please forgive this long and silly review but i wrote it as i
listened and just put down whatever came to mind listening.



from the lotus...

the album opens with the ambient/psychedelic music that was montaged
on the lotusflower preview that ran on the small tv. after that the
track segues into what sounds very much like the coda of the title
track from the rainbow children album. from the fast ticking sound
of what appears to be a metronome to the guitar fills. nice way to
set the mood. drums are fierce and crisp.


boom

starts out with that reverby echo laden dolphin/strays of the world
sound that "crimson and clover" has as well. beautiful vocal track,
also similar to the one on "crimson and clover". i'm dying to hear
them segue into one another on the cd release. nice full sound and
yet not over stuffed or over produced. weird vocal effects and a
bit of backmasking on inbetween the refrains? also the lyrics are
enigmatic enough not to be considered "too religious" if anything
the talk of obelisx and primordeal space sound new age lite, like
something you can tailor to your own like.
what i like most about this is that even if the track was not called
boom you would still go "boom" at the exact time he says it. cool.


the morning after

i'm not convinced about this one. perhaps i just dislike it since
it has replaced crimson and clover on this version of the album.
i just don't think it fits that well, although, fcuz prince does
and he knows best i guess. all the ingredients of this song are
top notch but the sum of the parts lacks magic. it sounds only a
little bit better than most of planet earth.


4Ever

i never really like these songs with multi vocal track chorus that
is just a chant. the song feels a little bit too much like others
before (she loves me 4 me and everywhere come to mind immediately).
nice album track but nothing i would listen to on it's own because
i was desperate to hear it again.


colonized mind

if you're a prince fan you must have been living under a rock if
you haven't heard this one yet. mellow track, pushed forward by
the guitar until the steady (once again perfect) drums kick in and
give it more beef. the lyrics of the first chorus are the most
outspoken religous lyrics on the album, i think. the song is a
big winner in most respects but i can't help but feel a little bit
uneasy when he starts singing about intelligent design. the two
songs that come to mind most when listening to this are Calhoun Sq
and Beautiful Strange, especially their live renditions circa 2002.


feel good, feel better, feel wonderful

thank god he left the vocal track untouched when he polished up the
song. it's one of my fav vocal tracks of the last decade. especially
the second verse. "i might be the same one that tapped on the crack"
oh lord. i love the way prince just spits like a train rolling down
a track and all the while the backingband counters his vocals ever
so slightly. the image i get from listening to this is prince on a
crowded street somewhere in spain, screaming the lyrics as he struts
down the sidewalk with various bandmembers in tow joined here and
there by the locals. it's that walking beat and the fun, the sense
of searching that was most evident circa 1994. looooove this one.


love like jazz

both this and the next track feel like summer holiday resort late
night pool schmoozing. lol. prince style though. classy yet a bit
unnerving. the 70s mid-afternoon cocktails n jazz xylophone fills
are very funny and lift the mood. i adore the way he croons the
title of the song twice during the end of the song before there's
a guitarsolo in two parts that starts slow and seductive and ends
up ushering the song out with a quickly raising pulse.


77 beverly place

starts with what sounds like the death rattle of a thumping rock
song with a woman out of breath, gasping and post coital. only to
very weirdly abruptly give way to a greek-ish holiday summer sun
and siesta on a sofa in the garden of a spanish villa, lol. it's
a nice pallete cleanser and a light note in a heavy, dense album
and i like it for that. the schism between the opening seconds
and the rest of the song is still quite disturbingly weird tho.


wall of berlin

another one most people know by now. the beat is nice, typical
michael b, sonny t and prince jamsession stuff. although it's
got lots of temo shifts and amazing guitar and drums it's also
got very silly lyrics and yet another outdated mention of the
wall of berlin. how did he get locked on that one after all
this time? (remember the ending of 3121?). still the song is a
definite keeper for the guitar and drum track alone. something
weird i noticed is the "shout out" or whatever at the beginning
of this track, it almost sounds like a radio dj, not very cool,
or well, perhaps cool, but strange.

$

i'm already deeply in love with the segue between this one and
wall of berlin. reminds me of lovesexy/parade segues. the song
itself is deceivingly simple. it's instantly catchy but to the
point where i found myself thinking "is this all? isn't this
just too easy for prince?" but the keyboard, the horn stabs and
the relentless tempo crawl under your skin and especially with
those sped up -almost camille like but not quite- vocals it's
an instant stepper. no wonder "dancing" is mentioned so many
times in the lyrics. that's what it sounds like, like dancing.


dreamer

*funkface goes here* by now you're expecting you've probably
heard all the album has to offer and it will probably close
with a ballad. uhm, no. if ever the advise to hold on to yer
wig was called for it is now. prince sings/speaks/shouts or
just plain "coolspeaks" topical lyrics that speak directly
to the imagination. the imagery of the lyrics is bleak and
hard, confronting and at the same time hopefull. and then
the guitar comes down, as hard as the confrontation in the
lyrics. soaring above and beyond and thank god not reigned
in like on so many previous releases. the guitar SPEAKS to
you. it lashes out and growls and then it soars freely till
the song reaches it's climax in groans and mumbled hushed
lyrics before prince says "....wake up, wake up" hardest
rocking song he did in like, forever.


...back to the lotus

a continuation of the opening instrumental track although
this time with more hushed, deep and distorted vocals. is
this a poem being recited? halfway through prince starts
to moan, ooh and aah in distorted vocals sounding like a
lover, a ghost and a wild animal in turns until the track
slows down and the fast paced guitar eases out into what
sounds like a portion of the end of N.E.W.S.'s "north".
more distorted incomprehensible vocals, and more weird
sighs and gasps. noodling guitar, drumm rolls, static and
reverb. it feels like a wind blowing over the surface of
a distant planet with the voice of the last human softly,
echoingly transmitted into nothingness.


AMEN.

hallelujah.

I'm a Prince fan who has admittedly lost interest over time. I do buy all of his releases and there is always something that I like, a track here, a track there, but, overall the last few albums really didn't excite me.

I was very sceptical about lotusflower

But, I actually love it. It's eclectic, yet cohesive. It sounds like Prince, but it's not just a rehash. It's fresh.

I remember when Michelle Ndegeocello's "The World Has Made me the Man of My Dreams" was released last year, there was a thread, and some people posited that this was the sort of far flung, interesting album that Prince should be making.

And, he did just that. Lotusflower is like Prince meets N'Degeocello meets Steely Dan, meets Funkadelic.

I love the instrumentals, and I love the Crimson and Clover cover (I can honestly say that I like all versions - Tommy James, Joan Jett, and now Prince)

Colonized Mind and Love Like Jazz are fantastic. Wall of Berlin and Back to the Lotus are incredible.

There is not one song that I would skip. Nothing here offends. I'm really digging this CD.

Lovin' this album!

psychodelicide said:

Likewise. Even songs like Back to the Lotus, Love Like Jazz, and 77 Beverley Park sound good now.

Again, I can't emphasize enough what a fantastic job Prince has done on the production side of this album. Countless songs from his later work were plagued by either stale production effects (Incense and Candles), a lack of reverb (almost every song on Musicology), or poor choices in the mixing (see: the muted sounding guitar in Fury).

LOTUSFLOW3R suffers from no such problems whatsoever, and I no longer feel he needs anyone to produce his work.

I still need to get the physical CD. Is The Morning After really not on it? Just replaced with Crimson & Clover and removed entirely?

colonized mind (like this song alot, it is overflowing with truth- has alot substance)

I'm sorry peeps, I'm not feeling this whole 3 CD project. It's just self-indulgent. The only glimpse of his genius is in the song Valentina. Not even the instrumental stuff has anything. Prince has resorted to using auto-tune on his vocals. Prince was a trend setter, now he's just following trends. I'll just listen to Valentina

Gav said:

not really. i drew all that pretty fast, so it's shit. i was actually thinking about waiting after i listened to the whole thing before i drew but then i was like "hmm...what if i draw each panel as each song comes and goes?" so i stuck with it.

mypancakeplaces said:

Am I the only one who loves this song?

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

NO!!! I think its one of the best songs he has done in a LONG TIME!!

Again, I can't emphasize enough what a fantastic job Prince has done on the production side of this album. Countless songs from his later work were plagued by either stale production effects (Incense and Candles), a lack of reverb (almost every song on Musicology), or poor choices in the mixing (see: the muted sounding guitar in Fury).

LOTUSFLOW3R suffers from no such problems whatsoever, and I no longer feel he needs anyone to produce his work.

All n'all Prince deserves credit for this album.

I don't think anyone here will argue that this isn't his best in a way long time.

I'm still listening, to this album.
To me "Colonized Mind" and "Dreamer" are new Prince classics along with his 80's greats.

If he takes this on concert, I wouldn't mind listening to the complete album played.

Most of all, I am so glad that prince produced not only a great album, but one that finally shows the grown-ass Prince.
I am also glad that I did not have to use the word "cringeworthy" in my assessment of Lotusflow3r, never used that word so much in any setting other than talking about 90's- Prince albums.

Hopefully he got the cringeworthy stuff off his chest with M-Sound and we can move forward and never have to use that word again.

any chance we can get a tally on how sales are going ?

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

Cringe is in the eye of the beholder.

All n'all Prince deserves credit for this album.

I don't think anyone here will argue that this isn't his best in a way long time.

I'm still listening, to this album.
To me "Colonized Mind" and "Dreamer" are new Prince classics along with his 80's greats.

If he takes this on concert, I wouldn't mind listening to the complete album played.

Most of all, I am so glad that prince produced not only a great album, but one that finally shows the grown-ass Prince.
I am also glad that I did not have to use the word "cringeworthy" in my assessment of Lotusflow3r, never used that word so much in any setting other than talking about 90's- Prince albums.
Hopefully he got the cringeworthy stuff off his chest with M-Sound and we can move forward and never have to use that word again.

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

U actually like a post-80's Prince CD?! Wow, there's ice in hell right now. Just joking! Cool that you dig Lotusflow3r. It is a great CD indeed and I too would love to see Prince perform the whole CD in a concert or one-off show.

purplecam said:

I buy a lot of cds in a year in all genres new and old, if he can get a record buying, hard to please crumudgen like myself back on board says a lot i think.
I think he needs to get on the boat because it has sailed when it comes to kids and kiddie pop. He will never ever win them over.
He needs to concentrate on winning back serious record buyers, not just the fan base.
He should bypass the reviewers and promote this record directly to listeners, ala Coachella by creating organic buzz that is impossible to buy. This audience doesn't care about age, or genre, just that you kick their ass, If he gets this audience talking again they will promote this album for him.
[Edited 4/6/09 12:57pm]