CD Review: Prince – 20Ten

So a friend of mine from the UK sent me a copy of this album as it was released for free with the Daily Mirror. It hasn’t been released in the US and to be honest, with the way Prince is acting these days I doubt it will be any time soon.

I’ll be honest, I’m a HUGE Prince fan. Ever since I was a kid, Purple Rain was one of my favorite records growing up. I had it on cassette and on vinyl, and carried the cassette tape with me where ever I went, just to get my parents to play it on car trips. When I got my first CD player, the first CD I got was Prince: The Hits. Yes, when I say I’m a huge Prince fan, it goes back to my childhood.

But with his latest release 20Ten, I’m starting to think he’s lost his damn mind! (Oh wait, HE HAS LOST HIS DAMN MIND!!!) 20Ten starts out with “Compassion,” a funk influenced rock song that makes you want to jam out at a house party with your friends. The next track “Beginning Endlessly” goes back to his old school roots like “1999” and some of his stuff he did with New Power Generation back in the 90’s.

But after those 2 tracks that’s where things go from great to horrible. Every other song on this record sounds exactly the same. Most of the time it’s repetitive and boring and makes you wonder what the hell happened to Prince. This isn’t the Prince I grew up with. What happened to the days of “When Doves Cry” and “Thieves in the Temple”? I understand Prince is now a Jehovah’s Witness, but that shouldn’t interfere with him making awesome records like he did during the Revolution days. Maybe Prince should hold a meeting and try to get the band back together, because this new crap isn’t working

Overall rating: 2 out of 5

By: Xander Deccio