Compare the 65 metacritic gives Prince, compared to the astounding 90 they give Speakerboxxx/Thelovebelow. This is what I mean people.

very positive review in the Detroit Free Press Sunday edition

http://freep.com/apps/pbc...90354/1039

Music
Hot & tight

Prince returns to his funky, sexy roots on the gratifying '3121'

March 19, 2006
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BY BRIAN McCOLLUM

FREE PRESS POP MUSIC CRITIC






Prince

"3121"


****


out of four stars


Universal Motown Records Group


In stores Tuesday


We knew Prince had it in him. It was just a matter of time.

"3121," the Minneapolis star's Motown Records debut and full-fledged return to the major-label world, is a phenomenal work from front to back, a record that should immediately deliver him to the mainstream stage after years in the creative and commercial wilderness. Cool, funky and teeming with hooks, the album reprises the vintage Prince sound and style without any forced retro clumsiness. It's the culmination of a reenergized career overhaul that's been at least two years in the making.

Prince released plenty of good music after his notorious 1996 split from Warner Brothers, but often you needed a little luck and a lot of digging to find it amid what became a sprawling mass of uneven releases. "3121," tight and cohesive, quickly eliminates the dilemma. That cliched complaint about contemporary pop albums with "only one or two good songs"? Not applicable here. Each of these 12 tracks stands strong on its own; any could have fit comfortably on a Prince album circa '84-'87.

With the throwback funk-psychedelia of 2004's "Musicology" as its launching point, the new record dives even deeper into Prince's roots -- and into the nether regions where sexy, slinky tunes come soaked in double entendres. It's clear from the opening title track, with its lusty chorus and "Black Album"-era groove, that the 47-year-old artist isn't letting his new emergence as a Jehovah's Witness stop his old-school carnal urges, and the musical ambrosia is all over "3121."

Creative experiments are all well and good, but it's been ages since Prince put together a collection of material this aesthetically consistent, and that's refreshing. Much of his '90s work was either congested with sound or minimalist to a fault; here he's judicious with the layering, crafting distinctive soundscapes while letting the arrangements breathe. He has achieved the balance once so distinct to his work, creating sounds that are interesting for the sake of being interesting, but without overwhelming the songs themselves -- in this case such melodic, dance floor-ready standouts as "Lolita," "Fury," "Black Sweat" and "Love."

As the disc rolls into its closing tune, the delicious '70s-styled soul-funk of "Get On the Boat" with sax man Maceo Parker, you realize just how easy Prince has made all this look. He tosses out the classic Prince material so easily, it's as if he's deliberately taunting a decade's worth of naysayers: "See, I could always do this stuff with my eyes closed." But that doesn't mean he seems bored. Far from it: On "3121," to the benefit of all involved, Prince sounds like he's having more fun than he has in years.

Contact BRIAN McCOLLUM at 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com

2freaky4church1 said:

Well, according to the Metacritic site, they assign the numeric value this way:

4-Star Scale
Their Grade - 4 stars
Their Grade - A or A+
Converts To - 100

Their Grade - A-
Converts to - 91

Their Grade - 3.5 stars
Converts To - 88

Their Grade - B+
Converts To - 83


So, just going by that conversion rate and looking at the reviews on this thread:

NY Post - 100
Newsday - 100
Detroit Free Press - 100
"Der Spiegel" magazine - 90
USA Today - 88
All Music Guide - 80 (All Music Guide's 4-star review should convert to 100, but they gave it an 80. So maybe it's 4 stars out of 5)
L.A. Time - 75

Byron said:

I've just sent them links to several reviews that hadn't included yet. Its rating already jumped to 69 with the inclusion of the AMG review. I expect it to rise further.

I'm going to buy my copy at Target tommorrow for $9.98. After reading all of these reviews I have high expectations, but I won't be surpised if I'm let down. .

2freaky4church1 said:

I will admit that 3121 is not among the man's great landmark works (you know Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, Parade, Sign O The Times ect..)...But the damn near 50 year-old midget pulled a keeper out of his hat that's pretty damn good...Speakerboxxxx/Thelovebelow is OutKast's big artistic statement; it's their Sign.....It's their great album (alone with Aquemini and Stankonia) Comparing an act in their prime against a veteran artist whose been in the business for damn near 30 years is quite foolish, homie...

And oh yeah, metacritic gave the album an average of 69 (the caption reads "Genreally Favorable Reviews"...so you can take that for what its worth)...So, I can dig it if folks don't dig 3121 that much; That's understandable because 3121 is not a very challenging piece of work, although its fun as hell...I just get a little pissed when fans start comparing the midget to other artists who are not even his peers....Just critique the album on its own merit and move on....
[Edited 3/20/06 20:55pm]

Prince returns to frisky, fun and funky on '3121'
By Kevin C. Johnson
POST-DISPATCH POP MUSIC CRITIC
Tuesday, Mar. 21 2006

Prince fans thought they had it good with the singer's Grammy-winning 2004 CD
"Musicology." And it was a good - not great - effort, though easily his best in
years. Then again, it's not as if anyone truly loved 2003's "N.E.W.S." or
1999's "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic."

As it turns out, Prince was merely warming fans up with "Musicology." He brings on the full heat with "3121." Unlike the solid and sensible "Musicology," which restored some of Prince's faded glory while pardoning past musical sins, the frisky and fun "3121" is really what diehard fans have been waiting for. It's classic Prince all the way, but don't be fooled by the CD's slow start.

Low-key Latin-flavored first single "Te Amo Corazon" ("I Love You Sweetheart")
soothes nicely, but it's also too safe and maybe not the best representation of
the CD. Better, and more to the point is the the lively "Black Sweat," a
retro-funk number that's not too unlike his old "Kiss."

Lyrics such as "I'm gonna take my clothes off" instantly recall the Prince many
love best. Same goes for "Lolita," a synth-heavy retro blast of a groove about
a saucy, too-young girl who's "fine from her head to her pumps" and writing
checks her body can't cash. The lyrics clearly get a bit hackneyed, but Prince
has a good time with them.

The title track seems torevive his electronically altered voice known as
Camille, which made various appearances during some of his '80s material.

The sexy duet "Incense and Candles" has Prince singing to his lover about what
he's going to do all night long (who knew he still talked like this?). It's
also one of several tunes featuring his latest female protege, Tamar. Unlike
past proteges Vanity and Apollonia, Tamar can actually hold a note. She's
further utilized on "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed," "Love," "Get on the Boat" and
"Satisfied," a bluesy ballad that sounds as if it will be a staple of his live
shows.

The instrumentally frenzied "Get on the Boat" is a James Brown-inspired funk
jam, complete with horns by Maceo Parker and drums by Sheila E. Prince's rock
guitar is amped up on "Fury," a track that recalls "Cinnamon Girl" from his
previous CD.

Prince wears his religion on his ruffled sleeves as he tries saving souls on
"The Word." He poses the question, "Don't you want to get saved?" and wonders
what it is you're afraid of. Not many artists can get away with mixing overt
religious themes, but Prince pulls it off.

Title track "3121" is where the fun is, he says, warning that you'll never want
to leave. One visit convinces listeners that he's right.


Prince
"3121"
Grade: A-
[Edited 3/21/06 8:39am]

Byron said:

Do you have a url for that one? I can flood metacritic with these.

Moonbeam said:

http://www.stltoday.com/s...enDocument

Hopefully that worked...lol

Byron said:

Great review for 3121 in London's METRO newspaper (free newspaper given out on the Tube - London Underground).

Actually, they're really tough reviewers and very rarely give anything more than 3/5 - they've given 3121 4/5 which is excellent.

"Before the release of 2004's Musicology, with its locked-in funk and back-to-basics pop, Prince's career has all but been written off. New album 3121 builds on and, at its best, substantially pushes forward Musicology's slick reworking of vintage James Brown, Sly Stone, Timbaland, and of course, Prince's own back catalogue. Black Sweat's shuddering industrial groove is Prince asserting that no one does future funk like he does; the lazy sexed-up heat of the title track is Prince at his libidinous best; the gospel-marinated Satisfied is Prince's Ray Charles moment. More commercial R&B tracks lower the temperature, though and the record does flag. Yet bold, off-the-wall and effortlessly funky, it's still a great Prince album."

Newsday (New York)

March 21, 2006 Tuesday
ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: PART II; Pg. B04

BYLINE: Glenn Gamboa


Prince is one of those rare artists who can change the music industry climate with a wave of his well-manicured hand.He tamed the Internet tidal wave with his online music club years before anyone else figured out that he was right. He built the price of his "Musicology" CD into the cost of his concert ticket and then handed out the album for free, creating a storm of controversy that netted him an unexpected hit along with his successful tour. And, of course, Prince made "Purple Rain."

He manages such feats because he is a risk-taker as well as a brilliant musician. When you take such chances, though, they don't always pay off. And his albums in the 19 years since his landmark "Sign O' the Times" have been remarkably hit-and-miss.

Prince has never made a bad album. But he hasn't made a great one in quite some time, either. Well, folks, that drought is over.

Prince's new album, "3121" (Universal), is his best since "Sign O' the Times," taking all the various styles he's been dabbling in for the past two decades and combining them into a unified, powerful package.

On "3121," Prince returns to his classic themes of love, religion, the future, and, you know, freaky sex. And he surrounds them with whatever funk, soul, rock, R&B, gospel and jazz sounds suit them best.It opens with the title track, with its grinding soul groove and keyboards that recall "Controversy," setting the stage for the journey, as Prince says, "You can come if you want to, but you can never leave."

Prince unleashes his naughty side with "Lolita," a funky dance number that rhymes "Lolita" with "sweet-uh" and could have come from the "1999" album. It pairs nicely with "Black Sweat," his current single, which combines some spacey keyboards with a stuttering funky beat, some patented Prince falsettos with some James Brown angst.

On "Love," Prince is partying like it's 1985, with a big funk number that manages to sound like a throwback while still sounding fresh. It's one of his most immediate, unforgettable songs in years - a grand contender for the single of this summer, with its squiggling synth riffs (a la "Erotic City") and its cool percussion break.

He follows that with the amazing "Satisfied," an old soul number that Otis Redding could have sung, complete with horn flourishes. It feels like an immediate classic, like an updated "Since I Fell for You," where he croons, "Turn off your cell phone, can't you see I just want to get you satisfied?"
It's a great example of Prince's softer side - the balladeer side that dominated "Musicology" and continued on the recent single "Te Amo Corazon." "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed," which will be a single for his newest protege, Tamar, is another tender, sweet love song, showing off his love of gospel. ("The Word," on the other hand, has more of a pop sound for its gospel message.)

He still knows how to rock out, too, as he shows on "Fury," the song he unleashed on a recent "Saturday Night Live" appearance that featured the song's blistering guitar solos, which build to a "Let's Go Crazy" end. And the far-flung, Sly Stone-ish closer "Get on the Boat" shows Prince hasn't let go of the funk-jazz improvisational style he has cultivated over his past few records.
There are no gimmicks on "3121." (Though, in true Prince business style, he is offering a contest, both in the CD and online, where buyers who find the "purple ticket" win entry into a special show at his Minnesota mansion.) No failed experiments. No filler tracks.

It is lean and mean and chock-full of potential hits that should introduce him to a whole new generation of fans, while rallying his longtime fans with an album that will remind them of the good ol' days.

While "3121" is not a return to "Purple Rain" Prince - mainly because he has continued to grow as an artist since those heady days - it does mark the return of his interest to be a player in popular music.It shows he once again is willing (at least for now) to save his best songs for a single, potent release rather than spreading them out over several albums.

For the past two decades, Prince has been the musical equivalent of a blogger, letting few thoughts go unexpressed and few ideas unexplored. That can be fulfilling and quite entertaining, if a little fleeting. On "3121," however, he returns to the discipline of a great novelist - honing and polishing a single major work so that it will stand the test of time. He strives for that something extra and reaches it, making "3121" a truly special album and one of the year's best.
(grade: A.)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

March 21, 2006 Tuesday
Main Edition
SECTION: LIVING; Pg. 1E
LENGTH: 258 words
HEADLINE: Vestiges of Prince's best work not enough
BYLINE: SONIA MURRAY
BODY:
R&B
Prince
"3121." Universal Motown Records Group. 12 tracks.
Grade: C+

Two shows at the Tabernacle last week sold out in a matter of hours for reasons that had little to do with that Tamar person at the top of the bill. Fans shelled out $60 per ticket to hear Prince, the pop icon playing guitar and singing background for the relatively unknown vocalist. And judging from the sales and airplay of the 15 or so albums he's put out since the 1987 release of "Sign 'O' the Times," they didn't want to hear new Prince.

They wanted to hear the dirty-mouth "Dirty Mind" Prince. The rocking out "Little Red Corvette" Prince. And, of course, the inventive funkster "Uptown" Prince. All of which can be heard on his new CD "3121." But in rarely satisfying amounts.

In the very first song, he's telling his visitor to throw her clothes on the floor. But seconds further into the title track, you learn it's only to change into a Japanese robe and sandals. He dusts off some of that good "U Got the Look" guitar on "Love" and works up a Sly Stone-like sweat on "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed," but there's a corniness about the lyrics that betrays the delightful wickedness of the musicianship.

Same goes for "Black Sweat," "Lolita" and "Incense and Candles." Here are songs that in terms of sound can be easily traced back to Prince's wonderful synth-fuzz funk days of "Kiss" and "Cool" (by the seminal band he launched called the Time). But then come the stale lines about writing checks your body can't cash. Awkward hip-hop references to car rims. And, sigh, the rapping.
GRAPHIC: Photo: Prince doesn't quite hit full gear in "3121."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

March 19, 2006 Sunday
FOURTH EDITION
SECTION: A&E; Pg. F2

HEADLINE: CRITICAL MASS | THE WEEK'S BEST BETS
BYLINE: Contributors: Kevin C. Johnson, Sarah Bryan Miller, Judith Newmark, Joe Williams

CD RELEASE

"3121": There's good news and there's bad news for Prince fans. The bad news is that the release of his "Ultimate" double disc CD -- one disc of greatest hits, the other a disc of extremely hard-to-find remixes -- was quashed the day before its March 14 release. No reason was given, but one suspects Prince might've had something do with it. That leads to the good news.

Tuesday is the release of Prince's new "3121" CD; maybe he didn't want to have to compete so directly with his classic archival material on his old label, and somehow managed to put a stop to it.

"3121" is Prince's first CD since his commercial and critical comeback "Musicology" two years ago. His diehard fans will love his harking back to classic sounds on "3121," which is far more accomplished than "Musicology."

People

March 27, 2006
SECTION: PICKS & PANS/MUSIC; Pg. 45 Vol. 65 No. 12


PRINCE 3121 REVIEWED BY CHUCK ARNOLD
CRITIC'S CHOICE
FUNK-ROCK

"I'm hot and I don't care who knows it/ I got a job to do." So declares Prince, working himself up into a funky lather on "Black Sweat," the hip-gyrating highlight of his new CD. Recapturing his old "Kiss"-style swagger and irreverence ("You'll be screamin' like a white lady when I count to three: 1-2-3") over a ferocious groove, it's quite simply the baddest thing he's done in years. Of course, it's not totally unexpected. You could feel this coming after Prince's 2004 comeback album Musicology and hits-heavy tour of the same name restored him to his rightful throne.

And 3121 shows that His Purple Highness has no intention of stepping down any time soon. Even better than its double-platinum predecessor, it boasts higher highs: The utterly irresistible "Lolita," along with "Black Sweat," gives this disc the best one-two punch he's had since "Gett Off" and "Cream." With its bright synth lines and tight rhythm guitar, "Lolita" is classic '80s Prince, though now that he's a Jehovah's Witness, he won't surrender to the nubile temptress who's "fine from head to pumps."

Elsewhere, the scorching, electric-guitar-charged "Fury" takes him back to the funk-rock glory of the Revolution era, while the spiritually glowing "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed" pairs Prince with new protégée Tamar, a much better duet partner than Apollonia ever made. A couple of lesser slow jams, including the Latin-flavored "Te Amo Corazón," make 3121 fall short of the slam dunk it could have been. Still, there's plenty here to make you go crazy all over again. [31⁄2 stars]

Copyright 2006 Time Out Group
Time Out

March 15, 2006
SECTION: Pg. 86
LENGTH: 346 words
HEADLINE: Music - Album review - Prince, 3121, Universal;
BYLINE: John Lewis
BODY:

Sometime in the '80s, Prince started to shed most of the audience he'd gained with 'Purple Rain'. He was sick of being an honorary whitey, the king of 'beige rock'. To this end he ditched the heavy metal histrionics and swapped his multi-racial backing bands for all-black line-ups, just as his idols Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder had once done.

In the late '80s, this was commercial suicide but, by the time of Prince's dramatic 2004 rebirth, unreconstructed blackness had become big business.
'Musicology' sold six-and-a-half million, more than anything he'd put his name to in years. Like 'Musicology', '3121' is a full-on celebration of black music but this time Prince rejects the previous album's retro aesthetic for pure futurism. It's the sound of a man checking out all the R Kellys and Jay-Zs and Andre 3000s who've emerged in his absence and casually trumping them all, tossing in bits of Ray Charles, Derrick May and Larry Graham for good measure.

'Incense & Candles' is Prince showing us that he can do Timbaland's wobbly, Indo-tinged hip hop; 'Beautiful, Loved & Blessed', featuring his latest muse Tamar, is a masterclass in R&B balladry; while The Neptunes would kill to write the twitchy, lo-fi funk of 'Lolita'.

If Prince's rampant libido was once subverted by androgyny, now it's kept in check by religion. 'The Word' is an austere slice of gospel-fuelled folk-funk; the fantastic 'Get On The Boat' is an evangelical Latin-funk jam with Maceo Parker's hollering alto sax playing the role of the Baptist preacher. Even the pervy, heavy-breathing tracks are undercut by the curious moralism of the Jehovah's Witnesses; the title track seems to describe some dystopian cyber-sex orgy, while 'Satisfied' is an ultra-slow big band ballad tortured by pent-up sexual energy.

Ultimately, how you'll feel about '3121' depends on what kind of Prince you like. If you miss the beige rock god, you'd be advised to avoid. If, however, you think he got more interesting when he started making defiantly leftfield funk, you'll probably go for it.

2freaky4church1 said:

So? Reviews mean fuck all to me... Make up your OWN mind huh?

http://www.dose.ca/toront...s6DA%3D%3D


Joel McConvey
Dose

Tuesday, March 21, 2006


The album: 3121

The deal: Based on the volume of fluids spilled in the name of love throughout Prince’s catalogue, it’s a safe bet the Artist Formerly Known as that Doodle has piddled on one or two nubiles in his day. But like Bob Dylan, Prince is an artist for whom critical respect is a given, the quality of his output or his personal eccentricities notwithstanding.

Reconciling the reputation with the music can be tricky, but with 3121, Prince’s follow-up to 2004’s Grammy-winning Musicology, Prince reminds us all why he got the props in the first place: not for any vague sense of musical divinity, but for making some of the funkiest pop around. Hearkening back to his classic records of the ‘80s and early ‘90s, 3121 finds Prince once again conducting his experiments with baroque arrangement within the context of his two most familiar locales: the dance floor and the boudoir.

Whether tapping the Timbaland vibe on single “Black Sweat” or channeling Percy Sledge on the old-school R&B waltz “Satisfied,” Prince seems newly interested in courting the commercial audience for R&B that he helped build in his Purple heyday. As for the genius, it’s in the way he effortlessly obliterates the genre divisions that have turned modern music into an anthropologist’s nightmare. Distorted rock guitar coexists in harmony with squishy P-Funk bass and horny saxophone; the pumping “Love” recalls Nine Inch Nails and the Neptunes equally. Even if Kanye West now does it with more contemporary flair, it’s nice to know that Prince can still make music to match his myth.
[Edited 3/21/06 8:37am]

http://www.baltimoresun.c...-headlines


Prince deftly brings back his old groove in new album
By Rashod D. Ollison
Sun Pop Music Critic

Can you really call it a comeback? Prince has never gone anywhere. So what if in the past decade, his albums were painfully bloated, convoluted affairs that only his most devoted fans cared about? He spent a big chunk of that time fighting bitterly and publicly with Warner Bros. (the label that nurtured his early career) over the ownership of his music. The eccentric, pint-sized superstar paraded around much of that time with the word "slave" scrawled across his face - an undeniably overdone gesture.

Fortunately, Prince has come around, seemingly finding inner peace by way of the Jehovah's Witnesses and, in the last two years, producing tighter, more exciting music. Still, despite his own "chaotic and disorderly" output, others have brilliantly copied or extended elements of classic Prince. Raphael Saadiq, Rahsaan Patterson, D'Angelo, the Neptunes, the Roots - they have all kept the Purple One's glorious sound intact while he wrestled with issues public and private.

On the artist's new album, 3121, which lands in stores today, Prince snatches back his own formula, infusing it with energy and vibrant textures. It's the follow-up to 2004's Musicology, which netted a Grammy nomination, sold 2 million copies and spawned one of that year's biggest tours.

On 3121, whose title the pop genius refuses to explain, Prince doesn't reinvent himself or radically expand his musical scope. But the album still bests its predecessor. Where Musicology felt old-fashioned and a little stiff, 3121 is decidedly progressive and relaxed. The moods shift smoothly, making the record cohesive. Yet each song stands on its own. Industrial beats with squiggly synths give way to satiny, acoustic, after-dark love songs.

Prince is having more fun this time around. Lyrically, he's sly, a little playful. Despite his openly devout spiritual leanings, Prince, 47, hasn't completely abandoned his lascivious ways. He's very much the seducer, but the act is mostly done fully clothed. Prince is no player these days.

In "Lolita," whose groove recalls 1978's "Soft and Wet," the pop superstar is tempted by a younger woman: "You're trying to write checks your body can't cash," he sings. Then he further breaks it down: "Lolita/You're swee-ta/But you'll never make a cheater out of me." That cut is followed by the Latin-tinged, strings-kissed ballad, "Te Amo Corazon (I Love You Sweetheart)." The arrangement is too subdued and slows the momentum a bit, but fortunately the song doesn't linger too long. (With 12 cuts, the album clocks in at only 53 minutes.)

Without feeling like a rehash, "Black Sweat," 3121's current single, recalls Prince circa 1987's masterful Sign 'O' the Times. Tough, terse and lean, the track shows the artist at his sexiest but with a sense of humor.

Although 3121 is a fine album, midway through it, Prince switches to auto-pilot. Even then, the songs, namely "Love" and "Satisfied," are listenable and better than any single he released during his unfocused period. On "Fury," reminiscent of "1999," Prince rocks out and you know he'll incinerate this cut on stage. Also on the CD, he introduces his new protege, a pleasant if indistinctive vocalist named Tamar, with whom he shares the mike on the charming "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed."

Prince isn't breaking new ground on 3121. But it's evident that he's more at ease these days. He's churning out funk that feels classic and forward-looking all at once. But don't call it a comeback. Prince is just doing what he's always done - without all the drama and unnecessary layers.
[Edited 3/21/06 8:36am]

http://www.boston.com/new...ll_got_it/


Prince proves he's still got it
By Joan Anderman, Globe Staff | March 21, 2006

After a decade spent wandering in a musical outback, rigorously sticking to the fringes, alienating all but the most hard-core fans with quadruple-discs of extreme material and smooth jazz instrumental albums, Prince is back in the game. ''3121," in stores today, confirms that 2004's vibrant, accessible ''Musicology" was no aberration, and that its creator, one of those rare musicians who can do whatever he wants whenever he chooses, has decided exactly where he wants to be: in the spotlight and on the charts.

"3121" isn't groundbreaking. Anyone who's waiting for Prince to re-establish himself as a trailblazing innovator is going to be disappointed. But those fans who simply appreciate a return to form will be delighted with this top-notch batch of signature funk, bedroom jams, and freaky soul tunes, all tweaked to perfection by pop's savviest one-man band.

Twelve tracks fly by in under 54 minutes, each an ear-tickling mash of organic and electronic, the sensual and sacred (a real balancing act now that Prince is a Jehovah's Witness), the rush of the dance floor and the spark of a head trip. While there's no overarching theme or concept connecting the songs, ''3121" is most definitely an album, not a collection of tracks. It's brilliantly sequenced, unfurling textures and moods with thoughtful precision. The title song, which opens the album, is an eccentric sing-along -- a languid funk groove stoked with surreal sound rubbings, Prince's twisted falsetto, inimitable rock guitar, and a maze of distorted harmonies. We tumble headlong into snappy ''Lolita," a synth-driven '80s-pop tune that's both a proclamation of virility and a defense of monogamy. The Spanish-speaking temptress of the song was, perhaps, the inspiration for next track, ''Te Amo Corazon," a ballad notable for its lushly layered production but one that would be better suited to an Enrique Iglesias collection.

''Black Sweat," the current single, recalls Prince's ''Kiss"-era nastiness, all twitchy and minimalist, riddled with sick squeals. But Prince has also been listening to the contemporary production gurus (the Neptunes and their ilk) who he influenced so deeply, and Prince's generous embrace of past and present feels not just appropriate but meaningful at this point in the 47-year-old artist's career.

Less appropriate and meaningful is Prince's attempt at rapping on ''Incense and Candles." But that's a small misstep on an album filled with satisfying moments that reveal their sometimes hidden depth with repeated spins. At first the album seemed overloaded with slow jams; close listening revealed shifting, scintillating arrangements that will remind lapsed devotees of Prince's great gifts as a producer.

Elegant, impressionistic ''The Word" is a sly fusion: a mid-tempo R&B testimony enlivened with spare acoustic guitars, bursts of saxophone and scratching, and watercolor washes of strings. ''The Dance" begins as a mellow, Latin-inflected elegy and builds into something frantic and complicated. ''Beautiful Loved and Blessed," a duet with the R&B ingenue

Tamar, features Prince making a rare excursion into the lower reaches of his vocal range, where he sounds shockingly warm and sincere.

''3121" closes with ''Get on the Boat," a lively, if conservative, call for community fueled by south-of-the-border horns and percussion. It's fun and friendly, topical and tropical. I can't wait to hear the remix.
[Edited 3/21/06 8:34am]

Pitchfork Media Review 6.0 out of 10


There was a time when Prince was the gold standard for artistic expansion. Each of his opuses forayed into some new arena, and every shift in his approach correspondingly increased the size of the venues he toured. For more than a decade he was unstoppable, picking up the freaky funk baton from George Clinton and parlaying it into genuine superstardom. Funny, though, how short the trip from top of the pops to "News of the Weird" marginalization can be-- after changing his name to an unpronounceable "love symbol" in the early 1990s, he spent the better part of a decade roaming the wilderness, kicking out poorly distributed albums that ironically might have reached a larger audience had he not split from Warner Brothers to go it alone.

From an image perspective, the New Power Generation era saw Prince transformed into a bizarre caricature of righteousness, religious and otherwise. But just as the path from peaks to lows can be quickly traversed, artists can swing back just as quickly, and 2004's Musicology gathered plaudits by the bushel, partially restoring Prince's critical reputation, as well as his commercial fortunes. In retrospect, it seems that Musicology was labeled a comeback in essence for not being an embarrassment. 3121 does a bit better than that, coming up with a handful of infectious songs-- it's his best since the symbol record, although certainly there remains a massive chasm between it and his masterpieces.

Speaking in terms of his classic era, 3121 is more "Gett Off" than "Nothing Compares 2 U". The opening title track works almost entirely on eccentricity, as a huge crowd of pitch-shifted Princes harmonize on lyrics that basically amount to directions to a party. On the other end of the record, "Get on the Boat" boasts a sharp horn arrangement (with solos from Maceo Parker, no less) and a funk undercarriage vintage enough to have come straight from a thrift-shop basement-- and the loose, live feel doesn't hurt either.

One thing that "Get on the Boat" exhibits in its piano part and timbale eruptions is a Latin influence that's more pervasive on 3121 than on any previous Prince album. "Te Amo Corazon" is a nicely nuanced ballad built on a slow, slightly rock-tinged mambo beat, and there are snatches of Cuban piano and Brazilian drums that crop up all over. Crunchy electro is the dominant strain in most of the album's best tracks, though, including the killer single "Black Sweat", the fractured keyboard riff of "Lolita", and "Love", inhabited by squishy keyboard and a monster chorus that slashes the ascending melody with buzzing synth bass. "The Word" strikes a nice electro-acoustic dichotomy, layering spacey synthesizer and a programmed beat with acoustic guitar and a strong sax hook.

If the entire album were up to these levels, we'd be onto something, but "Fury" tempers the impact of its stunning lead guitar part with a hopelessly dated keyboard patch and generic rock drumming. "Incense & Candles" is predictable bedroom r&b that relies too heavily on manipulated vocals, swerving into a little rap-like passage exactly when I began to think, "I bet there's a little rap-like passage in this song." He might have at least brought in a guest to deliver something more interesting.

So, two albums into a career revival, Prince is still only kinda sorta "back." He's never going to be as surprising as he was in his heyday, of course, and it's probably unfair to expect anything like that from him again. All told, 3121 is a pretty ordinary-sounding record, largely stuck in another, friendlier sonic decade-- namely the 80s. If nothing else, Prince is slowly regaining the plot, and of course, there remain plenty of great old records in his catalog to revisit while he finds it.

-Joe Tangari, March 21, 2006

Thanks for putting that last part in bold...


Hmm...I guess I need to do the same with mine...
[Edited 3/21/06 8:34am]

From reading the reviews, it sounds like "Lolita" should be the next single!!!!

What do U guys think? I don't think it will get any play on urban radio so he will have to rely on the POP radio format and he needs a killer video.

Dallas Moring News

Grade: B-

http://www.guidelive.com/...8c545.html

CD review: Prince dances off in many directions on new album


07:01 AM CST on Tuesday, March 21, 2006
By ROB CLARK / Quick


The re-emergence of Prince was one of music's feel-good stories of 2004. His Musicology album earned two Grammys, and he scored the year's most successful tour in North America.

It was as if the mainstream had forgotten how brilliant his blend of funk, soul, rock and pop can be. After seeing him onstage, where Prince really has no peer, the dry spell of hits and that name-change confusion were forgotten.

So the purple party got bigger. Now Prince wants to make you dance. He sounds energized, even joyful on 3121, and he aims to appeal to all sides of his audience. But darting in so many directions can make an uneven experience, and the album suffers for it.

Take "Lolita," which is Prince at his poppiest. The synth-heavy song about a woman "much too young to peep my 'stache" is infectious but ends up overdosing on sugar. It makes "Raspberry Beret" look like "Fight the Power."

"Black Sweat," on the other hand, is the album's champion and his funkiest single in a decade. A fuzzy drum thump, some electronic whirring and Prince's sultry squeals call to mind a gritty update of "Kiss."

Prince's guitar work is often subdued on record. On "Fury," he finally lets it fly. It actually rocks harder live, as shown by his recent performance on Saturday Night Live. The acoustic strum that paces "The Word" is equally effective, and the song offers the album's loveliest melody.

The ballads are where things go south. The Latin-laced "Te Amo Corazon" features elegant instrumentation but little vocal spark. "Satisfied" is one of those bluesy falsetto romances he could make in his sleep. "The Dance" borders on dreary.

Maybe such ups and downs are inevitable with talents as diverse as Prince's. Things can get a little scattered. Though the clutter can clog the flow on 3121 – that's what the "Skip" button is for – it's still funky. And for Prince, that's what matters.


Prince

B- 3121 (Universal Motown)

In stores today
[Edited 3/21/06 10:09am]

SlamGlam said:

*DING! DING! DING!*..."Lazy, Overused Cliche'" alert!!!

From USA Today:

Prince, 3121 (* * *½ out of four) Most artists who have been around nearly 30 years have long since settled into the safe and predictable. Prince has never been either, and he still produces the kind of artistry few peers can touch. From the guitar-fueled rocker Fury to the horn-kissed ballad Te Amo Corazon, he never falls into a rut on this follow-up to 2004's award-winning, double-platinum Musicology. The minimalist funk of Black Sweat is followed by the steamy seduction of Incense and Candles. Lolita finds him trying to resist temptation, while Beautiful, Loved and Blessed, with protégée Tamar, explores the depths of commitment. His real commitment, though, is to letting his creativity run free and not worrying about what everybody else thinks is hot. —Steve Jones

Newsday Newspaper in NY doesnt always have something good to say about P. UNTIL TODAY. (He's On the Cover)

http://www.newsday.com/en...805.column

GQ's short but positve review...


MUSIC: Now that Artic Monkeys mania has reached saturation point, it may be time to investigate a less-hyped Brit import. The Back Room, the soaring, minor-key debut from Birmingham's Editors (for some reason, there's no "The"), arrives here today. Editing, of course, isn't always Prince's strong suit, but his latest, 3121, is his most filler-free record in years.

2freaky4church1 said:

How could you tell? I still haven't figured out what the guy was trying to say.

Byron said:

pitchfork actually wrote something honest

Sdldawn said:

Did they, now...

I always find it funny how "negative" equates to "honest" around here...lol