Воскресенье 15 Июл 2007, 13:49

Prince - Planet Earth : got it!! Got a cup of earl grey tea, been listening to Parade and purple rain today. I'm ready.

First track - Planet Earth - Very rock-y. Veers cheekily over to Earth, Wind & Fire and references Could It Be Magic about half way through. I like the beginning. The first thing you hear is just piano, a one-hand simple melody (or so it sounds to me).

It's encouraging. His standards are as high as his earlier masterpieces. Compares well so far. Not just saying that because I'm fan, I can be very critical when need be. No need today.

Guitar - his first single and the one he gave away free as mobile phone downloads. Great fun - my party Prince is back!

*volume slowly creeping up*

Somewhere Here On Earth - slushy Prince. Slow, jazzy, blues-y, seductive. Ooh, I can hear George Michael covering this and doing well. No one else is good enough. Very, very good track, love that lone trumpet, love Prince's vocals, I don't think I've ever heard him sound so good. He was always confident, but here, he has raised his game.

The One U Wanna C - Cheery rock! Bouncy, bubbly fun! :D:D:D <- how it makes me feel. What does this remind me of? Early 70s glam rock I think. Bet he wears a feather boa round his neck if he does a video for this.

Future Baby Mama - slushy Prince again. I'm not really big on funk/soul, but I'll always make time for him. Slow groove. Sexy, I'll give it that.

Mr. Goodnight - Nice how the previous track melts into this one. Nice transition. Stays with the rare groove style, Prince raps in the most seductive manner! Very Barry White! I'd happily have him whispering all this in my ear. It's a bit bling. Hope he doesn't do one of those trashy videos with bikini-clad ladies draped all over the place. I'll be disappointed if he does that.

*plays it again, just to make sure*

Yep - music for grown-ups.

All The Midnights In The World - very sweet after the seduction above. Radio-friendly, this will be everywhere. Pop Prince.

Chelsea Rodgers - what on earth is this? It's come out of nowhere! Wow! Funky Prince. The kind of funk I like - P-Funk. I'm happy. Oh wait - that's Joss Stone on there. For the first time ever, she sounds good. Usually, nobody tells her to hang back and she always overwhelms and dominates the music. She's in balance now, so much so, I didn't even recognise her till second or third play.

*volume getting higher, can't sit still any longer*

Lion Of Judah - penultimate track, begins with classic Prince guitar, aaah I can hear Purple Rain. How lovely. Just references, he's not recreating it. Back to rock and juicy guitar work. (more guitar solos for me to learn! yayyy!)

Last track - Revelation - awww, is it over already? Pop/rock cheerful, sunny bouncy music, light-hearted and lovely, leaning towards Police style reggae here and there, contrasting with lyrics mentioning war and bombs. I have to play this again, just to be sure he said what I thought he said. Beautiful music, I must say, gorgeous how it ends.

I'll have a go at transcribing the lyrics:

Lyrics - Revelation

The main problem with war
Is that nobody ever wins
The next generation grows up
Learns how to do it all over again

No matter who started the argument
Just matters how each one ends
How many people really want resolution?

The main problem with people
Is they never do what they say
One minute they want peace
To do everything to make it go away
Dropping bombs on each other
In the act of saving face
Tell me now people: how is that resolution?

Either you do or you don't
Either you will or you won't
Making amends is a difficult pill to swallow

What can we use if we try?
With no water a flower dies

With love and belief resolution will follow
Oh yes it will
Resolution

Love is like a circle
No beginning and no end
A broken heart will mend
If you love it like your best friend
Handle your heart with care
It's as delicate as the wind
When the storms come again
Pray for resolution

Either you will or you won't
Either you do or you don't
When you want revolution
Come on everybody all over the world
All over the world
Tell me: how many people really want resolution?

I'm glad I had time to get the lyrics down. It's typical Prince in preachy-mode, giving us a message in music. Not as strong as the messages in Sign O' The Times, kind of skirts the topic of war and makes it more generalised. The same way Madonna sanitised global warming in hey you. I'd have hoped for more from Prince if he really was going to write about war, but ok, maybe he wanted to keep his nose out.

Conclusion: After releasing some fine dross to piss off Warner Bros through most of the 90s, Prince has returned to his usual high standards. It's almost as if he was saving all this for later. I am so glad he survived and made it through. Giving it away free with a UK Sunday paper is admirable. It's his kick in the groin to the music industry and making it just about a connection between him and us. Direct. Good. It's fine for artists who want to make money from their talents, I'm not knocking that, but when you really are gifted, you give your stuff away with pleasure.