But, being such a legend creates a legacy that can be impossible to live up to. It’s the same problem facing bands like The Rolling Stones and U2. When you’ve already got multiple greatest hits albums worth of classics, what’s left to prove? Only a select few want to hear your new music, and each album has to live up to an impossible legacy. Even if this album was as good as his 80s stuff, it couldn’t match our memory of what that album was.
I’m relatively new to Prince, still getting caught up on his catalogue, so I don’t have that reverence for his past work. Listening from that perspective, this album consistently matches the mid tier of his 80s work. There are some clunkers, like “Somewhere Here on Earth,” but songs like “The One U Wanna C” and “Mr. Goodnight” are thoroughly enjoyable. He’s still got a wonderful, unique voice, and I love the stylistic variation he features throughout the album. I didn’t like the slowed down R&B stylings of “Somewhere,” but he picks up the tempo with the next track, going to a sunny rock song.
Part of what makes Prince so great is the plain ridiculousness of some of his stuff. “Future Baby Mama” is full of popping porn style synth flourishes, which keep the loverman style vocal from getting too stale. The lyrics aren’t exactly great, but when he sings the chorus with that backing harmony, it sells it. “Chelsea Rodgers” is one of the best tracks on the album, with history spanning lyrics and a really tight horn line.
Ultimately, this is a really strong album. It’s not going to live up to Prince’s best work, but virtually nothing is. I’d love to see another album on the level of Purple Rain, but this is a great collection of songs and I’ll be listening to it for a good long time.
Article comments
1 - daryl d
This album is awful! I was so much looking forward to Prince releasing a good album for once. Why is it that one of the most musically talented artists of our time releases nothing but awful records. It's the equivalent of a weightlifting champion only being able to lift 50 pounds.
2 - Sophie
Prince is absolutely amazing, I love all his albums, I find them all unique. He's different from anything else out there, he's a genius, and I just saw him last weekend and he was great!
3 - PROOF THAT WHAT HE TOOK CREDIT FOR IN THE PAST, WAS NOT HIS WORK
YEARS NOW I'VE BEEN SAYING, THE PRINCE OF THIEVES, DID NOT CREATE THE EARLIER WORK. HE STOLE HIS IDEAS FROM NUMEROUS PEOPLE, NEVER PAID THEM FOR THEIR IDEAS. YES HE CAN PLAY INSTRUMENTS, SO WHAT. THE HITS CAME FROM SOMEONE ELSE. AND, I'M NOT TALKING WENDY LISA, THEY ARE STILL LESS THAN MEDIOCRE. SOMEONE ELSE, WAS THE CREATIVE LINK, THAT HE LONG AGO LOST.
4 - HE COULDN'T WRITE HIS WAY OUT OF A PAPER BAG
HE DID NOT WRITE HIS HITS!!! SOMEONE ELSE DID, AND OBVIOUSLY THEY DIDN'T NEED THE FAME, OR MAYBE THEY CARED ABOUT HIM, GAVE HIM MATERIAL, HE USED THEM AND NOW THEY HAVE BEEN OBVIOUSLY GONE, A LONG TIME. HE STRESSES NEW MUSIC, BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE CAN;T RECREATE THE GENIUS OF THE PAST, CAUSE HE DIDN'T WRITE THOSE SONGS. WE ALL KNOW ABOUT HIS LEGAL LETTERS. THAT;S WHY IT'S NOT COMMON KNOWLEDGE WHAT A REAL PHONEY HE REALLY IS.
5 - GATE CRASHER
NOTICE HOW PATHETIC FOR ATTENTION HE IS THAT MAJOR PREMIERS OF OTHER STARS, HE SHOWS UP UNIVITED, CAUSE HE KNOWS THE PRESS IS ALREADY THERE, ACTING LIKE HES SO IMPORTANT, HE REALLY KNOWS HOW TO USE OTHER PEOPLES FAME AND EVENTS, TO STEAL THEIR PRESS!!! MATT DAMON AND I LAUGHED OUR BUTTS OFF WHEN HE SHOWED UP WITHY THOSE TWIN HIPPOS, LIKE HE WAS JAMES BROWN. HE HAS STOLEN HIS WHOLE IMAGE FROM OTHERS. NOT ORIGINAL IN ANY WAY, NEVER WAS. JUST BETTER AT PHONEY HYPE. HE PLANS EVERY MOVE HE MAKES TO HYPE HIMSELF AT OTHER STARS EVENTS. THEN GOD FORBID YOU END UP IN A PICTURE, YOU DON'T KNOW HE PLANNED TO USE YOUR IMAGE IN, NEXT HE USES YOUR NAME ON HIS SITE AS A PRESS RELEASE, THATS AN OBVIOUS PHONEY SETUP. THE STARS ARE GETTING HIP, WHEN THEY SEE HIM GATE CRASH, THEY GO THE OTHER WAY!!! TO NOT GET USED FOR THEIR WELL EARNED SUCCESS, BY THE LITTLE VAMPIRE.
6 - HED ALSO CALLS THE MAGS HIMSELF, THEY DON'T KNOW ITS HIM
HE IS MOST FAMOUS FOR THE PRESS SETUP, WHERE HE CALLS THE PAPS HIMSELF AND THEN SHOWS UP AS IF HE DON'T KNOW THEY ARE THERE. ITS KNOWN FACT NOW, SO WHEN SOMEONE CALLS AND SAYS PRINCE MAY BE SO AND SO PLACE, WE KNOWS ITS HIM SETTING US UP. TMZ HAD VIDEO OF HIM NOT KNOWING HE PLANNED THE WHOLE THING, WHEN GUITAR CAME OUT. WE THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS UP WHEN HE DROVE AROUND THE PARKING LOT WAITING FOR US, TO SHOW, AND THEN PRETENDED HE DIDN;T WANT A PICTURE. HE HAS TO BEG, TO GET PRESS ON HIS OWN, WE ARE JUST NOT INTERESTED. HE PLANNED THE BACK OF THAT BAR CRAP, FOR SURE.