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Planet Earth

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  • Artist: Prince
  • Rating: StarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: July 24, 2007
  • Total Time: 44:55
  • Genre: Rhythm & Blues

Review

Comeback accomplished, Prince now settles into a groove with 2007's Planet Earth, his 26th studio album and successor to the two deliberate comebacks, Musicology and 3121. Those two albums were designed to storm the top of the charts but, more importantly, they were made with the intention of making Prince prominent again -- a gambit that worked since Prince worked hard, stealing the show at both the Superbowl and the American Idol fifth-season finale and turning into an in-demand concert ticket once again. Both records were recorded with the expectations of making a splash, and 3121 even made some overtures toward modern music, most noticeably in the sleek electro workout of "Black Sweat," which suggested that Prince had heard the Neptunes, even if he didn't pay them much mind. In contrast to such grudging nods at his progeny, Planet Earth doesn't attempt to make concessions to contemporary music, although it does make a point of addressing the modern world, whether it's in the neo-apocalyptic warnings of destruction and God on the title track or his offhand reference to "this digital age" on the sweet slow jam "Somewhere Here on Earth." Such passing asides are enough indication that, even if Prince may belong to his own universe, he surely lives in our world, something that's also apparent from his move to give away the album with Sunday newspapers in the U.K., a move that infuriated record labels in Britain -- since how can you sell something that's being given away for free? -- yet makes some sense in terms of sheer marketing. After all, Planet Earth is the kind of sturdy, highly enjoyable music that needs some manufactured hoopla around its release; otherwise, it will fade into the artist's prodigious back catalog because of its very nature. This isn't a self-styled comeback, it's an album that showcases a still-vital veteran relaxing and playing music that's not surprising, not fashionable, but not stodgy or fussy. That may mean that Planet Earth isn't much more than a quite good Prince album, one that hits upon his most accessible personas -- impish popster, funk-rocker, seductive balladeer, charmingly mystic weirdo -- and doesn't go much further than that, yet it still offers plenty to enjoy, either as sheer music (some of the synths are a bit glassy, but nobody knows how to make a record sound warm like Prince) or as songs. If there are no classics here -- or even songs that are as instantly grabbing as "Lolita" -- there are no bad songs either, with the very funny, tightly wound rocker "Guitar," the light, frothy "The One U Wanna C," and the NPG knockoff "Chelsea Rodgers" being as engaging as slow jams like "Future Baby Mama." There's no fluff and no fat, just ten strong songs delivered with just enough flair to remind you it's the work of Prince, yet strategically avoiding the indulgence that marginalized him throughout the '90s. Ultimately, Planet Earth is the sound of a working musician working, which makes it a bit of a passing pleasure, yet there's no denying that it is indeed a pleasure having him turn out solid records like this that build upon his legacy, no matter how modestly. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Planet Earth (album)

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Planet Earth
Studio album by Prince
Released July 15, 2007
Recorded 2006–2007
Genre R&B, pop, funk, rock
Length 45:00
Label NPG, Columbia
Producer Prince
Prince chronology
3121
(2006)		 Planet Earth
(2007)		 Lotusflow3r
(2009)
Singles from Planet Earth
  1. "Guitar"
    Released: July 9, 2007
  2. "Chelsea Rodgers"
    Released: August 6, 2007
  3. "The One U Wanna C"
    Released: September 2007

Planet Earth is the twenty-fifth studio album by American musician Prince, first released July 15, 2007 in the UK as a free covermount with The Mail on Sunday national newspaper. This was followed by the album's worldwide distribution. It features contributions from his newest protegée Bria Valente and former New Power Generation members Marva King, Sonny T, and Michael Bland, as well as Sheila E. and former Revolution members Wendy & Lisa.[1] The album debuted at number 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 96,000 in its first week. Upon its release, Planet Earth received generally positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 65/100 from Metacritic.[2]

Contents

Release and promotion

On June 27, 2007, "Future Baby Mama" was leaked to the Internet via an American online radio station. The first single, "Guitar", was distributed in partnership with Verizon Wireless.[3] During the week of September 3, 2007, Prince flew to Prague, and then Spain to film a music video for "Somewhere Here on Earth". The clip was released but it has only been played on the TV channel BET.

Initially, Prince came to an agreement with Columbia Records to distribute the record worldwide. Prince and Columbia had previously teamed up for the release of his Musicology album in 2004.[4] However, Prince's management struck a deal with The Mail on Sunday to release Planet Earth as a free covermount CD with the July 15, 2007 edition of the paper. This move brought much criticism from UK record stores which resulted in Columbia refusing to distribute the album in the UK, though its release in the rest of the world remained unaffected.[5]

Giving away albums for free was not new for Prince. In 2004, he gave free copies of Musicology to all concert goers during the tour of the same name.[6] Similarly, the Planet Earth album was given away with tickets to his 2007 concerts in London. As a result of the decision by Sony BMG to not distribute the album in the UK, record store chain HMV announced it would stock the 15 July 2007 edition of The Mail on Sunday in lieu of the CD, admitting that "selling the Mail on Sunday next week will be the only way to make the Prince album available to our customers, which, ultimately, has to be our overriding concern".[7] On July 10, 2007, several days before the official UK release through The Mail on Sunday, a low quality version (recorded from a stream) of Planet Earth was leaked onto the Internet.[8]

Singles

"Chelsea Rodgers" is the second single from Planet Earth, and was released worldwide on August 6, 2007. The B-side is album track "Mr. Goodnight". A video was made using footage of the band's performance at London Fashion Week. It premièred on October 28, 2007.

"Somewhere Here on Earth" is the third single from the album. On the week of 3 September 2007, Prince flew to Prague, and then Spain to film a music video for the song.[9] The full music video premiered on the BET Channel on February 12, 2008.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars[10]
Entertainment Weekly B+[11]
Los Angeles Times 3.5/4 stars[12]
NME (6/10)[13]
Pitchfork Media (4.8/10)[14]
PopMatters (7/10)[15]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars[16]
Spin 4.5/5 stars[17]
USA Today 3.5/4 stars[18]
The Village Voice (mixed)[19]

The album debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number three with 96,000 units sold in its first week. This is less than half of both Musicology and 3121.[20] As of October 2007, the album has sold about 298,000 copies in America, with almost no promotion, with the exception of the Verizon Wireless ad for "Guitar". Although not released as a single, "Future Baby Mama" gathered radio airplay on American R&B radio and charted within the top 40 of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song won Prince a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

Track listing

All songs written and produced by Prince.

  1. "Planet Earth" – 5:51
  2. "Guitar" – 3:45
  3. "Somewhere Here on Earth" – 5:45
  4. "The One U Wanna C" – 4:29
  5. "Future Baby Mama" – 4:47
  6. "Mr. Goodnight" – 4:26
  7. "All the Midnights in the World" – 2:21
  8. "Chelsea Rodgers" – 5:41
  9. "Lion of Judah" – 4:10
  10. "Resolution" – 3:40

Release history

Country Date
United Kingdom July 15, 2007
Germany July 20, 2007
United States July 24, 2007

References

  1. ^ "Columbia Snaps Up Prince's 'Planet Earth'". Billboard.com. June 12, 2007. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003597448. 
  2. ^ "Planet Earth - Prince". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/prince/planetearth. Retrieved November 29, 2009. 
  3. ^ "Prince Reunites With Wendy & Lisa!". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/43561-prince-reunites-with-wendy-lisa. [dead link]
  4. ^ "Prince Album Drama". Yahoo! Music. June 28, 2007. http://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com/dyna/article.html?a=/070628/340/hbc3j.html&e=l_news_dm. Retrieved June 28, 2007. 
  5. ^ "Prince Free Album Causes BMG U.K. to Pull Distribution". singersroom.com. June 30, 2007. Archived from the original on July 2, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070702132831/http://www.singersroom.com/news/entertainment-story-917.asp. 
  6. ^ Brook, Stephen (July 9, 2007). "HMV defends about-face over Prince giveaway". The Guardian (London). http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,,2122295,00.html. Retrieved May 22, 2010. 
  7. ^ "Planet Earth". Prince Vault. June 22, 2011. http://www.princevault.com/index.php?title=Album:_Planet_Earth&oldid=83109. Retrieved September 17, 2011. 
  8. ^ "Expo40p14-15Prince". fuji.co.uk. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20081121131255/http://www.motion.fuji.co.uk/resources/pdf/Expo40p14-15Prince.pdf. 
  9. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince: Planet Earth > Review" at Allmusic. Retrieved November 29, 2009.
  10. ^ Willman, Chris (July 23, 2007). "Planet Earth (2007): Prince". Entertainment Weekly (Time) (#945). ISSN 1049-0434. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20046850,00.html. Retrieved November 29, 2009. 
  11. ^ Powers, Ann (July 24, 2007). "It's worth a visit to Prince's 'Planet'". Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). ISSN 0458-3035. OCLC 3638237. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/24/entertainment/et-prince24. Retrieved November 29, 2009. 
  12. ^ Martin, Dan (August 6, 2007). "Prince: Planet Earth". NME (IPC Media). ISSN 0028-6362. http://www.nme.com/reviews/8845. Retrieved November 29, 2009. 
  13. ^ Wolk, Douglas (July 23, 2007). "Prince: Planet Earth". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10450-planet-earth/. Retrieved November 29, 2009. 
  14. ^ Huff, Quentin B (July 27, 2007). "Prince: Planet Earth". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/prince-planet-earth. Retrieved November 29, 2009. 
  15. ^ Sheffield, Rob (August 1, 2007). "Planet Earth". Rolling Stone (Wenner Media). ISSN 0035-791X. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/planet-earth-19970801. Retrieved November 29, 2009. 
  16. ^ Light, Alan (September 2007). "The Ruler's Back". Spin: 121. ISSN 0886-3032. http://books.google.com/books?id=mCQFHMhVuA8C&pg=PA121. Retrieved November 29, 2009. 
  17. ^ Jones, Steve. "Review: Planet Earth". USA Today. http://blogs.usatoday.com/listenup/2007/07/this-weeks-re-3.html. Retrieved November 29, 2009. [dead link]
  18. ^ Lewis, Miles Marshall (July 17, 2007). "Purple Drizzle". The Village Voice (New York). ISSN 0042-6180. http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-07-17/music/purple-drizzle/. Retrieved November 29, 2009. 
  19. ^ Hasty, Katy (August 1, 2007). "'NOW 25' Fends Off 'Hairspray,' Prince To Remain No. 1". Billboard (Prometheus Global Media). ISSN 0006-2510. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003619311. Retrieved August 1, 2007. 

External links


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