Prince – Ol’ Skool Company

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[rating:68/100]
He’s still got it!

While it’s not a spectacular track, or one that will be all over the radiowaves, Prince’s new track, “Ol’ Skool Company,” is something worth listening to.

Debuted last week on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, “Company” features Prince’s trademark soulful, groovy crooning and mixture of funk and rock that not many artists have mastered. Add that to his as-always phenomenal stage presence, a beastly harmonica breakdown in the middle, and a gospel melody at the end meshed with Prince’s wailing guitar, and you’ve got yourself a great Prince track!

It’s the aforementioned triple-whammy at the end that is the stunner on this one- somehow the harmonica, gospel choir, and guitar play off each other perfectly.

While the lyrics can get a little laughable (the “K” in “Skool,” Prince talking about the “bailout” and “AIG”), Prince’s latest is funky enough to please all fans, both old-timers and modern ones.

Still, I’m not rushing to Target to buy Prince’s bargain-priced, triple-disc album (the three are Lotusflow3r, Mplsound, and Elixer. Elixer is only produced by Prince, however, the vocalist is his protégé, Bria Valente). Apparently, they are hit-or-miss, with enough good material for one solid album, but too much filler for three. Of 2009′s soul albums, it seems that Daniel Merriweather’s is going to be the must-have.

Granted, I’m not much of a Prince fan to begin with, so this album was never on my to-buy list. But “Ol’ Skool Company” is tempting…I guess I’ll just have to snag a few good tracks.

by Adam Offitzer on March 31, 2009 ‡ 0 reactions