My Name includes verses that that simply fantastic!

A Million Days is fantastic, and so is Musicology. And let's not forget On The Couch.

Here's a full breakdown of my opinions.

01 - Musicology - Great song. Even "greater" message.

02 - Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance - I'm okay with this one. I'd rank it as average, but it's listenable.

03 - A Million Days - LOVE this song. For some reason, it reminds me a bit of Somebody's Somebody (which I love) with regard the message.

04 - Life 'O' The Party - This song is much better when played LIVE, but doesn't translate well as a recorded song. Okay. Far from great.

05 - Call My Name - Epic. I can listen to this song 10x straight and not get tired of it.

06 - Cinnamon Girl - I enjoy the music. Slightly above average. Nothing uber special.

07 - What Do You Want Me To Do? - Kinda dull. ONly serves as background music to me.

08 - The Marrying Kind - Okay. Not bad. I enjoy this one.

09 - If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life - I enjoy this tune. Feels good to sing along to.

10 - On The Couch - This song kinda grew on me. I like it, but for some reason I just feel like it could be so much better.

11 - Dear Mr. Man - Not a fan of Prince's "preachy political" songs. This song has nice music, but really does nothing for me. I kinda just want to tell Prince to shut up. (No offense)

12 - Reflection - Indeed a weak closer. Elevator music at it's finest. But it's listenable and seems to have heart.

A very good album with a cohesive concept he followed throughout.

The whole album boasts songwriting and arrangement "tricks" one can relate to as a musician. It was simply meant to be an album appreciating the art and craft of making music, and he shed light on the concept very nicely, in my opinion.

Still as horrid now as it was back then.

I think it's a pretty decent album, there are some good things on it - my favorite is "Reflection." It seems unusually personal for Prince. It's a lovely, heartfelt song to end the album with.

Life o' the Party is indeed comically bad.

thanks2joniandu said:

bashraka said:

Great album to me. "Musicology" is Prince's best rhythm and blues album of his career, meaning that the full breadth of Black music (gospel, jazz, soul, funk and rock) is represented in the CD and as an artist, no other artist has performed these idioms with as much passion and understanding of its attributes more than Prince. 1/3 of the album was performed by Prince's then backing band of (Rhonda, Renato, John, Maceo, Candy and Greg) and a special guest appearance of Sheila E. When I heard Sheila E was on the album, I thought she would have a singing part, but her on shaker for the song "Dear Mr. Man" was cool to.


After albums like "The Rainbow Children", "One Nite Alone", "N.E.W.S.", "Musicology" is a pop album with mature themes and a mature attitude. Contrast this album with "Rave" which was his previous major label album, he sounded like a dude who studied the artists on "TRL" and "106 And Park" and tried to narrow his appeal to the youth market. "Musicology" for a pop album has Prince's best songwriting at least since "The Gold Experience".

I never understood why "Life O' The Party" was derided as much as it is. Prince's quips about media and fan criticism were pretty witty ("He don't play the hits no more", "Thought he was gay", "I aint never had my nose done") and the groove is cool. Prince's vocal harmony in unison with the horns playing the same part is just like Prince. The back half of the album is perfectly sequenced.

"What Do U Want Me 2 Do"-good downtempo tune about resisting seduction from a young woman to a married man

"Marrying Kind"-great arrangement of Prince's power chords and NPG Hornz. Very EWF-like. I could imagine Maurice White singing this tune.

"If I Was The Man In Ur'e Life"-Prince playing bass with John and the horns. Again tight songwriting and killer jazz improv interlude with Prince, John and Renato

"Dear Mr. Man", good blues number with somber lyrics. Didn't like some lyrics but I could hear Prince's sincerity about the thing he described in the song. (Dear Mr. Man from Webster Hall is unbelievably soulful!)

"Reflection"-Is the best song on the album. I believe this song is 100% autobiographical and heartfelt. The melancholy music matches Prince's wistful lyrics. Its only fitting that Prince played the instruments on this tune: the song is highly personal and the lyrical idiosyncrasies are uniquely Prince. When I saw him perform the song on "Tavis Smiley Show" it was absolutely beautiful. The studio version isn't as good as the acoustic version but the message is just as evident.

All in all, a great effort from P. The hype surrunding his induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, performance with Beyonce at the Grammys, his appearances on the talk show circuit made 2004 a memorable year. "Musicology" for me, is a capsule that documents his early roots in funk and his growth as a songwriter and performer.

This "review" REALLY makes me want to love this album. I remember getting a free copy from the concert in Cleveland and listening to it on my way home after the show...I was SO disappointed by it. It grew on me a bit more but some parts of the album seem a bit forced or rushed.

Excellent insight of the album though. It makes me want to dig it out and listen!!!

[Edited 11/1/13 14:35pm]

I agee...I was on my way home from the Cleveland show too trying to listen and my ears were ringing so hard from the show I had it cranked super high. lol But I play this cd alot and still enjoy.

I always found it a bit bland. Really like the title track and Call My Name but nothing much else ever really grabbed me. It's ok, nothing better. I vastly prefer everything which has come since.

I was glad Musicology worked as a commercial comeback for Prince, gaining him some positive exposure and helping to transition his image (for most people) from "weird guy who changed his name who isn't cool anymore" to "super-talented musician."

I first got into Prince's music right when his popularity and reputation was really starting to wane, as that was the time/age when I started really getting into music in general. For years, when I told people that Prince was my favorite musician, I was used to them thinking I was really square and/or had bad taste in music, so it was nice that Musicology changed that. I used to hear stuff like, "Seriously? I didn't know Prince was anybody's favorite musician." (Somebody literally said that to me once, in the late 90s.) Yet, ever since Musicology came out, people who don't even like Prince tend to say stuff like, "Cool... he's not really my thing, but he's sure an amazing talent." It may be insecure to care about something like that (although IMO it's less insecure than the masses of people who simply say they like whatever is popular or hip at the moment), but it bothered me, and I'm glad Prince is widely respected as a musician again.

That said, I've never cared much for the Musicology album itself. The "pure soul/R&B" side of Prince just isn't my favorite side of him. Actually, the "pure anything" side of Prince isn't my favorite -- one of the things I love about Prince is how he blends genres and sounds truly original. I love songs like WDC and Something in the Water, and even my favorite soul/R&B Prince songs tend to include elements from other genres and/or contain unique touches... for example, "Money Don't Matter 2night" is certainly a soul/R&B song and it's one of my favs, but it's soul/R&B with pop and rock elements mixed in, along with some of Prince's best lyrics ever IMO, and I feel like it has a very distinct, memorable sound.

Ultimately, while I liked most of the songs on "Musicology," I didn't love any of them (which is rare for me with Prince), and I didn't even really, really like any of them (which might be the only instance of this for me with Prince if you only count legit major-release albums). Even with Rave, for example, I really, really like some of the songs ("So Far, So Pleased," "Tangerine," "Strange but True")... but Musicology just feels forgettable to me.

Still, I'm grateful it positively changed the public perception of Prince, that it exposed new people to Prince's music, and that it obviously was a treat for Prince fans who tend to favorite a different side of him than I do.

[Edited 12/29/13 20:25pm]

I was comletely happy with the preceding albums
TRC & News.
I knew he'd try to get back into the spot o' pop. (So my expectations weren't so high.)

01 - Musicology - Nice, th' man is back, n' funky.

02 - Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance - N' still funky, nice story, quite funny, no depth but this is pop. Me likes it.

03 - A Million Days - The melodrama is back. Song's OK.A little tiresome, that comes with it being a hyper-ballad. This is P. doing his thing, but there's very few unexplored avenues of pop

04 - Life 'O' The Party - Nice witticisms, but generally dull. I don't like it.

05 - Call My Name - None can top prince at his own game. He's been perfecting this kind of ballad for a while now. I like it.

06 - Cinnamon Girl - Getting political always exposes princes indifference and playfullness.
Naive. Takes a serious theme n'makes a spicy dance tune out of it. Dance tracks with distorted guitar. This is a huge song. A delicious ball of cheese. Me likes.

07 - What Do You Want Me To Do? - I really like the funk in reserved dosis. I like this, a mature song (for Prince).

08 - The Marrying Kind -

09 - If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life - These two are the heart of the album. This is hardcore prince popping. All over the place, yet concise, unique, good fun and soapy dramatic. An achievement.

10 - On The Couch - This is almost the same song as Satisfied on the following album.
But this song has nothing. Waste of time, if he's going to do this filler stuff, he should apply himself.

11 - Dear Mr. Man - political, naive, musically soulful. Me likes.

12 - Reflection - Favourite track. This is high quality prince without trying. Transcendental.

Production is too loud, n' too cluttered.
3121 is better, it took me years to admit that, lol. It irritates me When an album gets bad (as in unjust) criticism, from his sorry-ass fans. Too many critics put too much energy into penalising the man for "life o' th' party", which didn't work in the studio. Get over it.
Generally, it's a good album.

[Edited 12/30/13 1:22am]

[Edited 12/31/13 1:09am]

that decade's "diamonds and pearls" lp

PurpleJedi said:

I played this CD the other day after years of ignoring it.


It's got ALOT of potential, but for me it misses the mark by t-h-i-s much.

I started a thread on this a while back. I listened to the album again after years and thought it was pretty decent. But I feel that nearly every album of the 00s was a near miss, Musicology included.

Musicology is maybe the most consistent of these lesser albums, but it's missing something truly great. It's never really awful (I have never particularly minded Life o the Party, and I know people for whom it was their favorite song on the album).

I think If I Was the Man In Your Life is great, but not astounding. It's how good Prince's music should always be, and it's not any better than a decent Red Hot Chili Peppers track.

And the singles (though there were quite a few--Musicology, Call My Name, Cinamon Girl) simply are not up there with Kiss, 1999, U Got the Look, Cream, etc. They are lacking the personality that made people love/hate him.

This album is not worthy of love or hate, and that's maybe the saddest part. But I do find it enjoyable.

[Edited 12/30/13 16:07pm]