Powerful Soul for New Generation

After the three discs of Emancipation and the four-pack of Crystal Ball, good news awaits those with day jobs: Newpower Soul is a single CD. However, the bad news is that although it may be less than two hours long, it is no less indulgent or erratic. The fault lies in the Artist's apparent unwillingness to keep up with musical trends. It is odd that a musician who, at his peak, redefined black music by going against the grain is now content to dredge up the most innocuous prefab funk and expect his fans to consider it innovation. Where we once partied like it was 1999, the former Prince now merely wants us to "Push It Up!" to a woeful reprise of Emancipation's bland "Jam of the Year."

This funk is presented as good-time boogie music, which it can certainly be. Yet once the Artist infused the bass line with a sly apocalyptic vision that meant more than just "get down." Unfortunately, Newpower Soul offers little of the Artist's raging guitar lines - a sign, perhaps, that the prolific star has a rock record in the works? The best tracks are the midtempo ones, like "Come On," which motivates with a slinky, slurred synth pattern and retains the winking sexuality we associate with the Artist. Newpower Soul is not bad, but neither is it great, merely a minor speed bump on the long road of the Artist's spectacular career.

As always, the Artist delivers pristine sonics, rich R&B textures, and spectacular vocals. While he fails to construct songs as infectious as "Kiss" or "Let's Go Crazy," he does keep the party going with addictive grooves ranging from silky to thumping, and sensual to funky. "Push It Up" and "(Eye Like) Funky Music" are dance-floor kindling, as is the brassy "When U Love Somebody" and the nasty, piano-stroked "Mad Sex."

Like an old master whose great allegorical works are behind him, the Artist is content to groove merrily along, offering 10 dance party jams that bounce and roll but have little to say. Most of Newpower Soul is "bad George Clinton right down to the rubber-kneed basslines and appallingly shoddy cartoon sleeve." For all his continued musical prowess, there is little of the illumination and daring of the great "Dirty Mind"/"Purple Rain" period. He remains a master of musical textures, but the absence of ideas leaves him one-dimensional.

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