OK -
First off, I have been listening 2 Prince for 21 years and it feels like yesterday....

And that's what makes this day so, quite frankly, glorious!!!

I took the day off work (not wacky just love music that much - over 4,000 artists in my library)

So...with that said I offer my opinion of the latest Prince CD - Musicology. An instant classic.

Track 5
I begin writing this review with this song because I've been waiting so long to hear the entirty after being teased 2 weeks ago with the short snippet played on New York radio - Call My Name. Damn. This track is worth the price of the CD alone. In the vein of Adore biggg time. And done to perfecton with a little Somebody Somebody and just the layers upon layers of his lucious voice. And the spring birds at the end - what excellent arrangement

Track 1 - Musicolgy
Ok - now that I've finally pulled myself away from track 5.
Musicology. All the controversy over this song is exactly what gets the hemispheres of music appreciation flowin'. I first heard this on Leno and had no objections since he is in such a frenzy of media currently and his attitude is pure L-O-V-E. The single is one that does grow on you and the part, "Dont you touch my stereo - these are my records" Is just hilarious and once again shows how so many lack to see this guys sense of humor. Cause thats funny!!! Also the beat is wayyy infectious with classic Prince elements. The meandering track goes straight into the uptrack "dont stop dancin..." "thats what I'm talkin about!"

And most importantly people - realize most average listerners of music in the world have not heard from Prince in years!! So this will be just the right ingredients of P to get them get on the band wagon again. Phase II. 2004. 1984. It will do OK and get the album off its feet and than he'll slam em with multiple tracks o R&B and Pop, Adult stations. Just watch...

p.s. and hell yeah this track is funky!!!

with lines like "hips and lips chips and whips!!" What a final funky line - niiiice

Track 2 ICPC
OK - this is just badass. This guy is proving with the first 4-5 songs he can cover any genre at any point. Hopefully most critics will pick up on this. He tried this with Rave but failed to really deliver. Or was it people were still not ready for his return??? A fun track that is just fun and funky. He is not taking himself seriously and it shows. Just grooving. I was surprised this was track 2 when I first listened but now it all fits quite well. The beat is very familiar to Slave off Emancipation.


Track 3 A Million Days
Wow. This is no normal Prince begining to a song. It has radio freindly all over it and than...I cringed (the first...bummer) as he started into the Three Chains of Gold guitars. But as I waited anxiously the slow groove was not drowned out and allright I'm starting to feel it. Good hook nice and smooth. Oh - this had to be recorded around the time of the forementioned song but I like it. Good lyrics about losing someone, "Its only been an hour since U left me I wish I had somebody 2 blame but your the perfect picture of what love should look like and I want 2 be your frame and he nails the "copy coffin" when his bridge is all broken up just the TCOG again! But its an ok track. Not my favorite just because of the similiarites but again most people will like this one. Good filler.

Track 4 Life O' the Party
Damnnn...at first I was like, "umm is that Mayte singing backing vocals. Sounds like something off her chill but uninspiring album. Uh-oh. But than Prince kicks this bad ass beat and you know its gonna be on. And it is. He is got some serious hooks flowing on this CD. He is out to prove something. His little reggae bit works quite well - nice change up P. A great party anthem and it again is a great capture of Prince's escence in a up beat fun way. "putting the "I" in fine" get the summer2004 boomboxes boomin wit dis 1 and the clasic "Oww-waaaa" I think the only time heard on this CD.


Track 5 Call My Name
see above - definitly gonna chart well on R&B stations

Track 6 Cinnamon Girl
I don't know if this has been confirmed as a cover but it must be. Damn in the vein of Diner with Dolores and I Like It There. In a good way. Pop sensibility to it which is good. This song makes me think this is gonna be a summer full of music from Prince on the radio. This CD is all over the place and that is great. Nice little radio freindly solo in the middle. Pince kinda reminds me of Bruce Springsteen on this track?? Dont ask me why. Maybe its the choppy paino? Maybe its cause this song takes me back to 1984?? kinda cool. I do like it there!

Track 7 What Do U Want Me To Do
I'm very surprised this made it on this CD. Since last fell I was in love with this track and thought at that time how many gems of Prince's go unnoticed. It fits very nicely on this CD. Such a classic with the linn-drum machine. A decent pop outing for him and very mellow edge. A little D&P Strollin with just the right vocal work. And that new ending?? What. What is she saying? I totally dig the background music - Is this another layer of Prince we have yet (or will) see soon???? cool. Also kinda reminds me of the Vanity segue with the guy being thrown down the stairs!!!

Can Anyone say Diamonds and Pearl similarity to this Cd's layout???

Track 8 The Marrying Kind
Intro in strong and abrupt. It sounds Beyonce influenced. Again with the TCOG guitars but a nicely crafted song as he sings "Shes gonna need a pillow case (something to put those tears on...)". His rock outing with cheesy synths on top of. Interesting because of his cool vocal gymnastics.

Track 9 If I Was The Man In Your Life
Perfect mix from Track 8 into a serious jam. Awesome. Now this is original new Prince. With a cool shaft 70's vibe.

This track could now make this the most diverse CD of his career ok - I take that back SOTT and Emancipation are....but it is a great testament to good solid musicianship. Could you imagine this as a 3-CD set. (p.s. see the other new album downloads at npgmc.com and there you go!!)

A real journey of a song. He goes into a jazzy cool guitar solo at the end and it needs to be longer!!! uhhh - it would have been a classic along the lines of Holy River - oh well.."Better do on to others as they do unto you" Headphones are required for this track.

Track 10 On The Couch
Prince is going to the church and he wants to take you with him!! I love his tendancy of late to slur his words when he sings lines such as "Oh yes ya dooo.." The blues with some 50's be-bop thrown in. He shows he is still the dirty boy "Shouldn't have let me undress your dress". An interesting song. Very different and I think that is the point with this entire CD.

Track 11 Dear Mr. Man
Many of these beginnings are wayyy diffferent for Prince which is a good thing. I felt this one for the moment it hit my ears. What a great political statement Mr. Man!! A great tribute to Marvin Gaye's Whats Goin' On - "whats wrong with the world today things just gotta get better show me what the leaders say maybe we should write a letter" and just the right sprinkle of Bible verse and balanced vocals and chant "Mr Man - we don't understand maybe we should write a letter" Damn good song and a great long fade with strings....classic

Track 12 Reflection
A nice song. I enjoyed him with Wendy on Tavis. Very nice reflections 20 years later. This is a nice slow jam. Nothing incredible but enjoyable. A nice ending. No Purple Rain but after a guy writes a song like that all endings are going to pale in comparision. However, I wish he would have gone out on a strong more up more final ending. But hey who's complaining???

This is a fantastic complete and sincer effort. I pray the way is paved for many people to hear and cherish this great followuop 20 years later to Purple Rain. Listen to them back to back and tell me this guy is not a genius. What a amazing career. We are blessed. His point of Musicology shows what real instruments and real arrangements and real production can lead to. This album shows him back in true form and back on his game. He shows his ability to be cover all genres of music and personality. And from the sounds of this CD it does truly sound like he is just geting started.

2004
1984

www.mymondo.com
your world - your music

really good review I truly enjoyed reading this thanx

2020 said:

Cinnamon Girl - a cover of what??? I dont think so. But a great track it is!

I loved your review - and i agree mostly. Although IMHO A Million Days is definately not a filler... i highpoint for me.

I totally agree on everything on your last chapter!

Yes, thank you.

I was with you and thinking that maybe this was going to be a great album until I got the part where you gave "What Do U Want Me 2 Do" such a glowing review and then I realized that your tastes are well....not mine.

lovemachine said:

Well before listening to Musicology I couldn't stand What do u want me 2 do as well but...I changed my mind completely since listening to the album because it fits there superbly. Weird how a song can be appreciated in its context.

2020, the original Cinnamon Girl (if it is a cover) is by Neil Young, check his version out

Thanks for sharing your views.

“Cinnamon Girl” is definitely NOT a cover of the Neil Young rock classic.

There’s a reference in Prince’s pop/rock “Cinnamon Girl” to the tragic events of “9/11” and the reactionary scapegoating that followed. In particular he discusses his wife’s reaction to the tragedy and the hatred she and others of her complexion had to deal with through no fault of their own.

I really can't believe what I'm hearing out of this record. Prince sounds like he's 25 years old again.

After his last two biggest chart reaching efforts, the uneven “Diamonds & Pearls” and the lackluster “Rave”, I just didn’t think he had a high-quality commercial record left in him.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

There are some tracks on here that have enormous potential to appeal to a wide audience. But of course leave it to Prince to pick a single that has more to do with the setting of the thematic table and about challenging people with what they don’t expect on the radio than going with the surefire gold. And there is gold up in these hills.

And don’t even get me started writing about “Pimp & Circumstance”, the most natural, forward-thinking (cutting edge if you like) Prince funk in ages, or the R&B ballad “Call My Name” that can perhaps scale the heights of “Adore” while in addition possessing a hook in the chorus so big that’ll be instantly with you forever, or the track “Dear Mr. Man” that would have Marvin Gaye beaming all over with pride and praise.

Hard to believe this record was created by the same person who was writing flaccid, following-funk like “Undisputed”, “Hot Wit U”, ““Da, Da, Da”, “Mr. Happy” and “Jughead”, to name but a few.

I’ve got a million other things I’d like to respond to regarding what you wrote, but I’ve got to get some sleep.

Brendan

“Hippies nod on the one.” – Prince

Brendan said:

Damn, I'm so confused. Seems to really be polarizing people. A couple of people have said, "think Rave, NPS" and all i can think is "please god no." But now there are voices popping up calling it genius, and I really hope you're right. Hell, I'll be thrilled if it's as good as TGE.
[This message was edited Mon Mar 29 12:54:38 2004 by MendesCity]

I always thought Cinammon girl was about how a woman tasted not how she looked

MendesCity said:

Rest assured that comparisons with NPS are the hysterical ramblings of bootleg-obsessed, rehearsa-tape loving Prince fans. This crowd can never hear a "pop" record they like from Prince ever again because he'd have to reinvent pop music in several shapes and forms lto have any merit in their eyes.

Aerogram said:

... ok... to me, this album is a lot more like an extension on "RAVE" than it is one of NPS... the only comparison that i can see to NPS is the reliance on drum machines, but really, prince has done the drum machine thing since the early 80s, so...

it reminds me of "RAVE" in the way it mixes the drum progams and live drums, for a good mix of electronically inspired and organic music... it also tries to be everything to everyone, much in the same way that "rave" did...

this is also what sets it apart from TRC, which was almost wholly organic... also, while TRC truly felt like a band effort - it felt like prince & the npg - "musicology" is completely a prince album... most of the tracks sound like prince is playing everything...

so, i dunno... on the one hand, it is a kick ass album (i thought the same thing about RAVE)... it's like RAVE but more inspired - lyrically and musically...

i don't think it is a classic album, but it's a solid album... the only downfall of this album is that it lacks any real sponteneity, kinda like "rave" did... TRC felt very spontaneous to me... there was so much going on, and you could never predict where the music was heading... this one feels a lot more predictable, but it still kicks ass...

EllisDee said:

Yeah, I think you can compare the intent to "Rave" in that it is definately a pop album and he gives us a little bit of evrything. However, it is superior to Rave in almost every way. No plastic, over-produced sounds here.

It is so far superior to Rave etc that it is not funny. It is difficult to compare it to TRC as the intent on that album was not to be popular, but to deliver a message.

This is a super POP album imho.

Well, if it isn't as good as TRC, then I will not listen to it...lol.

bkw said:

yes, it is far superior to "rave"... no kirky j plastic drum programs... ... which is not to say that i didn't like "rave" because i dug it... i just this one is much better...

but if you had to compare it to any album, it would be "rave"... i think it is closer in intent and feel to "rave" than anything else he's done...

and you're also right there is no way that you can compare it to TRC at all... which is either a good thing or bad thing, depending on what you felt about TRC... personally, i like the TRC a lot more than i like this album... in the realm of prince albums, from mediocre (chaos, prince, diamonds) to good (love symbol, for you) to classic (1999, SOTT, lovesexy), i put this album in the good category... it's not quite classic, but it does kick a lot of ass...

and i don't care how many people disagree with me (and i'm sure a lot you will), i put TRC in the classic category...

2freaky4church1 said:

personally, i dug TRC better, but this album is still bad-ass...

EllisDee said:

I agree with you again Mr Dee!

EllisDee said:

Musicology is Prince going pop like he tried to do with Rave and D&P, but far more convincing than the first and not so formally pop as the latter. Some of the rock elements seem weak, even though I reckon Cinnamon Girl is a good pop rock track. The rest of the album is great modern funk, rnb with an old skool vibe. . I don't know if he pulls off Life O' the Party -- I'd have to listen to it more often.

It may not be Purple Rain and SOTT but it wasn't intented to be a successor to those classic records. If it works well and you hear the songs it may become waht D&P would have been without the too formal pop approach. We'll see how it does, but I can see myself listening to some of these tracks years from now, which is a good sign.

Thanks 2020 for that very well thought out review. I enjoyed reading it. I can't wait to get my copy tonight!

Aerogram said:

i'll agree that this album does seem a lot more convincing than D&P (there's no awkward attempts at hip-hop), but at the same time, it feels a lot more rigid... maybe it's because D&P was a band affair, but songs like "strollin" had a real loose feel to them that seems to be lacking from this record... but in a few listens, i may not be saying that...

otherwise, i think D&P is a good comparison for this album, because it runs the gamut of a lot of the musical stylings that prince does, but none go on for too long or indulge in them completely so as to still remain commercial and in the realm of pop music... there are no extended funk jams on either... no solos that go on for days... nothing too self -indulgent... they both play it rather safe...

and they both contain a killer old school soul jam - "insatiable" and "call my name"...

right now, i'd have to say that "musicology" is more consistent than D&P... but the high points on "musicology" i don't think reach the high points of D&P... but, again, i've only listened to it twice so far... i might be singing another tune when i've heard it as many times as i've heard D&P..

I really enjoyed reading that review. It's been fun reading all the reviews, good and bad. I can't wait to be able to judge for myself next month.

Peace