The very first Prince fan I have come to know is my Dad. Amongst many things that my Dad and I have in common (oh gosh, my thinning hair), it is Prince’s “Purple Rain”. As I type this blog, my 72 years old dad is still hospitalized in Hong Kong hoping to return home tomorrow. Perhaps I shall pass him the last 3 studio albums of Prince to cheer him up since “Musicology”, “3121”, and “Planet Earth” have somewhat returned to Prince’s root.
As years pass by, I have met more and more Prince fans – very discreetly. After all, it is not like being a fan of Bon Jovi or Linkin Park that people proclaim in public. I often think that people who are fans of Prince are sort of weird in the unique genius way. For those who are fans of Prince, there seems to be a certain connection that transcends words. My Indonesia friend Andre – a Prince fan himself – got me the very-hard-to-get “Crystal Ball” album (3 CDs in one clear container) from US back in 1997. That added to … you may want to pay attention to this .. my twenty-two Prince album collection out of his 48 albums of studio, hits and compilations, and live recording. I don’t think there is another artist that comes close to Prince in terms of my shelf space occupancy.
Prince first made his number 1 US hit back in 1984 with “When Doves Cry” in his Purple Rain era. It was not until 1994 when his gained a UK number 1 with “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”. The early nineties was the time when Prince turned himself into a Symbol that the journalists “pronounced” as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince. In his album “Come”, he basically pronounced himself dead with a cover art of “Prince: 1958-1993” in front of a cemetery. So, Prince was dead and here came the Symbol. His 10th studio album released using this symbol (titled “Love Symbol”) is coincidentally both Cynthia and my favorite. That was before we met.
After a long struggle with the music industry, poor distribution and airplay, Prince in recent years has “resurrected” himself and started to distribute some of his albums using his name via different record companies. It is good news to me because you have no clue how hard it is for me to trace all his work.
No one can tell what the next Prince album is like. I think that is the essence of why some of us are so into his music. He is a genius as a composer, producer, and musician, expert in different types of instruments. He started his music career with pop funk, got heavier with more rock element, then he finally gave in to rap only to head towards jazz and instrumental in the early 2000. In his recent releases, he has mellowed down the experimental nature of his work and created something that perhaps appeal to the general public. “Planet Earth” has a good mix of funk and R&B and pop rock. I always enjoy Prince’s guitar solo and I am glad that lately, he plays it more prominently in his albums. I like the opening track “Planet Earth” – very powerful with a strong rock base. I can understand why people enjoy the smooth R&B “Mr. Goodnight”. My favorite has to be the funk track “Chelsea Rodgers”. That one bass line is used throughout the entire track of close to 6 minutes. If you notice, there is only one set of chords that are being played (Bb C and F). The song doesn’t have noticeable chorus but it is such fun to listen to. The ending track “Resolution” closes the album nicely – musically and lyrically.
Now, what does “Planet Earth” has to do with the ongoing discussion between one of my friends who believes that illegal music download is the way to revolutionize the music industry and I who believe that no one works for free and we have to pay for what we get (see previous blog)? Prince released “Planet Earth” in UK for free with the newspaper “The Mail” reaching 3 millions readers or rather listeners in one day. He practically earned himself a bigger sum (8 times over what he gets from his previous album) to a much wider audience. That was in time for his UK tour. And he screwed the music record company and retailers big time. Something that my friend is glad to hear. For those are interested, here is the link to the news from Time.com.