Prince’s Guitar-Shaped Shadow

Prince- Planet Earth

Jackson Free Press

August 1, 2007

When Prince releases a new album, I want it to be great. I just missed his heyday in the early- to mid-’80s, when he put out no fewer than three classic albums (“Dirty Mind,” “Purple Rain,” and “Sign O’ the Times”) and another four or five albums that blow away what qualifies as pop music today. What continues to make these albums stand out from his releases in the past few years is sheer backbone—which he has since replaced with smooth blandness.

Few popular artists have so brazenly written songs with less regard to what listeners might think than Prince in the 1980s. Throughout the decade, he had the fortitude to write songs on topics as controversial as an incestuous relationship with his sister, using his sexual prowess to break up a marriage, hooking up in a variety of public places and fantasizing about Cindy Crawford.

Though he still has a swagger about him—which emerges periodically, though much less frequently than in his glory days—the gutsiness has essentially disappeared from his music. The most notable return to the Prince of the past was his infamous “shadow” performance at the Super Bowl halftime show, in which his guitar doubled as skin flute. But such bold moves have all but vanished from his recordings, particularly his past three “comeback” albums, released since he regained rights to the name Prince.

“Musicology,” “3121” and his new album, “Planet Earth,” are all lacking the “love it or leave it” attitude that Prince once employed. Now, he seems interested more in doing just the opposite: making everyone love him. This strategy is most evident with the British release of “Planet Earth,” which he distributed for free in the Sunday paper.

Many of his love songs continue to be affecting, though not the way they used to be. They are moving now in a Motown-y kind of way; overwhelmingly, they are generic, G-rated songs.

Gone is the Prince who used intimate personal stories to back up his pain and devotion. This is the “When Harry Met Sally” Prince, not the “Annie Hall” one who wasn’t afraid to defy the rules and make them more danceable.

“Planet Earth” is the most disposable of the three comeback albums. There is little grab to any of the songs, nothing that draws you in and forces you to listen to it the way any great pop song should. Prince used to be a master of this, back when he wrote a verse about having sex with his since-deceased girlfriend on “Another Lonely Christmas.”

The title track on “Planet Earth” is probably the strongest song on the album. In the vein of “Sign O’ the Times” and “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night,” he takes on social issues, tackling everything from global warming to the war in Iraq.

However, the album as a whole is largely forgettable. “3121” continues to be the album to check out if you are interested in the rebirth of Prince, though so far the new Prince has proven to be just a shadow of the original man.

Original Article