Prince - Planet Earth(Columbia, 2007)4 stars out of, uh... One day, I read every Prince interview
on this website, and a maxim he holds dear in regards to any criticisms of his records emerged quite clearly: if you're going to say something, make sure it's nice, or else don't say it. I will keep this in mind as I write my latest MOG review about the new album,
Planet Earth, performed by Prince and the New Power Generation.Prince's singing voice sounds pretty much fantastic on the whole CD. It's clear even from an album like
Planet Earth (er, not that the "even" means anything particular... heh, slow down there, Spencer) that he's still got "it," that charismatic, versatile performer's spirit and skillset. If nothing else (not to say that there
is nothing else... this is hard), that quality makes a Prince fan like myself interested in sticking around to see what he does next."Future Baby Mama" is a great song. It's an adult contemporary R&B slow jam, fitting for a lite music station in 2007 and perhaps a more mainstream R&B station from some points of the '90s. He nails it, and actually, many of his best songs over the last several years have fit this category. He pulls out the old Linn drum sounds (or at least something like them), pads it with some tremolo Rhodes, and from there you're trapped, and you like it. I can imagine britches melting across the nation between this one and the more upbeat follow-up, "Mr. Goodnight," both featuring an effortlessly devastating hook apiece. Unfortunately, I'd better not talk about his rapping on the latter."Chelsea Rodgers" - now there's a fun one. When I heard that the pop/rock "Guitar," previously released in demo form on Prince's website, was going to be the first single, I had some ... thoughts that I probably shouldn't express about the song's construction and lyric, and other such things. Then I learned that "Chelsea Rodgers" is going to be the next single, and that seems like a very smart move to me, especially for European audiences. It's a disco throwback, the most straightforward disco Prince has ever done, and it's definitely funky. A bassline made of meat (yes, it's more than "meaty") and delicious horn charts keep this one engaging for all of its six minutes. Even the lyrics ... work. (Phew.)There are a handful of pop/rock songs on the album, like "Lion of Judah," "The One U Wanna C," and the aforementioned "Guitar." The pop/rock material has a decent energy, and I enjoy the main riff of "Resolution," which actually sounds amusingly like a Thurston Moore guitar part for the first few bars before the band kicks in. It's probably worth mentioning that Wendy & Lisa appear on the album; if I were to guess on which tracks, it would be "Resolution" and "Lion of Judah." The tone and style of the rhythm guitar on "Judah" may even consciously be a phantom of "Purple Rain." Otherwise, I should probably limit my comments right around there.There are a couple ballads, power (the Stevie Wonder-indebted title track featuring an instrumental section with a truly unmentionable synth-horns arrangement) and otherwise ("All the Midnights in the World," the old-time-jazzy "Somewhere Here on Earth"). They are certainly... on the album. Yes. Oh, okay, I can give him this: he's still creatively restless, and can't stick to one style for a whole album. I admire that. Really!Overall, I've decided to give
Planet Earth four stars. Out of how many? Oh, you figure it out. I hope he tours!-Spencer Owenp.s. For a limited time (probably very limited), you can
stream the whole album here and try to figure out what all that nonsense was about. Otherwise, it's out in the U.S. next Tuesday.
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