How Anger Fueled Prince’s Masterful ‘Musicology’
When Prince released his 28th studio album, Musicology, in 2004, it was hailed as a remarkable return to form. Though he’d released a steady stream of music throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, most of those albums were deemed too conceptual or uncommercial. But Musicology—which turns 20 years old on April 20, just one day shy of the eighth anniversary of Prince’s death—is perhaps the high-water mark of that period. An old-school funk record made with virtuoso musicians playing real instruments—which even at the time was a novelty—it featured heaps of what Prince was best at, including infectious, R&B-tinged pop songs, dance workouts, slow jams, and even political rants delivered with a swagger he’d not exhibited since his mid-’80s heyday.
Of course, being a genius can be a fraught road. With albums like 1999, Purple Rain, and Sign ‘O’ the Times, Prince had set a bar so high that, by 2004, after more than a decade of fighting with his record label, writing “SLAVE” across his face, and changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol, many fans had moved on and were satisfied with simply revisiting his greatest hits whenever they came on the radio.
Then came Musicology. And while it wasn’t Prince redefining the music landscape the way he did in the ’80s, upon its release, fans reveled in its breezy confidence and in, once again, hearing every facet of his genius.