this album is the start of a long stream of prince albums designed to fulfill the remainder of his contract with warner brothers and not coincedentally is the first prince album i have heard (although some say it started with diamonds and pearls) that has more than one or two unmemorable songs.
the whole album is grey in colour and while this shouldnt put anyone off the album it is quite ironic as the album at times is quite generic.
the album opens with a song called 'come', im not even going to bother explaining what its about! but it is quite filthy at times! this is actually a good song and the first four, maybe five minutes are enjoyable. however, it lasts nearly twelve minutes and for no good reason really, other than to give the horns a solo. this ruins a perfectly good song and many times i have listened to this song and sort of 'woke up' nearly ten minutes later and think is this still playing?
the second song is similar to
'come' and is called 'space'. both songs have a sort of R&B vibe to them and at first its strange to hear someone as innovative as Prince do this style of music. This song is also fairly unmemorable (I had to listen to it again just to be able to review it!) What I find Princes problem is sometimes is that while the riffs and melody are fine on their own, they are often drowned out in a multitude of other instruments. Whilst it is very amazing how many instruments Prince can play he does sometimes have a tendency to go overboard (at on this album and some later ones, like Emancipation).
'Pheromone' is the third song and basically follows in the same vein as the first two. Nice melody but still quite unmemorable.
After hearing the first three songs you may be prepared to give up on the album and it is ironic because the album really picks up by the fourth song 'Loose!' which when i first heard it almost reminded me of the Prodigy in that its a heavy dance song. I later listened to the album Lovesexy (by Prince) and thought it reminded me of the song 'Dance On' so its not like he is really ripping anyone off when he was doing it in 1988 (although to be honest I'm only assuming the Prodigy werent around then!) This song also have some pretty good guitar in it, for the first time in the album.
The next song, 'Papa', is one of my favourites. It has an almost 'Modern Rock' feel to it, and remember this album was released in 1993, when that genre was reaching its peak. However it avoids the generic feel that the first three songs sometimes have. This song also has some of the best lyrics on the album, a tale of child abuse and suicide which is very tragic.
Track six is called 'Race' and is quite an up-tempo dance song about racism. This does though have one of the best 'beat lines' (as Prince calls it at the start of the song!) in the album and Prince shows his rapping skills and the song melds nicely and keeps up the run of good songs.
'Dark' is an old-fashioned (always reminds me of Stevie Wonder) love song and provides a nice break from the dance songs with its soulful vibe.
'Solo' is a brilliant showcase for Princes vocals, as it is almost acapella throughout. If anyone has ever listened to the Communards self-titled album then this song will sound familiar, as Princes voice takes on a very haunting quality.
'Letitgo' is basically the last song on the album (you'll see why in a minute) and was, I think, a minor UK hit for Prince (the album did actually debut at #1 in the UK) and goes back to the sound of the first few songs, however, as with 'Race' is better than them and is a good overall song.
The last 'song' is called 'Orgasm' where basically Prince gives his wife at the time, 'Mayte', an orgasm. The song is pretty pointless and abit of a disappointing end to a good run of six songs. However, if you are a guitar buff you may appreciate the sounds Prince tortures out of his guitar on this last track.
Overall then thats six out of the ten songs that are a cut above average, and none of the rest are particularly bad, just not that memorable, especially when comparing to other Prince songs.
The reason I dont recommend this album (as much of a Prince fan that I am) is because there are far far better Prince albums out there, at the least anything from 1983-1989. Again though, the album isnt bad and there are a few standout tracks that stand the test of time, its just not consistent enough to recommend over his other releases!
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it's not the best Prince album by any stretch of the imagination, but i do love Letitgo. KT x
Popalee 11.01.2005 15:04
I was also once a huge Prince fan and, I have to admit, this album probably marked the end of the love affair for me. It's all been downhill from there. Although, from what I've heard Musicology is a bit of a return to form. Good review.
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