I'll rate the songs out of 10:

Musicology- 10 (perfect lead single, great funk workout)
Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance- 6 (musically good, but lyrically terrible)
A Million Days- 10 (my favorite)
Life o' the Party- 3 (pretty awful and derivative)
Call My Name- 4 (overrated and overdone)
Cinnamon Girl- 9 (fun psychedelia-fused rock)
What Do U Want Me 2 Do?- 8 (funky and enjoyable)
The Marrying Kind- 6 (eh)
If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life- 6 (eh)
On the Couch- 7 (humorous but fairly derivative)
Dear Mr. Man- 10 (can't resist that groove)
Reflection- 8 (could be a 10 if it weren't so acoustic)

Most of this album must have been done during one late night session when P was under the weather. I think it's pretty universally felt that this is a weak effort, but obviously serviceable enough to serve it's purpose.

That said. Here goes....

Musicology- 10 (Real funky)

Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance - 3 (silly)

A Million Days - 3 (yawn.. sounds like something from "slave" days, like Dinner w/ Dolores)

Life o' the Party- 2 (pretty awful and derivative)

Call My Name- 8 (excellent, but tries a bit hard)

Cinnamon Girl- 2 (i absolutely HATE this song... way over-rated, stupid video)

What Do U Want Me 2 Do?- 8 (mellow and cool)

The Marrying Kind- 9 (MY FAVORITE SONG, though not the best - playful and fun)

If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life- 5 (so-so)

On the Couch- 4 (-)

Dear Mr. Man- 8 (pure negro diatribe -- real cool)

Reflection- 4 (it's trying hard to be deep, but i can't get into it, maybe it's the lyrics)

1. Musicology - 7
2. Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance - 9
3. A Million Days - 3 (funny how the chorus sounds like the other worst song)
4. Life o' the Party 8
5. Call My Name 6
6. Cinnamon Hurl 1 (Sheer horror this song is, Kravitz isn't this bad, no balls)
7. What Do U Want Me 2 Do? 9 (Best song on album, 10 if whatver happens never existed)
8. The Marrying Kind 8 (not great,more a 7, but I like it)
9. If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life 4 (Marrying Kind part 2, the song is over P)
10. On the Couch 6
11. Dear Mr. Man 9 (almost 10 kinda over produced, great song)
12. Reflection 7

6.4 Musicology





cinnamon hurl really hurt that album

Moonbeam said:

Out of 5:

Musicology - 3.5
Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance - 2.5
A Million Days - 4
Life O The Party - 3.5
Call My Name - 4
Cinnamon Girl - 2
What Do U Want Me 2 Do? - 4
The Marrying Kind - 3
If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life - 4.5
On The Couch - 3
Dear Mr Man - 3
Reflection - 4.5

Average = album rating: 3.5 out of 5

Exactly what I thought when the hype was still around. A very good album, but not excellent.

Musicology 8
ICPC 6
A million Days 9
LOTP 7
Call my Name 10
Cinnamon Girl 5
WDYWMTD 7
Marrying King/IIWTMIYL 5
On the Couch 6
Dear Mr Man 9
Reflection 8

Overall mayb a 7 or an 8 the first half of the album is strong, and the last two tracks are great but that in between section weakens it!

Musicology: Still as funky as when I first heard it!
Illusion, Coma: Probably lost some of its edge now, but still funky
Million Days: Still good, I only wish it were longer
Life O The Party: Still the weakest track on the album. It grew on me for a little while, but I lost hope on it in the end!
Call My Name: Still beautiful
Cinnamon Girl: I don't mind it, but I find myself skipping it often (just a little boring I think)
WDYWM2D: Cool.
Marrying Kind/IIWTMIYL: Still the best two tracks on the album. Pure Genius!
On The Couch: This one has been the big grower for me. I didn't like it at first, but now I love it. Vocal control is unbelievable
Dear Mr. Man: It's OK
Reflection: It's OK. The Tavis Smiley version is much nicer I think

On a scale of one to five.....

Musicology (4): Great song. Very James Brown sounding.

ICP & C (1): I wish I could give it less. Prince needs to get as far away from rap and hip hop as possible. It's bad enough that hip hop dominates the radio today so I hate seeing Prince selling out and contributing to it. Prince needs to make music for his real fans and if today's listeners don't like the music....fuck 'em.

A Million Days (5): Great track. It sounds like either late 1980s or early 1990s Prince.

Life 'O' the Party (1): Horrible song. Another sell out to hip hop.

Call My Name (2): Prince selling out by making a ballad that sounds similar to today's music in order to get radio airplay. As I said before, he needs to make great music and if today's listeners don't like it....fuck 'em.

Cinnamon Girl (5): The best song on the album and the first to catch my ear when I bought it. It sounds very much like late 1980s or early 1990s Prince. Early 1980s Prince is my favorite era but he will probably never return to that sound. I can deal with late 1980s Prince though and would much rather he return to that sound than sell out to today's music.

What Do U Want Me 2 Do (3): It's a good song with a good late 1980s sound. My only problem is it's midtempo.

The Marrying Kind/If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life (2): The music on the songs have the potential of being a great song like "3 Chains O Gold" but his singing ruined them. He sang them in the same way that today's artists are singing songs.....kind of a cross between singing and rapping. The references to Missy were also a turnoff. When I buy a Prince album, I want to get away from the bullshit of today's music scene altogether.

On The Couch (5): Great slow jam. One of my favorites on the album.

Dear Mr. Man (4): Nothing great and nothing horrible either.

Reflection (5): Nothing great and nothing horrible either.

From similar thread: http://www.prince.org/msg/7/151452

A rating in emoticons:

Musicology -
I,C,P,C - - Hideous
A Million Days - - It's OK, it's all been done before.
Life O The Party - - Vile
Call My Name - - Prince can shit these out in his sleep
Cinnamon Girl - - Probably the most round and widely-commercial track on the CD
What Do U - - Fun track, the Linn is nice, but a little mis-placed
The Marrying K - - Fun, a little dated sounding
IIWTMIUL - - Fun, probably Prince's best effort to sound current in a long time
On The Couch - - Prince can shit these out in his sleep
Dear Mr. Man - Nice
Reflection - - It's OK, very 'naff' sounding, like Emancipation/The Truth, but the song is decent, just let down by that really.


And.....

vainandy said:

I can't stress enough how much I agree with that statement.

MetroArea said:

I DON'T Agree, this track is just so irresitable f-u-n-k-y!!!!
I'll give "ICP & C".... 9/10
one of the best on the album

The title track is a classic!! IMO

Musicology-
ICP & C- 1/2
A Million Days-
Life 'O' the Party- 1/2
Call My Name- 1/2
Cinnamon Girl- 1/2
What Do U Want Me 2 Do?- 1/2
The Marrying Kind- 1/2
If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life-
On The Couch- 1/2
Dear Mr. Man- 1/2
Reflection-

I'd give it 3/5 overall.

M = pish o' the highest order !!!

Musicology (Great old skool sound)

Illusion, coma, Pimp & Circumstance

A Million Days (Just a good pop song)

Life 'O' The Party (Funny lyrics )

Call My Name 1/2 (Classic)

Cinnamon Girl (First I hated it, now it's starting to grown on me)

What do U Want Me To Do 1/2

The Marrying Kind

If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life

On The Couch (I like bluesy songs like this)

Dear Mr. Man (cool groove, great message)

Reflection (Simply beautiful)

Musicology: 5.0
Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance: 3.5
A Million Days: 4.5
Life O The Party: 3.0
Call My Name: 4.0
Cinnamon Girl: 3.0
What Do U Want Me To Do: 4.5
The Marrying Kind: 2.5
If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life: 2.5
On The Couch: 4.5
Dear Mr. Man: 2.0
Reflection: 5.0

Album Overall Rating: 4.5 (Great)