Three years later, I’m still blown away by this album and appreciating it in a way I didn’t the first time around. Yeah, I got the album when it came out, watched all his TV appearances, and saw the tour three times, but still, I think I didn’t fully appreciate it till now. The politics of Cinnamon Girl and Dear Mr. Man are angry, challenging, and good criticisms of the "war on terror" and current American politics. Call My Name and A Million Days stand as two of best love songs ever. The lyrics throughout the album show maturity and range, diversity and skill. His "real music by real musicians" theme for the album and tour is important, something we can all get on board with. And finally, just as a side note, the packaging of the CD is my favorite since the heyday of ’80s LP artwork--there’s so much going on throughout in the design worth examining. And how cool is this at the beginning:
Some of the best things emanate from sound...
A secret
A vow
A universe

I like this album a lot. To me, it succedes at what Rave, the High/Peace-era material and half of Emancipation were desperately trying to but failed to do.

It's not meant to be groundbreaking. It's basically Prince just doing a Prince album, which those others were supposed to be doing, but this time with some pretty good songs. Same with 3121.

I love Musicology, and I listen to the CD constantly, love the Video too!
It holds a very special place in my heart, it was the first time I'd seen Prince in concert in over 10 yrs.
[Edited 6/7/07 21:28pm]
[Edited 6/8/07 4:28am]

a million days
call my name
what do u want me 2 do?
reflection


that's all i can still stomach from that album. and on a good
day perhaps the title cut. the rest of it is far far worse to
me than anything from rave/slaughterhouse/chocolate invasion/.

wlcm2thdwn said:

It was the first time I saw Prince in Concert PERIOD

Yes I love Musicology! that concert was so awesome too, saw it twice!

I love the album!

I wrote about a blog about my last listen to it
[http://www.xanga.com/DreamyPopRoyalty], that'll cover a lot of what I have to say.

It's the first album I bought and listened to... didn't like what I heard at first... but it really grew on me.

I feel like I really get to know Prince as he is now by listening to it. He obviously put a lot of his heart & personality into it, so after listening, I feel like I know him a little better, but at the same time, I have so many questions.

I think maybe the only downside is that anyone could probably put this album together... it's not particularly Prince-esque. There's nothing unique about it that seperates him from other artists... maybe its just a mere showcase of the fact he's a living encyclopedia of music.

Even so, I love an album with personality and this gives it to me. If only I can get myself to listen to it more than once every 2 months

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Interesting. I'm intrigued by your posts about how you've gotten into Prince because it's so different from most of us longtime fans. Back when I started listening (Purple Rain), I bought all of P's albums in reverse order (1999 back to For You) and was amazed by how each album "went out to different cities" (in Prince's words). But I'm glad that Musicology took hold with you at least in some sense after the second listen and accomplished what it set out to do, drawing you in to a real musician. And yeah, listen to it more than once every two months and I think you'll appreciate it even more!

Efan said:

heh, I never really get into things or take the ordinary route. I feel like I always gotta go to the limit, cuz his man worked hard on all of his records. What better way to repay him than giving them the same amount of attention?
But yeah, I came here just after the SuperBowl... I'd be fascinated by him since I saw PR (he had me after the last 10 minutes), but never took that leap of faith. I came here, figuring, I'll see what he's really about. And all of my assumptions about him were right, but there's so much more to him.

I think I do appreciate the album a lot... but I think I'm afraid to listen so much that all of the magic will be gone. I listen to my albums more or less in a sporadic fashion, so I try not to play them a couple of days in a row (unless I didn't like it so much the first time around). I don't want it to get too old too fast. But amazingly, there's so much more to it than there seems to be to 3121 (to me, its more or less, what u see is what u get).

Musicology really makes me appreciate Prince's musical talents more and the craft of songwriting in general. It's full of wisdom just waiting to be sampled.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

my god the way you can rave about half baked albums like musicology and 3121,
makes me so happy for you when you get to listen to parade, sign o the times,
1999 and dirty mind -to name but a few (and The Truth, One Nite Alone piano).

if you love musicology this much you will fall in love for the rest of your
life with prince's prime material.

IstenSzek said:

I don't really rave much about 3121 anymore. If anything, I'm... ugh, I feel one of the worst critics Prince could ever have sometimes...
I feel like I have to really cut down on it cuz I spend more time listening to it, hoping that it'll sound great like I thought it did the first time I listened to it.

But yeah, I can't wait to get my hands on more of Prince's material... especially the albums most talked about (you've pretty much named them all).

I think the one thing Musicology reminded me of was why I wanted to limit my collection to a few albums. I want to own "the best" of Prince... and I want to own albums to fully represent who he really is... I knew from day one that I was faced with an enigma... his albums represent him as a person and I feel like I get to know him thru them... that's my ultimate goal.

Heh... and actually, I didn't even want to get check into anything in the 90's after Diamonds & Pearls because I thought he was unhappy... strangely enough, I love Come & TGE... and I know better now that he wasn't... he was just frustrated because his music wasn't given as much freedom as it was used to.

But when I look at him now, it's almost as if those years never happened. He hasn't changed all that much when I think of him in PR & looking at him now. He's still a genius, but I think he approaches things with more wisdom & sophistication. Well, take away his "nasty, ego-tistical" side and he's the exact same person now that he was then.

Musicology is a great album.Didn't know so many of u guyz liked it! Cool.

sexxydancer said:

I didn't think so either.
I don't think there's another album u could pick up (by any artist) that helps you better appreciate the craft of songwriting and how far its come.

I definitely feel like I should listen to it more, but I'm half afraid of wearing it out and end up liking it less...

sexxydancer said:

It really signaled his reemergence into the popular culture, but that's not why I love it (although it was kind of gratifying to see critics falling over themselves to offer Prince props after years of acting as though he were a joke). Plus, I'm really proud of him for using what was his most commercially accessible album in years as a forum to denounce Bush and the war, at a time when artists were losing airplay and sales for doing so.

Efan said:

although its kinda subtle compared his more diverse albums, Musicology represents everything he is. There's his tender, even love-sick side (A Million Days, Call my name, On the Couch), his "partyman" side (Musicology & Life O' The Party) and the return of "political Prince" with Cinnamon Girl & Dear Mr. Man... I don't think he's made an appearance since writing America & Sign O' The Times...

it's a great representation of music, his musical knowledge & talent... and I felt like I really got to know him by listening to it. Getting back to it after so long reminded me of what I've forgotten with the craziness of getting his albums and such. I wanted to focus my collection around getting to know him... with PR, Musicology, 3121, TGE, Come and ATWIAD, I wonder if I'm still on the right track...

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Well, get to know him through Dirty Mind and 1999 too.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

i think you need to get yourself The Rainbow Children a.s.a.p.

lots of people hate it lots of people think it's the best disc
he's done in over a decade.

i agree with the last bunch of people. incredible work of art!

Efan said:

heh... yeah I probably should.

Or u guys would never let me hear the end of it. heh heh... u people will be coming with torches & pitch-forks if I so much as say "I don't want to get it"...
I guess it really can't be avoided, so as it was first thing he did that set him apart from everyone else he was compared to (Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, etc.)... so yeah, I probably will get Dirty Mind pretty soon...

funny thing is that my bday is coming up next month... and I have 4 other CD's on my list and none of them are even Prince... but it's kinda hard to focus in one area.

But yeah, I'm definitely gonna get 1999 too... and if I don't get any Prince albums for my bday, I'll probably go on a major online shopping spree with all the money I'll get

Maybe I should just spend a little time thinking over what I want my collection to be, exactly... not so much the albums themslves, but more like the contents.
heh, Musicology's also great cuz it helps clear my head a little bit and focus on the more important things...

more important things?... what could be more important than Prince?
Getting to know the guy... he's such a cool cat

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

It'll be interesting to see your reaction to Dirty Mind and if you find it shocking at all. What you may find interesting is that he was just about your age when he released this album that changed the direction of his career. That should give you a cool lens to filter that album through, if nothing else.

Wait, what the hell am I doing? This is a Musicology thread, not a DM one. Hey, even for you people who don't love the album, don't you at least agree that the packaging is cool? Or am I the only nerd who tried really hard to ascertain all the books pictured and read all the aural science stuff?

Efan said:

Heh... no, it's cool.

I think I probably will find it shocking. No, I know I will find it shocking. I think a few months ago, it would have given me a heart attack... but I've come a long way since the beginning of my "journey"... and the ride's still awesome.

And I do like the album art... I mean, it was the first album I bought and I had no idea that he puts so much detail into it... like he puts so much effort into his work in general. And I love the pics and such he used throughout. I don't understand any of the scientific stuff (and I'm well-versed in sciences).

I didn't like the album at first because I had this idea about it. He called it a pop album and it was about bringing old-school music back... we have diff. definitions of "pop", so I had preconceived notions about it that were off... but after giving it a little time, I came to appreciate the sound & everything about it.
Not to mention it's a great trip, considering how a lot mainstream stuff sounds like garbage to me... its a good album if you want to hear/remember what GOOD music sounds like.

Damn! Damn! Damn! Musicology while listenable.. wasn't all that good.

It has one great song: Reflection

A few decent songs (most of the rest) and possibly his two worst ever (Life of the Party and Cinnamon Girl)

Based on what i own, Musicology is the closest thing i have to what Prince is as a person.


Musicology & Reflection are the two most personal tracks, I think. Full of his own personal beliefs.

And that little bit at the end of "Musicology" where he's listening to his old stuff... i wonder if he actually does that... it gets me thinking
[Edited 6/9/07 8:44am]

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

I love how personal a lot of it is, and I think it's the best collection of music he's released in a decade at least. Yeah, CG and LotP are not up to his best, but I think they're much further from his worst. (Jughead, 3 Chains, Graffiti Bridge, etc). "If I Was the Man" is probably his most underrated song ever.

MendesCity said:

I didn't realize a lot of people didn't like CG. I think it's great. Musically, it reminds me of Dolphin, which a lot of people around here love.

Still love Musicoloy. I think it was better than 3121 anyday.

I like Musicology. Maybe it wasnt his BEST album, but it was a decent "PRINCE" album that flowed consistantly, something albums like "Emancipation" and "Rave" failed at one way or another.

Also, I hold Musicology close to me cause it was a great time to be a Prince fan. All of a sudden, not only was it cool to like Prince again, it become a matter of having to like him as if it were a common sense thing. . I think what really helped were the excellent tour reviews.

i'm very ambiguous about Musicology.
title track, illusion coma... - top of the world class 2 me.
on the couch, dear mr. man - superb tracks.
but then there's
cinammon girl, what u want me 2 do, a million days - bleh.

very uneven.

at times, i do wish that i became a fan when the album was released cuz I could have seen him in concert doing all of his old stuff and id hear it for the first time... but what's done is done.

definitely love the personal feel of the album. And it reminded me the reasons I admired Prince as much as I did at the beginning... its always good to remind myself the reasons why i felt the way i did.

A Million Days is my favorite track because I like the person he is... just his tone and attitude in the track... if he was anything like that in person, it'd give me another reason by I'd want to meet him in person... somehow, its great and it doesnt take the usual verse/chorus/verse/chorus path... but it makes him seem more human & approachable.

Life O' The party gets me thinking a lot. It's a great track and everything, but I'm not sure if he'd really be the type to call himself the "life of the party"... he seems so reserved in person that its a bit of an oxymoron, but its probably just his onstage alter-ego talking.

Cinnamon Girl is definitely a great poppy/rock song cuz it combines a little of the old and new.
And he should do more jazz songs like "what do u want me 2 do"... I was listening to it a few days ago and Im like "these really show off the fact he's the son of two jazz musicians"... its a great show of his jazz roots.

I put in Musicology the other day and was surprised to find I couldn't get all the way through it. I loved the album when it was released, hit 7 of the tour stops and pushed it on everyone I knew.

It got me to thinking how lately, I have enjoyed the albums coming out, but they have a very safe feeling to them. I get bored after awhile where I watched Sign O the Times tonight and was rivited. I just don't feel Prince's excitement coming through the newer stuff like I did back then.

Not dissing the new stuff, but it rarely leaves me feeling excited like back in the day. I guess I really shouldn't expect a 49 year old to sound like a 24 year old, but that's the stuff the hooked me for life.

That said, I can't wait for "Planet Earth"!

I really like Cinnamon girl even though, i've never seen the video.

I also really like What do you want me to do because I love the bass on it.

I don't know how much I really dug the whole cd when it first came out but the more I listen to it the more I like it and realize how good the musicianship is on that cd.