 The problem with Prince the past decade has been that he seemed to lack any true passion and inspiration. This had him sound rather jaded and the majority of albums more or less lackluster, particularly in the funk/r&b department. Last year's Lotusflower/MPLSound was a step in the right direction, but still left a lot to wish for. Prince's brand new album 20Ten is a vast improvement. Maybe it's because it's a new decade and the artist felt it was time to step up, maybe he found the inspiration he was missing or maybe it's something else.
Whatever it is, this is what MPLSound should have sounded like! Put the Prince from the 70's, 80's and 90's in a blender and you get, ironically enough, 20Ten. It starts off with the upbeat "Compassion" which could just as well have been part of his early albums Dirty Mind or Controversy. It moves then on to more funky and soulful jams and finishes off with Prince-ish hip hop named "Laydown" where Prince jokingly declares himself as "the purple Yoda, guaranteed to bring that dirty new sound".
The third track on this album, "Future Soul Song", is his most sensual, soothing and powerful slow jam in well over a decade. It's not a passionate love song dedicated to a woman but a spiritual piece that sounds like a Lovesexy or Batman outtake and has Prince exploring his lower voice register. It's been a long time since Prince managed to create a piece that gave you chills down your spine, and this one is probably going to become a new classic among his fans.
Other standouts, apart from the songs already mentioned, are the funky 70's inspired "Sticky Like Glue" and "Lavaux". If there's one big flaw on this album it's "Everybody Loves Me". It's a fun new wave tune, but sounds out of place and too silly for 20Ten. If this track had been replaced with the best song on MPLSound, the fabulously funky "Dance 4 Me", 20Ten would have sounded more complete and better than great. Nevertheless, the purple Yoda is one huge step closer to his "old" captivating musical self and has proven that he's nowhere near ready to retire.
Rating: 8/10
Katharina Rumpf for Soulinterviews.com
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