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Prince’s ‘Musicology’ at 20: A Look at the Album, Tour and Year That Saved His Career
Released 20 years ago this week, Prince's comeback 'Musicology' album and tour reminded everyone of why they loved him in the first place.
Then in March, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he played a different, much longer medley of his hits during the ceremony — but of course what everyone remembers is his show-stealing solo during the all-star George Harrison tribute, which he finished by throwing his guitar into the audience. Even though Prince’s musicianship was at a new peak — his blazing guitar work, multi-tracked harmonies, production and arranging show an artist at the top of his craft — he was making music that was easy to like again, which isn’t to say it was simple; but even at its most sophisticated and complex (like the jazzy interlude at the end of “If I Was the Man in Ur Life”), it went down more smoothly. Performed in the round, Prince was in constant motion, singing, dancing, leading his astonishingly talented band (notably veteran James Brown/Parliament-Funkadelic saxist Maceo Parker and drummer John Blackwell) through hairpin turns and a relentlessly shifting setlist based around hits and songs from “Musicology” — but interspersed with instrumental segments of everything from his own deep cuts to Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love,” Sam and Dave’s “Soul Man,” the “Flintstones” theme and more.
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