You know what this album really needs? More "NPG, get rowdy!!" chants...

Byron said:

that "lil' jon-meets-prince" graphic that ab777 made would be handy right about now...

newpower99 said:

That is true with many great albums. But, for me, I can tell this isn't one of those cases. I'll play it to death for a while and forget it.

I can just tell.

MarcelJ said:

Boy , I have all you fooled.

Yeah M, I miss the NPG Operator myself

I think everyone here is being too critical, it's a Prince cd of new music, it is not NPS or anything like that. 3121 is the most different sounding Prince cd in a LONG time!! It does not sound like anything he has done for a while. What more do you want from him???? People keep saying stuff about his "return to form", is that all everyone wants around here is Purple Rain 2????? You tell me how 1999, Parade, and D&P are the same?? If you don't like the songs on the cd, that's fine, but don't be giving us all this stuff about how this isn't like it was supposed to be and all that. This cd sounds much different than the last 10 he has released, in my opinion, doesn't make it the best, but it is something new from him....as everyone kept saying for the past year. If you only like the 80s music by Prince, then buy up all of those and be happy. For the past 4 years on here I hear the same thing over and over. Why can't he be more like the 80s???? It is 2006 people, come on! I think 3121 is pretty good on a first listen through bad sound quality and much different than any music(besides TRC) in over 10 years by Prince. So, if you don't like it, that's fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but please stop the return to form talk, because Prince will always be the same!! He will do whatever he wants!

Byron said:

I agree with what you said about Parade! As far as Parade goes, Christopher Tracy's Parade, New Position, I Wonder U, Life Can Be So Nice, and Do U Lie? are all terrible songs. 3121 has more quality tracks than Parade from what I had heard so far.

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.

lspear76 said:

That statement doesn't deserve a response.

loudawg said:

Well if you think the opening of Parade is sub-par, then yes, 3121 is for you.

I wouldn't even put the 3121 in the same cd book as Parade, maybe not even the same room, and I'm not stuck in the past. Prince has made some exciting music in the last ten years, TRC, as much as I can do without the preaching, was him following his own muse and coming away with a record only he could make, brimming with jaw dropping musicianship while teaming them up with head scratching interludes. The man is a genius and has set a high bar for himself. His hip must be hurting him, because he doesn't get anywhere near leaping over that bar with 3121.

roanmairin said:

Parade is an interesting mess: one of his funkiest songs ever ("Girls & Boys") is a layered full band production, while "Kiss" is one of the simplest arrangements he's ever done, and the ballad "Sometimes It Snows In April" is positively inspired. He does cover more ground stylistically than ever before. But too much of the album is meandering instrumentals ("Venus De Milo"), period pieces (the schmaltzy "Do U Lie") and second-rate compositions ("Under The Cherry Moon," "I Wonder U").

AlexNevermind28 said:

what, are we supposed to nod our heads in absolute agreement then? i'd rather have the criticisms and boos than just a cacophony of blind praises and yays.

Well time for a review then.. typing this as i'm listening to each tune

3121: The first time i played this, it forced me into a big smile. I'm just a sucker for all the whacky guitars and pitch-shifting. Just when you're seriously digging the groove, the horns kick in which take things to funk heaven. Despite rumors to the contrary, this tune does have a strong hook, albeit a simple one. This is going to kick major ass live 4500/5000

Lolita: Lol.. those synths.. only P could get away with such a load of Gouda cheese. Gotta love it for that alone. Utterly catchy, and still a grower. Love the synth-bass groove near the end, even though the synth could have used some additional fatness (as in oberheim-fatness). This would be on my list of potential singles. 4000/5000

TAC: Lushnes to the extreme. People will be gushing all over this song once they get over "P is getting old and doing boring songs" schism 4500/5000

BS: I find myself skipping this song rather often. I don't think it's bad, but i'm not too amused by that synth-lead. It's instant headache for me.. makes me wonder if P is going deaf? 3000/5000

I&C: AW man.. somebody hide all those horrible obligatory fingersnaps/rim samples cuz i'm getting SICK of hearing them on all those arrebee tunes. P attempting to please the MTV crowd here. Cut out half your brain and you might enjoy this tune . To be fair i do kinda like the choruses near the end. However after probably 10 years since Cher introduced the autotune voice-thingy, this does sound dated already. 2000/5000

Love: Love the dirty drums, the dirty bass. It's quite funky, has a bit of a cliche chorus. This song is about the funk though. Love the silly snare-breaks.. this will be instant party on a dancefloor 4521/5000

Satisfied: Classic P-ballad. Somehow P thinks that there should be one of these on every single album. He does it so well though.. there's really nothing wrong here, it's just that you heard it al before. Provides the obligatory 3/4 measure tune on the album as well 4000/5000

Fury: Ah yes! This is stil slamming pretty well, when taken on it's own merit. Sure, it's not quite the SNL performance, but a very decent song nevertheless. It sure is like the song everybody wanna sing.. so i'll include it on my singles-list 4550/5000

The word: Nice production on this one. Not catchy at all in my book, and somehow a bit tiresome. Religious nonsense all over the place which i don't really dig, sampled orchestral hits which were really hip back in '85, but which sound dated in 2006 I do like the percussive ending though. This could very well be a grower. 3121/5000

BLAB: I'm still undecided on this one.. lol. More religious stuff, and P in his reli-mood, which i don't really dig at all. I could have lived with this track being exclusively on Tamar's album, and seeing it replaced with some other gem from P's hand.

The Dance. Ah yeah! This is what being a P-fan is all about. Moody strings accompanied by some cool piano stuff, among other things. This is really lush, and really emotional.. kinda dark in a 'beautiful ones' way, but more subtle. Brilliant melodies and countermelodies which pop up all over the place, yet this does sound like one organic living entity.. it al makes such perfect sense Highlight of the album. Blast this through the best headphones you can afford and feel the rush. Lovely emotional ending 5000/5000

Get on the boat: Funkiest thing P has done since.. i think TRC. Nothing earth-shattering in a musical sense if it wasn't for that uberfunky rhytm and perfect bassline. There is some kind bridge which is rather run of the mill. Lovely percussion, nice solo by Maceo and ending in some exotic percussion stuff going on. Really nice tune 4500/5000

Byron said:

I'd call it one of his true masterworks, not an interesting mess. I Wonder U is filled with druggy atmosphere and flows effortlessly in after CTParade and New Position. Under The Cherry Moon is a great pop jazz ballad born and bred on the Riveria which is where Venus De Milo and Do You Lie are also from which fits in perfectly with the vibe of the album and the film it's drawn from.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

You're being too critical of his critical post calling for people to stop being too critical...

Ok, I have a headache now...

I find it almost astonishing that so many 'fans' of Prince can be so harsh on his new album. I, as a fan of music, and Prince, am just grateful that he even bothered dropping a new album. He could just be sitting back, enjoying his riches, but decided to bless music fans with at least one more album. I may not care for a few songs on "3121", but I'm extremely grateful to Prince for putting out new music, and I will gladly buy the album when it hits retail stores.

newpower99 said:

This happened with me too. Musicology, reflection, dear mr man bored very much the first time i heard them. Now they are my favorites of the album.

Illusion COma Pimp and circustmace and Cinnamon girl i instantly liked then, but now they are always skipped when i play the album.

As a matter of fact it´s very rare for me to like instantly a song and keep rating it very high.

I didnt like when doves cry and computer blue when i first heard at all, it was just ok, now i love them.

In the other hand there are songs liek family name is one of the favorites of mine since i first heard. SO i dunno.

GodzHand said:

Don't sweat it. Prince sure ain't. That's just the nature of the beast. Trust me, if we had prince.org back in '84 you would be amazed at the legions of fans complaining that Prince had lost his damn mind. Lotsa different tastes around here, which makes this place damn fun.

Universaluv said:

...Especially after releasing ATWIAD a scant 9 months after Purple Rain was such a huge success. The Org (had it been around back then) would have been split right down the middle as to whether it was a great follow-up album & direction, or a horridly flawed exercise by a man who now thinks he's more talented than he really is. "He thinks he's John Lennon now just because Purple Rain was a huge hit?"...lol

Byron said:

Like i said before.. expectations can really prevent people from valueing something on it's own merit. If you can't stand the constant changes in direction you're going to have a hard life being a P-fan Maybe those people better stick with something less adventurous..

Payt said:

Just because you are disappointed doesn't mean you had unreasonable expectations.

"Love... The Word... Lolita" <-- those three songs in that sequence... ah yeah!!

also loving "3121... Black Sweat... Satisfied"

and trying to get accustomed to the album version of Fury

Is there any one sound or lyric that suggests that this album is really newly created music and not something P just pulled out of him um "vault"? "George Bush find Osama" (á la, Ronnie Talk to Russia) lics? Desperate Housewives (á la, U don't have 2 watch Dynasty), etc. -- something?

The lack of interesting lyrics suggests he's just not keeping up with the Jones. Ani D, Outkast, Erykah Badu and a lot of new rap have tight, thoughtful, progressive lics that are just extensions of Prince's own best lyrical wordsmithiness of old. Prince used to take the best of Black (and other music) and just make somethin' better. He can't be ignoring all the good stuff out there now, can he?

To lend an outsiders perspective (someone that is quite familiar with radio, formatting, marketing):

- Music is subjective, so variance in opinion is natural. With that being said, there are a few songs on this album that are more "marketable" to the mainstream than others.

- Incense and Candles, hands down, is the most mainstream, radio friendly song on the album. Standard R&B fare? maybe, but it's sexy and smooth, and has a hook. Plus it has "theme" appeal, i.e. "incense and candles" burning during the video. Lots of elements play a part in a song's ability to be marketed you see?

- Fury is a great song, even though the vocals are a little low. It's the 3rd most marketable song on the album, behind Incense and Black Sweat.


Here is a rule of thumb: when an artist is playing most of his/her songs in Major, or the hook is in Major, odds are, he/she is happy: "Lolita"

when an artist is playing most of his/her songs in Minor, odds are, he/she has been going through things: see every Fiona Apple album.


I know we all have our opinions and that's natural, but just trying to lend insight from a strictly "objective" standpoint. There are things that the industry looks for that goes beyond just the melody or the hook. There is the title, there is the "theme appeal", there are a lot of elements. Right now, Incense and Candles is leading the pack (which ironically is the antithesis of this board's common opinion).

roanmairin said:

I'm just trying to say that it's not as much the music which makes you feel disappointed, but that it's your expectations not being met that makes you feel that way

It's all fine though.. each to their own

roanmairin said:

or any expectations, for that matter. i didn't have any before listening to it, i just unzipped the zip file that was sent to me, uploaded the songs to my winamp player and thought, "i wonder how this'll be...here goes!"

there's aspects of the album that i don't care for or like, but am i disappointed by the whole thing? nope. i came away with the feeling that there's at least stuff on it that i do like.

GoZero said:

Well, I really gotta read through the lyrics before I can judge them as interesting or not.

Howeva... the fact that I haven't heard anything yet that instantly dates the song as a 2005/2006 production, be it a forced Brokeback shout out or whatever, ain't necessarilly a bad thing.


.
[Edited 3/7/06 13:57pm]

Eclecticali said:

Out of curiosity, would "When Doves Cry" have fit into any of these preconceived industry catagories concerning what should be a "hit"?

its pretty disapointing overall. 3/5

its slightly better than musicology. if he is doing contemporary stuff then get a co producer (but who is good at editing, can program synths and say 'thats shit' in the direction of princes ear).

yes i am grateful he has made this album. a minute of prince is still worth a months of anyone else's.

i'm looking at the detail already as thats where i see his state of mind musically once i filter out the repetition, bland melodies and dull production.

Why hasn't NPGMC put the single cd's on the shelf in the Music sto yet?

I suppose if P wanted folks (his fans?...) listening to all his stuff before its official release, he would at least set up a listening station for the whole album in the NPGMC. And he hasn't. It must make him happy and proud to have such folks as hangers on.
[Edited 3/7/06 14:10pm]