And then there were three: U2, Madonna and Prince. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s all we have left from the 80s, ladies and gentlemen. They\u2019re really the only active musical acts from that decade still worth writing about, at least until Metallica drops their long-awaited next studio album. <\/p>\n
For his part, Prince has found his way back from semi-obscurity, thanks in part to his recent induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a Superbowl appearance. His last album, 3121<\/i>, <\/i>even topped the charts, which all but sealed the deal. It was his first to reach that peak since 1991\u2019s Diamonds And Pearls<\/i>. <\/p>\n
Thankfully, his newest offering, Planet Earth<\/i>, is just as good. His New Power Generation band is back and sounding better than ever, though the backing vocalists tend to be somewhat distracting at times. Don\u2019t expect a track listing or lyric booklet either, because there ain\u2019t one. There\u2019s a great shot of Prince on the inner sleeve, however, which almost makes up for it. More importantly, there really aren\u2019t any bum tracks to be found on Planet Earth<\/i>, though the slower tunes come mighty close. <\/p>\n
As for the great title of \u201cFuture Love Mama,\u201d I was the most disappointed by its end result.\u00a0 It\u2019s the kind of ballad Prince can do in his sleep, one that we\u2019ve heard far too many times from him before. The title track isn\u2019t quite the epic it is clearly intended to be and the jazz number \u201cSomewhere On Earth\u201d is a yawn inducer, but the other cuts more than save the day. For what it\u2019s worth, there\u2019s even a rap-infused song called \u201cMr. Goodnight\u201d to satisfy today\u2019s hip-hop generation. <\/p>\n
New and old Prince fans alike should find enough here to quench their thirst for some actual songs and real music. It\u2019s certainly what I\u2019ve been waiting for; it will be a miracle if any of this new material gets played on the radio. <\/p>\n
For disc jockeys not to give this album a chance to be heard would be a downright shame. The single \u201cGuitar\u201d is funky fun of the first order, while \u201cThe One U Wanna C\u201d is the most easily accessible Prince pop song in years. Both of these examples have a light and open feel. Yet Prince\u2019s guitar playing is front and center on this album, not to mention all the other instruments he has mastered over his many years in the business. The last four songs are all terrific in their own right, each representing a different style of music; a highlight here is \u201cAll The Midnights In The World,\u201d where the theme is childlike innocence and the sweetness and simplicity make such an all-too-brief song stand out. <\/p>\n
Harkening back to the age of disco, \u201cChelsea Rodgers\u201d is the one throw-down dance track that will make you get up on your feet and, in Prince\u2019s words, \u201cshake it like a Juicy Juice.\u201d The mid-tempo \u201cLion Of Judah\u201d starts out sounding a little like the classic \u201cPurple Rain,\u201d but unfortunately that\u2019s where the similarities end. The closer \u201cResolution\u201d is a peace anthem that will have many listeners yearning for another Hands Across America\u2026 though I don\u2019t think I\u2019d go that far. <\/p>\n
But I will go so far as to say this album is easily worth hearing. Talk about a return to form. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":28963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7314],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-40467","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-prince","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40467"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}