DevotedPuppy said:

You are craking my shit up today.

Stymie said:

I am feeling quite feisty lately because of a lot of crap I've been dealing with at work.

I mean, some people *coughfamscough* might say it's mean to say Prince should have tried harder, but if I give a shitty tour or do a half-assed job, I usually know it and if someone calls me on it, I'm like, "Yeah, you're right, that tour was pretty bad." Then I get my shit together, re-read the info, look at the exhibition some more and try to do a better job next time.

"PLANET EARTH" is a brilliant album!!!

The only thing I would have wished for were a few more tracks. But I LOVE it as is and listen to it all the time along with 3121 and Musicology.

PRINCE RULES!

luv4u said:

but instead I got a snooze fest i put on 3121 right after the 1st listen

and chelsea rodgers is not funk ..it's a chic ripoff
[Edited 2/5/08 11:00am]

Giovanni777 said:

5 mins 2 long 2 get 2 the meat ..this shouldn't have been a lead off track of a album

chillichocaholic said:

no chocolate bar 4 u go put back on Love from 3121 and u instantly know what planet pieceofshit is lacking

There's only so many ways I can say that I Planet Earth and how much I hate hearing how people keep coming down on it.

I'll stand by the album no matter what and Prince really shouldn't let people tell him what direction to go in (i.e. moving away from the direction he was heading towards here)... but if he happens to listen... I know who I'm pointing the finger out... haters...

It's nice to hear so many good posts about the album here, but somehow, the negative ones just cut 10x deeper than any other negative posts I've come across. Because I believe in this album, heart & soul

And all of my posts have been ignored so far
I don't think you'll find anyone who'll write THIS much about Planet Earth for the sake of defending it against those who are against it. No matter what's going on with me, I always find time to defend this album.

its not a bad album but i think 3121 is better!!, like chelsea rogers the best well funky!!

L4OATheOriginal said:

As I have said recently, PE is growing on me, hehehhe that sorta rhymes, but i seriously think the track sequence is absurd, PE should have been the last track and it should have kicked off with Guitar, but we are in the digital age, so we can fortunately mix these up as we wish, just like diluting the GB album

Sweetie, why do you care what people think about this album? Go ahead: love it. Graffiti Bridge is my favorite Prince album and I don't give a damn what people here think of it.

Stymie said:

Graffiti Bridge has some tight songs on it too. In Las Vegas when he played 'Joy In Repetition' he completely broke it down on the quitar like never before. It was a masterpiece! Anyway, back to PE.

Arabia25 said:

Joy In Repetition is my absolute favorite song.

i bought 3 cds and gave my best friends a copy.i enjoy the music,musicianship and the messages.we all take away something from prince it varies from person 2 person.love not hate.envy is the root of all evil(war),be yourself and give praise 2 the ONE above.finally dont be an idol worshipper be human and humane 2 others.

I love it.

Every track, The 1 U Wanna C is sublime, can't get enoughof the Abum still listening to it on a regular basis

Giovanni777 said:

hey! .. been awhile since ive seen ya.. i like Somewhere Here On Earth.. but i guess im just strung out on the older sounds ... some good ole' nitty'gritty bass .. and oh im sorry for the nick name ..

It really does surprise me also that this album was received reasonably badly amongst a number of Prince fans.

After the over-production of a lot of the 90s material, the complaints (by some) of the jazz leanings of the Rainbow Children/ONA/NEWS era and the by some at the supposed re-treads that were Musicology and 3121 (not my opinion, but valid to some extent), I would have thought that Planet Earth would have been the ideal remedy.

It sounds loose, organic, mostly rock based and with only a couple of exceptions (Future Baby Mama and Mr Goodnight) very akin to his pre-Diamonds & Pearls 'proper Prince' sound. Plus, I think that as compositions, the songs are all very strong (although lyrically, it has its faults).

One of the big problems, I think, is that albums like these should maybe have more to them.
In the past, Prince's shorter albums have generally had a specific vibe and/or theme running through them and it's the longer albums that have had that mix-tape feel.
With his past three albums, to differing extents, each of them has sounded more like a mix-tape than a fully conceived album. For short albums, I don't think that this format works and as a result, they come across as somehow abstract and not quite finished and I think this reflects on how they're then received by the fans and even the casual listener.

The great thing is, I don't think Prince will give a flying fuck about what us lot here think of any of his albums. He'll just make the albums that he wants to make and he knows we'll all buy them whether we like them after or not.

And thank God for that!

I like 6 of the songs on PE, the title track, Mr. Goodnight,(Prince calling somebody a dandy? ) SHOE, The 1 U Wanna C, Lion on Judah and Guitar. I don't much care for the other 4 so I guess it gets a 6/10 rating from me.

Overall I don't find the lyrics very compelling, especially for an album titled Planet Earth, and although the instrumentation is carefully done it isn't particularly interesting. Who goes looking for an album based on careful instrumentation? For most non musicians either a song grabs you or it doesn't.

Three weeks after it dropped I went back to jamming 3121, which I love to death...every track.

Ultimately that's the great thing about Prince. He's so versatile that there's something for everyone to pick and choose from.

Haystack said:

That is Prince, an Artist

L4OATheOriginal said:

...and 3121 didn't put you to sleep?

Surely you're an insomniac...

Y'all know where I stand on this one (if you check my prior...)

You've all slept on this and in 10 years time, you'll fall over yourselves to say you always loved it.

.
[Edited 2/19/08 12:16pm]

Whitnail said:

I'm glad that he does things his own way because I want to hear where Prince's head is at instead of where other people think it should be. It won't be long till he comes up with something I'll be feeling, that's for sure.

Haystack said:

Thank God 4 that... and for your post

I really like what you said about the format of his longer and his shorter albums because I know EXACTLY where you're coming from. I've noticed that too. Around the time I got Planet Earth, I had something against his really long albums (that run about an hour or so... hence why 1999 took a while to grow on me)... and I checked b4hand and was glad to see that this album was only about 45 minutes long. But by the time I got to the end, I was thinking "it was so good, I want to hear more!" ...it wasn't so much that it seemed like there should be more to the story than that... although "Lion of Judah" suggests that there's more to his life's "love story".

What I've noticed is that the shorter albums are more homogeneous and I sometimes like them more becauase they're unified in one theme. That's why at times I'd prefer Purple Rain to 1999, and Come to TGE.
In the end, I did prefer this to 3121, which felt like it was all over the place (that mix-tape feel u mentioned). Although Planet Earth is a more united project in my view, how it is united is up to interpretation. Maybe there wasn't a central concept to it at all. With a title LIKE Planet Earth, it makes finding a central concept more difficult. Although one would say that its Prince placing a personal ad on disc and that's why some don't like this album much.

For me, Planet Earth can be summed up in one word: Magic. The feel of the music was just unique to anything he had done previous... although similar themetically to 3121, it makes me recall little things that remind of the 80's... the back-up vocals on several accounts for instance, courtesy of Wendy & Lisa.

I can't really add much else, but great post

Flowerz said:

"Somewhere Here On Earth" is a true slow jam masterpiece. His piano and voice R in top form. I really thought some of the 'Parade' lovers would have seriously dug this... Also, anyone who can appreciate a perfect slow jam, which is utterly Prince.

Haystack said:

I am with U on most of this. I think he, like any artist, has reasons 4 making an album the length it winds up being, but I agree that 'Planet Earth' "deserves" 2 be a longer album. I believe in the short and sweet theory... hit it and quit, so 2 speak... But there was more "material" recorded, and perhaps it should have been included.

I like the idea of the album, but not so much the execution.

I like that it has an easy, organic, melodic feel. The hooks feel genuine and not forced, the production feels good, and the melodies are nice even on Mr Goodnight. I like that it's generally a rock/pop album, and I like that W&L have made an appearance.

But I feel it has some tracklisting flaws that keep it from holding together well. Most noticeable is Somewhere Here ON Earth, a great tune, but a wet blanket early on in what is a pretty upbeat album. In between Guitar & The 1 U... it just grinds everything to a halt.

Then to pretend to have such a big and important theme as Planet Earth, and to abandon the seriousness of it immediately after track 1 seems like a cop out. Especially to return to it in such a fluffy way with Resolution.

And not just the theme is abandoned, but the pop feel doesn't quite fit with the R&B tunes & SHOE. Those would have been better left as b-sides or fleshed out with a longer album as stated above by Haystack & Giovanni

Why not use W&L more, esp for vox?

Mr Goodnight is fine, but it doesn't hold up under repeated listens.

All the Midnights is nice, but it steals part of its melody from Here Comes Santa Clause.

Why did he sing half of the songs in the Peter Brady voice-crack range?

I like the album as I like all of his albums, but this is no Rainbow Children!
[Edited 2/5/08 17:32pm]

BlackCandle said:

word.

DevotedPuppy said:

Whoa. People R going 2 say what they're going 2 say... it's not mean 4 people 2 say that. It's an opinion. There's a fine line between being objective and being subjective 2 one's own taste. It's a great balance 2 be able 2 see both.

I'm a player and I record. I have an ear. If Prince is off in any way, I can hear it. This has nothing 2 do with taste. Musically and sonically, Planet Earth is solid, diverse, cohesive, and utterly Prince. It is brief. So what? There will be more just around the corner... can't wait 2 hear and see what happens then (next).

NDRU said:

Most definitely (check the bold).

I was very pleased with the album from all aspects.
Anyone who has been on the internet knows that any Prince album released post internet era is going to be bashed for about 10 years until it becomes a "classic" to everyone who was too young to buy it when it was originally released.