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Posted July 23, 2007 — Now approaching 30 years on the music scene, it’s almost safe to say that Prince’s shock value has faded. No longer the enfant terrible who sings of the joy of fellatio (“Head”), of the trauma of incest (“Sister”), or of being transfixed by a nymph “in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine” (“Darlin’ Nikki”), Prince’s once sexually explicit themes have now mellowed out. But that wasn’t the only reason he was such a musical renegade; he deftly pushed the conventions of R&B with a bracing synthesis of funk, jazz, R&B, rock, pop, and at one time, new wave. Also, his ’80s LPs like 1999, Parade and Sign O’ the Times, exuded innovative sonic vibes that many try to emulate but few could surpass.

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Prince has now ascended into that zone, where the likes of Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Sting reside and where provocative revolutions are in the past. And like those aforementioned artists, Prince often, sometimes unfairly, has to compete with his halcyon years. If the ’80s can be viewed as his greatest years, and the ’90s as his most callow (OK, call it mid-life crisis), Prince’s current period, starting with 2004’s Musicology, can be called his quintessential years, in which his music hardly surprises, oftentimes faintly recalls yesteryear, but nevertheless scintillates at an above-average to high caliber. Unlike on his previous two albums, though, Prince sounds more comfortable in this era of his career.

After almost derailing his career in the late-’90s with his bizarre antics and his battle with the music industry, not to mention his long spate of sub-par albums, in three years Prince cleaned up his act. Although both Musicology, with its pedantic neosoul sentiments, and 3121, whose single, “Black Sweat,” saw Prince oddly imitating the Neptunes, who emulates his ’80s sound, found the legend, not so much returning to glory but at least to cogent, substantial music, he doesn’t appear to be desperately chasing after hot music trends to remain relevant on Planet Earth.

Case in point: “Guitar,” the disc’s lead single, on which Prince riffs off of U2’s “I Will Follow,” is high-powered pop melodiscm at its best with Prince, once again, demonstrating why he’s one of the best electric guitar virtuosos of our time. But for all its razor-sharp ebullience, “Guitar” zooms past, almost unnoticeably. Had it been recorded two decades ago, it would be harder to imagine it being released as a single.

The former Purple One goes green on the title track with its themes of global warming and anti-war sentiment. And while “Planet Earth” has a subtly interesting song structure, neither its lyrics nor melody resonate like “Sign O’ the Times.”

But remember, though, 3121 had an even more forgettable lead single, “Te Amo Corazón,” and a listless title-track yet managed to make a more lasting impression. The same happens with Planet Earth. “Future Baby Mama,” the disc’s second single, and “Somewhere Here on Earth” rank up with the best of Prince’s ballads. Accenuated by Christian Scott’s sexy, muted trumpet, the elegant “Somewhere Here on Earth” casts a wistful splendor as Prince’s ingeniously extrapolates the melody from Curtis Mayfield’s “The Making of You” into his yearning lyrics. “Future Baby Mama” leans closer to conventional R&B with a comparatively less pneumatic, decidedly harder, electronic sound; nonetheless, it glistens with its comely melody and Prince’s rapturous falsetto.

On the uptempo side, Prince tosses out a few guitar-driven ditties – “Lion of Judah,” “Resolution” and “The One U Wanna C” – that have their seductive, pop sophistication but hardly stick in the head after their done. “Chelsea Rodgers” is the funkiest moment on Planet Earth, as Prince channels his early-’80s Jamie Starr persona with a stripped-down, Paradise Garage disco jam that would have enlivened the DJ sets of Larry Levan or Danny Krivit. The only clear-cut misfire on Planet Earth is “Mr. Goodnight,” where Prince once again flirts with hip hop, yielding risible results.

Although Planet Earth contains mostly PG-13 material, it’s already garnered controversy with Prince pissing off SONY/BMG for giving away almost 3 million copies of it free in the U.K. Also on the disc, he reunites with former Revolution members, Wendy and Lisa. But such publicity stunts and high-profile reunions aren’t necessary to make Planet Earth noteworthy; its high points marvel on their own artistic merits.

First..

Good review even with the negativity...I can't wait until 2morrow!

Everybody on the planet can continue to piss on Mr.Goodnight ,I don't care I like it .

I hate to say but..I really didn't expect a totally positive review from BET. They don't necessarily carry a fine brand of original artists to begin with. They play what's popular. But that is just my opinion. I fell out of love with that whole deal years and years ago...
I personally love Planet Earth to death. I gave it my own internal 5 star rating. They played "The 1 U Wanna C" on the radio (on a very popular mixed media station) here last night and I had a good ol' time. So pooh on BET....
[Edited 7/23/07 16:25pm]

LadyLuvSexxy said:

Amen to that!