Prince

Right before the techno-thunderclap that introduces Graffiti Bridge, Prince, trembling,
breathes: "Dear Dad – things didn't turn out quite like I wanted them 2/Sometimes I feel like
I'm gonna explode." Urgent and yearning, the confession serves as a mission statement for a
seventeen-song tour de force that reclaims Prince's rare stature as a pop Picasso – an
experimentalist with enough mass appeal to make his experiments matter. Titani... More >

On his third studio double in a decade, he's definitely cheating. Half the music isn't really his, and the other half is overly subtle if not rehashed or just weak: title track, generational anthem, and lead single all reprise familiar themes, and the ballads fall short of the exquisite vocalese that can make his slow ones sing. But some of the subtle stuff--"Tick, Tick Bang"'s PE-style electrobeats, say--is pretty out, most of the received stuff is pretty surefire, and from unknowns to old pros, his cameos earn their billings. Also, there's half a great Time album here--did he steal it or just conceive it? (Grade: B+)