| · After finding that even he couldn't pull off peddling Watchtowers in Minneapolis, Prince relocates to Toronto and records Musicology.
It’s been said before that it’s better to be poor than to be average – at least then you’re memorable. And so it is with Musicology. Widely touted as Prince’s comeback album, it’s only a comeback in terms of everybody realizing exactly how inconsistent, if not poor, the Purple Man’s output has been over the past decade.
There have been some odd occasions of brilliance now and then – the last album, The Rainbow Children, was a solid return to form, mired (and greatly so) only by the odd Jehovah’s Witness slant, replete with creepy robot narration. While The Rainbow Children is definitely a poorer cousin than Musicology, heck, at least you’d remember it if you actually heard it.
To be fair, Musicology’s got some great moments too – the sex funk of "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance," the sex slow cooker of "Call My Name," and, um, the other sex tracks (let’s face it – pious Jehovah’s Witness or not, Prince is still the sexiest MF around) – but they’re largely innocuous in the same way his 1985 release Around the World in a Day was. Musicology is satisfying for Prince fans in that they’re finally validated for being, uh, Prince fans, but it’s frustrating to know Prince has still got it, yet chooses not to wield it.
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