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Planet Earth Prince album
Columbia Records
albumPlanet Earth is too good to be so lightly sold.
Ever exploring unconventional means to distribute his music, Prince secured a publishing deal for copies of Planet Earth album to be given freely in the UK as a covermount carried on The Mail On Sunday newspaper issued on 15 July 2007, billed as ‘the world’s greatest newspaper giveaway… ever!’ Planet Earth was additionally handed to every attendee of Prince’s The Earth Tour at London’s newly finished O2 Arena, for his record-setting 21-night residency staged from 1 August to 21 September. Its release is therefore highly unconventional in that the album was issued to aid the promotion of the tour.
Planet Earth was originally envisaged to be joined on 24 July with a full retail release under Columbia Records, but owing to its initial free distribution and its resulting ineligibility to chart, Planet Earth was not commercially available under Columbia within the UK since many fans had already obtained a free copy. British music retailer HMV took the unusual step to stock The Mail On Sunday newspaper on the day of the album’s release to make Planet Earth available in their stores as if it were a conventional release. Sales of The Mail On Sunday rose by 600,000 that day and yielded the newspaper’s highest circulation (2.9m copies) since the death of Princess Diana in August 1997 (2.8m copies).
Prince’s choice to distribute Planet Earth as a covermount is an evolution from his experience in 2004 distributing Musicology. Included in the price of every concert ticket in his Musicology Live 2004ever Tour, Musicology was distributed to attendees in their entry into the auditoriums. This prompted Billboard to change its rules to disqualify so-distributed music from its chart. Although Prince would likewise give a copy of Planet Earth to every attendee during his O2 residency, because traditional labels would be discouraged to promote it commercially, the album’s mass distribution was guaranteed in advance through securing a deal with a national newspaper.
I sold 3 million copies overnight.
Distributed by Columbia Records in other markets, Planet Earth peaked on the US Billboard 200 at number 3, recording 96,000 units sold in its release week, ultimately rising to 278,000 with neither the aid of appearances or promotion.
So successful was the newspaper circulation of Planet Earth, striking this £250,000 exclusivity deal that guaranteed sales of his album without relying on the traditional record industry – itself struggling with the explosion of digital music piracy – Prince repeated the covermount model of distribution in 2010 with 20TEN, meeting similar success.
The album’s sole single Guitar is a reworking of the 2004 original version Prince offered as downloadable audio track from 3121.com. Inviting fans to comment, they questioned why the track featured barely traceable electric guitar. It is not clear whether the feedback led to the finished track’s revision in 2007 boasting more flavour and great guitar licks. The Planet Earth version of Guitar was issued in the UK as the promotional single owing to Prince’s 21 Nights In London residency at The O2: meanly bearing two edits already issued on the main album, Guitar charted a lowly 83. The track Future Baby Mamma met critical success, garnering Prince his seventh and what would be last Grammy Award win in his lifetime: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance of 2007.
All but the title track for Planet Earth were originally intended to comprise Prince’s then project LotusFlow3r but the latter project was slipped while Planet Earth was given priority. Both projects stemmed from November 2004, when the title track and Guitar were recorded. The sessions took place at Paisley Park Studios throughout 2006. The final two tracks recorded for Planet Earth were produced at The Rio Las Vegas in March 2007 – Somewhere Here On Earth and Mr. Goodnight – during Prince’s four month residency at 800-capacity Club 3121 where he was staging a stint of revue shows in rehearsal for The Earth Tour.
Prince reunites again with Wendy Melvoin following her collaboration on Musicology in 2004. She appears on The One U Wanna C and All The Midnights In The World and Resolution, adding her parts at Circle House Studios in Miami in 2007, communicating with Prince via email. Another stablemate of The Revolution, Lisa Coleman, appears on the record also.
Cover story
While the concert and covermount versions of the CD housed in a simple carded slipcase, the Columbia retail version of Planet Earth issued as a digipak features a lenticular hologram. The hologram reveals Prince’s trademark Prince Love Symbol over the main artwork, a photo of Prince by Afshin Shahidi. The image of Prince raised speculation whether he is wearing a corset in that photo. It is the second hologram to feature on the cover of Prince’s albums, the first being on Diamonds And Pearls in 1991 – the first mass produced hologram achieved in printing history.
2019 reissue
Planet Earth was included in the inaugural phase of Prince albums republished by Sony Legacy Recordings, having been awarded the distribution rights of Prince’s catalogue following his death in 2016. Planet Earth was reissued on 8 February 2019, in packaging faithfully retaining the original commercial version’s hologram cover. The LP version of the album was available on purple vinyl and what was the first time Planet Earth was issued in this format.
Performers
- Vocals / all Instr
- Prince
- Drums
- Michael Bland Planet Earth and Guitar
- Cora Coleman-Dunham Somewhere Here On Earth, The One U Wanna C and Resolution
- Bass Guitar
- Sonny Thompson Planet Earth and Guitar
- Joshua Dunham Chelsea Rodgers and Resolution
- Keyboards
- Renato Neto Somewhere Here On Earth
- Lisa Coleman The One U Wanna C and Resolution
- Acoustic Guitar
- Wendy Melvoin The One U Wanna C, All The Midnights In The World and Resolution
- Programming
- Morris Hayes Mr. Goodnight
- Saxophone
- Maceo Parker Chelsea Rodgers
- Trombone
- Greg Boyer Chelsea Rodgers
- Trumpet
- Christian Scott Somewhere Here On Earth
- Lee Hogans Chelsea Rodgers
- Percussion
- Sheila E Chelsea Rodgers
- Backing vocals
- Maya McClean
- Nandy McClean
Data
- Producer
- Prince
- Label
- NPG Records
- Distribution
- Columbia Records
- Cover/Design
- Afshin Shahidi and Sam Jennings
- Released
- 19 years ago on 24 July 2007
- Reissued
- 8 February 2019
- Running Time
- 45:00
- US Chart Peak
- 3
- US R&B Peak
- 1
- UK Chart Peak
- Ineligible
- Prince Album
- #32
- Orig. Format
-
Tracklist
- Planet Earth [feat. Shelby J and Bria Valente] (5:51)
- Guitar (3:45)
- Somewhere Here On Earth (5:46)
- The One U Wanna C [feat. Shelby J and Bria Valente] (4:29)
- Future Baby Mamma [feat. Shelby J and Bria Valente] (4:47)
- Mr. Goodnight [feat. Shelby J and Bria Valente] (4:27)
- All The Midnights In The World (2:22)
- Chelsea Rodgers [feat. Shelby J] (5:41)
- Lion Of Judah [feat. Shelby J and Bria Valente] (4:11)
- Resolution [feat. Shelby J and Bria Valente] (3:41)
Released as a single
Singles from Planet Earth
Guitar
NPG Records
- Released
- 9 July 2007
- Distribution
- Columbia Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- 81
- Cover/Art
- Afshin Shahidi
- Formats
-
- Guitar (3:45)
- Somewhere Here On Earth (5:46)
Supporting tour
The Earth Tour
2007
- 21 Nights in London (UK)
21 shows performed exclusively The O2 Arena form 1 August to 21 September, 2007
Planet Earth album review
Given away totally free in the UK, slipped into a national Saturday newspaper. no other Prince album received as much media attention since Purple Rain. Planet Earth spawned a new first for the music industry, in that it was an album to support the tour. His “best in years!” critics claimed. Planet Earth is a typically varied Prince outing, showcasing his legendary diversity through many genres: rock, funk, rap and soul. The title track gives the mark of quality with haunting yet theatrical scope. Guitar sets the pace before slowing up with Somewhere Here On Earth, reassuring the listener to an experience that oozes quality.
Old habits die hard with the cheery The One U Wanna C, which sees Prince talking his woman into bed with the promise to “come like thunder”. Resolution (providing the cheese) and Lion of Judah (reminding all he’s still a Jehovah) form nice simple old-style harmonies that fuse both maturity and playfulness in Planet Earth. Prince retains his throne as master of ballads with the Grammy winning Future Baby Mamma – superior as any in his career. Mr. Goodnight soothes where Prince provides a silky dreamy rap. The highlight of Planet Earth is Chelsea Rodgers, his funkiest in recent memory. Then there is Prince’s cheesiest (possibly ever) provided in Resolution – “The main problem with war” – notwithstanding there are actually many greater problems with war, can this lyric really have come from the mind that gave us Sign O’ The Times.
Overall, Planet Earth offers scope and great fun, whisking the listener on a journey an deems absolute no go a few years previous. “So shall it be written, shall be sung” Prince is clearly showing it is 2007 that marks his prime not 1984. Planet Earth is made all the more sweeter as a freebie, but be sure fans would have happily forked out more than a few pennies to own this solid entry in Prince’s catalogue.
Planet Earth is rated 4 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.
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