Publication: The Phoenix Gazette [US]
Date: September 2, 1994
Section: Tempo
Page Number(s): C4
Length: 646 Words
Title: "Ex-Prince's 'Come' Surprisingly Good In Spots"
Written By: Gazette News Services

"Come" (*** 1/2) by the performer who used to be known as Prince on Warner Bros Records.

OK, pay attention, 'cause this gets tricky. About two years back, Prince announced that he was "retiring" from active recording. He said he had left his longtime label, Warner Bros. Records, with about 500 songs from which to cull albums into perpetuity.

The retirement proved short-lived. Adopting a new persona and an unpronounceable name, Prince went to tiny Bellmark Records and scored in a major way with "The Most Beautiful Girl," one of his biggest hits in years. Warner, meantime, was left sitting on those masters.

But shed no tears for the poor little multinational. "Come," the first album under this strange deal, is startlingly good in spots.

Other spots have more filler than cheap dog food, such as the nondescript single "Letitgo," and the derivative club jams, "Loose" and "Pheromone."

Or, "Orgasm," which is essentially composed of distorted guitars crashing like prehistoric beasties, and the ocean rushing to the shore as a woman moans and whimpers her way to the top of Mount Climax.

But when "Come" is on, it's outstanding. Among the highlights: "Papa," a tart tale of child abuse; "Race," an anti-hatred polemic; and "Solo," wherein Prince employs a floating, ethereal falsetto and little else to take us on a guided tour of the sewers of the soul.

The best thing about "Come" is its title track -- a baldly libidinous come-on, scalding in its bare-knuckles sexuality.

Given the lightning pace with which musical fads and fancies come and go, one wonders how long Warner will be able to remain competitive while compiling albums from the same aging group of songs.