I am quite a big Prince fan, although I don't listen to his music as much as I used to. I first got into him in the 80's when 1999 and Little Red Corvette came out. Obviously he was a big hit back then and he keeps on releasing albums regularly, although his popularity has wained somewhat over the past decade or so.
I have mostly stuck with him but am not all that taken with his 90's releases. More recently he left his record company and so they cashed in by releasing several albums which they had "in the vault" which had very little to do with Prince himself.
To be honest you can't make a great album every time you go into the studio, and that has certainly been the case with him for quite some time.
However, Musicology for me is an excellent album. It's full of uplifting tracks, slow smoochers, and thoughtfulness. I'm not sure about some of the lyrics mind you.
The opener 'Musicology' is a sort of look back to his past, and his childhood of listening to James Brown . It's an excellent track with a great repetitive beat and I suppose it's Prince setting down his musical influences and how it all started.
'Illusion, Coma, Pimp and Circumstance' begins with riffs from several of his old hits (Little Red Corvette, Sign of the Times etc), and goes on to tell a story about a rich (ugly) white woman who has a younger man who teaches her another side of life and Prince' asks 'who's pimping who?'. It's not a bad tune but it's not the best on the album.
'A Million Days' is something I really like about Prince. His slow love songs. He's very good at this stuff. There are a number of stunningly good slow tracks on this album, about missing loved ones, etc. Another is 'Call My Name', possibly the best on this album. Very smoochy. Sit back and feel good. 'I just can't stop writing songs about you I love you so much, I just can't wait to get my arms around you, and feel your touch.' Magic. And try this. 'On The Couch'. Superb. 'Don't make me sleep on the couch, Love Jones is on the TV again baby, I wanna go down south'.
As for the funkier tunes, there are several excellent ones. 'Life Of The Party' is one. Strong drum beat, foot tapping music, great. 'If I was the Man in Your Life' is also good,.
A couple of songs on here are slightly weak in my opinion. 'Cinnamon Girl' doesn't particularly grab me, it's not upbeat, or slow, it's a rock song and I don't feel it works, but some might.
Lyrically I like alot of this. 'The Marrying Kind' tells of a man's relationship with a woman who isn't "the marrying kind" and his friend advises him to steer clear. It's a good track musically too.
The final part I feel is very good. Three tracks stand out. 'Dear Mr Man'. "What's wrong with the world today, things have got to get better...maybe we should write a letter. Who said that to kill is a sin, and started every single war that your people begin". It's a song in the form of a letter to Mr Bush ( or whoever). "Who told me Mr Man that I got a right to moan, how bout this big old hole in the ozone". I think Prince's lyrics are one of his strongest points. 'What Do U Want Me 2 Do' is a fairly slow song, relationship stuff, moaning about girlfiend problems, excellent stuff.
The last track is 'Reflection'. It is just that. A look back at life. I suppose it shows his age, he's been around a while now, and this reminded me how long I've been listening to it. It's a very good song and quite sad. He looks at the past, his childhood, his neighbourhood, mother, etc."I wanna play you this old song, it's about love".
The overall impression is that this is Prince's best album for quite some time. Alot of quality tracks, some not so good, and perhaps maturer. It's got the usual mix of slow and funky, perhaps he did the right thing by leaving his record company.
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Prince's Musicology--his first major-label release for some time--doesn't disappoint. Most ... more
of the songs are produced, arranged, composed and "per4med" by the artist himself, with the occasional musician chipping in here and there. This complete contro...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Prince'sMusicology--his first major-label release for some time--doesn't disappoint. Most ... more
of the songs are produced, arranged, composed and "per4med" by the artist himself, with the occasionalmusician chipping in here and there.This complete control fo...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Feb 10th, 2005
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