Home / Prince Discography / Prince Albums / Musicology

Musicology, Columbia Records (2004)

Musicology © 2004, Columbia Records
BUY AT AMAZON BUY REISSUE

C-Note
(2004)

Musicology

3121
(2006)

Singles Review (4 / 5) Prince Biography Prince Albums Greatest Hits

Musicology

Columbia Records

Don’t you miss the feeling music gave ya back in the day?

Recorded between Metalworks Studios, Toronto and at Paisley Park Studios, Minnesota throughout 2003, Musicology became Prince’s most successful album of the decade. The album is a nostalgic celebration of old school funk, honouring the musicianship of James Brown and Earth, Wind & Fire. Musicology debuted in digital format, downloadable from Prince’s subscription platform npgmusicclub.com on 29 March 2004, three weeks ahead of its commercial release in physical format on 20 April under Columbia Records. Having tested various avenues in music to find the mainstream again; exploring R&B with Emancipation, returning to funk with Newpower Soul, then his most pop-centric album in a decade Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, and finally jazz funk fusion with The Rainbow Children, Musicology is significant in that it was considered to mark the commercial ‘comeback’ of Prince since his departure from Warner Brothers back in 1996. It was also his first album under a major label in five years since Arista Records for Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic of 1999.

Prince celebrated the release of Musicology with a party staged at New York’s Webster Hall on the night of its commercial issue, 20 April. This 40-minute show was filmed and subsequently aired on MTV and BET on April 28th as a special broadcast titled The Art Of Musicology. The footage captured at this show of Prince performing Dear Mr. Man was included as the enhanced B-side on the UK single Cinnamon Girl.

Prince’s commercial comeback was not a matter of chance but the result of a concerted media supported effort. The release of Musicology coincided with Prince’s 15 March 2004 induction to the prestigious Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. During that ceremony, Prince joined by Tom Petty, Steve Winwood and Jeff Lynn covered While My Guitar Gently Weeps in a super band tribute to fellow inductee George Harrison. Prince’s unplanned 3-minute guitar solo stole the show and the footage became a viral hit. Promotion of the new album began on 12 February 2004 when Prince performed the new track Reflection on the Tavis Smiley Show aired by PBS on the 19th, when significantly Prince was accompanied on guitar by Wendy Melvoin in what was their first public performance together since disbanding The Revolution in 1986. The confirmation of the new album followed on 24th February at a special press conference at the El Rey Theatre in Hollywood, during which Prince announced Musicology would be supported with a full scale US tour, which opened on March 27th.

The album’s success was bolstered by the Musicology Live 2004ever Tour, one of the highest grossing concert runs of 2004. Included in the ticket price for shows, which ran from 27 March to 11 September 2004, the 400,000 copies of Musicology handed to every attendee counted towards the total sales of the CD. Giving the album away at concerts did not sit comfortably with Columbia Records, distributing the wider retail release. The Columbia deal was brokered through an agreement with its CEO Don Ienner, a simple arrangement guaranteeing Prince retaining the creative control and ownership of his recordings. The commercial release followed on 20 April (19 April in the UK) when the tour was in full swing. Selling initially 100,000 copies, Musicology peaked on Billboard at number 3, with total sales rising to 632,000 over first five weeks. Included in the price of the concert ticket, each copy of Musicology handed out during the tour following the album’s 20 April commercial release qualified as a sale under the current rules of SoundScan and Billboard for the album chart. Prince’s decision to give the album away at the concerts was made prior to reaching his distribution deal with Columbia for the commercial release. And although this first of a kind method of distribution brought the album to the masses, it sparked concern that fans attending multiple shows receiving multiple copies of the album made its charting unfair, and that May prompted Billboard to change eligibility by barring this form of distribution from its charts.

Coupled with a succession of high profile events and a resoundingly successful tour, and the album’s musical direction harking a clear return to the Prince of old, the commercial achievement of Musicology met also profound critical success. Its tracks Musicology and Call My Name each won Grammy awards in 2005 for vocal R&B performance, delivering Prince’s first wins since Kiss in 1987. Musicology also gathered nominations for Best Male Pop Performance (for Cinnamon Girl), Best R&B Song (Call My Name) and Best R&B Album. Musicology became the 25th highest selling album of 2004 and was certified double Platinum by RIAA on 31 January 2005 with achieving sales of 2 million. The album also charted within the top ten in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and UK – awarded Gold certification in the latter on 14 May 2004.

The title track and first single was issued two days after the retail album. Considering Prince’s habit of issuing previously unreleased gems as B-sides on his past singles, the album’s first single Musicology comprised simply of edited versions of tracks already available from LP. The single didn’t even make the Hot 100. Unhappy with Columbia’s promotion, Prince issued its second single Cinnamon Girl under his own NPG Records on CD on 28 September 2004 in the US, two weeks after the closing show of his tour, this time boasting enhanced content including the song’s promotional video. Columbia’s issuing of Cinnamon Girl was therefore a Europe only release, on 8 November – bearing both footage and audio versions of the Webster Hall performance, plus a new song United States Of Division, it met greater impression in the chart and peaked at number 43 in the UK.

The sentiment that Musicology heralded Prince’s commercial comeback was coupled with 2004 already being a high profile year; Prince having opened the Grammy awards on 8 February, and his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame commemorating what was the 20th anniversary of Purple Rain – events all aligning at the time the album dropped. Having faltered on his previous ‘comeback’ record Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic with Arista which sold only 500,000 copies in 1999, Prince was keen to disparage suggestions Musicology was hatched to reattempt his relaunch to the commercial mainstream. But a comeback release it undoubtedly proved to be. Prince’s subsequent albums after Musicology (his first top-ten album since 1995) would chart at 1, 3, 2 and 5, making Musicology unquestionably the kickstart of the momentum seen in his late career.

Famously unsentimental in his past, Prince’s return to bare bones and accessible music is owed to the circumstances the album was created. Enjoying this new phase in his life having relocated to Canada in 2002, the home of his second wife Manuella Testolini, Musicology largely comprises freshly written material, drawn on introspection in the twilight of his career. Save for the oldest tracks A Million Days and If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life which originate from 1996, these and the remainder of the album were worked throughout 2003. For two months Prince ensconced himself at Metalworks Studios, an unassuming facility in the suburb of Mississauga in the outreaches of Toronto, tracking and laying down the basis of the album in studio #6. Prince even had it fitted out with a whole new speaker system so to experience exactly how he envisioned the music to be played back by the listener. The album’s final touches and mixing continued back at Paisley Park later in the year and into early 2004. Musicology was significantly Prince’s first largely solo project again, playing most of the instruments himself which was not the case with his recent projects. Prince found it a cathartic experience creating this album. Recording in Canada got him back to a basic sound he believed could not otherwise achieved had he created the album in America. Testolini would not be the muse Prince found in Mayte. Although Testolini’s sister Ornella Bonaccorsi gives the spoken outro to What Do U Want Me 2 Do? there is no evidence Testolini is inspiration behind any of the tracks featured the album. Musicology is certainly the most significant release in Prince’s post Warner career.

Prince | Musicology
Photography by Michael Caulfield

Cover story

The artwork covering the retail issue of Musicology quite literally portrays Prince emerging from the shadows. This was a moment in which life would imitate art, as having spent much of his years as an independent artist the album saw Prince’s return to the music mainstream. The image is a shot by Prince’s photographer Afshin Shahidi. So pleased with the effect of shadow in the cover used in the One Nite Alone… Live! in 2002, Minneapolis based light-smith Jake Armour was re-enlisted to assist with 2004’s Musicology, producing striking results. The accompanying booklet is designed by Prince’s graphic artist Sam Jennings, adopting the style of a textbook.

2019 reissue

Following Prince’s death in 2016, Musicology was included in the inaugural batch of three albums to receive commercial reissue by Sony Legacy Recordings which issued these on 8 February 2019. The release also included the album’s first pressing on vinyl – issued as purple coloured double disc gatefold LP. The occasion saw Musicology re-enter the US Billboard Hot 200, albeit tentatively at number 170.

Performers

Vocals / all Instr
Prince
Drums
John Blackwell The Marrying Kind, If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life, On The Couch and Dear Mr. Man
Bass Guitar
Rhonda Smith Dear Mr. Man
Keyboards
Renato Neto Dear Mr. Man
Alto Sax
Maceo Parker The Marrying Kind, If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life and On The Couch
Saxophone
Candy Dulfer Life O' The Party, The Marrying Kind, If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life, On The Couch and Dear Mr. Man
Maceo Parker If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life, On The Couch and Dear Mr. Man
Trombone
Greg Boyer The Marrying Kind, If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life and On The Couch
Shaker
Sheila E Dear Mr. Man
Orchestration
Clare Fischer Call My Name

Data

Production
Prince
Label
NPG Records
Distribution
Columbia Records
Cover/Design
Afshin Shahidi, Sam Jennings and Jeremy Gavin
Released
19 years ago on 20 April 2004
Reissued
8 February 2019
Running Time
47:26
US Chart Peak
3
UK Chart Peak
3
Prince Album
#28
Orig. Formats

Tracklist

  1. Musicology (4:23)
  2. Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance (4:45)
  3. A Million Days (3:49)
  4. Life O' The Party [feat. Chance Howard and Candy Dulfer] (5:14)
  5. Call My Name [feat. Stokey Williams, Chance Howard and Kip Blackshire] (3:56)
  6. Cinnamon Girl [feat. Candy Dulfer, Rhonda Smith and Chance Howard] (3:56)
  7. What Do U Want Me 2 Do? [spoken outro Ornella Bonaccorsi] (4:14)
  8. The Marrying Kind (2:49)
  9. If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life (3:08)
  10. On The Couch (3:33)
  11. Dear Mr. Man (3:14)
  12. Reflection (3:03)
  13. Musicology [Video] (4:57) 1

Released as a single

1 Enhanced content.

Singles from Musicology

Musicology, single from Musicology, NPG Records (2004)

Musicology

NPG Records

Released
22 April 2004
Distribution
Columbia Records
US Chart Peak
120
UK Chart Peak
Did not chart
Cover/Art
Jeremy Gavin
Format
  1. Musicology (4:36)
  2. On The Couch (3:33)
  3. Magnificent [virtual B-side] (4:30)
Cinnamon Girl, single from Musicology, NPG Records (2004)

Cinnamon Girl

NPG Records

Released
28 September 2004
Distribution
NPG Records
US Chart Peak
Did not chart
UK Chart Peak
No release
Cover/Art
Samuel Jennings
Format
  1. Cinnamon Girl [feat. Candy Dulfer, Rhonda Smith and Chance Howard] (3:56)
  2. Cinnamon Girl [Video] [enhanced content] (4:04)
  3. Cinnamon Girl: XPOSED [Making of the video] [enhanced content] (5:15)
  4. United States Of Division [virtual B-side] (6:18)
Cinnamon Girl, single from Musicology, NPG Records (2004)

Cinnamon Girl

NPG Records

Released
8 November 2004
Distribution
Columbia Records
US Chart Peak
No release
UK Chart Peak
43
Cover/Art
Sheryl Nields
Format
  1. Cinnamon Girl [feat. Candy Dulfer, Rhonda Smith and Chance Howard] (3:56)
  2. Dear Mr. Man [Live at Webster Hall, 20 April 2004] (4:14)
  3. United States Of Division [feat. Candy Dulfer and Rhonda Smith] (6:18)
  4. Dear Mr. Man [Live at Webster Hall] [Video] [enhanced content] (4:14)

Supporting tour

Musicology Live 2004ever

Musicology Live 2004ever

2004

  • 90 shows from 27 March to 11 September, 2004

Musicology – review

After a run of pleasant but hardly accessible albums N.E.W.S, Xpectation and One Nite Alone… it was fair to say Prince was heading down a rut. Even his One Nite Alone Tour was billed, albeit it never officially, his farewell shows. Then something happened, Musicology arrived to much needed surprise both to fans and more so to Prince since it turned out to be his most successful album and tour since Diamonds And Pearls of 1991/2; be that chance or design he sure needed it. “Music comes before the ‘ology” explains Prince, the album he intended as an education in music – schools in for Musicology. We see a more chilled out Prince succumbing to his long awaited return to commercialism and interest in charts, rewarding his fans with a much awaited ‘proper’ album. Full of radio-friendly tunes having found his voice again since the instrumental mishits of the two preceding albums. Musicology heralds Prince’s commercial reawakening and wider audience appeal, from which made his name in the ’80s and dedicated the 90’s trying to disassociate his name. It is clear Prince ached to be played on the radio again. Musicology is catchy and the tracks are a commercially consumable four minutes apiece. Although not artful as The Rainbow Children (this is intentional) Musicology is equally inspired and more importantly his ‘comeback’ album (although Prince himself never attested that fact). The outstanding tracks are A Million Days, Call My Name, Cinnamon Girl, The Marrying Kind and Dear Mr. Man all making truly enjoyable listening. The surprisingly down-to-earth Musicology hits its stride perfectly but does it give a musical ‘ology’? No. It is more commercial than conceptual – Prince’s ‘break glass in case of emergency’ album, since Paisley Park has bills to pay. If only all studying was as enjoyable; Life O’ The Party springs to life with repeated listening, underlining the quality of the overall work. After 10 years in chart abyss Prince discovered that radio friendly tunes did not have to come at the price of undermining creative freedom. Musicology is a nostalgic record – Prince’s love letter to “back in the day”, ex-bandmate reunifications, simple melodies and a good taste of the Prince of old.

Musicology

© Goldies Parade, 1998 – 2024 | Privacy