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The return of the Prince

The man formerly known as a symbol is back. And with the release of his stunning new album Musicology, Prince proves he's still king

By Paul Zach

IT JUST goes to show what a bad state the music industry is in when a legend the likes of Prince has to rely on a major label to get his work noticed again.


Blending pure funk from the James Brown and Parliament school with rock, pop, R&B, jazz and more, he taught the music world that artists and listeners alike did not have to be stuck in a single music rut all the time.

People made love to Dirty Mind in 1980, courted to Controversy in 1981, partied to 1999 in 1983, bathed in Purple Rain in 1984 and followed him Around The World In A Day in 1985.

Rather than just do music videos for an album, he did entire movies - Purple Rain, Under The Cherry Moon, Graffiti Bridge - granted, not very good ones.

In 1988, Sign O' the Times turned a neon light on the future of music as we know it today, its spare title track a blueprint for the hip-hop era.

The 1992 album with the love symbol for a title that he also took as his legal name for a time remains one of the best albums of the last decade, overflowing with classic tracks such as My Name Is Prince, Sexy M.F., 7 and Damn U.

Prince also lit fires on his guitar like no one since Jimi Hendrix and sang in everything from a smokin' Smokey falsetto to a tremulous tenor reminiscent of David Ruffin.

Then came his acrimonious split with Warner Music in 1996 after the release of the aptly named Chaos And Disorder, and Prince seemed to vanish into some black hole.

At his Paisley Park studio in his hometown of Minneapolis, he produced plenty of music under his own indie NPG label, beginning with the sprawling three-disc masterpiece aptly named Emancipation that same year.

Most of it has been far better than most anything else released in the eight years by anyone else since then.

CAST OUT BY SYSTEM


BUT the world's radio and TV stations and music stores are such slaves - as Prince himself once scrawled on his face - to the ever-shrinking number of major labels that only his most fervent fans were aware of it.

'I can tell you who made the System,' he told Newsweek last month, using 'system' to mean the music industry. 'Gangsters. Look at the jargon: hits, bullets.'

Thus while Prince couldn't get airplay on stations he once helped make millions for, a duo named OutKast usurped his throne.

Not surprisingly, the latter's albums - such as 2001's Stankonia and last year's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which has sold 10 million copies - sounded, and even looked, a lot like Lovesexy, Parade and Diamonds And Pearls.

Prince took it all in his stride apparently.

He became a Jehovah's Witness, stopped using words which earned his old albums Parental Guidance stickers and the wrath of Tipper Gore, the wife of former US vice-president Al Gore.

But he continued to record and perform.

In the Newsweek interview, he said he did not regret having been out of the limelight for so many years.

'That notion of me losing something is a fallacy. There's Adam and Eve - artists - in the garden, chilling. God tells them they're supposed to have sex, and they do.

'Here comes a snake - the record-industry guy - and tells them the grass is greener on the other side. And when they fell for that, boy, did they fall.


PRINCE AND HIS PRINCESS: The singer with his wife Manuela Testolini at the NAACP Image Awards in Hollywood in March. -- AFP
'No, I didn't lose a thing.'

PURPLE POWER

THEN came 2004.

Millions the world over watched the Grammy Awards in February and marvelled to see a man who, like Dorian Gray, didn't seem to have aged a day in 20 years.

Prince - who turns 46 next month - opened the show dressed in purple, still lighting up his guitar like Jimi and singing like Smokey.

Performing Purple Rain and Baby I'm A Star, he completely obliterated the presence of a young woman who passes for a 'talent' these days, Beyonce.

David Rivkin, the engineer of the original Rain album who now develops new talent in Nashville, was among the many blown away.

'People were saying to me, 'It's good to see somebody look like a rock star again'. Everybody (in contemporary pop music) looks like they're robbing you or going through your garbage,' he told Minnesota's Pioneer Press.

'He looked like an icon - that's a star. I love that. Plus, he's one of the best musicians in the world, and a lot of guys don't even know how to play. This guy can play - he's the real talent.'

Next, Prince turned up on the TV talk show Ellen, hosted by the voice of Finding Nemo's Dory.

'He came out and just blew everybody away. I don't know if I've seen or heard anything that sounded as good as that on TV in ages,' said Kevin Cole, a Minneapolis DJ back when Prince became big and now senior music editor at Amazon.com.

In March, Prince reigned over the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremonies. He was inducted - by OutKast - in the first year he was eligible.

Then he brought the staid audience to its feet as he ripped into Let's Go Crazy, Sign O' The Times and Kiss.

Prince also brought the music industry back to consciousness last week with the release of his 25th album, Musicology.

It's a dazzling encyclopaedia of rock, pop, funk and every other form of music he made his own.

The title track is a lean, mean piece of funk that James Brown would have died for. The lyrics even pay tribute to the Godfather of Soul, as well as Sly Stone, and Earth Wind and Fire. Cinnamon Girl takes potshots at 'god of confusion' George Bush and his Iraq War in an incongruously bouncy garage rock setting.

It shows Prince hasn't lost his edge.

Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance is a complex piece of jazz funk that puts down pop culture.

Life 'O' The Party sounds like Partyman Part II, which means it'll make you dance your butt off.

Finally - listen up Perfect 10 - there are the kind of gorgeous ballads Prince has always been a master at. What Do U Want Me 2 Do has a hook so insinuating it won't let go.

Released by Sony's Columbia Records last week, Musicology went straight in at No. 3 on the Billboard albums charts last week.

It has sold 840,000 copies in the United States, and 386,000 in Europe. Sales figures for Singapore are not available.

Prince never went anywhere but he's back nonetheless.

As he told the audience at his induction into the Rock Hall of Fame: 'I embarked on a journey more fascinating than I could ever imagine, but a word to the wise to the young artists - without spiritual guidance, too much freedom can lead to spiritual decline.'


Musicology is out in the shops

EROTICCITYNPG said:

I Like it. I like reading the Different Reviews Prince has. I am Overjoyed at seeing how many Raves and Accolades Prince is Now Receiving. I think Prince himself would be Proud. He should be.

I'm from Singapore and when i saw that article in the front page of my local newspaper, one thing crossed my mind. Prince has truly returned.

And when i was at the mall today at a sports shop, they had one of our local radio stations on which usually played the latest hits. They were playing "Musicology".

And my friend just rang me saying they played the video on MTV. We get MTV South East Asia over here and they're playing the video everyday or something.

What can i say? He's back.


Ecnirp84

EROTICCITYNPG said:

What? I dont think this is right.

bkw said:

What? You think that's low or high?