Planet Earth (album)
Encyclopedia
Planet Earth is the twenty-fifth studio album
by American musician Prince
, first released July 15, 2007 in the UK as a free covermount
with The Mail on Sunday
national newspaper. This was followed by the album's worldwide distribution. It features contributions from his newest protegée Bria Valente
and former New Power Generation members Marva King, Sonny T
, and Michael Bland
, as well as Sheila E.
and former Revolution
members Wendy & Lisa
. The album debuted at number 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200
chart, selling 96,000 in its first week. Upon its release, Planet Earth received generally positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 65/100 from Metacritic
.
", was distributed in partnership with Verizon Wireless
. During the week of September 3, 2007, Prince flew to Prague
, and then Spain
to film a music video
for "Somewhere Here on Earth". The clip was released but it has only been played on the TV channel BET
.
Initially, Prince came to an agreement with Columbia Records
to distribute the record worldwide. Prince and Columbia had previously teamed up for the release of his Musicology
album in 2004. However, Prince's management struck a deal with The Mail on Sunday
to release Planet Earth as a free covermount
CD with the July 15, 2007 edition of the paper. This move brought much criticism from UK record stores which resulted in Columbia refusing to distribute the album in the UK, though its release in the rest of the world remained unaffected.
Giving away albums for free was not new for Prince. In 2004, he gave free copies of Musicology to all concert goers during the tour of the same name. Similarly, the Planet Earth album was given away with tickets to his 2007 concerts in London. As a result of the decision by Sony BMG to not distribute the album in the UK, record store chain HMV
announced it would stock the 15 July 2007 edition of The Mail on Sunday in lieu of the CD, admitting that "selling the Mail on Sunday next week will be the only way to make the Prince album available to our customers, which, ultimately, has to be our overriding concern". On July 10, 2007, several days before the official UK release through The Mail on Sunday, a low quality version (recorded from a stream) of Planet Earth was leaked onto the Internet.
is album track "Mr. Goodnight". A video was made using footage of the band's performance at London Fashion Week
. It premièred on October 28, 2007.
"Somewhere Here on Earth" is the third single from the album. On the week of 3 September 2007, Prince flew to Prague, and then Spain to film a music video
for the song. The full music video premiered on the BET
Channel on February 12, 2008.
and 3121
. As of October 2007, the album has sold about 298,000 copies in America, with almost no promotion, with the exception of the Verizon Wireless ad for "Guitar". Although not released as a single, "Future Baby Mama" gathered radio airplay on American R&B radio and charted within the top 40 of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
. The song won Prince a Grammy Award
for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
at the 2008 Grammy Awards
.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American musician Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, first released July 15, 2007 in the UK as a free covermount
Covermount
Covermount is the name given to storage media or other products packaged as part of a magazine or newspaper...
with The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, currently published in a tabloid format. First published in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it became Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper following the closing of The News of the World in July 2011...
national newspaper. This was followed by the album's worldwide distribution. It features contributions from his newest protegée Bria Valente
Bria Valente
Bria Valente is an American singer. A protégée of Prince, Valente released her debut album, Elixer, as part of a three-album set with Prince's LOtUSFLOW3R and MPLSoUND on March 29, 2009. The collection debuted at #2 on the top Billboard albums chart.Valente was born and raised in Minneapolis,...
and former New Power Generation members Marva King, Sonny T
Sonny T
Sonny T. is an American bass player. He was a member of The New Power Generation, Prince's recording and stage band, from 1991–1996.In 2010, Sonny T...
, and Michael Bland
Michael Bland
Michael Bland is best known as a drummer for Prince starting in 1989. He was with Prince during The New Power Generation era and played with him live and on albums for 7 years....
, as well as Sheila E.
Sheila E.
Sheila Escovedo , known by her stage name Sheila E., is an American drummer and percussionist, perhaps best known for her work with Prince, George Duke and Ringo Starr.-Early life and Prince period:...
and former Revolution
The Revolution (band)
The Revolution was an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979 by Prince. Although widely associated with rock music, the band's sound incorporated heavy metal, pop, funk, R&B and hard rock elements. Before their official break-up, The Revolution had released one studio album,...
members Wendy & Lisa
Wendy & Lisa
Wendy & Lisa are a music duo consisting of Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman. They began working with Prince in the early 1980s and were part of his band The Revolution, before branching out on their own and releasing their debut album in 1987...
. The album debuted at number 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling 96,000 in its first week. Upon its release, Planet Earth received generally positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 65/100 from Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
Release and promotion
On June 27, 2007, "Future Baby Mama" was leaked to the Internet via an American online radio station. The first single, "GuitarGuitar (song)
"Guitar" is the first single from Prince's 2007 album Planet Earth. This song was #39 on Rolling Stones list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.The digital single was released in MP3 format through a partnership with Verizon Wireless, and O2...
", was distributed in partnership with Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
. During the week of September 3, 2007, Prince flew to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and then Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to film a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Somewhere Here on Earth". The clip was released but it has only been played on the TV channel BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
.
Initially, Prince came to an agreement with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
to distribute the record worldwide. Prince and Columbia had previously teamed up for the release of his Musicology
Musicology (album)
Musicology is the thirtieth studio album by Prince, released on April 20, 2004, which proved to be his most successful in years, reaching the Top 5 of the album charts in the U.S, UK, Germany, and many other countries....
album in 2004. However, Prince's management struck a deal with The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, currently published in a tabloid format. First published in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it became Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper following the closing of The News of the World in July 2011...
to release Planet Earth as a free covermount
Covermount
Covermount is the name given to storage media or other products packaged as part of a magazine or newspaper...
CD with the July 15, 2007 edition of the paper. This move brought much criticism from UK record stores which resulted in Columbia refusing to distribute the album in the UK, though its release in the rest of the world remained unaffected.
Giving away albums for free was not new for Prince. In 2004, he gave free copies of Musicology to all concert goers during the tour of the same name. Similarly, the Planet Earth album was given away with tickets to his 2007 concerts in London. As a result of the decision by Sony BMG to not distribute the album in the UK, record store chain HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
announced it would stock the 15 July 2007 edition of The Mail on Sunday in lieu of the CD, admitting that "selling the Mail on Sunday next week will be the only way to make the Prince album available to our customers, which, ultimately, has to be our overriding concern". On July 10, 2007, several days before the official UK release through The Mail on Sunday, a low quality version (recorded from a stream) of Planet Earth was leaked onto the Internet.
Singles
"Chelsea Rodgers" is the second single from Planet Earth, and was released worldwide on August 6, 2007. The B-sideA-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
is album track "Mr. Goodnight". A video was made using footage of the band's performance at London Fashion Week
London Fashion Week
London Fashion Week is an apparel trade show held in London, England twice each year, in February and September. It is one of the "Big Four" fashion weeks, along with New York Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.-Organization:...
. It premièred on October 28, 2007.
"Somewhere Here on Earth" is the third single from the album. On the week of 3 September 2007, Prince flew to Prague, and then Spain to film a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song. The full music video premiered on the BET
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
Channel on February 12, 2008.
Reception
The album debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number three with 96,000 units sold in its first week. This is less than half of both MusicologyMusicology (album)
Musicology is the thirtieth studio album by Prince, released on April 20, 2004, which proved to be his most successful in years, reaching the Top 5 of the album charts in the U.S, UK, Germany, and many other countries....
and 3121
3121 (album)
3121 is the thirty-first studio album by Prince. The album, released March 21, 2006 in the U.S., is distributed through Universal Records.-Album information:...
. As of October 2007, the album has sold about 298,000 copies in America, with almost no promotion, with the exception of the Verizon Wireless ad for "Guitar". Although not released as a single, "Future Baby Mama" gathered radio airplay on American R&B radio and charted within the top 40 of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
. The song won Prince a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male...
at the 2008 Grammy Awards
50th Grammy Awards
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2008. Kanye West received the most nominations, with eight. Amy Winehouse was the big winner, winning a total of five awards. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters won Album of the Year,...
.
Track listing
- "Planet Earth" – 5:51
- "GuitarGuitar (song)"Guitar" is the first single from Prince's 2007 album Planet Earth. This song was #39 on Rolling Stones list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.The digital single was released in MP3 format through a partnership with Verizon Wireless, and O2...
" – 3:45 - "Somewhere Here on Earth" – 5:45
- "The One U Wanna C" – 4:29
- "Future Baby Mama" – 4:47
- "Mr. Goodnight" – 4:26
- "All the Midnights in the World" – 2:21
- "Chelsea Rodgers" – 5:41
- "Lion of Judah" – 4:10
- "Resolution" – 3:40
Release history
| Country | Date |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
July 15, 2007 |
| Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
July 20, 2007 |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
July 24, 2007 |
External links
- Planet Earth at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Planet Earth at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
- The Once and Future Prince — By Jon ParelesJon ParelesJon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
- Album Review — By Vibe
- Album Review at About.comAbout.comAbout.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
- Album Review at The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...