Universaluv said:

Perfect description Universaluv! It's not his best but he has done far worse. As a matter of fact, I was expecting much worse after hearing people talk about the song on this board over the last couple of months. Why does Prince's music seem to polarize so many of his fans. It's like people head to two camps. The "OMG it's the greatest prince song since ____" or the "This song sucks and he'll never have another hit" camp. Musicology is a good song. It's not great. It doesn't suck. It's good. It's a nice little jam that doesn't seem to take itself all that serious. Something I welcome after the peachiness of TRC. It's nice to see Prince but out a real lead single with a quality video. It has peaked my interest as to what the album sounds like. And isn't that what a lead single/video is supposed to do?

Last great song that came out of PaisleyPark was "Last December"

Last few frames have been major gutter balls...

livewire said:

Your synopsis of Reflection is dead on. The lyrics are beautiful, extremely personal and reflective. The line about his mother gets me everytime I hear it. I noticed his expression when he referenced his mother and you can tell the loss has had a profound impact on him. It's nice to hear Prince express himself so eloquently and personally in a stripped down setting.

I like the song, but it is far from "classic" Prince. It follows in the mold of Sexy M.F. and The Work, heavily influenced by James Brown. I prefer my Prince when the direct influences are more subtle, but I think it is stronger than either of those two tracks. I am pleased that it is at least funky. However, he has absolutely released several tracks in the past 10 years that were much better (in terms of having a "catchy" radio-friendly sound) and did not become hits ("Endorphinmachine," "Come On," "Baby Knows," etc.). Therefore, I don't see much chance with this one becoming a hit. However, I expect there will be far superior tracks on the album, like "Mr. Man" he played at the recent V-Day show in S.F.

The Tavis Smiley inteview was cool, but I think the interviewer spoke more than Prince!

Peace,
Scott

DrD said:

How can 10 year old music be considered old? Is Mozart's music old? Or Jimi's? Since we're talking about Prince, I don't think we should be judging his music with the same parameters we use for Britney or Madonna. Those are popstars, he's an artist. The cool sound of the day is not important in his case.
If he makes bad art let's say it, but let's not say his music is old because when talking about art it makes no sense. It makes sense if you're talking about fashion (and most pop music nowadays is just fashion).

littleman said:

P is damned if he does damned if he don't. When he takes a stab at "updating his sound" we get shit like Rave, over which he take a hit from his fan base (and rightfully so) When he comes out with some stripped-down shit with a soulful feel to it he's "outdated". Damn. I'm really starting to see why Prince doesn't give a damn about what we think.
[This message was edited Fri Feb 20 11:35:07 2004 by intha916]

7IS4ME said:

You're in the minority, my friend.

intha916 said:

Perhapse he should give a damn and get his shit together. The man is absolutely free to produce any kind of music he wants, but if he wants to make a comeback and start selling albums again, then he needs to think like a business man and understand what the public wants to hear. But if he's happy selling a fraction of what he used to, then so be it.

You know, when, "The Work," came out as the "lead single" for TRC, I was a little disappointed. "Musicology," to me, even though is in the same vein as, "The Work," is more impressive to me, plus we've only heard 1 to 2 minutes of it (I'm sure it grows and builds), plus there's a cool video to support it.

Will it be number one? Probably not, but don't discount the whole, "Musicology" project just yet.

I know I may be in the minority but TRC turned out to be a superb album and, "The Work," eventually grew on me in the context of the whole album. So with, "Musicology," the single, being better than, "The Work," I'm pretty excited about the rest of the album.

for his first commercial album in quite some time, prince needed to come out swinging. if musicology is the lead single, he has already struck out. for today's average music fans - excluding those of us who live on planet org - this new album is a comeback album, of sorts. frankly, i could care less whether the thing hits #1 so long as it's good music that i can personally enjoy. but DAMN, i really did expect something with more punch than what i heard last night.

"Reflection" was beautiful!!! And it was great to see Wendy playing with Prince again. Judging from the way she was looking at him while they played and he sang, there are no ill feelings there.

if it's true that the neptune's have remixed musicology, i just hope that the remix is the version given rotation on the radio.

It doesn't matter what kind of song Prince writes, he still won't top the charts without a major label behind him pushing him and doing the quasi-payola thing for him.

Can we please stop using the words "this is a comeback album". Was'nt Rave? Lets just wait until we hear it and sleep on it before calling it a comeback album. Because we all know deep down it is'nt.

she called me and couldn't believe it was Prince. When he releases the album she wants to buy it. This will be her first Prince album and she is 55 years old.



.... what can i say?

I dont know y'all historically his singles are the worst song on the albumn. Musicology is the worst then there is sure to be some fire on the albumn. I think its a good song. If he does as well as he did with the Rainbow Children I'll be happy.

i agree that we don't consider it a comeback album, but those who buy most of the music today don't think he's put out anything since, well, diamonds & pearls. just wanted to clarify that i do not consider it a comeback album at all.

blurple said:

Yes, Controversy, 1999, LRC, When Doves Cry, Let's Go Crazy, Purple Rain, Diamonds and Pearls, etc were all the worst songs on their albums. (?!). I don't know where you are coming from with that. Prince does pick some weird singles sometimes, but mostly the singles are some of the best/most accessible album tracks.

Musicology is probably about the best the album has to offer. I think it's a nice little song, but Prince won't make it back to the top of the charts no matter what he puts out at this point.

intha916 said:

co-funkin sign

wait a second where are you people hearing this song? you mean prince is ACTUALLY releasing a new album NOW???? FOR REAL????

and not like the chocolate invasion delayed for a while??? REALLY NOW??

where's the link????

I'm still pissed I haven't heard this song.

It can't be that bad by the sounds of it though, because I liked The Work.

PurpleKnight said:

Well if you like crap, you'll love this shit.

EvilWhiteMale said:

then I guess it aint worth the "illegal download" then...


May I quote you sometime?

FiveFootNine said:

Absolutely. Just cut me in on the percentage.

EvilWhiteMale said:

absolutely...I wouldn't have it any other way...

FiveFootNine said:

By the way, I'd like to be in your 1978-1995 club. We need to band together against these psycho groupie cocain crazy Prince fams.

EvilWhiteMale said:

A-fucking-MEN!!!!! btw...WONDERFUL SOAD reference!!!

Like I said..I really need to start quoting you!!!

Mind you, I don't think The Work is even so much as a quarter as good as a single like Kiss, but that doesn't mean it's a bad song altogether.

I have lowered expectations for a 45 year old Prince.

Obviously 80's Prince will be untouchable in comparison, so it's just unfair to not like a new song because it can't match that prior brilliance.

So in realizing that Prince won't come out with the next Purple Rain anytime soon, I can come to enjoy songs like The Work as just being good, solid songs.

PurpleKnight said:

I dont think any of us are asking for "another" Purple Rain... Just something with a bit more...feeling, maybe...a bit more honesty...maybe...a bit ....less crap-like. That's all...nothing that isn't far well within his reach.

Well I'm also not asking for the next Purple Rain.

I was satisfied with TRC for example, I thought it was a very good album.

As long as Prince comes out with albums that offer something different to compliment the overall Prince experience, then I'm satisfied.

I'm just saying it's unfair to hear a new Prince song and automatically pass it off as crap just because it can't match the brilliance found in songs off SOTT or TGE.

One can only guess the kind of comments there would be if Sign O the Times had never been released and was just now to be released as a new Prince album. Imagine none of it was released, never heard before, and last night Prince played the Ballad of Dorothy Parker with Wendy, then had a video for the first 80 seconds of Sign O' the Times. There'd be the sort of comments people are making in this thread and others about Musicology. There would be people complaining how they miss the "old prince".

There's no way Prince releases anything that gets universal praise from every single fan. The reason is that each fan has his or her own tastes and expectations.

As for Musicology, I still say this is a great leadoff single and properly promoted, it'll easily make the top 10 - it's funky and it will fit on many formats. And I'm expecting great things from this album. The pieces are falling into place for Prince to make a commercial comeback this year.

Someone on here talked about their 55 year old sister liking musicology. I can go to the other end of the spectrum. My kids thought it was great too. They're not really Prince fans either. They like some songs, but I get a lot of "Oh Dad"s when I want to listen to Prince. I just played the Musicology video clip for them - they didn't want to watch it, but 30 seconds in I see heads bobbing to the beat and then when it was over they wanted to watch it again.

Just wait and see - Prince has a hit here - and he knows it too. Looking forward to the press conference Tuesday.

I need to hear this song, my curiosity's eating me alive.

I'm still not sure a 45 year old JW Prince can be marketable though in terms of hits.

He still has things going for him, don't get me wrong. He's still incredibly attractive, and still a HELL of a performer live.

I just don't see him being able to produce hits anymore. I think that time has definitely passed.