Prince comes down to earth

There may be no phrase more terrifying to musicologists circa 2007 than this: NEW PRINCE ALBUM.

There may be no phrase more terrifying to musicologists circa 2007 than this: NEW PRINCE ALBUM.
Yes, the man is a master of the funk-rock domain, an innovator, an undisputed pop genius and, at 49, one of the most electrifying live performers around. But in the latter stages of his career, he8217;s become an alarmingly uneven recording artist 8212; a superlative musician who happens to be capable of cooking up absolute stink bombs in the studio.

One approaches a new Prince album, then, with extreme trepidation, along with the sort of giddy excitement that always accompanies a Prince event. And make no mistake: the arrival of Prince8217;s new album, Planet Earth, is an EVENT. Of course, that8217;s largely because the little purple polyglot8217;s genius extends beyond the studio and stage into the world of marketing, as copies of Planet Earth were given away with the British national newspaper, the Mail on Sunday.

Planet Earth isn8217;t exactly stop-the-presses great, but it isn8217;t half bad either. More like 30 per cent bad, 40 per cent mediocre and 30 per cent really, really good. There are 10 songs on the album; you do the math.

The album does not get off to a promising start, opening with the leaden, apocalyptic title track, a swelling six-minute piano anthem about the environment. The music is dreary and the lyrics lack finesse. 8220;Fifty years from now / What will they say about us here?8221; Prince sings. 8220;Did we care for the water and/The fragile atmosphere?8221; Not even a downpour of Purple Rain-ish guitar notes can save the album8217;s least likable song.

Prince is preachy on songs about religion Lion of Judah and war Resolution, neither of which is particularly effective 8212; unless your idea of a great anti-war song is to match a forgettable melody with lyrics like 8220;The main problem with war is that nobody ever wins / The next generation grows up / And learns how to do it all over again.8221; Give Prince a chance! Or not.

Better, by far, are some of Prince8217;s come-ons 8212; in particular, The One U Wanna C, a buoyant guitar-pop. The shimmering slow jam Somewhere Here on Earth is also a standout, with Prince8217;s ethereal falsetto floating through an exquisite melody over 8216;70s-soul instrumentation.

Lest we think we8217;re in a time warp, Prince brings the lyrics into the modern era, singing: 8220;In this digital age / You could just page me / I know it8217;s the rage / But it just don8217;t engage me / Like the face-to-face.8221;

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The dynamic, driving Guitar single is also a winner, featuring chiming riffs straight out of the U2 playbook and a sly centerpiece lyric that8217;s pure Prince. 8220;I love you,8221; he sings. 8220;But not like I love my guitar.8221; Oh, snap!

He also raps on Mr. Goodnight, which is worth hearing once, if only to discover what it sounds like when an American artist drops 8220;dandies8221; and 8220;what say you8221; into a rap. The short answer: strange.

When Prince does deign to dabble in funk here 8212; on the disco stomp Chelsea Rodgers 8212; it sounds formulaic, almost like a musical afterthought.

So Planet Earth isn8217;t the funkiest place in the universe, but it8217;s not quite the house of horrors we feared.
-J. Freedom du LacLAT-WP