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His funky majesty reigns over territory he knows well

April 16, 2004


By THOR CHRISTENSEN / The Dallas Morning News


Prince – who once scrawled "slave" across his face to protest Warner Bros. Records – is shaking hands with the man once again. On Tuesday, after years of putting out CDs on his own label, he'll release Musicology on Columbia Records.

But this corporate about-face doesn't mean Prince has stopped rocking the boat. Musicology boasts some of his fiercest political statements since Sign 'O' the Times.

The title character in "Cinnamon Girl" is an American peacenik of Middle-Eastern descent who gets railroaded in "the war on terror alibi." In "Call My Name," Prince asks "The land of the free? Somebody lied."

And in "Dear Mr. Man," he's so discouraged by the sorry state of the underclass he sings "Ain't no sense in voting – same song with a different name."

Prince
Grade: B
Musicology
(Columbia) In stores April 20

Despite its cynical streak, Musicology is also a statement about the power of love. Unabashed mash notes such as "The Marrying Kind" and "A Million Days" are mixed in with darker love stories such as "What Do U Want Me 2 Do?" Prince is so wrapped up in love and politics, in fact, that his trademark lusty side is M.I.A. He apparently recorded songs titled "Tell Me How U Want to Be Done" and "Hide the Bone," but they didn't make it on Musicology.

Musically, however, the CD covers familiar turf. One listen to the title track's "Delirious"-style synthesizer and you're reminded how reluctant Prince is to stray from styles he perfected 20 years ago.

But even when he's repeating himself, he still whips up a sound to behold. "Musicology," the show-opener when he played Dallas two weeks ago, is an intoxicating homage to James Brown, Sly Stone and a half-dozen artists he deems "the true funk soldiers." And during "On the Couch" – his glorious ode to Memphis soul – he uncorks a gravity-defying falsetto that's as startling today as it was in 1978. Andre 3000 and Pharrell Williams may try to duplicate it, but as Prince reminds us here, they're not even in the same time zone.

Like too many of Prince's recent albums, the CD is marred by some half-finished songs and chintzy instrumentation. Rather than hire horn players, he fakes the parts on synthesizer.

But for the most part, Musicology is prime Prince, full of swaggering rock and dazzling R&B. In "Life 'O' the Party," when he invites listeners to "smell this funk," you'd be wise to breathe deep.

He apparently recorded songs titled "Tell Me How U Want to Be Done" and "Hide the Bone," but they didn't make it on Musicology.


Now that's creative journalism !

"Rather than hire horn players ,he fakes the parts on synthesizer."


WTF ?
True 20 years ago but not today.What was he listening to?

1/2 a**ed journalism... he mentions two very old songs just to support his point. He makes it sound like those songs were written recently and considered for the new album.... what an idiot- and the point about not hiring real horn players???? I guess he missed Maeceo and Greg Boyer backing Prince up for the last couple of years.

A sh**head.

That definately sounded like a review of someone whose not quite "in the Know".

muleFunk said:

Um, that's true. Those keyboards at the end of Musicology, in the video they pretend to play that line on the horns. It's the one lame moment in the video, IMO.

It ain't a particularly good album but its defintely a poorly constructed review....
Delerious is a rockabilly esque song... Musicology track is Jazz-Funk....
[This message was edited Sat Apr 17 9:56:58 2004 by Persian]