P.M. Dawn

Jesus Wept boded mediocrity--although composing is no harder than sampling, it is different, and once he'd redefined himself as one more R&B songwriter, Prince Be's all-embracing aesthetic and fluky chart run seemed over. But working with a steady band, a sometime collaborator, and the occasional borrowed riff, he revives his spaced-out spirituality as music if not commodity, transfiguring his grumpy disillusion with melodies, vocal harmonies, and now also guitar parts, all lovingly designed to convince his son Christian to be here now. (Grade: A-)