Herald rating: * * *
KEY POINTS:
If Prince was a boxer he would be a lithe featherweight letting rip with gay abandon among the heavyweights.
Despite his eccentric ways he has been one of the undisputed kings of music in the last 30 years.
On Planet Earth, his 26th studio album, don't expect to hear ground-breaking Prince who's lying down on stage making love to his guitar while purple rain pelts his petal-thin body. This is workman-like Prince similar to his last two albums, 3121 (2006) and Musicology (2004).
But he's Prince, and he can do whatever he likes, even if it is downright normal.
He's been doing whatever he likes since his dodgy debut, For You, in 1978. Sometimes his work has been too clever and off in Princeland for its own good; other times it's been plain dirty like 1991 hit Cream. He went through a few crazy periods too, which resulted in moments of brilliance like 2001's Rainbow Children. Mostly though, with albums like 1999, Sign O' the Times, and Purple Rain, his output has been the stuff of genius.
In typical haughty fashion he released Planet Earth for free in Britain during July on the cover of the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
However, and to continue with the boxing analogy, on a musical level Planet Earth is bantamweight Prince.
So on Guitar, when he sings "I love you but not like I love my guitar", he sounds like Lenny Kravitz asking, "Are you gonna go my way?"; there's the light, dumb and breezy pop of The One U Wanna C, and last track, Resolution, lapses into cliches like "making amends is a difficult pill 2 swallow".
Elsewhere though, the results aren't bad.
No one does instrument love like Prince Rogers Nelson. On the title track he tinkers and trills on the ivories, a mooted trumpet sprawls seductively all over Somewhere Here On Earth and his soaring falsetto on Future Baby Mama shows his most impressive instrument nowadays is his stunning voice.
But he's lost the cool factor he had when he was partying like it was 1999 and creating his own rebirth of cool on Sign O' the Times. Even though he's got the craziest guitars on earth and is still up to his naughty old tricks - singing about "butterscotch thighs" and telling us where to come if you "wanna get creamy" - he's just like one of us these days. He's a mere mortal after all.
Label: Sony/BMG
Verdict: My name is Prince and I am normal