April 18, 2004

http://www.startribune.co...22773.html

Prince, "Musicology" (NPG/Columbia)

There should be a parental-warning sticker on this new CD: "Suitable for all adults -- for a change."

After all these years, Prince has gone from a no-rules rude boy to an old-fashioned adult who acts his age. At 45, he isn't making albums for horny teenagers anymore. "Musicology" (in stores Tuesday) finds the former licentious libertine singing about marriage and monogamy, and dissing liquor and cigarettes.

Not that he's boring. Rather, he's exciting and excited. This is Prince's most focused and consistent album since "Lovesexy" in 1988. "Musicology" is a highly commendable comeback.

The music isn't groundbreaking; many selections sound like outtakes from such 1980s albums as "Controversy" and "Around the World in a Day." What compels is the songwriting. "Musicology" has some of Prince's most consistently developed ideas in years -- and he has something to say.

If there's an overriding theme, it would be respect for marriage. Now a practicing Jehovah's Witness, Prince sings about a faithful one-man woman ("The Marrying Kind") and the mundane joys of married life ("Did we remember to water the plants today?" he asks in "Reflection"). His love ballads are dreamy ("A Million Days"), lovey-dovey ("Reflection") and unabashed ("Call My Name"). They're seductive, too -- but without being overtly erotic.

Prince acknowledges that this hasn't always been his style. He disses the darkness of gigolo ways in "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance," and he dismisses the temptation of cheating on a spouse in "What Do U Want Me 2 Do?" In "On the Couch," a slow, sexy blues, he scolds: "We need to be married/ Shouldn't let me unzip your dress/ Why'd you do it, baby?"

Throughout these songs, his guitar is as expressive as his voice as he glides through a variety of styles, from George Benson-like jazz to sad blues to roaring rock power chords. And he occasionally inserts humor, at one point poking fun at Michael Jackson by declaring, "My voice is getting higher/ I ain't never had my nose done."

Like all Prince albums, this one has its party numbers. "Life o' the Party" is minimalist tribal funk that is more lively in live performance, judging by a recent concert in Ames, Iowa. More infectious on disc is "Musicology," which is to '70s soul what Twista's recent "Slow Jamz" is to quiet-storm R&B. Prince salutes the old-school joints of Sly Stone, Earth, Wind & Fire and James Brown with a deliciously deliberate medium-tempo funk lesson.

The spirits of two other masters from the 1970s also are summoned here, but in a surprising way. "Dear Mr. Man," a jazz-soul stroll with wah-wah accents, sounds like Stevie Wonder meeting Marvin Gaye in 1972 at Paisley Park, but its message is current. In the tradition of Gaye's "What's Goin' On," Prince points out society's ills -- from holes in the ozone to the struggles of the disenfranchised. "Ain't no sense in voting," he rails. "We want to end this letter with three words -- we tired of y'all." Grammar and fuzzy math notwithstanding, Prince has produced a potent protest song, his most topical tune since 1987's "Sign o' the Times" and a perfect piece for this election year.

In fact, in many ways -- from its family values to its anti-war references -- "Musicology" is a sign of the times. 5311

Jon Bream

First

But what about music for all the horny adults???

I might be grown, but I still like a good "put a hump in yo back" song and NOBODY does those like Prince.

(Well maybe Luther, but that's a different vibe.)

All joking aside, when did 45 become old??

Nothinbutjoy said:[quote]But what about music for all the horny adults???

I might be grown, but I still like a good "put a hump in yo back" song and NOBODY does those like Prince.

quote]


I found out Andre 3000's Spread and She sits in my lap does a nice job of stroking that old Prince erotica.

I can't believe even Jon Bream thinks that all of Prince's older music was about sex. All these "journalists" need to stop thinking with their genitals. A very small % of Prince's 80s music was about sex, yet that's all they can hear with their little brains.

Oh well, it's a stupid review, but I guess it's difficult to write about music. Jon Bream is cool overall, but none too bright apparently.

RupertZ said:

puh-leaze... "a very small % of Prince's 80s music was about sex"


you don't really believe that, do you? or did you just not pick the innuendo on the ones that weren't straight-in-your face fuck anthems?

Right, the album is better then Gold Ex or The Truth or Symbol. Give me a break.

2freaky4church1 said:

he didn't say it was his BEST since the 80's. he said "most focused and consistent album since "Lovesexy""

and to some extent i agree. all of the songs sound like they go together, even though they are in different styles. stylistically, he's all over the place, but there is a cohesiveness in sound that allows them to all hang together relatively well. and that's what was great about his 80's albums. he could be all over the map, but somehow he managed to make all of the material sound like it belonged together. and i can't think of an album since Lovesexy where that happened. C&D maybe? the Vault? the Truth? though a few dodgy tracks from each keep them out of the running, i'd say.

it's a nice (if a bit inaccurate) review.

But this endless parade of "It's his best since Symbol" or "it's his best since SOTT" or "it's his best since Lovesexy".....

PUH-LEEZE! If he was releasing TCI or Rave right now, with all the positive press, the tour, and the fact that P seems to be "cool" again, they would be writing the same damn thing.

When is the media going to stop treating the years 1990 thru 2004 as Prince's "lost years" and recognize that there was some damn good music put out in those years?????