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Prince has delivered more consistently great albums than any other artist, including Bob Dylan and/or The Beatles. The down side for him is that anything new he produces is immediately appreciated in comparison to his other work. Even I do this. When someone first asked me what I thought, I replied, "It's way better than Diamonds and Pearls but not quite as good as Parade or Sign Of The Times." Suffice to say, it is quite reductive to only appreciate Prince's work in this way.
What I have long admired most about his work is his uncompromising openness. The body of his work represents the noble quest for deeper human intimacy,often achieved in his lyrics through the kind of blunt honesty that made John Lennon revolutionary. I am excited when a new album contains personal revelations and serendipitous insights into the human condition.
When I heard Dirty Mind for the first time, I was forever changed. That might happen once or twice in a lifetime and one cannot expect that from every album.
While I enjoyed The Rainbow Children, I didn't quite connect with it on a personal level. But from the moment I heard Musicology it was like catching up with an old friend and laughing through the night. I was warmed. My heart soared. I enjoyed it more than any other album in recent memory, aside from Warren Zevon's masterful final album, The Wind. For Prince,
who has seemingly surpassed all concepts of new directions in songwriting, this is no small achievement.
Why is Musicology the best album of 2004? It is a pop record that hooks you with its contagious choruses before it pierces your heart and nags at your conscience.
Take, for example, Dear Mr Man: when I read the title, I thought to myself this is going to be the worst Prince song ever and I was expecting his equivalent to Heal The World (crap, in other words). Instead, what I heard, despite apparently dubious lines like "What's wrong with the world today?", was as great as any
Curtis Mayfield social commentary. In fact, I was reminded of Superfly and the tag line for the poster: "He's got a plan to stick it to the man." All this is delivered to a melody so sweet it crushes the recent work of more commonly revered contemporaries like Ben Harper.
My favourite songs are the two exquisite ballads: Call My Name and On The Couch. These gems best encapsulate the resounding theme of the record which is the celebration of marriage. The politics of Call My Name is extraordinary. It is critical of the progressive privatisation of human life; yet, most compellingly, it joyously extols the creed that to be truly socialist
one must first be social. Equally, the confessional tone of On The Couch, for all its good humour, is, in its own way, as tender and tortured as How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore? It's just that an older, more mature soul is making the same pronouncements. It is as if Prince is finally living out his own once utopian values as he preached in Sign Of The Times:
"Let's fall in love, get married, have a baby/ We'll call him Nate, if he's a boy."
The title track reminds me a lot of Kiss,instrumentally. Its genius is in the deceptive simplicity of its killer groove. The song truly does give the feeling that "music gave you back in the
day". Yes, it's nostalgic but not crudely. It still contains innovation. As Miles Davis might say, it's the space between the beats that makes all the difference, like the creative punctuation in an e.e cummings poem. The song is never mawkish or
sentimental. It is one hundred percent unbridled pleasure.
This is true, too, of Life Of The Party. Another stand-out. It works so much better than any of Prince's party songs since his Symbol album. Whereas tracks like Push It Up or I Rock Therefore I Am might have made me forget Prince ever wrote the inspired
1999, Life Of The Party is a timely reminder that this
man schooled the genius that is Outkast.
And what can you even say about a song as delightful as Illusion, Coma, Pimp and Circumstance? It's like a grown up version of Girls and Boys.
What Do You Want Me To Do? is remarkably funky, fresh and not without substance.
Cinammon Girl might steal its title from Neil Young but the fury directed at George W. is the kind of revelation that makes me rejoice whenever a new Prince album is released.
Reflection is the perfect, sublimely poetic bookend to the album's other main theme: music is Prince's vocation, his purest act of love and his way of making the world a better place.
If I had any criticisms, I must say there are a few moments where the album sounds too commercial and slightly less adventurous than my very favourite Prince recordings. A song like A Million Days, for instance, could almost be a D&P or Newpowersoul outtake. It would sit much less comfortably on Around The World In A Day, as would The Marrying Kind, despite its psychedilc allusions and pretences. I like If I Was The Man In Your Life better but even it loses a little something being juxtaposed with The Marrying Kind. In defence of these songs, they do improve with repeated listenings. The lyrics reveal subtle surprises and, ultimately, add to the the album's long
playing life. My minor criticisms, then, are more a matter of personal preference than anything else. At best, they explain why the album may not please all hardcore Prince fans, particularly those fans who are crusty and least generous because they've been waiting 20 years for another Purple Rain, which, although unquestionably a masterpiece, has to be the least
eponymous of all Prince albums.
There will never be another Purple Rain. Get over it. Musicology is much more of a signature recording, in that its roots are in funk and soul, rather than sweeping guitar-driven Santana-like rock. Even the way Prince effortlessly marries numerous musical genres and influences is indicative of an album that can be
recognised and valued as an immediately relevant personal statement. Perhaps, not definitive but consumate, nonetheless.
Overall, Musicology is the supreme work of art because it moves swiftly from the heart of its author to the heart of the listener. The album will be in my heart for a long time to come.
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Reviews with images
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Solid Musicology is Essential
I love this 2 LP marbled pressing of Prince’s ‘Musicology’. Vinyl is flat and very quiet with a great soundstage. Paper inner sleeves had no seam splits. I cleaned & transferred the LPs to anti static inners for protection. Gatefold cover was of the highest quality and had no defects. Overall, this is essential for every Prince collection, even if you have the original CD!
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2005
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2023
I love this 2 LP marbled pressing of Prince’s ‘Musicology’. Vinyl is flat and very quiet with a great soundstage. Paper inner sleeves had no seam splits. I cleaned & transferred the LPs to anti static inners for protection. Gatefold cover was of the highest quality and had no defects. Overall, this is essential for every Prince collection, even if you have the original CD!
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Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2005
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2019
Love the album, has my fave song by Prince--The Marrying Kind. Love the purple colored vinyl. Only gripe with Amazon is that the cover came bent at the top, but the vinyl was completely unharmed. Just salty about the bent cover because it's bought new and it's already damaged..I kinda expected it tho because sometimes the people delivering will yeet your stuff over. Hahahaha. Vinyl is probably better bought in person, makes me anxious buying online due to any damage. Otherwise, no regrets! Prince himself is 5 stars! Buy it!!
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