Musicology

Prince’s star faded not long after he won emancipation from Warner Brothers in 1995, as he abandoned the mainstream so he could follow his whims however he liked. Which meant that he effectively started making records for nobody but himself, whether that meant triple-disc collections of new material or an all-instrumental smooth jazz album, and in short order, his fans started dwindling away to nothing but the hardcore, who themselves had their patience tried by such antics as Prince suing his own fanzine in the late ’90s. It seemed that he was fated to permanently wander in the wilderness, making music for an ever more selective audience, until he suddenly decided in 2004 that he wanted to be back in the game, returning to the spotlight with acclaimed performances at the Grammys and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, announcing an all-hits tour, and releasing Musicology, his first major-label distributed album in five years. This flurry of activity suggests that Prince is treating this as an opportunity for a full-fledged comeback and, thankfully, he’s seized this moment and delivered a vastly entertaining record. Unlike everything he’s done since leaving Warner, Musicology doesn’t alienate listeners; it’s tight and lean, weighing in at 12 tracks and 47 minutes, yet that’s still enough room for Prince to showcase his virtuoso versatility. He tries a little everything — down and dirty funk jams, slow sensual grooves, and, happily, he revives the psychedelic pop of the mid-’80s with the deliriously catchy “Cinnamon Girl” — but unlike on such overworked albums as Emancipation and Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic