The exercise has become a fairly familiar one in the years since Prince [ tickets ] decided to take the road less traveled: unwrap his latest album, fire it up and listen to a respectable display of musicianship that, nonetheless, fails to plunge its hooks into you the way his '80s-era classics did.

Look, "Purple Rain II" ain't gonna happen. After 20 years of waiting, I can finally accept that. But how 'bout, say, "Sign o' the Times II"?

Enter "Musicology." Hallelujah. Sure, the album bears signs of the ultra-eclectic, meandering leanings of Prince's more-recent works, but the signature, pop-funk sound and comparatively tighter songwriting of his yesteryears successfully take command of the set.

The album's title-track/first single is among its standouts, but "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance" and "Life 'o' the Party" are the ones that will make you say, "Now that's the bad motherf'er that I remember."

Yes, ballads still abound, but even those have a classic-sounding appeal that makes them feel like close relatives of his earlier works. It all adds up to a Prince album that begs for repeated listenings instead of a one-time run-through.