I have my Windows Media Player set on automatically rated for every track, which means it rates tracks on how many times I've played them beginning to end. So, according to Windows Media Player, this is my ratings for the tracks on 3121...

3121 (5 stars)
Lolita (5 stars)
Te Amo Corazon (4 stars)
Black Sweat (5 stars)
Incense and Candles (5 stars)
Love (5 stars)
Satisfied (3 stars)
Fury (5 stars)
The Word (5 stars)
Beautiful, Loved & Blessed (3 stars)
The Dance (4 stars)
Get on the Boat (3 stars)

Average rating for 3121 - 4.3 stars

PurpleKnight said:

Actually, your score is 3.75. Which is just a ballhair off 4. C'mon, you know you wanna.
[Edited 3/9/06 15:16pm]

My ratings after listening for 2 days tons of times


3121 (A-) *Still growing, lacks somewhat a better melodie"

Lolita (B) *Wished the synth soound was ticker like THE TIME or old Prince"

Te Amo Corazon (A) *Pretty ballad, much better than Call my name, and that R&b generic ballads he makes some times*

Black Sweat (B-) *Cool song, nothing great but cool synths*

Incense and Candles (C) *Not my cup of tea, very generic and bland*

Love (A) *Classic Prince*

Satisfied (B-) *I alreadyheard this before, but flows well*

Fury (A-) *A for the potemtial of the song, his performance on it is kinda weak here*

The Word (A) *Great song, the bridge (or chorus) is pretty and intoxicating*

Beautiful, Loved & Blessed (C) *Dont like it at all*

The Dance (A) *Beautiful and dark, great song*

Get on the Boat (B) *Funky song, incredible bass lines and percurssion, lacks melodie*

Overall i gave

6 songs an A
4 songs a B
2 songs a C

- Its better than Chaos and Disorder, Rave, New Power Soul, Emancipation, Musicology, COntroversy, Prince and For You, One nite alone, the truth

- Not as good Dirt Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, SOTT, Parade, Lovesexy, TRC, GOld Experience and Symbol album

- As good as Batman, Grafite bridge, Come, Diamonds and Pearls, Crystal ball pack IMO


So its better than most of Prince catalog, its TOP 10 album for me. BUt not a masterpiece. NEvertheless a great album. SO funny, 2 days ago i called it weak.
LEts se if he passes the test of months. Musicology is already in the can of non hearing cds.

bkw said:

I think the story line makes sense BUT I don't think the bottom two songs are about Mani. Given that Lolita seems to be Latin American in nature, this would surely suggest that TAC is about her, as well. Despite his boasts of being unswayed by Lolita, since then he finds that he loves her and can not stop thinking about her in TAC. He's still conflicted by the feelings but is trying to convince himself it's ok - "I don't care who knows it cuz there's nothing wrong". The video supports the idea that this has nothing to do with his wife but rather an, as yet, unrequited love.

Black Sweat shows Prince finding salvation from his conflicted feelings ("I don't want 2 take my clothes off - but I do") via physical relations, with the realization that he needs to follow this affection and his urges to their natural conclusion ("I'm hot, and I don't care who knows it, I got a job to do" & "Break you off like you knew I would. I got a brand new dance and it's called the "Ugh!"...).

Scale is 0-5

3121

Lolita 1/2

TAC

BS

Incense and Candles 1/2

Love

Satisfied

Fury 1/2

The Word

BLB

The Dance 1/2

Get On The Boat 1/2
[Edited 3/9/06 15:42pm]

Even though my theory is probably wrong, I thought this album may have been about his history with Mayte. I mean, it seems to be looking at his past musically so maybe it is lyrically as well.

3121 - The party where he meets Mayte. The "U can come if you want 2, but u can never leave" line shows that he will be affected by this chance meeting forever.
(Musical Reference - Days Of Wild)

Lolita - Mayte flirting with him and trying to get his love, but Prince is iron-clad in not fooling around with her because she's under-age. (was he seeing anyone when Mayte came into the picture)

Te Amo Corazon - "At 42,000 feet above the sea" could be referring to a moment Prince and Mayte shared that was when they "came 2 be". First Prince didn't know how he could love her (or how he could tell her). Mayte also spoke some Spanish on TGE (as I recall) so maybe these 2 songs are referencing that it is indeed about Mayte with the spanish speaking.
(Musical Reference - Damn U
And God Created Woman)

Black Sweat - This song sounds like it was MADE for Mayte to dance to it. Prince is expressing his desire to dance with her and get her aroused.

(P Control. The synth at least)

Incense And Candles - Mayte is still underage, hence the line "I know u want 2 take off all your clothes, but please don't do it". Also, the rap part could be a reference to Prince's brief forray into rap.

(Any slow song where Prince rapped on it)

Love - Prince and Mayte are both in love with each other and Prince is freely admitting it and ready to be with her. He is, however, tired of her seeming infidelity ("if u're gonna play me like the times u did before").
(The Human Body. For the drum part in the beginning
Dig U Better Dead. For the verses anyways)

Satisfied - Prince trying to get Mayte in the mood and have her pleasure him. Secksually.
(Dark)

Fury - She basically catches him cheating and has left him. Prince is still living his life and getting another band. I think this is in the Rave era.

The Word - Prince is becoming intrigued by what Larry Graham has to offer him and in the chorus shows that he has accepted the Jehovah's Witness lifestyle.

Beautiful, Loved, and Blessed - Prince realizes that the past is the past and he has talents and he does not need Mayte thanks to Tamar (possibly? Kind of a half-assed analysis on my part)

The Dance - Prince finally comes to terms with the fact that he will never have Mayte agaun and this ends with him screaming "It's not fair".

(The Beautiful Ones. Only the screaming at the end gives that vibe)

Get On The Boat - Basically what the lyrics say it is: a quest for unity. 3121 makes its mark on here with the reprise of "Don't u wanna come"? I guess Prince hasn't left 3121 yet.
(The Work Pt. 1
Everlasting Now
Pretty Man)



But I'm probably wrong.
[Edited 3/9/06 16:53pm]

I'm amazed at how great Te Amo Corazon has become all of a sudden

Here's my interpretation of the songs and their order:

3121
Prince wants people to know this is a party record..."you can never leave" = you won't stop listening, it'll be on repeat.

Lolita
Prince wants people to remember how he used to do it back in the 80's.

Te Amo Corizon
Prince wants Mani to know how much he loves her, writes her a song.

Black Sweat
Prince wants us to know that he can write a song that would fit into today's radio playlist, even if radio decides not to add him in.

Incense & Candles
See above.

Love
Prince wants to show the world he can create the song MJ's been trying to create (and failing at) for over 10 years now, and can do it better. He even mimics MJ's vocals to get the point across. "Yes, Michael, here's what you've been shooting for but haven't hit...you've been trying for a decade, I did it in one take."

Satisfied
Prince wants people to know he likes slow songs like this, so he writes one.

Fury
Prince came up with this one out of the blue and didn't want to wait until another CD to release it. Adds it onto 3121.

The Word
Prince wants people to be saved.

B,L & B
Prince wants to cross promote Tamar. He wants his own Beyonce', dammit.

The Dance
Prince reworks an already released tune while bored, loves the results, didn't want to wait until another CD to release it. Adds it onto 3121.

Get On The Boat
Prince wants people to know that he still loves jammin' with Maceo and Sheila.


Maybe I'm reading too much into it, tho...

Byron said:

Not at all. I dig your interpretation.

BULLSHIT!! "Love" bears no resemblance at all to MJ. I hear no Prince mimicing MJ vocals in this song. You are delusional. Furthermore, Invincible shits all over 3121 (I love both albums, don't get me wrong, but Invincible is better).

Actually, come to think of it, Love is a bit like Xscape. In which case, Prince tried to do what MJ did on Xscape but failed. Xscape is the best song MJ has done for a long time, possibly even since the Dangerous album.
[Edited 3/9/06 17:21pm]

DarlingDiana said:

Whoa, whoa, whoa Feelings

DarlingDiana said:

Please...throw in a few "he he's" and a "shamon!" and they're practically twins.

Great thinking by bkw and many others here.

A couple of days ago my instincts told me that this album was at the very least a loosely scripted concept album. But I hadn't put in the necessary work yet to put all the pieces together in any kind of tangible way.

I think the road that’s been started down here will turn out to be a very fruitful one, but there is plenty of opportunity for expansion and refinement, and many different ways of looking at this.

There’s certainly seems to be a story here, perhaps even a very personal one about a marriage threatening to dissolve due to infidelity, or just the perception of such behavior. And there is certainly the recurring theme of the use of spirituality to not only pull yourself out of such a rough patch but as a means to keep yourself from going down that troubled road in the first place.

But it's hard to know just where to jump into the story. Is "Lolita" this woman from Panama that Prince produced at least one new song for on her new album? Does Tamar joining the band figure in here at all? What about partying and becoming friends with Salma Hayek at these "3121" parties at his house? Does Mayte figure in at all (Te Amo Corazon)?

Have any of these relationships caused harm to his marriage? Were any of them at one point producing scorn and jealousy? When is he talking about his wife and when is he talking about someone else? Is he merely addressing his own non-acted upon temptations or was there some real struggles with infidelity? Is this about passing down his own wisdom garnered from years of infidelity in the far past, in part inspired by recent jealousies? Is this all pure fiction?

Hell, is there any person alive that wouldn’t get at least a little jealous seeing Salma Hayek become friends with your spouse -- even if it's completely platonic and you and your partner are gay males?

A lot of exploration yet to do.

Pure fiction or deeply personal story, either way I'm really enjoying this music right about now.

I'll give it to some of you, you are dedicated fans with these theories. If only Prince put as much thought into the record.

Comparing 3121 to any of his past albums is pretty silly an exercise in futility. Keep trying to conjure emotions of the past with every new prince track you spin? Take 3121 and put any new jacks name on it and it would be a classic.

Wall said:

What's your basis for saying that he didn't? The fact that you personally didn't enjoy it?

Byron said:

PurpleCharm said:

It can't be that simple...peoples lives depend on it being deeper than that

[Edited 3/9/06 23:22pm]

Alexandernvrmind said:

I just dont like that reply. unnecessary sarcastic. If your going to contribute, say something useful.

This is a very good album. His best since Lovesexy no question for me. For the record I don't get the whole TRC thing either. It's a terrible, terrible album. Prog rock at it's worst. Anyway....

I am an '80's Prince fan'..used to buy all the bootlegs etc.
I am just pleased that there are 5 great Prince tracks. i wasn't even expecting another great Prince single.

3121 and The Word are my favourites. The production is also very similar to Lovesexy. TAC really is a beautiful track too. Again, reminds me of When 2 R in Love. Don't like BLB and Incense & Candles. Black Sweat is pretty good but reminds me of the much better 'New Position'.

All in all..we got the song 3121. That's a great return to form and a song good enough for one of his 'classic albums'.So that's a success.

I have a feeling that the next album will be even better. By all accounts he's back in the zone since the Brits performance.

Did somebody say that Invincible is better than 3121 or did I dream that? If so they should be ashamed of themselves.

Byron said:

This is a very interesting interpretation. So I got to ask, do you believe he acomplish his goal in this song in particular?

i would imagine Jackson is the very last thing on his mind. This isn't 1984.

A few people here have said that Love sounds like something MJ or Britney would do and I don't hear it. What makes people say that? Is it the synths? Someone enlighten me.

Still...It's better than Emanciaption!

anoxicblaze said:

"It's goin' down, y'all...like the wall in Berlin."

Um, it's not 1989, either...

purplecam said:

For me it's mainly his vocals, at least over the first two verses (and especially verse 1)...

OK, everybody's doing it, si I will as well:
Out of 5 stars...
3121 (3 stars)
Lolita (4 stars)
Te Amo Corazon (4 stars)
Black Sweat (4 stars)
Incense and Candles (4 stars)
Love (4 stars)
Satisfied (2 stars)
Fury (4 stars)
The Word (5 stars)
Beautiful, Loved & Blessed (4 stars)
The Dance (4 stars)
Get on the Boat (3 stars)

Not bad, appart from Satisfied, On the Couch's boring sister!

PurpleKnight said:

I just think trying to make 3121 a conceptual record is laughable and a very far stretch, all in imho, of course. But I think Byron had something there with probably what was going through his head.

I have played Fury a few more times and while I still think it's a bit of a flop, the guitar playing is great, though of course, when isn't Prince's guitar playing great? I just wish it had some of the inventive moments the live versions have had, in particular, the stacatto reverb trick he did on SNL, that was a brilliant touch, as were, of course, the smoking solos on SNL.