I'm always slightly amused when I read magazines like Rolling Stone and Q hailing the title track as some kind of glorious return to form. He had a track pretty much identical to it on his last two albums ("Prettyman" from 1999's "Rave" album and "The Work" from 2001's "The Rainbow Children").

I personally don't believe Prince ever really "lost it", or not in the way the music press would like you to believe. It's so tired reading some music critic who probably has no idea what he's talking about only ever giving established artists credit for their debut albums. It's like, once you're established, once you've built a catalogue of material, once you're passed 35, you can no longer make interesting music.

This isn't exclusive to just Prince. All bitching aside, "American Life" got a slating when really it's a far superior album than the much-hyped "Music."
Tori Amos only ever gets a nod with "Little Earthquakes" in spite of the fact that every one of her albums since has been consistantly good.
The last four David Bowie albums have all been hailed as "return to forms", each critic completely disregarding the album prior.
"Off The Wall" and "Thriller" are the only albums Michael Jackson ever gets kudos for, and I couldn't care less what anybody says, there is no way dross like "Baby Be Mine" and "PYT (Pretty Young Thing)" can even be put in the same leage as some of the great work he was doing with the "Dangerous" and "HIStory" albums.

It's so tired. Many of these artists are making great, consistantly good quality music, often with every release. It's perfectly natural for an artist to slip up occasionally. This is usually the point when the music press screams about how their career is down the pan and is past the point of salvation. It never is. It's not fair to expect every Prince album to be the next "Sign O The Times." Just as it isn't fair to expect Madonna to still be making dancefloor disco fillers for teenage girls and gay men.

I loved "Damita Jo". I thought "Glitter" and "Musicology" were both really funky. I found "American Life" to be one of Madonna's most inspired albums. I thought "Invincible" was actually pretty good, not great, but better than anything Usher or Justin is capable of. "Heathen" is every bit as good as anything Bowie did in his heyday.

It's so annoying watching established artists get crapped on time and time again just because of other peoples reluctance to watch them change.

You're so right !!

Although I find Music better than American life !

Word!

ive been into p since 1984 and i find the musicology thing really weird firstly i dont think it is any kind of return to any form at all, as in my opinion its distincly average and very run o' the mill as far a p albums go !!!

whats weird is since he took up with columbia the album was reviewed and liked by everyone and all his old shit was back on the radio after hardly having heard p on the radio for years !! the whole m thing was promotion from the record company certainly in the uk, as we never got the tour the usa did ,.....

how could anyone if they heard,.....

1999
sott
atwiad
lovesexy
etc

say musicology is a return to form !

JUST AN OPINION before everyone goes crazy !!!

Yep, I agree. Critics are fickle. Many of Prince's albums have gotten initial poor reviews and then are regarded as classics in later years. Musicology wasn't so much a return to form as it was a return to playing the game, and that's what put Prince in the critics good books. They didn't have to make the effort to find him out, he was just there, available. Disappear from their sphere of influence for a few years and they think you must be making a 'comeback' when you re-enter their sphere. Next time he puts out an album solely on the internet, no doubt they will do him down again, whatever the music sounds like.

I don't personally think Musicology was a return to form for Prince.

Musicology, while not a "bad" album per se IMO, didn't hold my interest very long and is definitely not an album that I foresee myself pulling out very often nor being drawn back to again and again over the years and still getting that tingle from or excitement...unlike SOTT, Lovesexy, Dirty Mind, 1999, etc.

Before anyone starts saying "Quit living in the past! Prince has moved on!" or some similar remark, please let me make it clear that I don't want Prince to stay stuck in the past or remake those classic albums in either style or sound or whatever. I just want another album like them in the respect that they had that special 'something' that, FOR ME (as this is all just merely my own opinion) Musicology lacks. To me Musicology is just so clinical and by the numbers and, for lack of a better phrase or description...blah.

I want another album where I can really "feel" Prince and his spirit coming through. Musicology falls flat for me in that respect, both musically and emotionally.

SnowQueen said:

totally agree , u put it a lot better than i did !

danielboon said:

You're completely correct.

I've said all along, the only reason Musicology has garnered so much positive press reviews and interest is that it is a commercial record, that is, backed by a big major record company.

The material on the album represents nothing new for Prince, isn't a return to "the old Prince" as some reviews have stated - if anything it's more of the same stuff that they criticised him for releasing throughout the 90s.

musicology was a return to "format" and prince was thusly rewarded with great promotion. the songs were shorter and more traditional in structure and sprinkled with trademark vocals and top notch musicianship, yet..no real innovation. prince proved to me that when the ball ( hall of fame induction) was in his court he could put it in play and i'm proud of him for that.i believe the tour was a breakthrough for him, he found out how much the mainstream misses and loves him ( not like we do) and it fueled his shows. He also found a way to re energize classics with different arrangements and horns, some of us may have disliked it but he had to make it interesting for himself. Let's not rush to praise sony for the job they did for musicology, the deal was flipp flopped ( he paid them a royalty) so they had to hustle for that paper.Prince albums will forever contain reminders of his gift whether the industry choices to endorse (push) a particular product or not. When i heard "butterfly's" and "heaven can wait" from invincible, then read the reviews i knew the fix was in. those two songs would have been smash hit's for a younger, more wholesome and socially acceptable micheal jackson. So yes, a lot of times as artist get older the mainstream media pushes them aside.

SnowQueen said:

Which is what we got when TRC was released. A beuatiful, musically inspired piece of work, brimming with Prince's emotion and spirit.

American Life is horrid but Music isnt much better...Ray of light is her last good CD....

Critics sometimes have a rooting interest and really wanted Prince to succeed this time....this is isnt the first time he's gotten good reviews for average albums...I remember an incredibly over the top review for Grafitti Bridge in RS....

I don't think Musicolgy was a return, either a return 2 form or return full stop, as prince himself said "Where am I coming back from?" I think the reason they say it is a return 2 form is because the record is backed by a major label, the lyrics although touch on politics are relativley straight forward in their view. THere r also at least 3 songs that the label thinks are "hits". Anything( ok not everything, most) that has major label backing the critics are going to dig, especially an artist who has been in the game a long time and has proven their "hit making- number 1 record- for at least a week etc" status. It is also a one disc record, not like Ematicipation et al. I think also mayb because his name is officially back 2 Prince even though it has been a while, and he is coming out of his shell more, tv shows, interviews etc. Musicology is more if u will " "traditional" Prince, with this record , I don't think he rocked the boat, I looooove the album, but as far as critics go, they want what he is "known" 4- WHATEVER THAT MEANS@ . lol/
[Edited 1/7/05 7:22am]

Of course Musicology was a return to form.

Prince is just as guilty as the media for not being on the media's radar. For years he has done the things he wanted to do regardless what the outcome.

Who is to say why he wants to be in the audience's view again at this particular time? I certainly do not know. But it's safe to say that some of it has to do with his ww npg-speech during the ONA-tour. He wants to push acoustic music back into the limelight and somehow I have the feeling that this is a worthy enough cause for Prince to commit to an album.

And committing here is the magic word. He committed to do wide-scale promotion. He committed to touring. I mean, this is the man that had one of the most influential 80's album/tour and cancelled it's American leg just because... well, no one knows exactly why he decided the SOTT tour and instead making a movie and moving on to Lovesexy.

Prince was, is and will always be whymsical. 'Return to form' is this context is just the media's way of saying "he's finally made an album that does not suck". 'Doesn't suck' in the eyes of mainstream audience, that is. We're not refering to us Prince-maniacs that would even love it if he would blow bubbles from his ass. Simple as that.
[Edited 1/7/05 7:44am]

And committing here is the magic word. He committed to do wide-scale promotion. He committed to touring. I mean, this is the man that had one of the most influential 80's album/tour and cancelled it's American leg just because... well, no one knows exactly why he decided the SOTT tour and instead making a movie and moving on to Lovesexy..
[Edited 1/7/05 7:44am]
[/quote]

If it was such a good album that he was trying to promote, it is strange that he only did 2 songs regularly, Musicology and Life 'o' the Party.

Previously he committed to touring with the ONA tour, which really was the Rainbow Children tour, so you can't argue that he was more behind this album than that one or that'committing' to a tour was the key factor. Did the critics call TRC a return to form? No, perhaps because it wasn't being promoted by a big record company, but most fans thought it was a return to form.

It's funny but it really annoyed me when i read all this "his best album since Lovesexy" when Musicology came out. Hadn't these people heard The Gold Experience? Just goes to show what $$$$$ can do when it comes to promotion.

It is the same with most artists though. I was/still am a big fan of The Ramones. They released an album in 1992 called Mondo Bizarro which if you ask the majority of Ramones fans equals their early "celebrated" work. In music guides etc, you'll find no mention of it. They were washed up by whatever year. It kinda leads me to believe that most music critics are lazy or too scared of upsetting some believed perception about a groups recording history. Or the simple fact being they don't listen in depth to the artist they're reviewing and they'll simply cull their opinion/review from other journalists.

Musicology was his most solid album since The Gold Experience. It only contained one real dud. It was a concise and immediate and to most fairweather critics and a lot of music fans it's enough.
[Edited 1/7/05 10:23am]

AsianBomb777 said:

Prince will be remembered long after he dies.


is prince ill ?????

metalorange said:

Some critics praised TRC, and again, even though Prince did loads of things to get TRC on the fan's scope, he did not play the music media to get the album in the audience's eye.

There is a slight difference between fan-base and genral audience that remember him as 'that high-heeled fella that did Kiss, whatever happened to him?'

HamsterHuey said:

Well, that's exactly what I'm saying - Musicology was praised as a great comeback album because he played the music media, not because it was a better album than, say, TRC.

It's not just Prince, they are calling U2's latest success 'a comeback' but their last album was a huge success, so where are they coming back from?!

As far as his fan-base, just from reading the Org you can tell that his fans are sometimes his greatest critics - but I suppose at least they are informed critics!

Yes, TRC did get some good reviews - but that seemed to get forgotten by the same critics who now hail Musicology as his best album in a decade...
[Edited 1/8/05 6:00am]