CD review (From Barry And District News)

CD review

AFTER disappearing from the mainstream music scene for what seems like a 100 years, the artist formerly known as Prince (that means you can call him Prince again!) has come back.

Whether he ever left will surely be an argument put forward by his most dedicated supporters, who no doubt followed him through the darker years when he made records that tickled only his own eccentric fancy.

But 'Musicology' has once more reconnected with that deep vein of funk.

Lean and minimal but with airtight grooves and a definite swing to the beat, the Purple One shows he can still fuse the spiritual with the carnal.

But he has turned down the heat noticeably since finding religion and becoming a Jehovah's Witness.

Instead of a dirty mind, Prince extols the joys of wedded bliss after his marriage to Manuela Testolini on New Year's Eve 2001, on the slow, seductive Call My Name.

And his sardonic sense of humour and high-voltage intellect shines through when he has a prod at his old rival Michael Jackson on Life O The Party, squeaking out 'My voice is getting higher, I ain't never had my nose done'.

This is a must-have for die-hards, and a good starting place for younger listeners who may be asking "Prince Who?"