It's cool if anyone likes it ya know.. im just confused on those "review quotes" that prince threw up....



hmmm.. I think they got a different album

C'mon now you know that's gotta be the funniest shit about this...

For the past 6 years +, all I've seen is "I'm sick of that Dat Gum Horn Section "

The man adds synths on top of synths and even samples a fuckin saxophone, plays it on a keyboard patch and all of a sudden it's overwhelming and cheesy.

Sdldawn said:

Or could it be that they reviewed it the way they would review any other popular music cd? You see when Madonna does this shit she "re-invents" herself.

In my humble opinion all the unwarrented bashing of the midget's new album, it's just not that serious....The album isn't among his best, but it certainly not among the midget's low or mediocre points...Just from reading some of the complaints about 3121, a lot of folks (once again, I know it's just opionion and I myself get a little uneasy when I hear "fam" heads praise the album as a work among his best...) seem to be attacking 3121 because of its heavy leaning on R&B...Again, in my opinion, it's a good album with splashes of nostalgia and a comtempoary edge...There's a lot of code words and phrases being thrown around on the Org. ("This track sounds like something Beyonce would do," "I wanted more guitar," "He's listening to the radio too much...") Well, here's a news flash people.....Except for Rainbow Children and Chos & Disorder, the midget has shown a heavy R&B influence since Diamonds & Pearls...

When I hear some of the fans say things like, "Rave and Musicology are a better albums," and "I wish he would go back to the "Chaos & Disorder sound" such statements have no credibility....Let's face it people, there are comments that have been made that show a bit of ignorance regarding the culture and sound of R&B...Whenver someone says "Black Sweat' sounds like Pharrell or the BEP's" it shows that people are a bit lazy with their experience with contempoary black music...The ladder statement holds the same weight as saying "Green Day's American Idiot single sounds like Blink 182..." Did it ever occur to the folks that are calling this album his worst effort to date, that maybe their dissapointment may lie in the fact that they heard three songs before the unreleased material had even been leeked...Not to mention, that they were spoiled with a memorable live performance of "Fury," which takes the air out of listening to the song, which is still a damn good track, on record...If you don't think such a reality has an impact on your opinion of 3121, I don't know what to say...

The bottom line: 3121 is not a top shelf work..but its a good, solid album that shows the old man is still capable of some fine moments...And it's better and fresher than Musicology, that's for sure..Again, just my opinion...but a very fair one (LOL)....
[Edited 3/7/06 16:19pm]

It's cool if anyone likes it ya know.. im just confused on those "review quotes" that prince threw up....



hmmm.. I think they got a different album

I saw someone say on another message board that this album pretty much emcompasses and meshes everything Prince has attempted to do within the past decade into one album.

Ya see, I was digging the laid-back mature Prince. But this album is proof that Prince got paranoid about what some of you still think about him. Hopefully yall see now that when Prince tries to keep up with the mainstream he sounds (and looks) like he's having a mid-life crisis?

What I find most interesting is that this is the album that some of yall begged for: A predominantly pop album (<-- whether some of you want to admit it not, Hip-hop/R&B is practically what defines popular music today ... yall couldn't handle it when he was doing real R&B ) full of synths and guitars with a shit load of technology mixed in. Well, I'll be damned that here it is and some of yall still ain't satisfied. Go figure,
[Edited 3/7/06 16:34pm]

I would say for anyone reading these reviews and are worried its gonna be a bad album just remember that opinions are like arseholes..everyones got one!

The amount of nonsense that gets written(often amusing) on this site concerning peoples judgement of what makes a good prince song/album shows you should take there views with a large pinch of salt.....

littlejim said:

You are absolutely right Jim, they are. And people should get this album and have realistic expectations, not "this is gonna be the best ever" or "this is gonna be the worst ever".

I have one question for everyone though. Remember how alot of people, including fans and the media, used to say "Even a bad Prince album is better most artists good albums"? Is that true anymore?

I would say for anyone reading these reviews and are worried its gonna be a bad album just remember that opinions are like arseholes..everyones got one!

The amount of nonsense that gets written(often amusing) on this site concerning peoples judgement of what makes a good prince song/album shows you should take there views with a large pinch of salt.....

Sdldawn said:

Respect...but I have the million dollar question? What do you like more: Prince's R&B or Rock side? Just trying to get a feel for your dislike for the album...

Klyph said:

have a look over here: http://top40-charts.com/c...php?cid=27

I hope you'll agree that at least 90% of what's in there is utter crap.. products, nothing to do with artistic expressions.

Payt said:

Yeah, but does that excuse Prince from making utter crap (if, in fact, thats what he is doing).

Artistic expression can be seen in alot of ways. Hell, just the sheer balls of making a record could be considered "expressing ones self through an artistic method, music". If you are talking about heart and feeling, im sure we all can agree that some of those have that in their music.

In my opinion, its not about the style of music a person makes that qualifies them as being "artistic", its whats behind it. Im not a big fan of Tool's music, but I would have to be blind not to see that those guys are some of the most talented musicians in the business, who make music because they love it, and they do it well. Green Day has risen from the faux-punk recycling bin to create great, meaningful music, yet they are basically 3-chord wonders. The Black Eyed Peas really urk me (especially since they had such a promising start with their first album), yet some of their songs, even with the weak lyrics, are catchy as hell. Its not about how many instruments there are, whether its odd time or not, or if everyones playing every note they can. Its about the feeling. And I dont get the same feeling from Princes music anymore, at least not consistantly like I used to.

But lets face it, everyone has a creative peak. I think its time Prince fans come to terms with the fact that Prince had his, a long time ago. Im not saying he cant make more great music, because Im sure he can, but can he do it consistently? One of the reasons Madonna (say what u want, but the chick is talented) has lasted as long as she has is because she learned that producers were essential to her in order to created new sounds and music. When will Prince learn that receiving help is not giving up control?
[Edited 3/7/06 17:38pm]

But lets face it, everyone has a creative peak. I think its time Prince fans come to terms with the fact that Prince had his, a long time ago. Im not saying he cant make more great music, because Im sure he can, but can he do it consistently? One of the reasons Madonna (say what u want, but the chick is talented) has lasted as long as she has is because she learned that producers were essential for her in order to created new sounds and music. When will Prince learn that receiving help is not giving up control?

You've got some solid points there. I'm in no way implying that P is creating crap of any kind.. quite to the contrary i'd say. His music is changing all the time, even though it will always have that distinct character.

As far as musical peak is concerned.. my own experience is that it can vary from day to day, our to hour. You can get 'into the zone' from one minute to the other. Sometimes it takes some dedication, at others perhaps a full moon, or whatever. I have a feeling that Prince can make really good stuff any time he wants, mostly. IT's just that the stuff he decides to record and put out usually serves a purpose. For some interesting views on this you should have a listen to the blog by Michael Koppelman, who happens to be a producer Prince hired in the early '90's.

Fauxie said:

There is nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. I'm not casting stones, as I've listened to it as well. Just making the point to all that they should pay for the album now that they have a copy. I think most will, and I know I sure plan to.

You know some very creative and open-minded people surrounded Prince at one point. Like Wendy and Lisa putting him up on the Beatles. I wonder who is in the fold these days to encourage him to listen to new things and stay open minded. Being around creative people to help serve, as a muse is important for any artist in my opinion.


Prince is far too talented to write off like he has had his day. So I won’t go there. So far I hear 3121 as a pop album aimed at the mainstream with a few tracks here and there that hardcore fans may really like. If I am disappointed by this album I have tons of material both released and unreleased to dig into. So I can cut him some slack, I mean look how much he has already given. I don’t expect every album to be another SOTT.


And for the record I think the production is fine for this kind of album. You can use whatever production technique you want, but the songs themselves still have to have some kind of substance. I would listen to the quality of the songs themselves before I pick apart the production.

Eclecticali said:

You can't show fire on MTV.

I have said before and I will say it again. songs like glasscutter are what keep me from just writing him off as a "has been".

According to Koppelman, the vault was still happening as recently as '92, and i have no reason to believe it's not around anymore. They were recording and doing stuff all the time, ad nauseum.. Koppelman was making like 100 hour weeks with P in the studio.. lol.

Well, perhaps you're right, and maybe his creative peak was in the '80's. There seems to be an indication that that was the case, but with P you never know for sure.. he could be hitting a new peak anytime, as far as i can see.. if songs like Fury are an indication.


I too understand personally how creativity can vary from day to day, hour to hour. However, there still is that period, that explosion where creativity is flowing heavily, and Prince had a pretty long run,longer than most in the music field.

My problem with "good stuff at any time" and "the stuff he puts out serves a purpose" statements is that this may have been true once upon a time, but is it now? Does our mythical "vault" with all those unreleased Prince gems really exist? Sure, id imagine there are many excellent unreleased songs from that creative apex (early to mid 80's), but how aboug from after that period? Why would a so-called artist but out inconsistent albums when he doesnt have too? We all know for a fact that there are unreleased songs from the 80's that are probably better than some of the released ones, but they probably would have messed with the concept and flow of the albums. These days,the concept and flow of his albums seem to be, in most cases, non-existent, so whats the excuse now?

And sure, Madonna is not as talented as Prince, but does being more talented exclude you from needing help, in this case a producer? Just because he didnt need one in the past doesnt mean he doesnt need on now. That rationale is a recipe for failure, in anything you do. Maybe he does need to step back, and stop chasing coattails. No matter how much you want to keep shooting the ball, sometimes youve got to realize you need to listen to the coach and select your shots a little better. Maybe then you wont miss as much.
[Edited 3/7/06 18:12pm]
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