Prince's Enjoyable, Underwhelming Planet Earth
Written: Mar 27 '09 (Updated Mar 27 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great musicianship, effortless genre hopping (duh, it's a Prince album.) It's enjoyable, but...
Cons: ...also kinda boring. Lyrics are distractingly cheesy.
The Bottom Line: Not bad, not great.
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| helenekhoffman's Full Review: Planet Earth by Prince |
So...Planet Earth, the album that came out shortly after Prince's showstopping Superbowl performance (2007), and that irritated fans with its download-only packaging. (Which I agree sucks. Dude, you could have at least put a track list on the in-store physical copy, fer cryin' out loud.) The album I am just listening to and reviewing now, because I'm slow.
I like Prince, so I'll start with what I dig about this modestly charming record. There's the usual stellar musicianship and effortless genre hopping (smooth jazz, smoochy R&B, funk, pop rock.) There are two great (as opposed to merely good) tracks: the torch song "Somewhere Here on Earth" (where Prince eerily, utterly convincingly mimics the phrasing of an old school jazz diva...his past life alter ego?) and the bubbly funk jam "Chelsea Rodgers" (featuring a lively female guest vocal.)
Come to think of it, there's nothing I outright dislike about Planet Earth; I just have mixed feelings about it. It's weird how it feels both loose and tame, both concise and fluffy, both fun and a little boring. It's not at all self indulgent, which is a refreshing break from Prince's usual M.O., but the album is ultimately...underwhelming.
Sure, it's endearing that on the poppy "Lion of Judah" and "Resolution" I can picture Prince leading a hippie camp fire sing-along with a sweet, charmingly earnest expression on his face. It's fun to hear his cheerful, carefree fretwork on "Guitar." It's cute (and I swear I mean that in a totally snark-free way) to hear the guy that once bragged of wanting to f-ck the taste right out of girl's mouth croon a tender R&B ode to a "Future Baby Mama" and demurely rap about champagne-and-flowers loooove making on "Mr. Goodnight." Etc. But with the exception of the aforementioned "Chelsea Rodgers" and "Somewhere Here on Earth" there is a polite, cutesy cheesiness to Planet Earth's tracks that's both disarming and off-putting. Also, Prince's lyrics are pretty disposable throughout. Disposable lyrics usually aren't too much of a problem for me, but here they are distractingly lightweight and cliche.
I don't know. Planet Earth has stayed in my car's CD player for the past few days, so I suppose the things that bother me about it from a critic's standpoint aren't stopping me from enjoying it. On the other hand, I don't think I'll be having any urges to hear it again after I return it to the library.
Recommended:
Yes
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helenekhoffman
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Member: Helene
Location: Tampa, FL
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New job's taken me away from writing. Miss you guys, though.
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