purplecam said:

Because if music isn't going to be thought-provoking, it should at least be entertaining. It shouldn't make you go -- which was my reaction to a lot of the lyrics on Planet Earth.

I know I come at this from a different angle than most people (in that I earn my living as a writer). But the plain fact of the matter is that Prince has done -- and is still capable of -- so much better than this. I have no problem with simple as in uncomplicated. (As Jule Styne once said, "It's easy to be clever. But the really clever thing is to be simple.") But I have a big problem with simple as in feeble-minded or lazy.

And that's where a lot of the lyrics on this album fall.

Well, he has the entertainment "market" cornered 4 me in this album.

None of his songs have made REALLY me want to dance like Guitar & The one u wanna c. Guitar especially... can't help tapping my foot to that.

I write fiction & poetry, but its hardly a career for me. (Until I get a good job, I won't be able to offer publishing fees, etc, etc.)...
That's why I feel like I relate to Prince better than some others. I see him from an artist's perspective.

Which I've pretty much used as an excuse to stick around with his music, even when I wasn't quite cool with it at first (like the really heavy stuff, I wanted to shy away from... but he's so artistic and entertaining that I even got into those in no time at all).
I'm still new to his world and this was kind of the side of him I knew b4 learning anything about him.But I never expected Planet Earth to "take off" the way it did.

Regardless of how simplistic the lyrics are, it just said so much about him and what's in his heart. I might see this album different than his others, but I don't think I've gotten closer to "personal Prince" than I have here. And that's always a bonus since he tends to hide behind his music a lot and put on faces.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

To me, it said, "I think like a fifth grader."

Oh -- and you don't know the kind of writing I do -- or what creative avenues I pursue outside of work. So don't give yourself pious airs that what you do is somehow more "artistic" -- or allows you to "relate better" to Prince. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't -- but voicing the assumption in the way you do is one of the reasons people take issue with you.

Grown folks (like me) don't generally get off on being talked down to by people who don't have even half of their life experience. Just a thought.

Genesia said:

fair enough...

Let's just say thanx to this album, I went through a pretty interesting period with his music... but it came to a standstill after I came back to TGE after a long absence... It felt kinda like that.

Maybe it was a wake-up call or w/e... that I was getting too close or whatever... I've yet to return to it since then.

But I'll say this about Planet Earth.
Except for "Somewhere here on Earth", I don't think I've heard him happier, at least not in a while.

But I'll say this about Planet Earth.
Except for "Somewhere here on Earth", I don't think I've heard him happier, at least not in a while.[/quote]

Ignore that. What I was meant to say was, have a sit back stop and

My 2 fav tracks are Lion Of Judah as I love his voice on it and the lyrics and then Mr Goodnight, for its cheek, love it I have alot more respect for Chelsea Rodgers, now I have seen it live and some others from PE after Sep 6th a'show. When he sang Somewhere Here On Earth, his voice was beautiful. Planet Earth was good for a small crowd too and he really got into it live.

aymiderham said:

good to know.

Heh, hearing some of his 3121 tracks done live kinda ruined them for me on the album (that's part of the reason I don't like it very much anymore). But I won't forget seeing him speak the first verse of Planet Earth at the NAACP awards... who knew it'd turn into such an amazing song?

I respect what he was doing with Chelsea Rodgers, bringing a little old-school funk back into the mix. Just kinda wish he found a better position for it on the album. I'm on too much of a high after the "Mr. Good-night" storyline that I come crashing down into something old yet new...

Repeated listening has led me to this opinion :

The 1st 6 tracks are all excellent or better
The final 4 tracks are pretty good but inconsistent

6 excellent tracks out of 10 makes a successful album in my book

moonshine said:

good for u then. I'm glad.

I just figured this out about the album.
The genre is "Contemporary"... and I don't think he's taken that route b4... and if so, it wasn't anything quite like this.
It's very relaxed and he was writing music for the fun of writing it.
And the fun really shows in "Guitar" and "The one u wanna c".

But I can't bring myself to compare it with his other work cuz I know he's done better... but as far as I'm concerned, this is the best he's done this decade. Comparing will just make me appreciate it less and I'd hate for it to turn into another 3121.

i've done some research and so far here and on the quake, there are about 100 people that didn't like the album and 30 who did

i would say that means the album sucks

but who listens to the polls anyway?

planetearthsucks said:

Those 100 people are probably the same ones that think that everything since Lovesexy sucks.

Those 100 people are idiots and still stuck in '88.

It's good to know that some people like it.

But the fact several others don't like won't scare me away from it that easily.

People aren't so much into Musicology either, but I support it all the way because of what he was trying to accomplish with it. Bringing old-school music back. It more or less gave me an education about what music used 2b about.

I like Planet Earth cuz it doesn't sound quite as dated as some of his recent material. But the first listen, I think I was just glad it wasn't anything like 3121. I like being able to really hear the instruments here (especially the guitar).

I love Planet Earth! It's our only home!

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Nice to see someone digging this song - I blast it when I'm driving around & I can't understand how this song is hated so much - I love it.

Genesia said:

Thanks you for answering my question and I totally respect you POV.

Planet Earth is a crappy album. It features one of the worst cuts ever by any artist, Mr. Goodnight.

FuNkeNsteiN said:

I said only positive thoughts...



Yeah, Guitar is awesome.
It was so fun hearing it the first time. I didn't know the tracknames or anything. When I heard it, I'm thinking "it can't be Guitar yet"... sure enough it was. I've seen the commmericals, but I never heard the whole song b4.

All of the songs got something special to offer and its neat that there's a little bit of continuity with sounds repeated and such. (Lion of Judah & The One u wanna C, Resolution & Planet Earth... then the whole R&B segment "Future Baby Mama" to "all the midnights"... that's my favorite 3 song-progression.)

Planet Earth & Somewhere here on Earth are very special tracks because they not only show experience... but they saw that Prince has a lot of class (and/or sophstication). Though it blows my mind that he's gotten so old (sorry Prince, didn't mean 4 it to come out like that).
But that's what happens when I land back on PE after being away in the Purple World (PR) or at the album party...

ummm, there are no wendy and lisa vocals on this album...lisa only appears on one song and lisa plays guitar on five.

i would say their contribution on this cd was limited.

with that being said, i am not hot on this disc at all...planet earth is an interesting experiment at well, experimenting. but with craptastic songs like Future Baby Momma, Lion Of Judah and Resolution I just can't give in to listening to the rest.

Take the next rocket ship back to your distant star and never again land on Planet Earth. If you have any aesthetic sense at all, it will eternally thank you for a swift departure.

Planet Earth is Prince's fluffiest album since Diamonds and Pearls and that's no easy task as the man hasn't made anything worth truly raving about since 1987.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Hey, that was the most positive thing I could muster
I could have said 'PLANET EARTH SUCKS BALLS', you know
[Edited 9/20/07 9:14am]

As I was on my way to work listening to this CD, of course, what I liked on the tracks most today was the guitar playing (Guitar), the keyboard/organ on FBM, and the guitar solo on Lion of Judah. That guitar solo was so powerful and determined that I really love it!

Here's me: "I need to hear that guitar solo to infuse me with that energy...I need it to get me in the front door of me job"! Hey, I like to play it loud too...I know people are looking at me cuz I'm a gurl and it must be weird to see a girl rockin to guitar/rock in her little whooptie car! WHATEVAS!

I guess each day we find different things to appreciate!

wildgoldenhoney said:

True enough. Some songs come off better than others on certain days, depending on what I've listened to recently (Somewhere on Earth came off better today than Planet Earth & Guitar cuz The Dance was the last song I heard b4 switching albums)

I've given the album a couple of listens over my long weekend and come up with the following.

* When/if I get in the mood for "Somewhere earth on Here" (in other words, not moping too much about how sad he sounds in some places), some other track won't come off as well.
* I miss out on the lyrics for Chelsea Rodgers, but the music has a GREAT beat. I respect him a lot for taking that type of risk (adding in something completely diff. than the other tracks).
* The music is stronger than the lyrics, no questions asked.

You know...these past couple of days I've been feeling moody and hopelessly romantic so I just want to hear 4 certain songs. S.H.O.E, FBM, All the Midnights, and Lion of Judah. I was actually looking for my 3121 CD because I wanted to hear "The Dance" too, but was disappointed because I think I lost it.

So you mope too? That's kind of like me...sigh...he's so dreamy (Marcia Brady)

Sorry, I'm such a nut but mainly, that's how it makes me feel!

Can you relate?

wildgoldenhoney said:

When some of my fav. songs don't work for me, I do kinda mope over them from time to time. But given what happened today, his mopey/moody tracks go well together (The Dance & Somewhere here on earth). Or tracks of the same mood go together (that's why Guitar & The 1 u wanna c went so well together on my first listen... and pretty much have since)

When some of my fav. songs don't work for me, I do kinda mope over them from time to time. But given what happened today, his mopey/moody tracks go well together (The Dance & Somewhere here on earth). Or tracks of the same mood go together (that's why Guitar & The 1 u wanna c went so well together on my first listen... and pretty much have since)[/quote]


I think you hit the nail on the head. (And I am writing this for the second time since my first post did not go thorough.) They do go together because of the mood and fit perfectly together. Again, I still wish I could find my 3121 because that would go well with my current "setlist" that I've been playing these past few days - and today too!

This album is that rare thing in the Prince catalogue: a 'grower'. Most of his albums have an instant impact but this one left me going 'Hmmmm..'
But a couple of months on, it was perfect for the O2 shows and I really only started to get into it once I heard the songs being performed live, especially at the aftershow on 7th Sept when they were scorching.
Now this album is really cooking for me and given that Prince has been preparing to release more singles from it (with all the video action that's been going down), it would seem that he views this as a grower and more of a long-term promo is planned. Which, to me, pretty much confirms that I'm 'getting it as he gave it'.

[Edited 9/24/07 1:31am]

excessex said:

ummm... it hit me right away, actually. But after today or tomorrow, whenever I play it through again, I might have to stop for a while. I think I've started to exhaust it and it's losing the "glow" I saw in it. But I guess I say that cuz PE, Guitar are starting to sound... less good. But Future Baby Mama and Chelsea Rodgers have sounded better for me, especially the first of the 2. And the other day, "Mr. Goodnight" knocked me for a good loop, so if I cut away after one more listen, I should be fine for the next time.

My favorite albums have been ones that I put a lot of time into. Come, TGE and Musicology were all growers for me. But Come is probably my favorite of those 3 (not that Musicology is in my top 4).