I've listened to the new album about 3x today, here is what I think so far. I like the first 5 songs with TAC growing on me. Right now I rank this album somewhere between Musicology and Rave. Does it compare to any album of the 80's? No. It might be one of his best of this decade though. I do think it's better than The Rainbow Children. Worst song on the album has to be "Get on the boat". It's kinda cheezy.

[whompwhompwhomp]

It's easily my favorite Prince album since Lovesexy. Without a doubt (but I'll be skipping Incense & Candles for all of eternity!)...

[snip - luv4u]

mapaul said:

okay, alright, we get it already. prince keeps musically fucking you in the ass with no k-y/vaseline/spit/crisco and never has the decency to call you the next day, but yet n'still, you keep on presenting that ass to 'im by doing such things as trolling (poorly, natch) on a friggin prince-related fansite and steadily paying attention to 'im.

your proverbial sphincter's gotta hurt by now, so i just gotta ask...why?

Here's my 3121 post. This one thread post stuff is stupid. By the time I get to page 2 or 3 I'm tired and bored. No one is gonna see this post on page 7 or 8. I understand the org may have problems with volume; but this is boring and take away from fans individuality. I don't have anything to say about 3121 except that people were correct, the poor sound quality of the leaked Mp3's did kinda spoil it. The album is OK; but I miss reading individual threads with individual titles. This is BORING!

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]

mapaul said:

okay, alright, we get it already. prince keeps musically fucking you in the ass with no k-y/vaseline/spit/crisco and never has the decency to call you the next day, but yet n'still, you keep on presenting that ass to 'im by doing such things as trolling (poorly, natch) on a friggin prince-related fansite and steadily paying attention to 'im.

your proverbial sphincter's gotta hurt by now, so i just gotta ask...why?

Just got it, just heard it. It's the bomb. Better than Musicology. Love the book that comes with it, good photography. Good music. Favorite songs on it are 3121, Te Amo Corazon, Black Sweat, Beautiful, Loved, and Blessed, The Dance. Awesome shit. Thanks, Prince.

Translation: it's a decent album if you ignore that Prince is (*) capable of much better.

(*) Hmmm, perhaps "was" would be a better choice of words, considering he hasn't released anything in post-1995 that I'd consider better than average, and most of it actually falls in the category "I'll never listen to this again".

The only reason so many people here like 3121 now is because it's "fresh" and "new". The same thing happened back when Rave came out, Musicology, etc. Yet ask the same people six months later and they'll rank 3121 along all those other albums that they got tired of pretty fast. I'm just ahead of the curve -- those that were around in 1999 will remember me being the lone voice pointing out that Rave was gonna bomb and that the infamous "positive" Uptown preview of that album actually tried really hard to avoid admitting it was yet another major disappointment (something Uptown admitted months later).

Of course so much of this album sounds familiar, for the past couple of years Prince seems to be incapable of doing anything beyond recycling his own music, plenty of times in an attempt to have something similar to an old but now off-limits tune (because of "bad words"). And then the tour starts and before you know it all that "new" music gets ditched and setlists once again consist of 80+% old material -- shows you how much faith Prince has in his new music.

Anyone who claims that current Prince is anywhere near classic Prince is blind and deaf, all you need to do is take a dvd of a 1980s gig and compare it to a recent one: it's almost like they're different artists. Cue usual "growth/getting older" excuse, whereas I'll point out that Johnny Cash made some of his best work at the end of his career.

If 3121 rocks your world, fine -- but don't pretend that it is worthy of access to the list of "great Prince albums". This is yet another one from the bland manufacturing line, yet another "will this do" effort, yet another utterly misguided attempt at making a return to the charts. Prince can do this in his sleep, and 3121 actually sounds like he recorded it in his sleep.

I'm always surprised when I glimpse at tracklists for recent Prince albums and can't even imagine what most of the songs sound like, whereas I know most of his 1980s output by heart.

Instead of spending so much time and energy on these mediocre efforts, Prince should concentrate on what's in his vault. Seriously, what's the point of releasing Lolita, which is Time-lite at best, when great songs like I Wonder, Possessed, Rebirth Of The Flesh, Large Room With No Light, All My Dreams, Moonbeam Levels,... are gathering dust in a tape vault. And how about all those extended versions from 12 inches that remain unreleased on CD? Or all those full-length versions of released tracks (Computer Blue for instance)?
[Edited 3/21/06 7:05am]

But you do realize that the Prince of the '80s was the best thing going on in that decade, right?

I'll just enjoy listening to an album that's fun, unpretentious,

what i don't understand is if you haven't liked much/any of prince's music since 1995, why are you still here? i don't mean this maliciously, really. it's just something i can't figure out.

you obviously don't dig the guy's sound so why sit around pissing on someone elses parade.

Look at the criticism hes had over the years - his albums were still successful yeah??

Hardcore Gimme Prince the Pop Wonder type of review -- more than a few professional and fan reviews are constructed from this Xpectation of Prince semi-reinventing something yearly till the end of his career.

And of course the obligatory reference to Johnny Cash, probably the only person who kept a degree of cool and relevance over several decades but NOT in the circus that is pop music. That, for me, is very telling, because people can't find another example. The closest in pop is Madonna, and she's (at best) more of a master collaborator/driving force than a total performer/composer like Prince.

Which is to say that the standard applied to Prince, given his long career, is not only unique but a sign into himself. Because the fact that some people still have that "pop wonder" Xpectation for Prince means he has given them reasons to hope over the years, no matter how small and far in between those reasons have been.

murph said:

Oh please... Never heard of the Pixies? Sonic Youth? And that's just two of many, many great bands from the 1980s.

murph said:

3121 is nothing but pretention. It's "let daddy show the young 'uns how it's done" all the way.
[Edited 3/22/06 1:35am]

I can't rip the tracks off my official CD to MP3, so I can't listen to it on my portable MP3 player.

Gawd - I hate copy protection on CDs I have purchased for my OWN enjoyment!