I think a lot us can agree that Prince has taken some of his most commercial , accessible songs from the 90's albums and copied them for this set . So on my 7th listen [thanks Josh for the copy!] i can hear straight up copies of Dolphin, Dark, 4 variations of Damned if i do!, etc. He seems to have learned from the mistakes of Emancipation and Rave and pared it down to 12 tracks . Its almost as if hes saying to the mass market that didn't buy the albums in the 90's 'Hey these are the melodies you missed out on, try some'. Indeed this is an album for the masses, a neatly packaged summary of his 90's sound , safe and commercial and fits into the hits driven tour. For me though , whilst its a pleasant enough listen i ask myself what was the point of this cd?. If you took the crap off Rave you'd have a better chance of selling the album as an example of song writing as an 'art' .
What i found the most disappointing thing is that even with 12 tracks to play with there's still enough room for Prince to put crap on, in particular Life of the Party, Pimp Circumstance ...[the most promising song title to ever deliver so little] and please explain why 2 tracks that sound so similar i.e. Marrying Kind and the other one either side of it ! are in sequence?, pick one and drop the other!. For the record i love the title track , Mr. Man and the rest i can mostly listen to. But looking back , especially his recent jazz type flings which i love ,this cd is an absolute non essential. It adds zero to his back catalogue and reputation and serves merely to sell loads [which i hope it does] and draws a line under his 90's sound. Just like the single was his 3rd time lucky at doing the JB sound i think this cd will be 3rd time lucky as a true commercial comeback. Artistically though it sucks [IMHO].

Musicology is a GREAT album. Some people just don't really feel it, I guess. But to me, it's a sweet little collection of Prime Prince.

And yes, he is in his PRIME, for the second time.

javed said:

Hmmm...what about his '80s sound (and his late '70s sound)? Lots of us who were into those sounds dropped out in the '90s. Musicology I didn't care for at first because I was steeling myself for disappointment...listening to it more and more, love it! U can shake that booty to it...and Prince was ALWAYS good for that. ICPC has an odd 7th minor or something to it, but also quite fonky...I can see dancing to that at a house party (Musicology too).

I heard Cinnamon Girl played by Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols (!) and noticed a Private Joy-like chord in there and loved it...

What U Want Me 2 Do Girl is a classic cha-cha song (y'all who know what I mean...in Chicago it's called something else) but not only is it a groovy mellow house party song, but for me, it is a tremendous "man" song from Prince. Someone who admits attraction yet say, "look at this ring, girl!" That resonates with me cuz I grew up with Prince being NASTAY (and that's why I love him) ; If I Were the Man in Your Life resonates too cuz it shows growth. On the Couch? Good LAWD don't even go there, cuz only Prince could make getting kicked outtta the bed be sexy as HELL! Sounds like he went to chuch (intentional spelling)...and threw guitar in there.

I'm really glad that so many people have so many opinions on Prince. It freaks me out that I've been listening to him for over 25 years now, but, selfishly, it proves all my antics for the last years.

My $0.05...

Peace & One Love

New power soul has to be the least essential, surely.

Sure there are a couple of alright tunes on here but it really is not essential.




Musicology beats it easy.

An album that contains at least 7 songs that I love
is quite essential in my book, thank you very much

Essential as always. Even if it's for a few excellent tracks better than 1 or 2 for NPS.

schoolsinsession said:

You're right, cuz I was like, "what?" New Power Soul?

Musicology beats it totally...what's even on New Power Soul? Dang...

yep, slightly inclined to agree about NPS although in its defence it had a great live feel to it and for me it was part of his 'searching for a sound' period so for me it still makes it an interesting part of his history. Dont get me wrong , i really want the new cd to be a mega seller but you cant seriously tell me as a long term fan that there's anything on there that he hasn't done over and over again. If i want lyrics to show me how he has matured as person for example i can go back to '96 and listen to disc 2 on emancipation.
You could also lump in C&D but that was an essential part of his history, it rocked and was a bitter kiss off to WB especially the last track.

javed said:

Heh....don't you mean the least promising song title to ever deliver so much funky goodness?

One man's coffee is another man's cream.

Blue angel, you mad , crazy fool you!. The lyrics, for a 45 year old ,on this track are just cringe worthy!, its like a very poor cousin to Jam of the year, at least that had good horns and a great groove. Did the man who wrote the greatest party anthem of them all [1999] really come up with this?. Imagine 'A 1000 Hugs and Kisses' in its place?.

I've not downloaded the album yet, I'm biting my tongue and waiting for the retail release, to try and get that old "new album by Prince" feeling I used to get. So seeing the single on MTV etc is kinda exciting for me at the moment and I'm looking forward to hearing the rest.
What I would say is that however commercial or run of the mill some might think the album is, it's sure good to see Prince back on the TV with a great new video, looking as cool as ever and looking like he's enjoying himself. He looks to have the right backing for a commercial hit this time. Rave could have been, but was marketed poorly.
I'm looking forward to hearing the new stuff however un-essential some might see it.

I've only played Chaos And Disorder all the way through, once.

I've played Musicology all the way through at least 30 times already.

Shafty, remember back inthe day when the lead off single was great, catchy and funky and then the rest of the album that it came from was NOTHING like it ?, well hey its back to the good old days, cept this time it will be one big fat let down for you. Go dig out 'Come', TGE, Emancipation, Rave and D&P , pick your 12 fave tracks and that'll save you some money. Seriously i hope you enjoy it, its all just my opinion. Prince will always release enough great stuff to keep me happy.

I disagree with your assessment of it being the "least essential" Prince album, but I agree with the gist of your post.

That said, I don't think Prince's interest is in necessarily making 'groundbreaking' albums each trip out (and no one would ever mistake 'Musicology' for being groundbreaking). The focus on this one seems to be with crafting fine pop songs. He accomplished that. Even if it's ground already treaded.

so Violater, i think the gist of your post means you actually agree with me?. LOL!

javed said:

I guess so, huh? The only part I disagree with is that it's the least essential Prince album.

and how many times is he going to ram yet another incarnation of 'So far So pleased' down our throats!!, Cinnamon Girl indeed.

yeah, we love Pook. Now Pook give thought on new Album. Then Pook go sleep.

javed said:

I agreed with the original post.

javed said:

THAT GOOD IDEA

POOK SLEEPY AGAIN!

HOW YOU KNOW

ANYWAY POOK THINK CALL MY NAME BE GOOD SINGLE

ALSO POOK LIKE CINNAMON GIRL

POOK PLAY MUSICOLOGY FOR FRIENDS!

NOT DO THAT SINCE CRYSTAL BALL

POOK HOPE THAT ENOUGH BECAUSE POOK REALLY SLEEPY NOW

javed said:

Did you stop to think that, oh, perhaps Prince wanted these two songs to play back to back and sound like one 6 minute song??...The lyrics practically scream that to me, with both together basically saying "I tried telling him how good a woman you were, but he wouldn't listen...now, if I were in his shoes"...if so, packaging two songs together one after the other, with complimentary lyrics and the same feel musically, isn't a mistake.

I hear where ya comin' from Byron, but i played it to casual listeners who both commented 'that sounds like the last one'!. Why not make it into an epic 7 minute track or continue the story with another style / emotion all together?, or better still just put one of the tracks some where else.

As for you our little Pook, Pook go land of nod nod, dream of 'The Dawn' cd and what it sound like, wake up with big erection and sticky fur!. Night night Pook.

The “vision” saving Musicology from being a haphazard hodgepodge of different styles

and ideas is Musicology’s consciously derivative style. While there are traces of TGE

(Million Days, Marrying Kind, etc.) I think that the Prince of the 90’s is the least

significant presence on the record. This inspiration for this record is almost entirely

derived from his 80’s work and outside influences such as Sly and JB. And that, I think,

is the point. Prince’s sparser, lighter, more accessible style on this record brings you

back to 70’s funk and simultaneously reminds you of early Prince. So while there is

something slightly disappointing about the lack of innovation there is also a freshness and

vitality that Prince is resurrecting from the past, his own past, his own music and the

inspiration that made it possible.

This post-Surely THE least essential post in the forum.

wait, before we start doggin NPS, let's remember at least that it was not a record released under his name. It was a NPG record, like Goldnigga, and The Exodus album.
Now if we are going to include these, wouldn't Goldnigga be even more 'less essential'?
At least in NPS prince has lead vocals on all trax, instead of Tony M.

don't get me wrong, these albums are amongst the best albums of all time and fonkee!!
its just that people seem to singling out NPS as if it was a Prince album somewhere between Emancipation and Rave.

Sorry Javed, but the second you dissed "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance" I knew I wasn't going to be giving your argument much thought. IMHO, that's the funkiest tune P has done in years.

HiinEnkelte said:

Gold Nigga is one of the least essential albums PERIOD, not just of Prince's stuff. As forNPS, it blows goats, no matter what name he chose to put it under.