Although Michael Jackson will always be haunted by botchedface-lifts and kiddie sex scandals, in decades to come it will bePrince -- the King of Pop's musical and stylistic double -- that'llbe remembered as the truly crazy one.
From his breakthrough LP, 1980's "Dirty Mind," to his string ofself-released albums in the 90s, Prince has always come across ascompletely unhinged on record. And unlike Jackson, who wasperfectly reasonable behind the mic as opposed to the real world,Prince has made a career out of transforming the masturbationfantasies and egomaniacal hang-ups of his personal life into thebest pop music around.
"Musicology," the Purple One's latest release and the first tobe distributed by a major label since the artist's much-publicizedbreak with Warner Records, is a neat summation of the prime ofPrince's career, minus the insanity that made it so memorable inthe first place. With its by-the-numbers songwriting andcomparatively puritanical material -- Prince is now a happilymarried Jehovah's Witness -- "Musicology" is a comeback albumwithout the come.
As its title hints, and as the snippets of bygone Prince hitsthat litter the record prove, "Musicology" is an album greatlyindebted to its creator's past. In other words, Prince isn't tryingto break new ground here; which is frankly a relief considering inrecent decades "breaking new ground" for Prince meant releasingmulti-disc records that alienated all but the most cultish offans.
But if there's nothing particularly forward-thinking about"Musicology," there isn't anything very offensive or daring aboutit either. It's a patently safe record -- a piece of criticism thatI never thought I would attribute to a Prince album.
This is Prince on auto-pilot: the man could have written aslow-cooking ballad like "Call My Name" or "On the Couch" in hissleep during the 80s, but at least back then they would haveincluded a lot more panting and howls. Similarly, Prince's funkierside has suffered a scaling-back on "Musicology": the album's titletrack is straight-up James Brown, but where's the ostentation, thesurprises? Where's the Prince?
In rediscovering his muse or God or whatever, Prince has losthimself in his own formulas. Fortunately, they're great formulas asthe robotic funk of "Life O the Party" or "Illusion, Coma, Pimp& Circumstance" show.
The album's best track, "Cinnamon Girl," is pure Prince circa1984. With huge overblown hooks and ecstatic choruses (nobody butPrince can pull this stuff off), it transcends "Musicology's"pre-packaged nostalgia and reminds us why Prince was the mostprolific hit-machine of the 80s. And of course, it soundsabsolutely insane.
Unfortunately, "Musicology" never picks up this vibe again. Whatwe're left with is an album that never reaches the dizzying heightsof "Purple Rain" or the minimalist pop of "Dirty Mind" or theambition of "Sign 'O' the Times." Instead, "Musicology" pillagesthe tried and true, better and bolder music of the past. It's asafe way to assure a comeback, but it would have been truer to thespirit of Prince if this comeback was a little less calculated, anda lot more outrageous.
