DON'T YOU DARE CALL THIS A COMEBACK!

Album review by Kent Daniel Bentkowski

With the release of MUSICOLOGY, PRINCE has finally brought his music full circle --- but don't you dare call this a comeback! Why, because the man never stopped making music, that's why!

After the embarrasingly horrible RAINBOW CHILDREN, I was kind of wondering if I was going to have to say goodbye to one of my all- time favorite musicians. However, MUSICOLOGY is Prince's best album since 1991's DIAMONDS AND PEARLS, while some critics have stated that it is his best since SIGN O' THE TIMES four years earlier.

MUSICOLOGY brings Prince's music full circle --- the funk is now tinged with jazz backbeats and horn section accents --- a very interesting amalgam --- and one certainly worth checking out.

95% of this album is all PRINCE, just like the best albums of his superstar period of 1982-1992. In fact, the new song A MILLION DAYS sounds like it comes from the AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY sessions.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this album, given Prince's past lawsuit with WARNER BROTHERS, is that NPG RECORDS is now distributed by COLUMBIA RECORDS. The muscle was well wortth it, as it positioned PRINCE very well both in the press, and with retail store placement --- music lovers all know by now that this is an important release.

The album contains twelve songs which run a total of 47:44, plus there is an MPEG video of the MUSICOLOGY single. The breakout tracks on the album also represent a whirlwind of musical styles; with MUSICOLOGY representing dance funk, A MILLION DAYS representing an era when PRINCE ruled the music scene, CALL MY NAME a love ballad worthy of all its' '70's retro soul love song vibe, and the song that prompted me to write this review --- DEAR MR. MAN, a letter to THE MAN asking him why he continues to fuck over the world for a buck --- this is PRINCE at his most political.

There is also a song on the album called CINNAMON GIRL, and I wondered aloud of this was a cover of the Neil Young song, which thankfully, it is not.

Instead of attempting to describe DEAR MR. MAN, I'll just print the lyrics, because they are a very strong statement in and of themselves:

DEAR MR. MAN (Lyrics and music by Prince)

What's wong with the world 2day? / Things just got 2 get better / Sho' ain't what the leaders say / Maybe we should write a letter /

Dear Mr. Man / We don't understand / Y poor people keep on struggling / And U don't lend a hand /

Matthew 5:5 say / The meek shall inherit the earth / We wanna be down that way / But U been trippin' since the day of Ur birth /

Who said to kill is a sin / And started every single war / That ur people been in? / Who said that water is a precious commodity / Then dropped a big, ol' black oil slick / In the deep blue sea? /

Who told me Mr. Man / That working around the clock / Will buy me a big house in the 'hood / With cigarette ads on every block? /

Who told me Mr. Man / That I got a right to moan? / How 'bout this big ol' hole in the ozone? /

What's wrong with the world 2day? / Things just got 2 get better / Dear Mr. Man, we don't understand / Maybe we should write a letter /

Ain't no sense in voting / Same song with a different name / Might not be in the back of the bus / But it sho' feel just the same / Ain't nothin' fair about welfare / Ain't no assistance in AIDS / Ain't nothin' affirmative about ur actions / 'Til the people get paid! /

Ur thousand years R up, Mr. Man / Now U got 2 share the land / Section 1, the 14th amendment says: / No state shall deprive any person / Of life, liberty, or property / Without due process of law /

Mr. Man, we want 2 end this letter with 3 words / "We tried U'all!" /

(c) 2004 NPG Records. All rights reserved. Lyrics reprinted courtesy of the fair use clause of US copyright law.

NOTE: The above lyrics were reprinted EXACTLY as written in the lyric book, with the exception of how they were typed. I had to type them in the above manner, due to incompatibilities between the DBIS message board software and Macintosh OS X.

I think that Prince Rogers Nelson has a pretty good take on the above concepts, where the NEW WORLD ORDER globalists have severely overplayed their hand, one of the major reasons why BU$H is in so much trouble right now, politically speaking. All that lying has finally caught up with him. (I hope so, at least).

So, this new PRINCE album is his best in thirteen years, and if the funk-jazz fusion style is something you enjoy, please take my word for it, and give this one a spin.

KDB RATING: A+ (He's back!)

Thanks for listening, y'all . . .

KDB = Buffalo, NY USA