His name is Prince, again

Conservatives taking reign? Economic turmoil? Music business scandals? Blam! Prince is relevant again. Like freaking clockwork, the Purple One has descended from his velvet clouds of soft jazz and internet-only releases 2 put together his first industry-released studio album since 1999's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic.\nAnd by its very name, Musicology, it's clear Prince is here 2 educate. Lesson one: James Brown has more soul than the afterlife and Ur a sucker 2 think otherwise. Though he's always had a love 4 Brown and early funk, it's never been as apparent on the pair of funk cuts on this album, "Musicology" and "Life 'O' the Party" (yes, thankfully Prince still shaves off valuable printing costs by eliminating unnecessary spellings of words which can be represented by a single letter or number). Funk has competition, though, and that brings me 2 lesson two. \nLesson two: I am still not over soft jazz. The slithering, nauseating fumes of that musical bastardization creep in2 more than one cut -- let's say about 40 percent of the album periodically reminds me of JCPenney. This is where I should tell you this album is not completely 4 the uninitiated.\nOver the past couple years, I have joined the cult of Prince (he doesn't mind it when U say his name anymore). U probably start out with 1999, then hit Purple Rain, then on 2 Sign 'O' the Times, then some early stuff like Dirty Mind, and it's at about this point, U realize Prince gets a little rocky. But, 4 some reason, U don't care, and U keep buying albums. Under the Cherry Moon, Love Symbol, maybe even The Gold Experience so U can hear "P Control." But since his "emancipation" from Warner Bros., all of his albums have been 4 the die-hards exclusively. \nThat's really why this album is so momentous. He broadens the scope and makes U believe the album isn't just 4 him. It's still not great; it's good with maybe three great songs on it. Case in point: "Cinnamon Girl." No, it's not a Neil Young cover. These four and a half minutes represent the sum total of the pure unabashed pop on Musicology and the only time in the last 10 years when Prince has just said, "Here. In case U forgot what pop music should sound like, here. I'm a crazy genius." Thanks. Next time, hold the minor sevenths.