I’m not trying to hate but I think this review misses the point in a big way. The most

distinctive quality about Musicology, and the one thing brings cohesion and a sense of vision,

is Prince’s consciously “derivative” style. Far from diminishing its impact, comparisons to

earlier work, JB, and Sly deepen the music and my appreciation for it. + This review is a

review of Prince for Prince fans – nice points and interesting thoughts but without using Prince

as a referent point I’m at all sure what you’re saying and that, I think, is the beauty of

Musicology. It demands comparison which you, despite your initial view that the record should

be listen to on its own, can not help but do. For an alternative review that takes a very

different perspective (my own) check the Olgy in Music: a **** Review.

Hi all,

I've had Musicology 5 days. Not especially long, and certainly not long enough for any album, by any artist to lodge itself in my heart and be deemed a classic, and certainly not long enough to be condemned as the latest Prince failure.

Let me set out my stall here, please bear with me, I've posted before, and I would not class myself as a Prince lover or hater. I have condemned "Rave" in here, and I stand by my opinions, subjective and personal as they are.

I wasn't a big fan of the NPGMC material, I didn't care for One Night Alone, or NEWS. I still play "Rainbow Children".

And now I have "Musicology". There have been many reviews, many hating, many loving, but hopefully I am going to offer something different, a little game for all those who are finding it hard to love Prince these days. Those people (of which i was one) who hang around and bitch about the new music, but cannot tear themselves away for fear of missing something great.

Firstly, we have all got to stop comparing Prince to Prince. It's crippling the music. It is impossible for him to bring out anything that on first listen will make you say "hey, that's as good as the classics !" How could he. It takes time for any music to settle into your head and get under your skin and win you over.

So I'm asking you to listen to the album and instead of immediately dismissing it, try listening to it as if there was no Prince, and no back catalogue, and as if one of todays "latest fashions" such as Outcast or Usher or D'Angelo or Beyonce or... well you get the idea. Imagine THEY brought out the song. Imagine how that would affect you.

Ok, not convinced ? Here's another trick that might make you see my point. I love "Hey Ya". I mean I really love it. I turn it up if it comes on the radio. I leave the video on if I'm flicking through the music channels. But today, when I was thinking about writing this post, "Hey Ya" came on, and I closed my eyes and tried to imagine that it wasn't by Outcast, but by Prince. To my amazement, I started to fault it. It suddenly seemed too slight, too whimsical, something throwaway and unworthy.

And that was how I approached my review and my attitude to the music. Where would this music fit into Prince's back catalogue, and if anyone else brought out these tracks how would I see them.

1. Musicology - As an album track, it opens the set great. If there was no Prince, and this came out by some guy you hadn't heard of.. well, you know this would be everywhere. There's nothing like this out there. Nothing. Now imagine this as a track on other Prince albums. Could it sit on SOTT ? Graffitti ? Symbol ? Chaos and Disorder ? I find this track hard to place anywhere. It's too mature for the back catalogue. It has more weight. It's not frivolous enough for SOTT, or Grafitti. It might fit on Emancipation, but it outclasses a lot of it. Where would you place it ?

2. Illusion, Coma, Pimp and Circumstance - First major point. Prince albums that I LOVE have one CLASSIC song. IMO Purple Rain has When Doves Cry, ATWIAD has Paisley Park, Parade has Kiss, everyone may have their own favourites. One ciriticism I have seen repeated is that Prince 1990 on was missing those classics. I disagree. But if you need classics, this is one. I HATED Kiss when I first heard it, couldn't get a handle on it, couldn't understand it. Now it's in my top 5 Prince songs. This is another. Imagine this on SOTT. Stick it where the hell you like in the tracklist. It not only fits, it is, im my mind, better than a lot of material there.

3. Million Days - Okay, Prince's style range is so wide that some of his songs go to a place I'm not keen on. This is one of those songs. It's not as cloying or sickly as Three Chains of Gold, in fact it is more like ICNTTPOYM. This could sit happily on Grafitti Bridge or SOTT, but would not be happy on Rave or Emancipation, it just seems a little above those albums. I'm sure lots of you disagree. But again I would say, who else is doing these songs. If Outkast brought out a Million Days jaws would drop. I don't like it, it's not the Prince music I like, but I can see why people would, I can appreciate it's class.

4. Life of the Party - Oh Good Lord this has come in for some flak on the forums. But I say this, forget it's new, stick on Lovesexy, and imagine this is on there. Slot it where you like. It fits. It doesn't jar. Fit it in SOTT. It fits. It wouldn't work on earlier albums, because it's too modern sounding for those, but from SOTT on, you can put this anywhere. On Batman, grafitti, diamond and pearls, symbol this song would be in good comapny and would pass without a whiff of criticism.

5. Call my Name - Never been a fan of the slow material. This reminds me of 1999 material. If this were on 1999 it would be lauded and adored. In fact, put this on ANY Prince CD you care to mention and it would be a simply gorgeous love song. If you can tell me a classic Prince album from "back in the day" that this would not be worthy of I'll be surprised if you convince me you're right.

6. Cinnamon Girl - Wow, when I disagree with popular opinion I really disagree. This is not my cup of tea at all. Sounds too commercial. Too straightforward. Too generic. It's early days, and in time who knows. I certainly dont hate it. And that's another interesting thing that i've noticed. A lot of people here seem to have forgotten how to buy a CD and just play it and let it run without analysing ever track to death. As part of the album of songs, this fits fine. It plays, I carry on having my bath, and reading my book. I dont scream and stab the "next" button. And let me tell you, I did with "Rave"

7. WDYWMTD - This is the track that made me stop and think about my attitude to new Prince material. When I downloaded it from "glam slam" I utterly dismissed it as off the cuff crap. HOW ? How did that happen ? Was I fucking deaf ? Sorry to cuss, but really, how did I get so blinkered. This is the best song here. This is a complete classic. I simply can't fault it. And I dont like slow songs. What is happening here. It reminds me most of the symbol album, except I dont think there's anything there as sweet as this. And NO-ONE else could have made this song. NO-ONE. Again, all you outkast lovers, if they came out with this song jaws would drop. The second Classic, for me at least.

8. Marrying Kind and IIWTMIYL - Okay, again, not really the side of Prince I love. And this is a good case for all those who have been saying Prince should get someone "current" to produce his new tracks. Hmmmmm, so Prince who has been producing since he was 18 and can make whatever sound he wants, should get someone else in. O..... k..... My take on this is simple, I'd like to see what another producer would do with these tracks in particular. There's a weird ATWIAD feel that comes off these tracks and I have no idea why. Prince could probably tell me (Wouldn't it be great if Prince took this release and wrote some notes on each song, on how the ideas came to him, what instruments he chose to use, what production decisions he made, and how they measured up to the originals in his head. That's something I would really love to see.) Stick both these on SOTT, no-one would blink an eye. If the Neptunes brought out IIWTMIYL everyone would be raving about their genius.

9. On the couch - More or less the same comments as Call my Name. I like bluesy Prince, and this is a 21st Century cousin of Adore. It's super sweet and even a slowy hating cretin like me likes it. Oh, and all you folks banging on about the lack of classics. This is the Third.

10. Dear Mr Man - And this is the fourth. And aside from Money Dont Matter (which I'm sorry is a poor cousin to this track) I can't think of anything Prince has done in this vein. Bizarrely this reminds me of Jamirouquai (Who IMHO are much maligned and underated) - There is a warmth to this music, and the lyrics are surprisingly clear. As for my little game of fitting these songs onto old Prince albums, sorry to say, this fits nowehere but here. It's too good for the past. It would feel out of place anywhere else.

11. And finally Reflection. Why on earth does it remind me of Pop Life. Sometimes it Snows in April, but with more heart, wisdom and growth. I wouldn't call it a classic, but y'all might.

And that's my take on Musicology, but only after I listened to it with my mind blank of the past, and blank of Prince. I feel for the man, I really do. How can he compete with his own legacy ?

If I had to tell a non-fan to buy one album, it would be this one. Sorry, I love 1999, Purple Rain, ATWIAD, Parade (my absolute favourite), SOTT, and Gold. They are my top Prince Albums, but this is the best showcase, with SOTT close behind.

Hope you enjoyed the speel.

Tony

To all who responded, thanks. And to those who thought my views were insane, that's cool. You're entitled to your opinion. Oh, and to the guy who said it was crap, are you flirting with me ? Is that what this is about ? You want me and you think if you pull my hair in the playground I'll be your new boyfriend. I wouldn't fuck you with someone else's dick.

Hope I didn't overstep the mark. Enjoy the album

To all who responded, thanks. And to those who thought my views were insane, that's cool. You're entitled to your opinion. Oh, and to the guy who said it was crap, are you flirting with me ? Is that what this is about ? You want me and you think if you pull my hair in the playground I'll be your new boyfriend. I wouldn't fuck you with someone else's dick.

Hope I didn't overstep the mark. Enjoy the album

Firstly, we have all got to stop comparing Prince to Prince. It's crippling the music. It is impossible for him to bring out anything that on first listen will make you say "hey, that's as good as the classics !" How could he. It takes time for any music to settle into your head and get under your skin and win you over.

So I'm asking you to listen to the album and instead of immediately dismissing it, try listening to it as if there was no Prince, and no back catalogue, and as if one of todays "latest fashions" such as Outcast or Usher or D'Angelo or Beyonce or... well you get the idea. Imagine THEY brought out the song. Imagine how that would affect you.

"Hi all,

I've had Musicology 5 days ..... blah, blah, blah" [ SNIP ]

You're telling us how to listen to the album?

Why not just accept some of think it's a mediocre work? Why try to convert?

I'm not even comparing it to his old work - I'm not saying "It's no Xpectation, it's no Dirty Mind, it's no Parade" - I'm just saying, as it stands by itself, this album, Musicology, is a turgid trip through mundacity - and I wouldn't even consider buying it if it wasn't Prince. The files I downloaded have been deleted, and I will not be purchasing the album.

That's my opinion, I don't care to convert people to this opinion, but I know many who agree and disagree.

The Org's favorite boo-bird (along with EWM) has a negative opinion of musicology. Why is this not surprising? Prince will never satisfy whatever it is that u need. So u won't be purchasing it and u deleted the downloads. My question is why did u download it in the first place? U and I both know u were not going to like it, u fool. If Prince's music is so horrible u have to delete the files without even considering that u may appreciate them in time, u are a silly silly person for being here at all.

/
[This message was edited Mon Apr 5 10:30:29 2004 by Romance1600]

Hey Fandangouk, I appreciate you taking the time to analyze the cd, as well as what it is we think when we hear Prince.
This is sooo true: "How can he compete with his own legacy?"

I was talking with my boyfriend the other day about it and I said: "Some of the tracks are formula Prince songs, yet they are still things you would never hear from anyone else." I think we tend to wish for a certain kind of Prince album, and not only is he a Gemini (2 sides) but his musical persona has a LOT more sides to it. Like you mentioned the tracks that aren't your favorite Prince styles, I feel the same way. But I have to respect that he's doing what he wants. I can sit here and wish he put an album out like Parade, Rainbow Children or the npgmc tracks, but I had a realization this morning. Gemini's move really fast. He records the album and he's like ok, I'm bored with that, what am I gonna do next? If we look at his output in the last 5 years, how many artists can say they released that much music and in that many styles? It really is astounding.

Peace.