First, I want to say that we need to respect everyone's opinion..the bottom line is that Prince is gonna do what he wants to do, PERIOD. Now, my feelings on MUSICOLOGY...well lemme go back..

Prince started the new millinium on a high note as far as Im concerend. The Rainbow Children was a musical monument and a return of sorts for Prince(4 and a half stars outta 5)...his live triple cd ONE NIGHT ALONE LIVE continued in this vein(5 stars outta 5) as did the instrumental 4 song disc N.E.W.S.(4 stars out of 5) so why am I so disappointed with Prince's latest disc, MUSICOLOGY(3 stars outta 5). This CD is easily Prince's most accesible CD since 1991's DIAMONDS AND PEARLS but in the world of Prince, when has accessible meant better or good? Definitely not on this release...while there are some noteworthy tracks, it just seems like this CD is the pre-cursor CD to the REAL Musicology CD that Prince meant to put out. Will this be a commercial return for Prince?? who knows..I dont think it has ever been about commercial success for Prince anyway....does this CD have the ability to move units....sure. If Prince doesnt get platinum status from this CD, it will be his fault.."Cinnamon Girl" definitely has the potential to be a summer hit..with "What Do You Want Me To Do?" also showing promise as a success commercially...and I can hear "On The Couch" on old school soul stations already...but this CD seems as if Prince was trying to hard to make sure that this CD is accessible to the masses. Its almost as if he sacrificed creativity and just opened up a tad bit of himself for a milli second whereas on cursory CD's of the past, he opened up the musical heavens and poured out an overflow of musical tricks still within that millisecond. i.e.( DIRTY MIND, PARADE) I dont think this CD will go down in history as a well known Prince CD...I think that in a few years, The Rainbow Children will appreciated for the musical materpeice that it is whereas I think MUSICOLOGY may be regarded on the level of DIAMONDS AND PEARLS or COME...even though I think MUSICOLOGY is better than both of those recordings.....3 stars out of 5..a great couple of listens but I think that Disc 2 of Emanicpation would deserve the title of MUSICOLOGY moreso than this set of songs

Just so you know Prince stated on CNBC that Musicology was a pop record. He also said he was proud of the Rainbow Children...this was in the midst of explaining why some of his music (Rave, Emancipation, Musicology) is released by major labels and others ( Xpectation, News, Rainbow Children) are not.

Pop. Short tracks for short attention spans. Simple gems that he could make in his sleep. Hopefully the masses will embrace it and dig a little deeper over at NPGMC.

SexLovely said:

oh you're killing me....thats my favorite song
[This message was edited Tue Apr 20 17:45:54 2004 by CRYSTALBALL]

CRYSTALBALL said:

OK!! OK!!!

Ive just changed my least best song to "If I Was The Man In Yr Life".

Better?

SexLovely said:

There is only one song which is on a lesser scale than the others in this
compilation...but it kicks ass live! Go figure...

Life O' The Party.

Hmm....regardless of the hoopla. Think I'll be more excited about his next lp.

Thumparello said:

Really? What have U heard....?

out of the 12 tracks.....8 i like.4 i dont:


on the couch

the marrying kind

if i was the man in your life

cinnamon girl



mercedes.

Supernova said:

me 2

Cinnamon Girl sure did digest with me well.. couldnt stand it at first.. cant believe im diggin on this track..

SexLovely said:

ok

Sdldawn said:

Same with me....I actually HATED this track at first. Now, I think it NEEDS to be the next single.

theblueangel said:

I haven't come around quite that far, but I'm with the both of yez - I didn't like this one at first, and now I'm all for it.

I have a habit of staying towards the front of an album when it's good, so I've been jamming "Musicology," "Illusion...," and "A Million Days" and I can't even say I've listened to "Dear Mr. Man" or "Reflection" more than once or twice yet. But as I'm working my way through the disc, I keep coming back to "What do u want me 2 do?"!!!! It's an early favorite. I just love how it combines a jazz-lite quality from his recent "Rainbow Children"/"NEWS" work with a percussion that sounds straight outta Prince's rip-roaring mid-80s glory days. It's a light, lovely song that reminds me where he's been, both a while ago and lately, and a joy to listen to.

I would say that some songs grow on me more quickly than others but that I don't necessarily dislike anything yet. Everyone expresses such a dislike for "Life O the Party," so I'm embarrassed by how much I was like, "Aw, shit!" when I first heard that groove. It's not holding up on repeat spins, though. It's starting to wear thin on me. I can imagine having fun with it when I see it performed live, though, as some of you are saying is the case.

I don't have enough time in the day to hear this thing over and over!

Keith/Kacey

I think it is a neat little pop album. I was a little disappointed that it doesn't break any new ground, but it is a very pleasant listen, I don't have to hit the skip button. I think it might be selling well.

I think this album might be his most boring ever. There's just nothing new here at all. We've heard it all before, and we've heard it much better. I'm surprised he's released it. Aside from the song, "Musicology", nothing here stands out for me.

It's a nice,fun pop album and that's what we need from Prince right now.No,it's not a masterpiece but I'll be enjoying it all summer long.

Here's my review from amazon.com:

I love this album. The reason is really quite simple: it's a brilliant pop record that's content to be exactly that. Prince isn't trying to make some grand statement here (although several of the songs address weighty topics like war and social injustice) or expand the boundaries of recorded music (not that the playing or production would ever be considered pedestrian).

"Musicology" is simply Prince working masterfully within the strictures of the pop idiom to deliver an album that will connect with mainstream listeners without disappointing his core fans.

A few people are charging that Prince has now "sold out" or that "Musicology" is regressive in comparison to his more recent work ("The Rainbow Children," "N.E.W.S."). I don't buy it.

What folks are missing is that "Musicology" is Prince's reply to the only challenge he has left in his Hall of Fame career: disproving the claims of the critics and industry execs who said that he would never be commercially relevant again, that he had lost the discipline to create a pop record, that his knack for crafting "hits" had long since abandoned him.

In this respect -- although it will be generally viewed as his safest album in many years -- "Musicology" is as much an act of rebellion as anything Prince has released.

But most importantly, it's simply a brilliant pop record.

Peace, David

I think it's a nice album...could be better, but I'm still listening to it and it's still growing on me, but way better (IMO) than The Rainbow Children or Rave. I especially like the live instrumentation on here and how Prince is slappin' the hell outta the bass! It's good to hear REAL music again. I hope he keeps puttin' it down like this.

It starts off really well with Musicology but then it slowly moves away from the up tempo funk into slow ballads. Since I prefer Prince doing more up tempo stuff I don't rate this album very high on the list. I don't hate it or anything because the worst of Prince is still better than 99% of the stuff out there today. Will enjoy this album along with his other albums but eventually will probably only listen to 1-3 songs from it.

It's not great but it's good. There's more obvious singles on it than any album since Emancipation so there could be three or four releases pulled from it.

Musicology
Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance
A Million Days
Life O' The Party
Call My Name
Cinnamon Girl
What Do U Want Me 2 Do?
The Marrying Kind
If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life
On The Couch
Dear Mr. Man
Reflection

Not his best. Better than "Rave" and most of "NPS", but after the great creative leaps he took with most of the NPGMC downloads, "Rainbow Children", "Xpectation" and even parts of "SNOOZE", "Musicology" is ten steps back. It's the sound of Prince treading water. No great songs on there. A few good ones, a few dreadful ones. One out and out stinker.

Don't call it a comeback. Call it a climbdown.

...I've listened to "Reflection" a million times already..I absolutley love that track..I'm really diggin' the whole album...and little by little the each song grows on me more...I think we fans expect so much some times...its not his greatest by any means..but this album released by any other artist is a career highlight....

roodboi said:

That's my fave.

Cloudbuster said:

Kinda makes you wanna cry when you hear that line Prince says about " was just thinking about my Mother."

R.I.P. Mattie

Sometimes it seems like he kind of tried to hard when he does not have to try at all and sometimes it seems like most of the songs he could have easily done in his sleep.

Still taking it all in at the moment though.

May comment later

Cloudbuster said:

Does that mean that you have reflected on "A Million Days."