Prince
Musicology

THE REVIEW

I approached this album with a certain skepticism, because I feared it would renounce Prince's previous work.
In fact, it seems that our artist has decided, after recently converting to the Jehovah's Witnesses faith, to eliminate explicit sexual references from his lyrics.
After T.A.F.K.A.P., Symbol, and all that jazz, we hoped his eccentricities were over. Instead, it seems he won't even perform the old songs containing such references live anymore: which means eliminating a good half of his previous production.
Such a decision is disconcerting, especially if it comes from a character who has made sexual ambiguity, theatrical intercourse staged on stage during his live performances, and all-too-explicit sexual allusions his banner, almost his hallmark. Hence the skepticism (“Prince the prude” is a contradiction in terms, a paradox): I feared a certain boredom.

The listening experience, however, turns out to be a pleasant surprise. Prince has returned to the old funk sound of his musical roots, responding (in these times bloated with easy melodies and brainless lyrics from illiterate rapper-pimps surrounded by big-booty women, jewels, and money showers) to the need for real black music, with content and feelings, beyond just the healthy desire for fun.
"Don’t U miss the feeling music gave ya back in the days?” asks Prince in the track that gives the album its title.
Musicology is an album designed to satisfy this need, and it certainly succeeds! Prince completely recaptures the taste of good old funky, obviously not accepting it passively, but reworking it with his own genius and mixing it with his personal taste for rhythms and arrangements (personally playing all the instruments, just as he did for his debut album).
The CD could be called “Anthology,” as it represents the ultimate synthesis of the best that the Genius of Minneapolis has produced throughout his career. There are party tracks, truly danceable, that genuinely induce autonomous and unconscious body movements to the beat, then slower tracks but with that minimal funk sound, just a bassline, the strangled guitar sneaking in off-beat... then there are melodic ballads, the more “panty-dropping” tracks (read: “ideal for a romantic tête-à-tête”) where the sprite shows he's the prince of syrup, with more-than-sweet lyrics, unique in creating romantic musical atmospheres.

Only party and love, then? No, the little guy also finds the opportunity to raise a series of fundamental and unavoidable questions about the state of things and the senselessness of war, even addressing President Bush directly (“Dear Mr. Man”).

But... what about the prude issue? Is it true or not?
Unfortunately, essentially yes.
Aside from some pale flashes of pride (“What's it gonna take 2 get Ur booty soakin' wet? U and me closer baby, that's a bet”) the good Prince seems to have really changed, if today he responds to an attractive woman making advances with “Shame on U, baby, can't U see this ring? What do U want me 2 do, girl?”.
What, is he out of ideas when faced with a pretty girl proposing? Once he even accepted the explicit proposals of brides-to-be who addressed him in less than common terms (“But you're such a hunk so full of spunk”) persuading them to unorthodox practices (in “Head” from “Dirty Mind”), and he proudly recounted even the inevitable conclusion to us (“I came on your wedding gown”).

Today, his cries of desire are only for his lawful wife, when she gets mad at him and leaves him to sleep alone on the couch (“On The Couch”). The lyrics are still valid (little conjugal joys, politics, "feel good") although far from past excesses. What to say? Time passes for everyone...

Flawless music and voice. An balanced and engaging album that really makes you feel good. There's not much else to say, except “Kick the old school joint 4 the true funk soldiers!!!!!”