4/5
Welcome Back 2 America.
America. Since the year he left us like Bowie and Ali, it's been mostly hurt. Trump. Police brutality. COVID-19. We have fought back though. Together in humanity. Whether marching for Black Lives that Matter, or calling to Stop Asian Hate. Or coming together at a social distance to mask up and protect each other from this deadly virus. But some look at us taking a knee, or touching elbows as a sign to spit in our face. All in a time that can do far more than just hurt mentally these days. The repurcussions can have effects that stay with us longer than the scars of the emotional. They even threw rocks at the King again. We need our Prince back. 2nite. We need 'Welcome 2 America' and to feel like we belong again. For the land of the free to actually feel like that. Actually great and glorious and not bathed in the blood scooped up by a red hat. Purple is the reign and we all know by royal appointment Prince albums are an event. Even with his life after death. Laughing in that 'Rain' gave us a movie. A Revolution like the generation that gave us 'New Power'. The debut 'For You' were he played every instrument. The self-titled, artistic portrait. His 'Dirty Mind'. Addressing 'Controversy' on headlines and billboards. Partying like it was '1999' way before the bug. Taking us 'Around The World In A Day'. A 'Parade'. The 'Sign O' The Times' from a 'Lovesexy' God. An actual 'Batman' soundtrack taking us across Gotham like a 'Graffiti Bridge'. All your 'Diamonds and Pearls'. The 'Love Symbol'. 'Come' (need we say any more?). The bootleg 'Black Album' more legendary than Jay-Z's. 'The Gold Experience' crowning before all the 'Chaos and Disorder'. His 'Emancipation'. Looking in the 'Crystal Ball' for 'The Truth'. More from 'The Vault'. 'Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic'. 'The Rainbow Children'. 'One Nite Alone' live from a London residency. More 'Xpectation'. The 'N-E-W-S'. 'The Chocolate Invasion'. 'The Slaughterhouse'. The monumental 'Musicology' moment. '3121' and the aptly perfect tour pricing. 'Planet Earth' delivered to your door with the morning papers like '20Ten'. 'Lotusflow3r'. The 'MPLSound' from the purple Yoda from, "the heart of Minnesota" like a Laker. The 'Plectrumelectrum' and 'Art Official Age' double. The 'HITnRUN' phases. And now posthumously, straight from the vault like all the 'Originals' previously unreleased and locked away like the real and raw 'Piano and a Microphone' comes 'America'. Originally recorded in twenty ten and now set free at last. You're welcome.
'Donda' may be delayed, but some classic Prince is here for those who miss the old Kanye. Walking with Jesus again for a Sunday service that takes it to your door in witness of Jehovah. It's going to be a 'Hot Summer' like the stunning single on 'Moonbeam Levels' tells us. Singing, "Everybody's got a favourite friend/They got your back no matter what till the end (Oh yeah)/Ain't got no breaks but gotta whole lotta bend/Every broken heart can mend/You better believe it." I can see clearly now, the rain has gone. And the only artist that made me smile during my dark days of depression is born again. Let the good times roll...if only for one nite. Rocking like the 'Original', 'Holly Rock' and its amazing anime assisted, comic-book, career span storytelling video, stop framing through the ages. This new hit has been a scorcher ever since it leaked like sweat through a satin shirt a decade back. But Prince telling Shelby J just like geniuses do, knew that this album had to wait. And in striking image with him standing behind his iconic guitar like a sword in classic album artwork and a sign o' his times, we need it now more than ever. On the opening title track, Prince with his signature like the symbol welcomes us to a 2010 America that timely looks like now, "where you can fail at your job, get fired, rehired and get a $700 billion dollar tip", over funky rhythm that ease you in like a slow evening as still as whiskey. Taking on the "mass media information overload" and the distracting "features of the iPhone" or as he puts it better, "in other words taken by a pretty face (somebody's watching you)." "One of our greatest exports was a thing called jazz/Do you think today's music will last" he asks? If it's anything like this decade and a change of one dollar old album, then for sure it will. But nothing can stand the test of time like crushed purple. Never ruffled like his shirts. Music game...blouses wins again.
"Land of the free. Home of the slave", like when The Artist etched it on marker on the side of his face to warn a brother about Warner Music. Total artistic creative control is 'Running Game' on the 'Son Of A Slave' and the most funky bass beat to back this storytelling and backing singing brought to the foreground. The beautifully cinematic sounding 'Born 2 Die' like a Lana Del Rey runs with more concerns for the States Prince was living in less united by the day. "She sells everything, from A to Z/Anything just to keep her free from the/From the hustle of the streets, oh, oh/She left the church a long time ago/Said they couldn't teach what they did not know (Nothing)/That's when she lost her virginity." Foreshadowing a forlorn political division, disinformation and a disregard for self in this world today that rather looks in the tints of a black mirror than a reflection as clear and pure as water. "We can live underwater/It ain't hard/When you never been a part/Of the country on dry land", he sings like an old spiritual that refuses to be bonded in the chains of slavery. Its not a choice Kanye, but this is a voice of defiance. '1000 Light Years From Here' for Prince's perfect vivid vision of the future in all its fantastic beauty. Trust Mr. Rogers back-to-back best, to follow the most desperate track on the album with the most hopeful. 'Stand Up and B Strong' is anything but a B-side however as Prince and Elisa Fiorill implores, "You might be right, you might be wrong/You might just think your life has gone on for too long/Your knees get weak, yes, they do, your heart grows cold/And you're tired of doing everything that you're told." The perfect mesmerizing message to and anxious world lost in a great depression then and now in 2021's wake of 2020 and COVID-19's reawakening. A rally cry like the whole album that calls to embracing arms in this fight for the heart. "This sounds like drama" he says as we 'Check The Record' and play stenographer to his lyrics that will always have their day like how he holds court. Love symbol gavel in hand like an axe coming down. 'Same Page, Different Book', not the same old song is still funky as f###. "What are we, what are we fighting for?" Especially with music like this. Like the beautiful chocolate box break of 'When She Comes' (ooh-err) which is the purple one at his piano and microphone sensually seductive best. "She never closes her eyes", but you will off this musical meditation, seeing stars. "Call to all the women/Call to the men/What could be stranger than the times we're in/Earthquake, flood, better hurry," he asks on a call to warning '1010 (Rin Tin Tin)' from 2010. All before replying 'Yes', Y-E-S. 'One Day We Will All B Free' he promises us in a bittersweet closing. Even if like Martin it doesn't seem like he won't get there with us. He will in spirit. "It was all a dream/Day after day just a yearnin'/For something in between/Kneeling down beside your bed/Praying for a sign." But we can see one and it looks like TAFKAP. Always known as the annoited one. In a reign of purple. Ready to lead us again from home of the brave to the land of the free. All around the world like in a day. Around the CD changers, tape decks and record players, all the lost legends still inspiring iconic music found today, from 2Pac to Michael Jackson this Prince album is the first one that feels like an actual real one. Not just because this first full posthumous studio album is, but because it finally gets the release it deserves for the time it was meant. Fresh as the day it was release as we dust off the grooves for the needle and mic drop. Digging through crates in the vault, the estate have finally found gold for that sound like Leon Bridges last week. This will take you over. From the tour to its Paisley Park home. This is the 'America' we remember. This is the land we love. So much we'll fight for racial justice until there's peace like a love symbol. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Hot Summer', 'Born 2 Die', '1000 Light Years From Here'.
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