I've noticed that a lot of folks seem to have a low opinion of the Planet Earth album. Why is that? I think the album is pretty solid and other than Lotusflow3r (the individual album) it is his most consistent album of the 2004-2009 era. I think it's true that Musicology, 3121 and MPLSoUND all have higher highs ("If I Was The Man In Ur Life," "3121," "No More Candy 4 U") than Planet Earth but I think they also each have lower lows ("Life 'O The Party," "Incense And Candles," "Better With Time"). Is the quality of Planet Earth really that much less than the other recent albums that Prince has released?
[Edited 7/10/09 17:29pm]

My opinion is this...
It doesnt have that "I could listen to this album everyday" quality to it.
Theres no songs that GRAB you enough that you really care to keep it handy in your car. Lotus Flower on the other hand has a few tracks that you can listen to over and over and over. To me nothing on Planet earth is worth listen to numerous times. Im still jamming to Crimson and Clover, Dreamer, No more candy 4 u, Chocolate box, and Colonized mind. I quit jamming to Planet Earth within a month of buying it.
Again...just MY opinion.

As with a number of Prince albums there's stuff half of the Prince fans will like, another half will hate it. So the ratio of non-consensus means people will rate it lower.

The only songs I'd play these days would be : Guitar, PE, SHOE, T1UWC, FBM...

Other songs that I used to like I don't really have a taste for: e.g. Chelsey or Lion of Judah

But I don't think its a bad album by any means.
[Edited 7/10/09 17:40pm]

l know tell me about it .... l cant even understand it myself as l thought planet earth was a good solid album...
but lve seen and hear few or many people have different opinions of it than we do...
maybe they need their ears cleaning out lol....
from my point of view l dont care what anyone else thinks l still insists planet earth is one of the good solid one alongside with mpls and lotusflower album....

l will support prince on this one
cos he made future baby mama no 1 didnt he and he won award for tht song so u cant say its a crap album ...
prince knws music more than we do ...
he also made S.H.O.E. as a video ....
so l dont think anyone knws what theyre talking about...

i just think it's a dreary album overall.

only a few of the songs have memorable melodies, which to me has always been prince's special superpower. good or bad, you can always at LEAST remember a prince song well enough to hum it, and i'll be damned if i can remember how half the stuff on that album goes...which for me and prince albums is not usual.

i think the lyrics are drab and beneath his capabilities, and of the few songs that are somewhat memorable, they're songs we've heard before. i know he's famous for the sweltering bedroom ballad, but he keeps writing the same damn song on every album with just a few changed words!

the whole thing just feels slapped together and not very well thought out to me. usually with a prince album, you get a feel for the world he's trying to create with his project, even if it's something relatively minor. even with the musicology album, when i heard the whole thing, i got a feel for the kind of vibe he was going for on that album, what he was trying to say, where his mind was, or where he wanted our minds to go. with planet earth, it just felt muddled, like he didn't care, like he had a bunch of half-finished songs floating around and he grabbed a bunch, polished them up, and threw them on an album for us.

i will say i like aspects of the album. i like what some of the music in the title track is doing, and when i'm in a very rare and special mood, i can get into "chelsea rodgers". and i think i'm one of the few people who really digs how campy/so-bad-it's-good "mr. goodnight" is.

and i will also admit that recently, i heard SHOE and actually kinda appreciated it just the smallest bit for the first time. i'm still not crazy about it myself, but i can understand what other people see in it.

as a whole, though, this is one of my absolute least favorite prince albums. i rank it below newpower soul, because at least that album gave us "come on" and "the one".

I love Planet Earth.

I love it aswell~

ronnwinter said:

I agree.

I love it as well! My favorite album of this decade after The Rainbow Children.

On paper it seems like it should be solid, but when I listen to it it feels...I dunno..."uninspired" to me. It's just ok IMO.
[Edited 7/10/09 20:15pm]

I think it's the best album of his trilogy of albums. Musicology-3121-Planet Earth. They always seemed like a threesome of musical brothers. It's just that the music got better as time went on. Musicology blew monkey balls. 3121 was pretty decent. Planet Earth is a really good album.

I never got the hate for that album from Orgers or whoever. I think Planet Earth is a very strong album. "Guitar" is my ring tone for phone calls actually. (No I'm not a Verizon customer.) I could do without "Lion of Judah" and "Resolution". But ultimately it's a strong, well flowing album.

rainbowchild said:

Add N.E.W.S.,ONA (piano v) and Lotusflow3r to those two and you have my faves of this decade.
I defend PE all the time.
Good arguments here though on why some don't.Well put Anx.
But for me, I like it for some of the reasons others do not.
I enjoy the raw kinda "thrown together" approach of things. Gives it an urgency I dig. Keep in mind I also love Chao & Disorder". Love/Hated around here I know.
Also like the fact most stuff isn't "immediate". For my ears it has a flow a feel and a vibe. The fact that some see it as less "thought out" is understandable. To me,it makes it more spontaneous and there for, unique. Just my taste. Plus it's got W&L! However much involved, they are the icing on the cake.

ernestsewell said:

See, I don't get the same vibe off Planet Earth than from Musicology and 3121 (which I feel have a connection). Were they intended as some kind of trilogy???

The main reason why people think it's so bad is because it did not chart or have a number one hit or it did not have a lot of MTV or BET airplay.

The album was a good Prince album ,not a great Prince album and it is a good listen. Put it in the car and let it play while you are on a long drive and its ok.

johnart said:

No, they just came out together after a tour and TRC. Seemed like a new set of music and things happening at the time. I just always saw those as some weird threesome of albums.

It's like putting PR, ATWIAD, Parade together as a trilogy. Or SOTT, Lovesexy, Batman. Come, TGE, Chaos are the same to me as well. Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999 is a trilogy as well. Weird I guess.

piccolo7 said:

I know what I hear. And it's the worst Prince studio album in his catalog.

ernestsewell said:

You forgot the,"NOT!"

muleFunk said:

NO. You wouldn't be a Prince fan if you cared about all that.
Planet Earth will NEVER play in my car like that unless I am stone head over heels in love and I am not driving so I can sleep through it.

It gets heavy rotation from me for sure

the lp is garbage!

ronnwinter said:

Love this album, Lion Of Judah, the one u wanna C, Mr Goodnight and Planet Earth are all fantastic and I am jamming to them all the time

Planet Earth is amazing. It really gets back to the "song" idea, as opposed ot just jams like we got on Lotusflow3r and MPLSound.

I love Planet Earth, and it had a huge influence on me as a musician.

I think some people don't like it because it wasn't promoted in the USA to the same extent as the previous two commercial albums. After the perceived success of Musicology and 3121, a more low key affair was likely not to be received as well by those who like the big fanfair of appearances on American Idol and the Superbowl.

Upto it's release it had some of his better stuff of the 00s, and was a definite upturn from the disappointing previous two albums. There are some great moments (Chelsea Rodgers, SHOE, LOJ, Future Baby Mama, All The Midnights, Guitar) and some OK moments (T1UWC, title track, Resolution) - The only real duffer is Mr. Goodnight, which would be more fitting on 3121.

It reminds me a little of Come, how that was rather understated but has stood the test of time, better than TGE - All just humble opinion of course.

It's boring, save for maybe three songs.

I get what some folks are saying about the thrown together feel of the album and also that some of the lyrics are a bit weak but I think this album flows really well, possible because of it's brevity (Musicology was fine at 48 minutes, 3121 felt a tad bloated at 56 minutes, Planet Earth feels just right at around 40 minutes).

I'm not trying to "convert" anyone but I do think you owe it to yourself to give this album a few more spins. Like all Prince albums I listened to it a lot the first week I had it but then I kind of forgot about it. Recently I started listening to it again and now I like it a lot more.

SUPRMAN said:

Yeah, but isn't Newpower Soul one of your favourite albums? I'm not sure that we can trust your hearing.

The album does sound a bit like it was made in a hurry especially when compared to Musicology and 3121. The rock tracks sound a bit dated too and it is kinda short. Also there is no leaflet and the picture on the cover totally sucks. Those would be the reasons some people don't like it.
That said, I personally enjoy that album very much especially the second half of it. Future Baby Mama is up there with Prince's best songs (it narrowly missed my all time Prince Top 10 tracks on another thread) and I find the album very easy to listen to. I like it a lot
[Edited 7/11/09 4:44am]

I think Planet earth still sounds good.

Dayclear said:

what is so bad about it? Well the music is weak, mostly. It isn't quite as bad as musicology. I really liked 3121 and like the new album(s) pretty well too.