Graycap23 said:

they hardly ever post on the org anymore cause they're sick of the newbee's with no knowledge at all .... they're sick of reading the same post again ...
and they do know that 3121 is a nice album, but they also do know that it's very, very weak compared to Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, Parade, Sign "O" the Times ...

So .. it's nice for Prince to have a commercial succes ... but I don't see this as a success for you!!

In a few years we'll rate this album farely ... a very nice album, but nothing to get excited about

You have to admit, after the whole Symbol/Slave routine, he was very close to going over the edge. I really don't know why he is popular. By some karmic accident, because it is not like he has good promotion, and they don't play his new stuff on the radio. What sold 3121? Will remain a mystery.

Graycap23 said:

3121 is not a independently distributed album, thus a record company very well did "buy" this chart position by promoting it, the same way they "buy" their other artists positions. this again is not a big deal, except that it was always a defense of Princes poor sales by fams that they are now attempting to dismiss now that Prince plays that same game again.

Prince being an independent artist does not negate the fact that the album was not independently distributed, and it is the distribution being bought that is always ridiculed, so Prince not being contractually obligated to a specific record company, and thus independent, does not make the album an independent release, especially when he signs distribution deals with majhor record labels.

Prince is not the independent artist you attempt to defend him as, he is more like a free agent who signs short term contracts for distribution and "bought" chart positions.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

eating there words!

Wall said:

Hmm. Prince made this "pop smeer" in his whole career. Until he began to call himnself a symbol and throwing away records that didn't count.

TRC is another story, I have to admit. But..hey..where is the art in "mellow", "sensual everafter" or "everywhere"? TRC had boring songs too...
Prince is a pop artist. If I want jazz-record, I buy one.

dumbass said:

Considering that I used to work for EMI, I don't think we are talking about the same thing. Believe me, when I say buying chart position, I mean just that.
Without distribution, you can't sell an cd.....that's a whole different story. Much too long to get 'into' on the net.

ThataintFunky said:

It's a success to my ears.....isn't that what counts?

In your face naysayers!

It was amazes me how people call themselves fans and find a way to be negative about his album debuting #1. Who cares, why can't people just be happy for him. Jeez.

wonder505 said:

That is the question of the day. It's quite pathetic.

TimeKeeper said:

There's only one hole to your theory. Prince has been himself very "poor competition" over the last decade.

2freaky4church1 said:

This is such a bizarre statement all the top ten albums were available in the same way to the record buying public(most with a hell of a lot of airplay) In the last seven days more people decided to buy 3121 than the others on offer.

Is this hard for you to comprehend! or just hard for you to accept?

Also it happens to be a damn fine album

Graycap23 said:

Theyare still lurking.
A good place to look is the MJ threads.

TimeKeeper said:

So selling almost 200,000 copies of new music without a radio hit is not relevant huh? I swear you people need to put down that hatorade. Just be happy for the man, he got a #1 record.

KingLurker said:

the word "accident" is a direct contradiction to the word "Karma", dude !!!

Novabreaker said:

That's true. However, his name is still well known and with a healthy amount of promotion, he can get up the charts a bit. I think he's up there now because all the hard core fans rushed out immediately to get it and the average folk got excited from last year's touring and the posters and magazine ads they see here and there.

Unless 3121 does well on MTV, TV shows, the major radio stations, and the clubs, it will disappear just like the rest.

larksanders said:

I'll be happy when he hits #1 with a great album, not this mediocre crap.

TimeKeeper said:

you'll never be happy ...and we don't care

moonshine said:

Like I said, I'll be happy when he hits #1 with a "great" album. If I didn't care about him, I wouldn't be here right now. I'm still hoping for some real quality. Once in a while he shows signs, but it's not enough for me.

TimeKeeper said:

That's all true but I believe it's more a reflection of how the system works than if the cd is any good. That's part of the problem with music these days in my opinion. Why should TV determine if a cd is good or not? Music videos are more important than the actual music in determining if a cd is successful, and I thinks that's dumb, but that's the way it works these days.

Graycap23 said:

I don't think it's really about that. I mean, there are tons of fantastic albums out there that never spawned music videos or anything. Take Portishead for example. Dummy is a great record, but there are still a lot of people who don't know who they are cuz they went very light on promotion. People need to be exposed to things easily.

I think Madonna has her shit all together. She can come out with an album every few years and have monster hits. She has people putting together songs that are just catchy as hell. She knows how to flow with the formula that works. Prince wants to do his own thing and that's great, but I don't think he knows how to make music that appeals heavily to the general public.

Prince is still riding on his name. Had Musicology or 3121 been his first albums, he would never reach the level of fame he's at now.

TimeKeeper said:

You make some valid points but it's ez to say that about Prince now with hind sight being 20/20. As it relates to groups like Portishead, I agree with you, but because it was not a "video" was it successful? I don't know, but marketing plays a big role but so does video. Video is the ultimate marketing tool. A picture is worth a 1000 words as they say.

Graycap23 said:

Absolutely. But even a cool video can't make a lame song a hit.

TimeKeeper said:

[/quote]

Yes and if my sister was man, she would not be pregnant.

The argument that Prince is now successful because he is "riding on his name" is simply 100% incorrect.

Remember when Prince's name got him NOTHING but ridicule? I recall when Pulse Magazine did a review of "Emancipation" in their year-end edition that stated basically "If this record - 3 CDs of diverse and very strong material - had been released by a young 23 year old up and comer, it would have set the world of R&B on its ear. But because it’s Prince, people expect greatness and are used to it, so it doesn't get much notice."

For Prince to recapture his relevance, commercial appeal and success after such a long time in the wilderness commercially is a HUGE accomplishment. Over the span of the last 2 to 3 years, he has RECAPTURED his good name – he is not “riding” on it. The hardest thing in the world to come back from is being considered "uncool" and for a long time, for most people Prince was synonymous with a joke on Leno or Letterman. He was a joke for changing his name, for his goofy behavior, for writing slave on his face, etc. Rightly or wrongly, he was a joke. BUTt he's come back from it on the strength of 2 great albums, a mind-blowing tour, and some fantastic TV performances..... And, given his R&R hall of fame induction, a renewed appreciation for his legacy.

It's so funny, EVERY Prince album - even SOTT, 1999, Purple Rain - had its share of complainers, and every Prince album ever released will have its share of complainers. I remember when “Lovesexy” came out, it was greeted with quite a bit of astonishment and hostility, because people wanted the Black Album, and they hated the cover, and they hated the material. It was bewildering at first. When "ATWIAD" came out, there were GROANS of consternation from those who wanted another 1999 or Purple Rain. When “SOTT” came out, half of the fans were still in mourning over the end of The Revolution. When “Diamonds & Pearls” came out, people hated the hip-hop angle. The haters have always been there and will always be there, simply claiming to be waiting for Prince to release another "good" album.

"3121" in my mind is easily his best album since "The Gold Experience", and possibly the best since "Lovesexy." It's a lithe and tight, funky collection of songs with really no weak links. And it's a #1 album and huge success. "3121" is also one of the most universally acclaimed albums of Prince's career.

I understand not liking the album, buy why try to come up with such tortuous reasons to explain away and try to marginalize the albums' success? I guess there were people that said "Purple Rain" was only a success because of the movie; and ATWIAD was a success because it was riding PR's coattails; “Batman” was only a success because of the movie; what other reasons do people give? The haters always want to explain away a triumph. But the reality is this: anybody with any rudimentary knowledge of the realties of the album charts will tell you that MOST WEEKS 184k would be enough to challenge for a #1 spot. What does “weak competition” mean? There was no Eminem or 50 Cent CD out this week, or something else guaranteed to move 600k+ units? That means “weak competition”? I have a newsflash for you folks - - - there are only a handful of those type of releases a year. If you want to whine about “3121” having “weak competition” then you must have a pretty dim view of the music industry, because 184k would do the job more often than not. I guess a lot of #1 albums get there because of “weak competition.”

When an artist like Prince hits #1 with little airplay and promotion, it's a major accomplishment, and it's nice to see most Prince fans celebrating this success rather than come up with reasons to explain it away to make their own dire and negative predictions look less ridiculous and wrong – which, of course, they were.

NorthernLad said:

GREAT.....great.....great POST!

TimeKeeper said:

Can you say, "hey ya" by Outkast?

sarkozy2007 said:

Yes and if my sister was man, she would not be pregnant.[/quote]

Why not?

is crow good? i'm vegetarian - can i get crow-fu?

Graycap23 said:

I may not be a huge fan of that song, but I understand why it's a big hit. It's different and very catchy. The video helped a lot, but the song mostly carried itself.

A lot of hard core Prince fans have a hard time accepting the fact that most people don't like what they like. I used to have that problem but I grew out of it.