Prince is among the most easily recognized artists in the world. Born Prince Rogers Nelson, his first studio album was released in Spring 1978 and since then he’s released 24 studio albums. Among those albums he’s had five Number 1 singles, a litter of Top 10 singles, and four #1 albums along with some Grammy awards sprinkled in. He’s also produced for other top-selling artists like Whitney Houston, Sheila E., Alicia Keys, Tevin Campbell, Madonna, and The Time. He was named #28 on Rolling Stones Top 100 Artists of All-Time in 2004 and #5 on the Top 25 Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years. Having gone through several name changes, writing “slave” on his face over a dispute with his former label Warner Bros., and some interesting love relationships Prince remains an icon of pop culture. Planet Earth is his 24th LP.

Like most people I know I enjoy and appreciate Prince’s music but I’m not a “Prince freak”, excuse the pun. Certainly, his hits rival the catalog of almost any artist you can name. Part of his appeal is also that he appears timeless having turned 49 years old last month. Still, with Planet Earth I honestly didn’t quite know what to expect other than at least two singles that would likely be listenable. Sometimes it’s good to be wrong.

The album starts off with a solemn lead-in to the title track Planet Earth. Here Prince does his socially conscious thing by using his instrument to speak on earth-friendliness, race relations, and war. I would expect nothing less from Prince. Whether you agree with his commentary or not, the track is a good R&B/rock mix that picks up nicely as you get into the song. Even if some may see the track as “preachy” it doesn’t weight itself down. Very nice guitar riffs at the end as well.

“Somewhere Here On Earth” is another track of note that has a well-infused R&B/jazz sound. Great muted trumpet solo at the beginning that has a very “Miles Davis”-like quality. The track itself will remind jazz listeners of a Billie Holiday sound. The track is very smooth, soft, and sexy but not in a pornagraphic way many of us tend to characterize Prince’s music as.

The next track “The One U Wanna C” is hard to pigeon-hole. Maybe a little Counting Crows meets Fishbone? Whatever, it’s still uniquely Prince. Possibly what Prince does the best on this album is rock and this is a song that maybe displays it best. If you liked his Superbowl halftime performance last year you’ll like this track.

***Star Track***

You may disagree after listening to the album, but my favorite track was “Mr. Goodnight”. CLASSIC Prince with a modern feel. Ya’ll they got Prince rapping and he did a good job! The beat and the mood of the song reminds me of “Big Poppa”, but again, it’s uniquely Prince. A strong headbobber that will draw in the younger listener who probably doesn’t remember “Rasberry Berret”.

I realize most people won’t consider this to be among Prince’s classics, but it has to go among his better releases. Prince manages to craft an album that simultaneously bridges the gap between younger listeners and his core base and brings in non-traditional Prince listeners by keeping the album PG. He also caters to the mainstream rock audience with tracks like “Lion of Judah” and “Guitar”. Prince again displays himself as a technician at production and pines out an album without any throwaway tracks.

I give Planet Earth an A rating.