I'm from the rare breed of orger who niether hates nor loves Planet Earth.

To me, it was always a so-so Revolution-b-side sounding album with few

new surprises, but nothing terrible enough to offend.

Songs like All The Midnights, I absolutely find charming and well crafted

little pop songs. Songs like Mr. Goodnight and Guitar have their little

humerous moments and never sound bloody aweful to me. It even sounds

like he's having a little bit of fun with Mr. Goodnight--the 'mouth full of

raisonettes' line cracks me up endlessly.

Lion of Judah is perplexing and not terribly wonderful to listen to, but

it's no Jughead.

I don't know, I never hated it. But, I always considered it a dud album

despite, merely because we as orgers have just sort of grown to tease

this thing the way we do the movie, Graffiti Bridge.

However, I lsitenned to Planet Earth again recently and was mildly surprised

by how much I enjoyed it---certainly not brilliant, and a very strange followup

to the far better 3121, but not terrible in my opinion.

What are your thoughts?

It's ok, not bad for a freebie. I neither like or dislike it.

imago said:

However, I lsitenned to Planet Earth again recently and was mildly surprised

by how much I enjoyed it---certainly not brilliant, and a very strange followup

to the far better 3121, but not terrible in my opinion.

What are your thoughts?

This precisely. I actually enjoy the instrumentation on the album quite thoroughly.

My opinion:

Planet Earth: I like the piano, don't care too much for the chanting/lyrics/delivery. Lukewarm.

Guitar: Not bad, but unrealized potential.

SWHOE: Probably my favorite track on the album. Sentimental value, plus the Leno performance was hot.

The One U Wanna C: The lyrics are charming, but overall it doesn't really move it. I'll jam to it though. In my room, alone, with headphones on.

Future Baby Mama: I like the delivery and mood, the title is still kind of awkward sounding, but I mean, I guess it was 2007.

Mr. Goodnight: I actually really enjoy the quirkyness of this one.

ATMITW: I hated it at first but it has sincerely grown on me.

Chelsea Rogers: I didn't like it at first, and didn't understand the hype, but those fucking horns eventually won me over.

Lion of Judah: I love the gem of a solo in that one, nice and sweet. There is one part in the delivery of the lyrics I find awkward but other than that I enjoy it.

Resoultion: I like the acoustic guitar, but it leaves me lukewarm.

Well it was a free giveaway in The Sunday mail here in the Uk. I saw it for what i suspect it was - simply an o2 residency promotion - and P's 21 nights was a resounding success so it served its purpose.

The album art - dreadful

The album - Mr goodnight is the only track I don't like. The rest are good to my ears. I think this album gets a lot of unnecessary flack and is better than 20ten but not as solid as 3121.

Some nice melodies, here and there. The title track is cool. Lyrics never seem too substantive. Took me forever to realize Prince was wearing a corset on the cover.

I like it, always have.

In retrospect, it sounds exactly like what it is: outtakes from 3121 and Lotus Flower cobbled together to promote his upcoming London residency.

love it

Not that thrilled with it... I like "Chelsea Rodgers", though.

A friend urged me to listen closely to "Planet Earth".

I was in the car one day, so I put it on, and was mildly surprised that I kind of liked it, because I had written it off as sappy.

I mentioned it to my friend, and we got into a discussion about the lyrics I put in my sig...

agree with your thoughts ...

Of the new material ... post 1990s ... i think it is closer to the top , than the bottom ...

to me - the low points are "the one u wanna c" (dont even remember that song ) and "lion of judah" ... (too preachy for me ).

the highs - "resolution" and "chelsea rogers" ... easily 2 of his best . imo .

ColAngus said:

agree with your thoughts ...

Of the new material ... post 1990s ... i think it is closer to the top , than the bottom ...

to me - the low points are "the one u wanna c" (dont even remember that song ) and "lion of judah" ... (too preachy for me ).

the highs - "resolution" and "chelsea rogers" ... easily 2 of his best . imo .

"Somewhere Here On Earth" is a classic.. one of my all-time favorites.

The rest is good, but not great.

Except... I do not like "Chelsea Rodgers".. it's ok musically, but I don't like the lyrics or the woman (Shelby?) singing with Prince.

I like the diversity of the album. Some call it 'formulaic', but I like that there's a rock song, a funk song, r&b song, rap song, etc.. the fact that each song is so different keeps it from being boring.

[Edited 4/15/12 12:25pm]

Somewhere Here On Earth and Baby Mama are both drop dead classics, Planet Earth is a good song. The other songs are so-so to good. It's about a three and a half star album. Pretty decent.

I've always liked it and was just listening to it on Friday. The only dud track for me is Chelsea Rodgers and I can take or leave Future Baby Momma.

i dig on future baby mamma

the rest.......dont hate but i dont like.perhaps a little less than indiffrence

My short and quick review:

Planet Earth: It´s ok but a tad too bombastic for me. I´m one of the few orgers who really love "Strays of the World" and this song reminds me of it but I don´t enjoy this one very much. But I still go back to Strays of the World. Still love that song... should´ve been the last song on Come.

Guitar: Can´t stand it. Terrible lyrics, terrible music. Just not my cup of tea. And it is too reminiscent of other songs, for example that U2 song. Can´t stand that one either. The live performances were kind of alright but still left me cold.

Somewhere Here On Earth: This one is an instant classic. Very reminiscent of Damn U in a good way. After the snorefests On the Couch and Satisfied I thought Prince had lost the ability to write good ballads but this song is beautiful. Great lyrics, too.

The One U Wanna C: Boring. Cringeworthy. Embarrassing. Horrible. WTF was he thinking? There are some nice details musicwise, buried under weak lyrics. Can´t stand it. The kind of song that makes you turn down the volume so your neighbors won´t hear your embarrassing music.Horrible song.

Future Baby Mama: Great music, great vocals, but some parts of the lyrics (well, the title actually) sound a bit too ghetto for Prince. He´s Prince, not R.Kelly or some NBA player. He´s not into having babies out of wedlock so why come up with such a title? Still a great song though..love the melody.

Mr. Goodnight: Not really a good song, too much bragging and too materialistic but it does make me laugh. Could´ve been a fun, free download song or b-side or whatever.

All the Midnights in the World: It´s ok but this type of Prince music is not really my cup of tea. But I must admit there are also a couple of Revolution songs in the same vein that I don´t like, for instance Make Your Mama Happy and Teacher, Teacher. Of course they sound nothing alike but I´m just saying...there are certain types of songs that I don´t like, no matter what era they´re from.

Chelsea Rogers:If I were a bored, rich rock star I´d probably find it important to write songs about young and aspiring models but I´m not, and this song does ZERO for me. The music is ok but he´s done songs like this a million times before, and better. Is this supposed to be a tamed and censored, "positive" version of Cindy C. ? I don´t know, I don´t care.

Lion of Judah: People here hate it, I love it. It´s one of my personal highlights on this album. Some don´t like the beginning of it and say the first chords are reminiscent of Purple Rain but I disagree. I like the vocals, the way he sings this song, the passion and emotional delivery but I don´t like the bibilical imagery he´s using here. I don´t mind it in other songs but here it just feels a bit out of place and ruins what it otherwise a great lovesong about yearning and longing for someone and about emotional turmoil inside. A wasted opportunity and in essence a very good song. People would´ve gone apeshit for it if this had leaked as an outtake in the mid 90s.

Resolution: Even though both songs are different, this one leaves me just as cold as All the Midnights in the World. Maybe I should give both songs another listen. Not necessarily bad songs but simply not my kind of music. Will listen to both again real soon.

This is a great thread, by the way.

funny. i listened to this album for the first time in a long long time, last week.

it struck me that I still felt the same way about it though

I still have the title track. I don't know if it's because of the "could it be magic"

bridge or the lyrics or whatever, but it's one of probably 4 or 5 of prince's cuts

that I absolutely cannot stand. I faintly remember there being a rather nice or

at least okay guitarsolo near the end but I just couldn't bring myself to listen

to it again. That's how much I dislike it.

Guitar. Nice tune. I liked the 'demo' version too. This one is pretty nice. Though

I hardly ever feel the need to listen to it.

Somewhere here on Earth. Good song. Very good song. Boring as hell to me,

for some reason. I know it's good, but it just puts me to sleep. And I usually do

like his slow songs. This one is just a bit uneventful.

The One U Wanna C. Pretty good. Ruined by the "U don't have 2 shave Ur legs"

line. Much like the "could it be magic" bridge on Planet Earth, this line is just so

incredibly jarring to me that it makes me shudder all over. In a bad way. This

is still an ok song tho. Just another one I can't listen to.

Future Baby Mama. Ok. The vocals on this one are great. And I do like it. The

lyrics for the most part are fine, just the title. It's just so 'off'. It kind of goes

to show that it's still a great song when you want to listen to it again, even tho

it has such a silly title.

Mr Goodnight. Don't mind this one at all. It's fun, breezy, melodic and it's just

so silly that you can't take it seriously.

All The Midnights. Probably the highlight of this album, for me. Love it when he

does these seemingly off the cuff songs. Short and sweet and just weird enough

to be uniquely prince. I often feel the need to listen to this.

Chelsea Rogers. Ugh. I know many people like it a lot but I can't stand it. What

is so special about it? And he doesn't even sing it himself. Or at least his vocals

are buried so deep in the mix that I can only hear Shelby (?). All in all it's just

a middle of the road 'modern prince' funk song.

Lion of Judah. Yay. I'm not a fan of 'reverend prince', but when the tune is good

I don't mind at all. At least it's an actual song. Nice guitar solo too. Another one

that stands out on this album, to me.

Resolution. Meh. It's like "reflection", but only a gazillion times NOT as good. He

could write 10 of these songs a day. At least that's the feeling you get. Overall,

the message is pretty simple. It's like a teenager's solution to war and politics.

which is ok, as long as you're not a 50 yr old man. You'd think prince would be

able to make us think a little deeper.

all in all, I don't care for this album, yet I would hesitate to call it "bad". It's got

a whole shitlist of problems but for me personally, I feel that if I could just take

off the title track and replace it with something stronger, perhaps F.U.N.K. or so,

I wouldn't mind putting this one on and listening to it all the way through.

well, twice a year

Planet Earth helped me understand how bitchy folks on the org can be. Don't understand the disdain for the album, so many do so much worse. One criticism might be that it feels incoherent. It has several tracks that I like. SHOE is one of his best ballads EVER and definitely recently. FBM was a catchy hit, great vocals. I like the arrangement of Lion of Judah and The 1 UWann C should've been a pop hit. Even the title track is interesting in arrangement. So nothing groundbreaking but not the audio turd ppl here would have u believe

One of my favorite albums by him actually. I love nearly every song on the album. However I could do without Guitar and The One U Wanna C

Another listen? No way! lol

My opinion:

Planet Earth: I like this one ok but not one I would brag about too much

Guitar: I hate this song. I usually LOVE his rock stuff but this get so annoying as it is just way too repetitive.

SWHOE: not a fan of this one at all. I feel like I just want to shoot myself listening to this one

The One U Wanna C: THIS is a CLASSIC to me!! This makes every best of cd that I make. LOVE IT!!

Future Baby Mama: ehhh.. not a fan of this one either. It is better than SWHOE but I never play this on its own.

Mr. Goodnight: This one is ok with me. Not bad but not great. Good album track in my opinion but nothing really that is hit material. Good filler song for the album.

ATMITW: I always liked this one. Again good filler track for an album

Chelsea Rogers: I like this one but I think it could have been better. I wish there was more of Prince and less shelby. Overall I can deal with this one. Again, good album track but not hit material to me.

Lion of Judah: LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!! Pure classic rocker!!

Resoultion: Another classic that ends up on every best of cd I make for Prince. I think this is a hit with any serious promotion. LOVE IT!!

Overall, this cd has three of my favorites of ALL TIME which ranks this album pretty good in my opinion. IT does have some weak ones that bring it down but overall I really think this album is under appreciated by fans. To me it is better than 3121 and ranks 2nd for me for his albums in the 2000's only behind Lotusflower.

As far as his talent can go........................ it's POOP but sprinkled with hundreds and thousands!

[Edited 4/15/12 23:29pm]

KoolEaze said:

My short and quick review:

Planet Earth: It´s ok but a tad too bombastic for me. I´m one of the few orgers who really love "Strays of the World" and this song reminds me of it but I don´t enjoy this one very much. But I still go back to Strays of the World. Still love that song... should´ve been the last song on Come.

Guitar: Can´t stand it. Terrible lyrics, terrible music. Just not my cup of tea. And it is too reminiscent of other songs, for example that U2 song. Can´t stand that one either. The live performances were kind of alright but still left me cold.

Somewhere Here On Earth: This one is an instant classic. Very reminiscent of Damn U in a good way. After the snorefests On the Couch and Satisfied I thought Prince had lost the ability to write good ballads but this song is beautiful. Great lyrics, too.

The One U Wanna C: Boring. Cringeworthy. Embarrassing. Horrible. WTF was he thinking? There are some nice details musicwise, buried under weak lyrics. Can´t stand it. The kind of song that makes you turn down the volume so your neighbors won´t hear your embarrassing music.Horrible song.

Future Baby Mama: Great music, great vocals, but some parts of the lyrics (well, the title actually) sound a bit too ghetto for Prince. He´s Prince, not R.Kelly or some NBA player. He´s not into having babies out of wedlock so why come up with such a title? Still a great song though..love the melody.

Mr. Goodnight: Not really a good song, too much bragging and too materialistic but it does make me laugh. Could´ve been a fun, free download song or b-side or whatever.

All the Midnights in the World: It´s ok but this type of Prince music is not really my cup of tea. But I must admit there are also a couple of Revolution songs in the same vein that I don´t like, for instance Make Your Mama Happy and Teacher, Teacher. Of course they sound nothing alike but I´m just saying...there are certain types of songs that I don´t like, no matter what era they´re from.

Chelsea Rogers:If I were a bored, rich rock star I´d probably find it important to write songs about young and aspiring models but I´m not, and this song does ZERO for me. The music is ok but he´s done songs like this a million times before, and better. Is this supposed to be a tamed and censored, "positive" version of Cindy C. ? I don´t know, I don´t care.

Lion of Judah: People here hate it, I love it. It´s one of my personal highlights on this album. Some don´t like the beginning of it and say the first chords are reminiscent of Purple Rain but I disagree. I like the vocals, the way he sings this song, the passion and emotional delivery but I don´t like the bibilical imagery he´s using here. I don´t mind it in other songs but here it just feels a bit out of place and ruins what it otherwise a great lovesong about yearning and longing for someone and about emotional turmoil inside. A wasted opportunity and in essence a very good song. People would´ve gone apeshit for it if this had leaked as an outtake in the mid 90s.

Resolution: Even though both songs are different, this one leaves me just as cold as All the Midnights in the World. Maybe I should give both songs another listen. Not necessarily bad songs but simply not my kind of music. Will listen to both again real soon.

This is a great thread, by the way.

Agree with this review completely!

Also agree with OP that impressions of P's songs can change for the better upon further listen, so like Kooleaze I'll definitely take another listen.

Probably my third favourite post nineties album (behind Lotusflow3r and Musicology).

It strikes me as being somewhat similar to Chaos and Disorder. A lot of people dismissed it as a piece of product and not a proper album but as the years go by its reputation improves.

worst album ever

I always liked it.

There's a couple of tracks on here I'd rank up with the best of the 00s. The rest is either good or passable. I'm not a big fan of the title track or The 1 U Wanna C - both tick some boxes, but I don't like the way he ticks them!

[Edited 4/16/12 3:18am]

andykeen said:

worst album ever

MPLSoUND?

another aspect to this album , that came out before this album was released ... was that Prince was listening alot to Beatles music ... and I thought that shined thru on this album .

of course if you hate the album , you think he completely missed it ...

but .. from a "peace and luv" album with no swear words, ala the beatles ... i thought it went well with the thinking ...

I always thought of Prince being more of a "led zeppelin , sly stone" influenced peddler of pop ... so I kinda took this as "not hype" and believed that maybe he was just starting to understand the Beatles influence etc ....

(remember the Lennon song he did at the Superbowl preview ) ... just my .02 ...

to the Chealsea rogers haters - i like the lyrics to the song ... and the beat ... but when he gets to the "of everyday make the most" , i think it just is somewhat inspirational ... and positive ...in a good way ..

ColAngus said:

another aspect to this album , that came out before this album was released ... was that Prince was listening alot to Beatles music ... and I thought that shined thru on this album .

of course if you hate the album , you think he completely missed it ...

but .. from a "peace and luv" album with no swear words, ala the beatles ... i thought it went well with the thinking ...

I always thought of Prince being more of a "led zeppelin , sly stone" influenced peddler of pop ... so I kinda took this as "not hype" and believed that maybe he was just starting to understand the Beatles influence etc ....

(remember the Lennon song he did at the Superbowl preview ) ... just my .02 ...

to the Chealsea rogers haters - i like the lyrics to the song ... and the beat ... but when he gets to the "of everyday make the most" , i think it just is somewhat inspirational ... and positive ...in a good way ..

It is very Beatle-esch, which is why it sounds like a Revolution era album to me. Much of the Revolution material sounded like Prince was getting high and listening to Beatles records.

I'm 100% 50/50 on this album.

The thing I have the most trouble getting past is the naive, hippy-dippy bullshit lyrics of Planet Earth and Resolution. When the two weakest tracks are the bookends, you've got a real problem.

That said, I think Somewhere Here On Earth is a gem - right up there with his best "blue light in the basement" standards.

The One You Wanna C is a terrific attempt at country. I said from the beginning that this track would have been right at home on the NASCAR circuit. Why some country artist hasn't given that one a go is beyond me.

Future Baby Mama, while I don't love it unreservedly, is (I think) a throwback to some of his better lyric writing. The "I know what you want" bit is so true. You know he's been a fly on the wall during some girl talk.

Lion of Judah is worth it solely for the line, "I've prob'ly passed my expiration date. But still, I adore you." I like the honesty and humanity here - he's good when he lets a little self doubt show.

Chelsea Rodgers - meh. I don't care about ol' Letter C/Leather seat (remember that debate? ). It's kind of a jam, I guess. I can take it or leave it.

I agree with an earlier poster who said All the Midnights... has kind of a Teacher, Teacher vibe. I hear a little Manic Monday in there, too. (Just the flavor - not a lift, by any means.) It's light, innocent and kind of pretty. I'll give it a

The album version of Guitar is okay - but I flat out love the acoustic version. Sometimes, he needs ask himself the question from Bob George - "Why don't you leave muthafuckas alone?"