http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040520woa1.htm



IN YOUR EAR



Paul Jackson Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer

PRINCE

Musicology

Sony Music Japan Int'l, 2,520 yen

Cynics can easily dismiss Musicology as proof of accountants' logic coming to bear on Prince--if you want to keep paying bills befitting royalty, you're gonna have to shift some units. And shifting units, Prince was not.

During the last few years of his exploration of the limits of independence away from the confines of a major label and away from a large promotional machine, Prince was also starting to explore the outer ranges of popular relevance. Prince's decision, therefore, to reacquaint himself with marketable pop material is not so surprising. What is surprising is that the man who adorned his cheek with the word "slave" and changed his name to a squiggle should seek a return to a major label deal.

After such a crusade against the majors and the music industry itself, Prince's return to the "system" is a disappointment for all supporters of mavericks, no matter how clearly self-destructive their goals might be on an individual level.

To be fair, though, it's probably just as likely that the return to prime-time exposure had as much impact as potential CD sales on the Purple One's decision--after all this is someone born to perform, and he does perform fantastically.

So how does Musicology fare as an album?

As a pop release, it's his best effort since Emancipation. Gone are the meandering instrumental tracks that showed on last year's News that Prince is no jazzer. Gone, also, is the proselytizing of Rainbow Children. We all now know that Prince is a Jehovah's Witness.

For these concessions may we be truly grateful.

What we are left with is very much a stripped-down Prince album. The album is the most spartan-sounding outing since 1999--the album that is from 1982.

Partly this is the result of Prince playing just about everything on the album himself and partly because the production, while excellent, just isn't as luxurious as we are accustomed to. In this sense, perhaps he's gone a little too far in simplifying his sound and removing the unusual timbres that typify his work.

The opening cut and title track is an old skool funk jam, which Prince pulls off with authentic panache. He's never sounded quite as James Brown as this before, and I don't think he's ever wanted to, but Prince also has an agenda going on throughout this album, which can be surmised in the lyric: "Take your pick--turntable or a band?"

In the video that accompanies the track and comes with the CD, we see some parodied hip-hoppers being denied entrance to see Prince's band. The message is loud and clear and continued on "Life 'O' the Party" on which he calls on partygoers to throw away their records and CDs, the implication being that if you really want to get down you should go out and hear a band play live.

In addition to "Musicology," other strong tracks on the album include "A Million Days," on which he pleads for his lover to return, dusting off his long unused but incredibly characteristic scream, and "Dear Mr. Man," on which he writes a letter to the human race, demanding that it get its act together. The sociopolitical tone is continued on "Cinnamon Girl," about the problems of a mixed-race woman, only this a forced pop-rock tune that doesn't ring true.

There's still plenty to recommend on the disc, even if Prince's sound no longer seems particularly innovative these days. There are no fantastic tracks, though, and while this musical genius clearly has far more to offer, this isn't the long awaited release that is going to make him massive again.

The album does suggest, though, that he's going to try harder to stay around

this isn't the long awaited release that is going to make him massive again.

Prince hasn't signed to label, he's just using them to sell this particular album. There's a difference. Like, if I tried to sell something through an ad in a paper, it wouldn't mean the paper OWNS me!

Also this guy says that this album has a stripped down feel because Prince plays all the instruments on it - eh? He does that on every album! And he's sometimes been accused of over-producing it - playing all the instruments makes no difference.

As usual, journalists think because Prince hasn't been in the public eye or charts so much for the last couple of years, that he must not be making any money. Truth is that we don't know whether he's been earning a lot through the music club or recent tours, but chances are that he's been making more money than ever, since all the money has gone back to him with no middle-man.

Journalists just haven't caught upto this new business model that Prince has created.