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CD reviews: Prince sounding regal indeed on 'Musicology'
April 23, 2004

Prince

Musicology, NPG Records/Columbia Grade: B+

Even die-hard Prince fans admit that he needs an editor. He still writes amazing songs - and then drops them into filled-out three-CD sets.

He's putting out more music than he ever has, but in the past few years, wonderful songs such as The Holy River, What's My Name, Dolphin and Calhoun Square got lost.

Then he throws side trips into the mix - live albums, different live DVDs, instrumental jazz albums, New Power Generation releases, download-only music from his Web site.

It looked like we'd get the pure Prince with 1999's Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic, but it turned out to be another Clive Davis stunt, trying to emulate Carlos Santana's comeback success with miserable results (including the ruination of the title track, formerly a great live guitar workout).

With Musicology, in stores this week but available to fans for weeks, we finally get that simple, straight Prince album. It's full of clean guitar lines, fully realized songs and a recognition of his maturity.

Anyone looking for a rehash of Prince's hits won't find it here, but you will find flashes from every phase of his career, meshing funk, rock, psychedelia, touches of jazz and his unmistakable, perfect vocals.

Songs such as Call My Name go from being a love song to a comment on the world situation ("What's the matter with the world today? Land of the free? Huh! Somebody lied," Prince scoffs). In Dear Mr. Man, Prince carries on with the theme, chiding the president and others in power, even citing Scripture and the Bill of Rights in the verses as he demands answers for everything from the war to the environment to cigarette billboards. "Ain't no sense in voting / same soul with a different name / might not be in the back of the bus / but it sure feels just the same."

One of Prince's greatest sins in the past was to show off his chops without emotion. Here his heart shows. A Million Days is a song that aches as much as Nothing Compares to U as Prince sings, "I didn't have the heart to say I'm sorry / now I haven't got a heart at all," confessing to his estranged lover that "I didn't back then but I do know now / wherever you are is home."

With Prince yet again playing virtually every instrument, the sound has a timeless quality reminiscent of his masterpiece Sign o' the Times.

That's where the comparison ends, though. There isn't a song here equal to his absolute greatest cuts - When Doves Cry, Sign o' the Times, The Cross, Purple Rain, etc. But it's a great return to form in 2004, a year that Prince owns with his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and his sterling concert tour, which hits Denver in August. Comeback is the wrong word if he never really went away, but that's how fans are going to see it anyway.

Mark Brown

Toots and the Maytals

True Love, V2 Grade: A-

There's no question that reggae's legendary pioneers Toots and the Maytals make great music. But add collaborations with some mainstream rock 'n' roll greats and the music feels updated.

Much of True Love features remakes of Frederick "Toots" Hibbert's classics with a twist, a lineup that includes Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Ben Harper, No Doubt, Keith Richards, Bootsy Collins and The Roots.

Think Santana's Supernatural, only better.

The solid performance of Toots and No Doubt - the man who helped introduce ska to the mainstream and the band that helped bring along the 1990s ska rebirth - on the classic Monkey Man is a no-brainer. The blending of the rocking band and Toots' soulful voice is one of the album's gems.

Clapton takes front and center on Pressure Drop, one of Toots' signature songs. Adams shines with Time Tough. But understand, this album belongs to Toots and the Maytals.

During the collaboration with Jeff Beck on 54-46 Was My Number, a song about the singer's time in jail, Toots owns the song with his scatting.

Sadly missing from the album is Do the Reggay, the 1968 song by Toots that many credit with giving reggae its name.

Chelsea J. Carter, Associated Press