LT's Review - Prince - Planet Earth

Official Prince site: 3121.com.

U.K. Release: July 15, 2007
Germany Release: July 20, 2007
U.S.A. Release: July 24, 2007
Recorded: 2006–2007
Genre: R&B, Rock
Length: 45:00
Label: Columbia Records

Produced, Arranged, Composed & Performed by Prince & The New Power Generation - Morris Hayes, C.C. Dunham, Joshua, Shelby J, The Twinz, Mike Phillips, Maceo Parker, Greg Boyer, Lee Hogan, Renato Neto.

Michael B - drums, Sonny T - bass, Wendy - acoustic guitar & mandolin, Lisa - additional keys, Christian Scott - trumpet, Sheila E - percussion, Marva King - vocals, Bria Valente - vocals.

I finally had a chance to hear Prince's new album Planet Earth today. This, after many attempts. It's been a busy summer even for a Prince fan like myself who will usually pick up some new Prince the same day or week of its release! ;) OK, here we go:

Track List & My First Thoughts:

1. "Planet Earth" (5:51) - Very timely message. Out of this world electric guitar foot pedal effect at the end.

2. "Guitar" (3:45) - A true rocker in the style that only Prince can bring. Also, has a Lenny Kravitz like vibe. I saw the Verizon Wireless commercial for this so many times I could not get the commerical out of my head while hearing it! Hearing the full song at last was a treat as it was intended to be heard.

3. "Somewhere Here on Earth" (5:45) - Beautiful lush mellow slow jam complete with strings, piano, flutes and sax. Beautifully written lyrics all around. "...And even though I'm all alone 4 what it's worth U're somewhere here on Earth..." Prince doing what he does best in the love department. This is another one I could see considered a Prince classic.

4. "The One U Wanna C" (4:29) - Love this one. Another upbeat Prince happy rocker that takes me back to Prince in the late 80s. Effervescent 80s pop. A real standout song that makes me think why we all love listening and dancing to Prince.

5. "Future Baby Mama" (4:47) - Don't let the title throw you. This is a top shelf track right here that has been getting many spins and a lot of love on Adult Urban Contemporary slow jam shows and even during the afternoon timeslots. Tight lyrics. A tight groove. According to Billboard, although this track was not released as a single, "Future Baby Mama" has been gathering radio airplay on American R&B radio and currently is charting within the top 50 of the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list.

6. "Mr. Goodnight" (4:26) - Nice segue into this one! A solid head bobber. This one has Prince's magic all over it and then some. Another tight Prince love groove with just enough beat to do the two-step to and throw your hands in the air when you feel it. Prince does spoken word. Cool lyrics. The way Prince put this together? Another example of his musical and creative genius.

7. "All the Midnights in the World" (2:21) - A short little song that reminds me of something we'd hear from Joni Mitchell.

8. "Chelsea Rodgers" (5:41) - This one grabbed me from the beginning. One I'd love to see Prince & The New Power Generation do live. This is a crowd mover. I love the chorus of "...Chelsea Rodgers was a model, Thought she really rocked the road, yes she did, Kept her tears up in a bottle, Poured them out to save her soul". This track reminds me of Dorothy Parker but more in a in your face funked up type of way. I love the story Prince tells in this one of the main character Chelsea Rodgers.

9. "Lion of Judah" (4:10) - Wikipedia lists The Lion of Judah as - "The Lion of Judah has its origins in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) where the Israelite tribe of Judah had the lion as its symbol." Prince starts this song telling us what seems to be a very personal story of him and a young lady of interest who he is having a relationship with because he adores her, but because he has been through this so many times and he know how the press plays it out, he is cautious to pursue the relationship with her publicly. The chorus is "...Like the Lion of Judah (Judah), I Strike my enemys down, As my God is living, Surely the trumpet will sound, There was 1 who would stand by my side, Through the good and the bad, Let that 1 stand with pride, The best that I ever had..."

10. "Resolution" (3:40) - This final cut on this album once again took me back to hearing Prince in the 80s when he would do songs on why does man go to war. Over 20 yrs later, some of the same questions asked. Also reminded me of Marvin's What's Going On? in it's lyrical content and questions posed.

My Overall Review:

Planet Earth is a fast moving album that clocks in at only 45 minutes. Only 10 tracks. Prince comes in, does his thing, speaks his peace, rocks a lil' bit, loves a lil' bit, drops some science and knowledge that leaves us all thinking, and he's out! LOL. The lyrics he sings on the headlines we all hear, see and read today are all very good, relevant and thought provoking; The Earth, Global Warming, The War, Man's Continuous Need to go to war over and over again and all for what? Listening to this album was akin to listening to a musical kaleidoscope with many positive messages.

Prince brings Michael B back on this album and you can really feel his power on the drums. Michael B has played drums on Diamonds and Pearls, The Symbol Album, Come, The Gold Experience, Chaos and Disorder, Emancipation, Exodus and Graham Central Station 2000. It was also great to hear the contributions from the other former NPG members.

Closing thoughts? As talented and as many songs we know Prince has to offer at any given time, I would have loved to hear this album go longer and actually it made me think we may get something else before 2007 or a full year's time is out. I also thought Prince's idea to have the British newspaper The Mail on Sunday to release Planet Earth as a free CD with the July 15th, 2007 edition of the paper was yet another creative move on his part to help get this album sold and garner more attention to it.

Overall a nice filler on timely issues and even some nice slow jams that will do well to hold us over until his next. I predict the next album will be a bit bigger release filled with longer tracks.

~LT