As with most Prince C.d.s I thought it was o.k. at first, but after 5 or 6 listens it got better and better. I love this c.d. and think it is the best one in years. If they market things right, which they probably will not, there should be a few top ten songs on here. We will see. I have been a dedicated fan for 20 something years now and always look forward to anything the man does. He is truely awesome.

TimeKeeper said:

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Oh I don't know. I think it's pretty funny that some of the same posters keep trying to convince the people who like it why they have a problem because they like it.

Ifsixwuz9 said:

That is pretty pretty funny. I didn't like it initially either but its growing on me.

Ifsixwuz9 said:

Man, you can say that again.

What's worse is being accused of not liking the album, but refusing to admit it... ?

Shit, if I didn't really like it, I wouldn't have said so.

What makes this one album SO divisive?

Ifsixwuz9 said:

Keen observation. It's called "party pooping." Those who can't summon the courage to enjoy life go around poo pooing those who can.

Vibe magazine is streaming the whole album. Didn't think that was legal..lol

I have been a fan of Prince for over 23 years. I look forward to a new Prince CD with much anticipation and always hope I will find at least a few songs that I can relate too, and just lose myself in. 3121 for me, is pure joy, It always takes me a couple of weeks to fully let all the songs sink in. I usually only soak in 2-3 songs at a time,before I add another song and so on. This time around I can sit and not skip any songs. I especially love the last 3 songs: Beautiful,Love and Blessed, The Dance and Get on the Boat. This is a very spiratual album to me, and I feel very uplifted after hearing it. I take this album as a gift, Thank you Prince.

Takes me a long time to hear an album and make up my mind about it...

One thing I can testify to, however... this is the most JW album yet, IMHO. "Beautiful Loved & Blessed" sounds like it could have come from George Benson. For real!

(Anyone who thinks TRC is a JW album isn't JW or doesn't know much about them... it's a very personal statement on the part of our Princey, who isn't conventional anything, as usual.)

Whether you truly like the album or not I do believe whoever said that Prince is having fun once again was telling the truth. If you don't believe just put in your cd and listen with the headphones, especially on tracks like Lolita and Black Sweat.

Like with all cds once you put on your headphones and play them you'll pick up on stuff you missed.

For me an example would be Te Amo Corazon. There's a lot going on musically in that song that I hadn't really noticed. Its also so well done to the point of sounding "pretty" in headphones.

Heiress said:

?

murph said:

padawan said:

I'll say it again: go back to 1999 and look at what happened with Rave: tons of rave reviews from fams, and a lone voice pointing out that it wasn't great at all: me. Six months later: tons of fans admitting Rave was a pile of cack. This happens with EVERY major Prince release like this. Also happened with Musicology.

Just look at all the attacks on the few posts in this thread that have dared to be critical of the album. Why are fams that "like" this album so threatened by those that don't? Only one explanation: because they know that those "bad" fans are saying what they know deep down to be true: that this is yet another case of the emperor's new clothes.

Can I point out another fact: what does Prince play in concert? Answer: next to nothing from his post-1995 output. Shows you how much he believes in his "current" songs. Hell, just look at how he's promoting this record: he seems already bored with it -- and for some unfathomable reason he's spending way more time on hyping the utterly talentless Tamar.

EmancipationLover said:

I'm still waiting for you to explain where the 4.5 million sales outside the US came from. Answer: it's a made-up number. Just compare to D&P.

Prince is a non-entity when it comes to sales nowadays, except for the couple of weeks just after a major release. The ONLY reason Musicology "sold" as much as it did was thanks to fraud (and hype). Did any of the tracks become classics? Are any of the tracks played anywhere on radio still? Does Prince perform anything from it in concert?

Musicology did NOTHING outside the US, except for the bit of chart action in the first few weeks after the release, when all the old fans hear Prince has a new album out, read the ridiculously upbeat reviews, go to the stores, buy it, listen to it once or twice and then put it on the pile of CDs that will gather dust in the next couple of years.

Look at how much the low-key albums sell: next to nothing.

That's why the $100 million contract was such a joke: it required Prince to sell at least 5 million of each album in that deal, which would be ridiculous since at thta time the only album to reach that mark in years had been D&P, and he had to promote that album like he never did before.

Prince is a non-entity when it comes to sales, except for the occasional blip on the radar when they pull out all the stops -- and then there is NO momentum, no follow-up.

BTW, what about the marketing? Where is it?

BartVanHemelen said:

What Prince plays in concert is moot...Most established stars play the hits with a few new gems thrown in...That argument is weak at best...Listen....I'm all for folks not liking the album; We should not be bullied into praising a piece of work out of fear of being shunned...But you have to make a better case....I remember when the Rave album came out; there were not too many fans (beyond the "fam" contingent) praising that album; and there certainly wasn't much positive feedback from music critics...3121 is a different animal all together...it's a good showing from a veteran act..It's a good (not great) album that shows the man in a energetic mindframe; something we haven't seen in a while; point blank, it's a cool little album...
[Edited 3/28/06 2:36am]

BartVanHemelen said:

You love this bullshit don't you Bart?

BartVanHemelen said:

No, I will not go back to 1999.



No, I won't look at all the attacks on critics.



No, you may not.

BartVanHemelen said:

Okay you are on a Prince FAN site and you talk smack and trash and you wonder why people disagree with you. You don't like the album? Don't listen to or buy it. Done. We get that you hate it already. Go listen to the Gold Experience and be happy.

3121 has finally arrived in the Czech republic and I must say I love the album. Much better than Rave, Musicology and all the other recent stuff. I liked in only after listenining to it twice, which is rare when it comes to Prince. It is great and I really appreciate the fact that Prince sticks to the original musical instruments without trying to sound too "modern" or "in" by using eletronic and over-computerised sounds.

BartVanHemelen said:

Bart, I get from these comments and all other comments you've made on 3121 that you think we are crazy and wrong for liking this CD. Why do you think it's your job to "point out" how "wrong" we are? You are no authority when it comes to Prince so you need to step off your soapbox and chill the fuck out. And since you want to talk about 1999, one thing is for sure, you're just as pathetic now as you were in 1999.

Hi everybody...

...no need 2 fight ! Don't U remember : we all R fans (fams ?) but hardly 4 the same reason ! Did U ever find someone who dig exactly the same songs as U do ? And I've many times noticed it's particularly true with Prince !

And sometimes it's funny 2 discover how people differently perceive what U like or don't like from him :

Dag, for example, wrote "It is great and I really appreciate the fact that Prince sticks to the original musical instruments without trying to sound too "modern" or "in" by using eletronic and over-computerised sounds." I totally disagree with that, I'm a little disappointed I don't feel a body-mind-and-soul behind each sound... Just my perception !

And Heiress said "One thing I can testify to, however... this is the most JW album yet, IMHO. "Beautiful Loved & Blessed" sounds like it could have come from George Benson. For real! (Anyone who thinks TRC is a JW album isn't JW or doesn't know much about them... it's a very personal statement on the part of our Princey, who isn't conventional anything, as usual.)". Interesting point of view : it's not the first time Prince has a kind of guru behavior : how many of his songs talk about a better world, an extraordinary future, with religious vocabulary. Maybe TRC is a kind of Funky Bible ??? But I also think it's still however connected with the fact he pretendly became JW himself...

So no need 2 take it so seriously, freedom of speech ! And go on...

Prince finds a way to play and preach in a more familiar, accessible manner on 3121. He seems to be trying to reinvent his sound and style while staying true to his beliefs. Which is fine with me. It seems like the "old" Prince tries to seep into his new work, whether it's on "Lolita" or "Incense and Candles."

The three tracks on here that I really dig are the title track, "Black Sweat" (a patented Prince groove) and "Fury."

I also like the vibe of "The Word" and "BL&B." It's nice to hear Prince's sprituality expressed in such an enjoyable way. These tracks are not as exuberant as the ones on Lovesexy, but not as polarizing as some of his prior released and unreleased music over the last few years. Nice grooves.

I liked this album on the first listen slightly more than I liked Musicology on the first listen. On its own merits -- and NOT compared to his milestone work two decades earlier -- 3121 is a solid, listenable, albeit mostly unspectacular, effort. It's a notable addition to a Hall of Fame resume.

I was a little disapointed with the album.
I didn't like it as much as i thought i was

Out of five stars i give it like a 2 1/2 to 3.

I like 3 songs on the whole album...not good at all.

I know he can do alot better.....

BartVanHemelen said:

A lone voice! That's a good one!
[Edited 3/28/06 10:56am]

Yeah, I noticed the high synth lick in Black Sweat everyone is talking about.

You should put on headphones and listen if you think its annoying already.

Yeah its sorta rough on the ear I suppose but I like the track anyhow.

To this day Love is still the track i'm most likely to skip.
[Edited 3/28/06 10:53am]

In the vote about the "best" song on the album I choose "The Word" after some hesitation, and then found out is was n° 1! Glad to see I have great taste...

My other favourites are Love (funk that kicks your pants off), BL&B (hypnotizing), The Boat (great chorus!), and Black Sweat (love the synth-bass).

Funk 4ever,

Gert

I'm a little worried about this album. Normally it takes time for a Prince record to grow on me but this one I really liked right out of the box. Fast forward a week and maybe 10 or 15 listens while in the car or at the gym and I must say that I find myself liking it less with each listen which is a new experience for me and a Prince record. To me this album isn't aging well and it's only a week old.

I'm going to take a break and see how I feel in a few weeks.


I have to post a review my friend did for me. He doesn't go on these message boards but I knew he bought the record so I asked him what he thought and he sent me this which cracked me up:

NDRU said:

Maybe he meant the loud(est) voice. There were others. But Bart acted like a Custodian of the Real Prince Heritage and got a lot of the venom.

However, back during the Rave days, when most fans were just giddy Prince seemed to be back in the business playing with real money, all he had to do was say the new album was crap and wait for the commercial failure, since he was fond of pointing to the charts and saying I told you so.

Nowadays, things are a little bit more complicated. Because even though, in his opinion, Prince albums keep dropping like a rock, they do so from a higher chart position. Like no. 3 (first week of Musicology) and now no. 1. How to explain this...? Prince keeps making crappy music but he's selling more records than he did when Rave was out. Is this progress in his opinion? You'd think so... but know that's not the case. I'm sure if 3121 sells 2 million copies legit, he'll say that those are people who went to the concerts and decided to buy the new album on the strength of the classics. Even though they must have had a fair warning, since they got Musicology for "free" and would know what to expect : crap (again, his opinion). Maybe they want the booklet to redecorate their houses.

BartVanHemelen said:

Interesting post. Prince’s commercial clout has definitely diminished over the past 20 years, and his recent comeback has probably more to do with nostalgia than anything else. But he’s also making some appealing music. I don’t know what your criteria are for a “classic” Prince song, but several tracks on his new album are as alive and commanding as anything from his 80s work.

Prince’s troubles with Warners during the 90s, coupled with his furious output and lack of self criticality, hurt his bankability. He was no longer the musical giant who could move a million records in one day. He could no longer fill arenas or even 8,000 capacity stadiums in the U.S. Signing the $100 million contract was probably a mistake, motivated perhaps out of a competitive desire to eclipse Michael Jackson’s deal with Sony at the time. Remember, there was a slew of big name contracts dropping around 1991 or so—Aerosmith, Madonna, Janet Jackson—and Prince got the mother of all rock star contracts.

One contributor here mentioned that Prince was no longer the same artist after signing that deal. I find some validity to this. Where the 80s Prince was singularly focused on the music and the message, the 90s Prince was scattered and difficult. He harped on record executives and called himself a slave and belittled money while wearing fabulous custom made outfits. This only confused and alienated listeners.

With 3121 Prince is back to crafting good old fashioned pop songs that are easy to understand. He’s also working with major labels, doing interviews, making the talk show rounds, holding press conferences. 3121 may not set the world on fire, but I think he’s all right with that. I do believe he’s now humble enough to be glad he’s in the game at all.
[Edited 3/28/06 23:32pm]