Maps of Music

Planet Earth (2007)

Where the lyrics of Planet Earth take you, and where it was really made.

Prince gave the album away: the UK edition came free with The Mail on Sunday, and he forwent $4.6 million in licensing fees.

Key places

Recording site credited to Planet Earth (2007)

Recording site Paisley Park Studios — Recording location linked to this album in the music database. The point marks the recording site at city-level precision, not the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Planet Earth is the thirty-second studio album by Prince
• Released 15 July 2007 by NPG Records
• In the UK it was distributed free as a covermount CD with The Mail on Sunday
• Worldwide distribution followed the UK giveaway
• The CD package's liner notes credit the album to Prince & The New Power Generation
• Features Bria Valente, Marva King, Sonny T., Michael Bland, Sheila E., and Wendy & Lisa
• Debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200, selling 96,000 copies in its first week

Background

• Prince had teamed up with Columbia Records for Musicology in 2004
• Columbia initially agreed to distribute Planet Earth worldwide
• Prince's management struck a deal with The Mail on Sunday to release the album as a free CD with the 15 July 2007 edition
• UK record stores criticised the move, and Columbia refused to distribute the album in the UK
• The rest of the world release was not affected
• Giving away albums free was not new for Prince; in 2004 he gave free copies of Musicology to concert-goers
• Planet Earth was also given away with tickets to his 2007 London concerts
• HMV said it would stock the Mail on Sunday edition in place of the CD
• A low-quality version recorded from a stream leaked online on 10 July 2007

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Prince Rogers Nelson, born June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; died April 21, 2016 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
• Signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1977 at age 18; first album For You released April 7, 1978.
• Career spanned funk, rock, R&B and pop, with estimated sales over 100 million records.

Career

• Breakthrough with Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981) and 1999 (1982).
• Purple Rain (1984) made him the first singer to hold the number-one film, album and single in the US at the same time.
• Sign o' the Times (1987) is widely considered his greatest work.
• Changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993, becoming known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince; reverted to Prince in 2000.
• Won seven Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Planet Earth received generally positive reviews
• Metacritic average score of 65 out of 100, based on professional critics
• Robert Christgau gave the album a three-star honorable mention, calling it an enjoyable effort for listeners attuned to its aesthetic
• Writing for MSN Music, Christgau cited 'Guitar' and 'The One U Wanna C' as highlights

Records

• Debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200 with 96,000 units in its first week, less than half of Musicology and 3121
• About 278,000 copies sold in the US as of April 2015, with almost no promotion apart from the Verizon Wireless ad for 'Guitar'
• 'Future Baby Mama' was never released as a single but gathered radio airplay and charted in the top 40 of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
• The song won Prince his last Grammy Award, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 2008 Grammy Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Prince flew to Prague and then Spain in the week of 3 September 2007 to film the music video for 'Somewhere Here on Earth'
• 'Chelsea Rodgers' was released as the second single worldwide on 6 August 2007, with the album track 'Mr. Goodnight' as its B-side
• 'Guitar' was number 39 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007
• Prince forwent $4.6 million in licensing fees, but the promotion paid off with his subsequent sold out 21-show concert run at London's O2 Arena, earning him a gross of $23.4 million, and thus an $18.8 million profit.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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