Prince
Planet Earth
[3 stars]

Could it be the shape of things to come? Or could it simply be a one-off act of mischief perpetrated by an artist with a long-running list of grievances against those who market his wares? Either way, Prince’s decision to give away his new album for free in the UK has sent a few more shudders down the spine of an ailing record industry still struggling to come to terms with the download revolution. There’s just one small catch: you had to buy the July 15 edition of The Mail On Sunday. Failing that, it’s also being handed out, as part of the ticket price, to those attending his upcoming, marathon stint at London’s newly opened O2 Arena.

With the newspaper reportedly paying £250,000 for the privilege, that represents a tidy bit of business for somebody whose career had been dribbling away since the early-‘90s, hitting rock bottom with 2001’s The Rainbow Children, his jazz-influenced Jehovah’s Witness concept album. In 2004, however, the unthinkable happened: he bounced back and began to sound more like the old Prince again.

While Musicology couldn’t hope to match the audacious, pervy, all-singing, all-dancing, miniature sex god and musical polymath of his more youthful purple period, it was a decent enough facsimile, one which he reprised for last year’s 3121. Unsurprisingly, Planet Earth is more of the same, both echoing his own past and occasionally chiming with the more modish likes of OutKast, Kanye West and Gnarls Barkley, names that he influenced in the first place.

Try as others might, though, nobody else has ever really got close to replicating what Prince does himself. And across Planet Earth’s brisk and varied 10 tracks, he is once again doing it pretty well, from cocky rock strut (Guitar) to Chic-style, pumped-up funk (Chelsea Rodgers) and knicker-loosening R&B beats (Future Baby Mama).

Elsewhere, there’s another playful exercise in seduction on the lightly rapping Mr. Goodnight, The One U Wanna C is the jolliest of pop stomps, while Somewhere Here On Earth shows off his still sugar-sweet falsetto in a swooning, cocktail-jazz setting. Even the misfiring title track possesses a lighters-aloft sway and blustering guitar finale to fit the stadiums he is once again filling.

At the very least, it’s good to have him back freshly energised and making music again for the many rather than just the few. As for Planet Earth’s wider implications on the record business, the next few months should be interesting. PETER KANE

Download: Guitar / Somewhere Here On Earth / Chelsea Rodgers

Further Listening
Gnarls Barkley
St Elsewhere
(Warners, 2006)
As playful and adventurous as Prince in his heyday, a thoroughly modern patchwork of pop, soul, hip hop and more that practically defined the new iTunes era.

Nightcrawler said:

The reviewer lost credibility with that tidbit. The Rainbow Children may be Prince's best MUSICAL effort ever (granted, plenty can disagree with the Darth Vader narrator and some of the lyrical themes but the musicianship on that album was simply outstanding).

jsb23nc said:

Perhaps that's what separates many hardcore Prince fans from everybody else.

jsb23nc said:

The reviewer isn't writing for us. The average listener (and even some Prince diehards) thought TRC was shit. To them, the reviewer is not wrong.

Everyone has their views as to what is his best/worst/funkiest/dirtiest/sexiest album - which is what makes the man and his music so darn good!

Overall it's a good review that should bring back some of the fans that have left him over the last few years. Which is no bad thing.