Found this posted on HQ and think it's a great article, I totally agree with the author, he did a nice job.

http://www.buffalonews.co...28275.html


Sound Check: The latest from Prince
Prince’s paisley parade marches on, despite what the critics say
By Jeff Miers
Updated: 07/27/07 10:07 AM

Prince is pop music’s tabula rasa. You can interpret him however you like. Want him to be the funky sex god and logical precursor to hip-hop? He is that. Want him to be the suave American idol pouting all over the teen-dream screen in “Purple Rain”? Been there, done that — and can still be that, if he feels like it.

Want him to represent how far R&B has fallen, and how little genuine musicianship and musicality has been involved in the production of that idiom for the past two decades? He has done that, unquestionably.

With all these choices, it is both frustrating and odd that so many opt to cast upon Prince’s blank slate the role of fallen giant, failed genius, and betrayer of his own talent. Yet even a casual glance at the veritable flood of press that greeted the Purple One’s new album, “Planet Earth” — out now in the States, following an earlier release in Europe — reveals a community of pop scribes almost unanimously befuddled by Prince’s inability to be what they want him to be — which is essentially the Prince they knew when they were younger, thinner and had more hair.

“Planet Earth” is a great album. In fact, like almost every album Prince has released since “1999,” it’s far better than it needs to be. The problem — which doesn’t apply to Prince fans who’ve been paying close attention over the past 10 years, or to Prince himself — is that he is much more concerned with matters of the spirit than he was back when he rode a purple motorcycle and groped a scantily clad Vanity all over the silver screen in the ’80s.

Oh, and he has also had the audacity to include some ecological and political commentary this time around, something that has earned him the scorn of the majority of the critics.

There are two tunes on “Planet Earth” that have been deemed offensive, and they book-end the album.

First is the disc-opening title tune, a poignant minor-key soul ballad that, though its lyrics merely point out the obvious rather than bringing anything truly new to the ecological discourse, is both heartfelt and stunningly performed.

The second, the anti-war meditation “Resolution,” ends the record. This song has been interpreted as self-righteous and preachy, which it is. Prince, remember, is an awful lot like Bob Dylan, if not in the abstract-poetic lyrics department, at least in his ability to lean on scriptural references to support a righteous indignation.

That righteous indignation must be what’s upsetting folks who seem to want Prince to stick with “Let’s get it on”- styled “club jams.” I may be wrong, but it sure seems like part of the reason for this is self-serving; if Prince is suddenly dealing with more than sex-and-beats, then maybe so much of the cynical hip-hop and shallow-is-better stuff these critics have been giving high marks to for so long will be revealed as an emperor sans clothes.

Pop critics more often than not need a context to criticize something within. If they can’t deduce an overarching ethos, they’ll create one out of thin air. With Prince, this has largely meant employing him as a justification for hip-hop, which is only part of the real story.

Tellingly, “Planet Earth” is all over the place, musically, and espouses just as many rock music tropes as it does R&B ones.

There’s jazz, funk, pop, rock ’n’ roll, some screaming bluesbased guitar solos, nods to U2 and power-pop, and lyrics that have no problem celebrating pleasures of the flesh and matters of the spirit, often within the same tune. This is too confusing for folks who don’t like their musical chocolate mixed with peanut butter.

But the ability to follow wherever the muse leads — and make no mistake, this ability comes from studying, knowing, feeling and being able to play music — is what makes Prince brilliant, and always has. This is a guy who made great records before Pro Tools, cut-and-paste and pitch correction made “artists” out of folks who’d have a tough time explaining to you the difference between a major chord and a minor one.

Happily, Prince gives no inclination of caring what anyone thinks of him. “Planet Earth” proves his internal barometer is still dead-on. •

jmiers@buffnews.com

Great article.I feel that this guy really 'gets' Prince. thanks for posting it.

thebiscuit said:

You're welcome. I like it so much that I'll probably drop the author a note, which I don't do very often.

thanks for sharing Serena, that IS a nice article. finally a journalist who is not stuck in nostalgia mode.

DAMN, thats the best article I have read. This man broke it down. I totally love every word he wrote. Thank u so much Serena 4 posting

Damn, let's just make this guy President of the United States for life and be done with it.
That was spot on. I may drop him a note of appreciation myself.

What the writer failed to address, i feel, is the way Prince's abilities has his "album" jump around. I think all of us here know what an "album" is. We all know Prince knows what an "album" is...he's even made them lately. If "The Rainbow Children" counts as lately. Even N.E.W.S. counts as an "album." They have an overlying theme and the chapters, or songs, are tied together in some fashion. Between Musicology, 3121,and Planet Earth, there's no cohesivenes in the songs. Those albums are like opening a book, starting to read it, then reliazing that all the chapters belong to different books and don't have much to do with each other. Musiclogy has a small chance to be excused form this summation seeing as how it's theme was songwriting and songcraft. Those themes are addressed, and very well. The songs are all very well written and experiment with structure to a degree while still remaining very accessable. It was called musicology, not experimentology. Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain(had to follow the themes of the movie it deffinately works as a package), Around the World in a Day, Parade(again...movie). Those ALL workd GREAT as "albums". Sign 'o' the Time's theme seems to be what floats in and out of his head all day...or any mans/womans mind. It worked because they all were in the first person point of view. It was a "oneman" record for the most part...and he hung out with his friends for a minute, which is WELL represented on the album. The workings on one man's mind. As for Grafitti Bridge, no comment. Afer that...Prince started to greatly employ the "collecion of singles" approach. He didn't totally rely on it, but it was in the fore. Diamonds and Pearls was guilty of that to a degree. And it went further down hill after that with an occasional album here or there. Chaos and Disorder(though not great, was an album) I missed lovesexy...sorry every one. Obviously(so obvious, i forgot to mention it earlier) an album and he even had to force the album thing on us with the 1 track idea....The Chocolate invason and The Slaughter house were albums. Thay had cohesive sonuds and themes throught the both of them, almost being a double-seperate album, or a 2 vol. album. They weren't great, but they were albums. The love symbol album was a good album. Listened like a well written book. It flowed in and out and up and down and all around. Since then, for the most part...The Rainbow Children was the last actual "album" Prince has released. The rest have been collections of singles. The Truth and One Night Alone were also VERY well made "albums." U put them in and push play...and they both flow like a fountain....like a chocolate fountain even, if u enjoy the albums and enjoy chocolate....lol.

I think this is because the dude is getting old. He's in semi-retirement, though not actually retired. But he's old...we should cut him some slack i suppose. Is he still a workaholic...yes. He gets in the studio and records damn near everyday. Yes he does. He seem to lack the energy though, to sit down and think out an "album" and lay it down and put it together. He seems to approach smaller project and pice them together in a way that is presetale. But he defffinately seems to avoid the "big" projects. Touring is aside from that. It's soooo in his bones, it's all he knows...but to a degree he's even toned that down. He sets up residencies(cpl of mothns in Vegas, a month in LA...21 Shows at the SAME JOINT in London) these days and doesn't run around the countryside like a kid who's od'd on chocolate.

Seriously though...can we be mad at him....he's not 28, 32, shit he's not even 38...the dude is at the 50 mark(i think?)....should we expect him to do all that...no. However, we can appriciate what he does cuz it is hard work and it is good work and merely backs up his resume with hints to the public as to where the music industry/performers/singer-songwriters/dancers/promoters/record labels, could be, or maybe even should be.
[Edited 7/28/07 13:15pm]

The article is now on 3121.com, so they must've like it also.

well written article but it is no surprise to find it on the website

why would he want a more realistic review on there?

Serena said:

Of course they do, it's a boot licking piece to the nth degree.

Who has been offended by Planet Earth's opening and closing tracks? Please. The only people offended by those tracks are those who have a preference for well written lyrics, not cliche laden junior high love letters to the environment and "peace." If anyone has been "offended" by them it's because they're so jejune in every possible way. Yeah, he "had the audacity," to include poorly written music as he has for the better part of his career.

And the album is better than it needs to be? What, Prince turned it up to 11? Give me a break.

good article. the writer seems to be a fan.

Yeah he must be a fan.

Especially since he musta saw the unreleased version of Purple Rain with Vanity.