Here's my updated review after hearing the album a few more times.

3121--Great opener. Relentlessly funky electronic beat and driving drums that reminds me of Crystal Ball. I love Prince's use of combining regular vocals with his Camille voice. An infectious song that both reintroduces you to the quirky charm of Prince and grabs your attention with an instantly catchy hook. (4.5/5)

Lolita--Those classic synths really drive this song. A fun-spirited pop song with strong structure and a good sense of melody. (4/5)

Te Amo Corazon--This song gains strength with the perspective given to it by its place on the album. Its gentle string arrangement and soft, romantic breeziness fits in perfectly here. (3.5/5)

Black Sweat--Electro funk with effective falsetto vocals. This sounds like Prince reclaiming his old sound, and he does it with charming attitude. It's just a shame that it ends before it can really turn into something special and fully find itself. (3.5/5)

Incense and Candles--The only bad song on the album. This is a rehash of every tired modern R&B act in music today, with its contrived attempt at sounding sensual and current. You know it's bad when Prince hides his beautiful voice under a vocoder. You could replace Prince and Tamar with Beyonce and Usher here and you'd never notice a difference. At least Tamar's vocals are sexy. (2/5)

Love--Wonderfully energetic, vibrant techno noodlings in the same vein as Disc III of Emancipation, except here the production doesn't drown out the exceptionally strong melody. (4.5/5)

Satisfied--I guess Prince thought he missed out on the potential of On the Couch, 'cause he seemed to want to re-record it here. That's pretty much all it is. It's a tighter, more focused, more engaging On the Couch, which had a decent amount of soul but felt like it was rambling. This song improves upon its basic foundation in every sense. (3.5/5)

Fury--This song's biggest weakness is that the awesome SNL performance has proved deceptive. This is simply not a rock song, and I'm fine with that. It's a keyboards-driven pop rocker, and while Prince's vocals could've used more urgency, this song's incredibly fresh structure still shines here. It's really quite a well-crafted pop song, with a spirited hook, and fun lyrics. (4/5)

The Word--Mature, thoughtful vocals from Prince that mesh well with the atmospheric tone of the music. Somewhat patchy lyrics here, but I at least appreciate that he preached his message without shoving blatant dogma down my throat. This is a really effective mood piece. (4/5)

Beautiful, Loved, and Blessed--It's a generally pleasant R&B number with a positive message, and at least its place on the album makes sense, thematically. I still feel like it goes on a little long though, despite its enjoyable funk breakdown at the end. (3.5/5)

The Dance--Incredibly atmospheric and somber, while maintaining a certain feeling of youthful romanticism. This isn't just great music; it's simultaneously good storytelling too. The strings really add a nice layer of understated dread to the whimsical romance of the piano and other instruments. Prince's inevitable emotional outburst at the end perfectly caps off the song. (4.5/5)

Get on the Boat--A fitting closer in that it encapsalates the fun spirit of the album overall. Nice use of horns and an uplifting, if not a little familiar message of coming together while we still can conveyed in an unpretentious manner. (4/5)


3121 is a commercial Prince project that's refreshingly fused with his loveable quirkiness and vibrant attitude. It's just a shame that so many memorable songs with genuine hooks are joined by a few by-the-numbers cuts that, while mostly well made, come off as Prince coasting for the sake of being commercially safe.

This is still quite a rebound from the uninspired, dead sound of Musicology though, and quite a fun album overall. It has so many sparks of ambition and life that were missing from past commercial attempts.


Overall Score: 3.5/5
[Edited 3/7/06 10:28am]

lspear76 said:

PurpleCharm said:

PurpleCharm said:

lspear76 said:

What's an age-neutral lyric? You don't think there are 60 year old executives with beautiful rims on their beautiful cars?

Is it really that serious?

Look, it's obvious that you think it's appropriate for an almost 50 year old man to be rapping about his rims...I don't. IMO it comes across as forced and desperate. P should not feel that he has to appeal the the lowest common denominator of music listeners. I don't care how many hip terms P uses, he will not be considered cool by the masses of under 21 consumers.
[Edited 3/7/06 10:21am]

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

PurpleCharm said:

He should write age-neutral lyrics...how about that!

even then, it wouldn't work out.

all's that i'm and some others here are saying, lou, is that he sounds awkward when he tries out the new-school colloquialisms. don't get mad over that, because it ain't worth the stress. seriously.

lspear76 said:

PurpleCharm said:

Is it really that serious?

Look, it's obvious that you think it's appropriate for an almost 50 year old man to be rapping about his rims...I don't. IMO it comes across as forced and desperate. P should not feel that he has to appeal the the lowest common denominator of music listeners. I don't care how many hip terms P uses, he will not be considered cool by the masses of under 21 consumers.
[Edited 3/7/06 10:21am]

By the way, what exactly is the "lowest common denominator" of music listeners? A song that will never be released as a single mentions "rims" and he's trying to appeal to "the lowest common denominator?" I don't get it. Please enlighten me.

Prince.org is a cemetery where folks mourn Prince instead of celebrate him and his music. Last time I checked, Prince isn't dead yet.

PurpleCharm said:

lspear76 said:

What's an age-neutral lyric? You don't think there are 60 year old executives with beautiful rims on their beautiful cars?

Is it really that serious?

Look, it's obvious that you think it's appropriate for an almost 50 year old man to be rapping about his rims...I don't. IMO it comes across as forced and desperate. P should not feel that he has to appeal the the lowest common denominator of music listeners. I don't care how many hip terms P uses, he will not be considered cool by the masses of under 21 consumers.
[Edited 3/7/06 10:21am]

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

PurpleCharm said:

Is it really that serious?

Look, it's obvious that you think it's appropriate for an almost 50 year old man to be rapping about his rims...I don't. IMO it comes across as forced and desperate. P should not feel that he has to appeal the the lowest common denominator of music listeners. I don't care how many hip terms P uses, he will not be considered cool by the masses of under 21 consumers.
[Edited 3/7/06 10:21am]

yup! i'm 25 years old, and like i had said some time ago on here, i've always thought that he's cool for simply being himself.

It's funny how most reviewers are giving the lowest ratings to the songs which have been out for a while. (TAC, BS, BLB, Fury)

Makes you wonder how the rest of the album will do after repeated listens.

Not well I fear.

lspear76 said:

roanmairin said:

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

lspear76 said:

lspear76 said:

PurpleCharm said:

Is it really that serious?

Look, it's obvious that you think it's appropriate for an almost 50 year old man to be rapping about his rims...I don't. IMO it comes across as forced and desperate. P should not feel that he has to appeal the the lowest common denominator of music listeners. I don't care how many hip terms P uses, he will not be considered cool by the masses of under 21 consumers.
[Edited 3/7/06 10:21am]

By the way, what exactly is the "lowest common denominator" of music listeners? A song that will never be released as a single mentions "rims" and he's trying to appeal to "the lowest common denominator?" I don't get it. Please enlighten me.

roanmairin said:

Why am I even going back and forth about P using that line about the rims in I&C? I said I liked the song, damn.

PurpleCharm said:

Why am I even going back and forth about P using that line about the rims in I&C? I said I liked the song, damn.

I must be in the twilight zone

I see better reviews over at Okayplayer than I do here on the Org

The song "love" just ok?

2 and 1/2 stars out of 5

Is this really Prince.Org

This album is good if not great

You might as well stop checking for new Prince music right now if you ain't diggin this because you are never going to be satisfied.

It's just one bad line in one bad song. No big deal.

intha916 said:

Prince.org is a cemetery where folks mourn Prince instead of celebrate him and his music. Last time I checked, Prince isn't dead yet.

I never thought i'd live to see the day where two whole pages would be given over to discuss Prince's rimming.

the bassline in the title track does remind me of Days Of Wild.. but there is something about 3121 that I like better.

BananaCologne said:

BananaCologne said:

Prince.org is a cemetery where folks mourn Prince instead of celebrate him and his music. Last time I checked, Prince isn't dead yet.

Meloh9 said:

BananaCologne said:

lspear76 said:

"the word" and "Love" are great!!! A+

"...Like a Bird flying over the hill tops, Love is like the sky U know, it never stops...." woohoooo

Hell I'm willing to give these songs all:

3121 (A)
Lolita (A)
Te Amo (A)
Black Sweat (A)
Incest & Candles (A)
Love (A)
Satisfied (A)
Fury (A)
The Word (A)
BL&B (A)
The Dance (A)
Get on the Boat (A)

It's just that perceived as a complete album and from the artistic viewpoint this album sucks ass beyond belief. Great songs, unimpressive album. And it's not just that it's unimpressive on the whole. It's also just so damn wrong
[Edited 3/7/06 11:08am]

3121 (B+)
Lolita (A)
Te Amo (B-)
Black Sweat (B+)
My Rims (C-)
Love (A-)
Satisfied (B)
Fury (A-)
The Word (A)
BL&B (C+)
The Dance (B+)
Get on the Boat (B-)


"Lolita" would fit on Beck's Midnight Vultures (except it would have much better lyrics but the vocals wouldn't be a coolsexy)...

"Love" sounds like Prince wants to mimic MJ (not follow him, but purposefully put out an MJ track)...his vocals at the beginning of this song could be straight from MJ himself if you didn't know better.

"Fury" is MUCH darker and stomps MUCH harder than I first gave it credit for...I guess it's cuz I finally listened to it on headphones instead of my Sony computer speakers..lol...