I'm surprised people don't like THE DANCE. To me it's the best song Prince has done in a long time, a pure masterpiece.

this sounds MUCH better than the version i've been listening to. thank goodness!

3121 (the song) ansolutely rocks!
It's the best of the album.

It's not gonna b released in Israel for about a week

I think I'm gonna finally cave in and be naughty....

I bought my copy on sunday,it was already available saturday it seems.
I was really excited and have listened 2 it several times now and
it's a great album!!
Sometimes,when the excitement fades away,I lose my intrest but NOT
with this one.

I was really surprised when people didn't like the album version of Fury,
it couldn't be SO differnet then the SNL performance-I thought.
They mentioned the same happened with Endorphine machine,but I never heard the live version so I couldn't compare.I think Endorphine Machine sounds better than
Fury,but it's such a good song I still love it.But hte drums really sound flat
and the whole song sounds like a demo.
The synth in Love reminds me a bit of The Prodigy(Their law)(??)
Anyway,my fav album since TGE.
[Edited 3/21/06 1:17am]

I was one of the few fans that waited until it's release date to hear 3121. I'd downloaded the three singles and had mixed thoughts. I liked them but expected something stronger. I was consoled by the thought of 9 other new tracks. A classic case of "they'll be better ones of the album"...
De Nial is not just a river in Egypt! If I'd have known that Black Sweat and Te Amo Corazon was as good as it was going to get I probably wouldn't be as disappointed as I am now.

Firstly, Incense & Candles? Just when you thought you'd heard Prince at his lowest with Freaksonthisside he goes and records something like this. The vocoder vocal effect is so synonymous with the Euro dance scene it really made me cringe hearing Prince use it six years after Cher and Madonna. This kind of insipid balladry lacks any true emotion and sounds like something even R Kelly would reject as a b-side.

The Dance is yet another example of feined passion. It's like he added the trademark screams at the end in a last-ditch attempt to rouse some life into an otherwise fairly unremarkable, forgettable melody. It fails to convince.

I have to say I was really quite taken a back by just how weak some of these songs are. Say what you will about albums like Rave or Emancipation but at least it still sounded like he knew how to write a decent hook.

After giving the disc a third spin I put on Lovesexy and sat down and listened to it with the lyric booklet in front of me.

I went to bed with the tones of Anna Stesia still ringing in ears and woke up with Positivity swirling around in my head.

One thing I really miss from his music is it's relevance to the time it was recorded. Listening to 3121 and Lovesexy back-to-back you could really hear with the latter that the songs and their subject matter just don't excite him anymore.

Even with Emancipation, with the imminant birth of his child and his marriage to Mayte you can hear and feel his excitement. There's none of that on 3121.

If 3121 has achieved anything it's reminded me just how powerful, playful and exciting records like Lovesexy are in comparison.

MattyJam said:

As I said before, I'm surprised at the radically different opinions concerning Prince's music. Lovesexy just ain't that great (Dance On, Positivity).The Dance is remarkable, doesn't sound "forced" at all to me. Sounds stunningly beautiful. (The Word, too)

superspaceboy said:

I wasnt being cryptic...I just couldnt remember teh first name of teh Coleman that is credited but it wasnt Lisa

Paisley4u said:

Endorphinmachine sounds great in all versions except the one on the gold experience. by the time gold came out, many tracks written during that era were rerecorded or dropped completely (acknowledge me, ripopgodazippa, endorphinmachine, interactive, gold) from the album. to say the studio version of fury is as bad as the gold version of endorphinmachine is not accurate. fury might not be as great in the studio as it is live, but it's still a great track.

GoldenGlove said:

Its no good tho, the ball would bounce up everytime it rolls over it. That how he wins all the time, never play Prince at home, coz he cheats.

purplecam said:

The same is true for manure: just stay near it long enough and you won't be bothered by the smell anymore.

Six months from now you'll be placing 3121 where it belongs: in the long list of post-1995 Prince albums that you don't care about. If you're still listening to Chaos & Disorder, Musicology, Rave etc. these days, you're not exposing your ears to truely great music that is out there now.

i got mine last night at walmart, was there at mid night, and surprisingly a few other people. the clerk gave me the first one out the box. i went running through the store squealing like a pig. i love this cd, the best one in about a decade. props and pounds to prince.
i love the booklet but not the digi pac thing.
and why in the hell do these freakin retailers always put the price over the sticker that comes on the wrapper. gaaawwwwwdddd i hate that.

Is it just me?
Really does seem that Prince decided to listen to his back catalogue when putting the albumn together.
It seems as if he listened to his old stuff and then recorded the tracks.
The tracks seem as if the could easily fit onto the older albums - anyone agree?


Just a few thoughts after listening to it a few times (sure others will think diferently).....

3121 – Could fit on side 2 of SOTT

Lolita – 1999 or Grafitti Bridge?

TAC – The Rainbow Children

Black Sweat – Parade

Incense and Candles – Diamonds and Pearls

Love – Symbol
Satisfied – Musicology

Fury – Parade - if fact the vocals seem to be sung in the same way as Girls and Boys but in a quicker tempo

The Word – The Truth Album

BL&B – Emancipation

The Dance – Purple Rain

Get on the Boat – Lovesexy

BartVanHemelen said:

That's cool homie...You made your point and I respect it...But to say that this album is on the level of Rave or Musicology is a little kneejerk in my humble opinion...3121 is flat-out a better album; I would advise everyone to listen to the album on its own terms...Some albums are meant to just spark off the jovial moments in our lives, not just represent some grand, spectaular statement as some folks on the Org have lamented...I can easily say that this is the first album in a long time that features some tracks that can stack up against the midget's more alive and non-pretentious material...In short, I dig it....

Is it just me...?
Really does seem that Prince decided to listen to his back catalogue when putting the albumn together.
It seems as if he listened to his old stuff and then recorded the tracks.
The tracks seem as if the could easily fit onto the older albums - anyone agree?

3121 – Could fit on side 2 of SOTT

Lolita – 1999 or Grafitti Bridge?

TAC – The Rainbow Children

Black Sweat – Parade

Incense and Candles – Diamonds and Pearls

Love – Symbol

Satisfied – Musicology

Fury – Parade: if fact the vocals seem to be sung in the same way as Girls and Boys but in a quicker tempo

The Word – The Truth Album

BL&B – Emancipation

The Dance – Purple Rain

Get on the Boat – Lovesexy

Overall I am happy with the album...love TAC the most at present!! Then Fury, Satisfied, Love, 3121, BL&B, Lolita.....sure eveyone has their favourites and they will change as you listen to it over and over.

I love the entire album, it really surprised me after reading negative comments from folk who prematurely downloaded the leak. The title track is flawless dark and dirty funk, and i have always loved the camille voice, but the fact that he has layred the camille voice onto his normal voice adds a new dimension. The duration of that track is perfect with a cool little solo thrown in for good measure. I look forward to hearing that song out in clubs as i am certain that some dj's with taste will have that. The rest of the album is amazing too!
[Edited 3/21/06 4:52am]

Oh funny game ! 4 me also each song from this new album reminds me an older one...

3121 – Come in its electro version and consequently Days of Wild

Lolita – Sarah

TAC – Sweet Baby

Black Sweat – something between Kiss, Tambourine and Tick Tick Bang

Incense and Candles – The Sun the Moon and Stars, Emale

Love – I dig U better Dead

Satisfied – Adore or On the Couch

Fury – Girls and Boys (4 the way of speaking)

The Word – something between 7, Still Would Stand all Time and Play Outside

BL&B – Sex in the Summer

The Dance – Beautiful Ones

Get on the Boat – Pretty Man and Musicology

One could say so nothing's new ? Not exactly... Altogether theses songs work well BUT the production is almost awful : where are the real instruments ? and musicians ? That's why I prefer TRC and Musicology even if some songs here are very good at first listening [3121 Fury Get on the Boat]

Can you imagine The Dance with a real powerful strings orchestra ? And a guitar sound as in Shh, Purple Rain, She Gave her Angel or Empty Room ? And with real drums and percussions ??? With the width end depth of "3 chains o'gold" ??? Yeah you understood that 4 me The Dance is a great frustration ! Could have been thousands times better !!! Grrrrr... Lazy producer !

And Love ? EEeerrrgghh what is that so naive melody 4 the chorus in total contradiction with the global mood of the song ??? Bad taste...

Lolita... The keyboards remind me something I don't like from the eightie's, maybe at a faster tempo or live...

So I leave first listening with an average feeling, happy about 7 songs out of 12... But happy !

musicolog said:

No real instruments, huh? (LOL)...Well, I guess you didn't dig 1999, Purple Rain, or Around The World In A Day...Those albums reeked of beat machines and synthesizers...But hey, I'm just saying..

I can't understand why y'all seem to dislike Musicology. I dig it way more than 3121.

On musicology you had some 2-3 songs (Musicology, Dear Mr. Man & Call My Name) you could put on any 'best of'-compilation and rest is experimenting, 2 a certain degree (illusion com pimp & circumstance, eg.). A typical prince-album, 2 me.
I don't hear any of that on 3121.
[Edited 3/21/06 5:40am]

ArtVandelay said:

Well, I can easily hear "Fury," "The Dance," "Black Sweat," "3121," "Love," "The Word" and "Lolita" on any Prince album and more specificily his early to mid '80s work...The midget deliberately went for the "Prince" sound that most of the oldheads were pining away for...I guess we're not listening to the same album....
[Edited 3/21/06 5:32am]

BartVanHemelen said:

That's only your opinion. I know that there's great music out there
(Beck, Morrissey, the new McCartney) to name a few from the long list of artists that I like). But on all three CD's mentioned in your post I can find some really good songs. Overall not the best CD's in his catalogue, but enough beauty to cherish them and I will cherish them.
Long time since the Dutch mailing list. Your still the same I see. Too bad...

...maybe it's not real instruments that are missing, but the straight and direct sound of them... I don't have the english words 2 express my feelings clearlier. 3121 does not sound "lively" enough maybe 4 me...

'cause I dig much those albums you mention : they got a good energy but their sound is somehow frustrating 2 me in comparison with TRC, TGE, or Symbol... Only the sound not the songs !

Little red corvette and Fury could match 2gether anyway... I have 2 think about a compilation 2 post later...

murph said:

What I meant is: If you would make a double/triple-CD "best of Prince"; would any songs of 3121 make it on that CD? For almost every song, there already exists a similar sometimes better version (as listed in some postings above).
But on Musicology there are in fact 2 songs that would definitely make it.

RitaQoS said:

What do you mean by "as if they didn't suffer enough?"

GOT IT!!!!! At Target ($9.98).

Very nice art work, plus the words are in there.....always like Prince!!!!!

musicolog said:

I feel you...I really do...But I really believe that it's the other way around...I've been listening to the midget since "I Wanna Be Your Lover"...Like most fans on the Org, I've gone through the highs, the lows, and the comebacks...When I listen to albums like The Rainbow Children and Musicology I hear an artist that is masterful in his musicianship...BUT, I also hear a guy NOT HAVING FUN; I hear a man who is so uncomfortable with his past work and sound that he came off like an old man scolding the younger generation instead of just being Prince...

As great as the instrumentation and as daring as the conceptual statement is on an album like The Rainbow Children, Prince doesn't seem to be enjoying himself that much, and this is when he is at his best...This is why I dig 3121...He is knee deep in the "Prince" sound amd mystique and is actually having fun again...Say what you want about a track like "Incense & Candles" (Personally, the beat is banging, but the 106 & Park pandering to the kiddies is just a little too much), but the man seems alive...He's getting back to what he does best: Crafting infectious pop and R&B tracks that contain some infectious ass choruses; This is something I haven't heard from the man in ages...Really it comes down to what you like...and I like this Prince...
[Edited 3/21/06 6:08am]

ArtVandelay said:

Well, yes....

If you want me to say that this album stacks up with the greats of the greats of the Prince canon, I aint gonna do it...But I can easily say that 3121 is his best album since the late '80s-early'90s; And it contains some songs that can easily fit in the "Best Of Prince" CD that you speak of..."Fury," "Lolita," "The Dance" and "The Word" could all make the cut...And the title track itself ("3121") is one of the funkiest throwback grooves the man has crafted in ages...There's no other way to say it...3121 is a solid release from a man that is pushing 50...just think about that for a second...And yes, it crushes Musicology...

I HAVE IT! IT'S FINALLY HERE! IT WAS JUST DELIVERED IN THE MORNING MAIL!!!

but, i'm at work. should i open it right now, with the rest of the mail? or should i wait? until after work?

murph said:

I hope it does - economically speaking...

i've been playing the album in my salon all day yesterday and it's not often clients comment on the background music but quite a few did ask what we had on (ok so i did play it a touch louder than i usualy would allow)when i told them it was prince most reacted with surprise!but they like it!so i reckon i could be responsible for many of his album sales.YOU LISTENING P.....i want commision...wait no i don't...i want you to come to my house and perform 3121.fantastic track,looking forward to dancing to it at the manchester party.