Musicology

I have been a Prince fan for a long time. A very very long time. I have New Power Soul, Rave un2 the Joy Fantastic, N.E.W.S., and Rainbow Children, all albums most people never heard of. From this perspective I can say that Musicology is his strongest album in 10 years. Not that the others were slouchers, but this has got, for lack of a better term, "the funk", as it were. Most strongly informed by the SOTT era work, particularly the unreleased and non album tracks, this draws elements from his full twenty five years of recording.

In terms of appeal, Musicology has the sort of draw that Diamonds and Pearls had. The album has a cohesiveness to it that still allows the songs to stand strongly on their own. Prince's sense of humor is more open than in the past, with jabs at Michael Jackson and professional sycophants as well.

Kicking off with an old school joint, he wends his way through funky dance tracks, forlorn ballads, rock driven social commentary, and ends up casually meandering through the trivialities in the day to day life of a married couple. Musically NPG is as tight as ever and Prince seems to have not aged a day since he screamed his way through the outro solo on Let's Go Crazy.Much has been made of the fact that Prince is now a Jehovah's Witness, but it hasn't changed his music in any significant way that I can see. Spirituality has been closely entwined with sexuality since day one with Prince, and both are tempered a bit (more by age and maturity than anything else) here, but no more so than they were back with Diamonds and Pearls.

Hot Spots: Musicology, Cinnamon Girl, Dear Mr. Man, Reflection, What Do U Want Me 2 Do, If Eye Was The Man In Your Life.