http://www.nytimes.com/20...9CHOI.html

Their critic was not impressed.

Looks like you gotta be a member to read it
[This message was edited Mon Apr 19 6:51:21 2004 by CalhounSq]

CalhounSq said:

Very easy to join. I wonder what their bigwig critics woulda said, Jon Pareles or Neil Strauss. I bet Pareles, at least, is a fan.

Ayyyyy What do they know -

This critic just happens to mention his/her fondness for TRC. I can see why someone who liked that record would find Musicology to be a step back musically. But remember, a lot of people found TRC overwhelming in its meandering soul-jazz. Prince made a simpler album. I think it deserves a better review than this one. Time will tell.

Prince Returns, Trading Rebellion for Gentle Jams
By KELEFA SANNEH

Published: April 19, 2004


hen figure skaters turn professional, what they're really doing is retiring: they keep touring, drawing fans to exhibitions around the country, but their days as serious competitors are over. Something similar happened to Prince after he split with his record company, Warner Brothers, almost a decade ago. He kept touring and releasing CD's, but he seemed to withdraw into his own private kingdom; in the cutthroat pop music industry he was no longer a competitor.

Over the last few months he has changed course again, making a series of public appearances to build anticipation for "Musicology," his return to the world of big-money pop. The album will be released tomorrow on Prince's own NPG label, but it is being manufactured and distributed by Columbia Records.

It is Prince's good or bad fortune to be making his comeback at a time when pretenders are everywhere. André 3000, Pharrell Williams and D'Angelo have invented their own versions of the Prince persona; Missy Elliott and Erykah Badu have chased his spirit across different genres and eras; producers like Felix da Housecat, Daft Punk and Brooks have updated his synthetic thwack for the dance floor.

What's most disappointing about "Musicology," then, is the way Prince reacts to all this sincere flattery: he doesn't. The CD is a casual exhibition of Princeliness, stocked with a handful of old tricks but no new ones. As usual, the songs are "produced, arranged, composed and per4med by Prince," with a few exceptions, and it sounds like the work of a formerly insatiable star who has figured out how to satisfy his own musical ambitions.

The album's first song is the title track, a dose of anorexic funk in which Prince adds nostalgic chatter to a gristly bass line. And there's a winsome, wispy ballad, "Call My Name," in which vague political commentary (transcribed, as usual, according to the same orthographical rules that prevail at your local middle school) melts into bedroom talk: "What's the matter with the world 2day? Land of the free? Somebody lied!/They can bug my phone, peep around my home, they'd only c u and me makin' love inside."

Mainly, though, "Musicology" is given over to gentle jams that never really get going. Prince sounds comfortable and contented throughout, which might be part of the problem. In 2001 he released a much better CD, "The Rainbow Children" (NPG), which used expansive and unpredictable jazz-funk tracks to tell the tale of a rebellious (and, not coincidentally, funky) tribe fighting against the bland and oppressive rulers of the Digital Garden. The new album could use a bit of that fighting spirit.

I think this review is spot on. I have listened to the Musicology album three times and still find it creatively dull. We have heard it all before. The majority of the tracks are jam sessions that go nowhere. In addition to this the lyrics are overlong ramblings of streams of consciousness. When I listen to the clips of if I were your girl friend etc at the end of the musicology track, I think to myself how can he possible compare those gems to the songs on this album. The album may well be a commercial success. I dearly wanted to be moved by this album. However, I find it dull and uninspiring. I hope the success of this album will enable him to take more risk in the future. The News album was much better than this. None of the ballads on the Musicology album are as moving as say Avalanche on the One Night Alone Album.

Musicology is good, but I think LOTP not only weakens the album, but interrupts the flow of songs 1-3 . . .

Adding a few more songs throughout might help too. 2 more songs, rockers . . .

Se7en said:

Spunky said:

I am hoping this is the plan

the Rainbow children is a more creative album no doubt... certianly one of his best of all time..

but musicology is a great pop album.. can't compare them both.. .

when you deal with prince, you deal with all different people looking for all different things out of princes music... he can't possibly make everyone happy...

Musicology is a much better pop album than TRC, and that seems to have been the point...