On top of his unrestrained egotism, Princeexpects useless sexual bravado to suffice astracks. In the verse "Close your eyes and count 2ten and when u open 'em/ I'll be standing nakedwith nothing but a smile on..." from "Blue Light,"the disk's sixth song, Prince fails to tantalizeus, instead conjuring a horrific image of himselffor anyone who has seen the cover ofLovesexy.

From his previous albums, we know Prince iscapable of more, even when he's reinventinghimself. The pseudo-ballads "The Morning Papers,""God Created Woman" and "Sweet Baby" do not standup to the standards set by previous works "WhenDoves Cry," "Nothing Compares 2 U" or even theupbeat "Delirious," from 1999.

If this is Prince's libido on parade, then ithas seen better days. Nothing on this release cancompare to the ingenuity of earlier sex-mindedtracks like "Kiss" (from Parade) or, forvulgarity comparisons, "Darling Nikki" (fromPurple Ran).

The only redeeming factor of this album is themusical arrangements. When Prince declares in "MyName is Prince," "My name is Prince and I amfunky/ My name is Prince--the one and only...,"the music elevates his words from banality tobelievability. Prince is not particularlyversatile verbally on this LP, but Prince is stilla musical dynamo.

From funky, bluesy, James Brown-inspired "SexyMF" to the grinding, hip-hop, jamming "The Max,"Prince is musically up to snuff. His tracks--likealways--are made to make you sweat on the dancefloor. The only real letdown is the loungelizardy"Damn U." It's Prince meets a Holiday Inn grandballroom.

While danceable, "the untitled album" is notPrince's best work. It hardly lives up to thestandards he set for himself--and for modernrock--with his previous records. We can only hopethat with his versatility, musical genius andpenchant for reinvention, Prince will get back ontrack and never release an artistic blunder likethis again.