It's interesting that these guys normally only review blues music

Prince "3121" (NPG/Universal)

by Dylann DeAnna www.bluescritic.com

*** The artist known as Prince has enjoyed a bit of a comeback the last few years partly due to nostalgia as the 80s generation has come of age. His previous disc "Musicology" was a mixed bag that mostly sold on the strength of high profile appearances (with Beyonce at the Grammys), a great video ("Musicology") and a monster tour. There really were no major hit singles from that record and this time it's obvious he's gunning for the charts. After all, his last bona fide smash was "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" (#3 Pop) and that was 1994! So on "3121" he comes out swinging with everything from the Prince bag-o-tricks: You got the the falsetto voice, synth/funk ("Black Sweat", "Get On The Boat"), Prince guitar rock ("Fury"), keyboard pop ("Lolita", "Love"), sultry slow jams ("Satisfied") and some good ole' eccentricity ("3121"). Firstly, I gotta admit I dig the new Prince image. Since he's been involved with those Jehovah's Witnesess and become cleaner and happier he is just too cool. That said- what about the music? Well, you know how it is- because Prince hit such highs with albums like "1999", "Purple Rain" & "Sign O The Times" everything the guy does is overshadowed by those triumphs. Face it the Purple Reign (and Rain) is over and Prince is just a pop artist putting out music he wants to put out. There's no single as brilliant as "Little Red Corvette", "When Doves Cry", "Sign O' The Times" or "Kiss" but there's some darn good tracks. Interestingly, the current single and video is an obvious tip of the hat to "Kiss'. The Spartan synth funk/pop "Black Sweat" is a kissing cousin, albeit without a hook, to that minimalistic dance funk gem. The wacky title track "3121" hearkens back to his one-man band "Sign O' The Times" heyday replete with that tweaked vocal effect ("Camille"). It's not much of a song just a fun jam before leaping into the retro-80s synthesizer pop of "Lolita", which may remind the young folk of Andre 3000. But that's a chicken and egg thing, no? The rocker "Fury" is what Jimi Hendrix might have sounded like in the 80s and "Love" strangely reminds me of a Janet Jackson song circa "Rhythm Nation". Oh yeah, Jimmy Jam & James Lewis produced that and who were they influenced by again? Perhaps the best track is "Word", with that clever beat, acoustic guitar, sax hook and guitar solo. I don't care much for pop music and though I'd like to hear him drop the mainstream and do a straight blues record it'd be nice to hear Prince on the radio again. www.bluescritic.com

What do you work for the NPG? What I mean is, you are all here with the new ID posting "positive" reviews. Are you upon the sales trip?

MickG said:

I'm not sure it's a totally positive review. I don't work for NPG and my personal opinion about "3121" is that it's "pretty good". I had low expectations and therefore I'm relatively pleased with the record. Why do you think it sucks?

HomeSquid said:

I don't think it "sucks". I, like you, think it is "pretty good" especally when I factor in my own "low expectations". It is a cleanly produced basic prince album. I am not really pleased with the album, as you are, because I don't buy many albums, and this would be one I have no intrest in buying if it wasn't Prince's new album. It's a bit bland, a little general, somewhat uninspiring, and overall dull.

Musicology had more spice.

These are the days of the days after.

Nice review

luv4u said:

i agree

prettymansson said:

Yeah it seemed fair. It shows how far ranged prince's listners are. Since that was a online Blues magazine I wonder how many different music publications include a prince review?

Very balanced review.

While I love 3121, I did get a little teary with this line: "There's no single as brilliant as "Little Red Corvette", "When Doves Cry", "Sign O' The Times" or "Kiss" but there's some darn good tracks.. so true.

SynthiaRose said:

Yea I think we're all hoping for another stunner. I'd even take one like "Most Beautiful Girl". I'm thinking back over the last TEN (!) years...were there any tracks that shoulda been huge hits?

HomeSquid said:

I think there are a lot of tracks that deserved/could have been top 10 hits from the last 10 years... off the top of my head, these are just as valid as many other mediocre singles of his that became hits...

Somebody's Somebody
Sleep Around
She Gave Her Angels
Goodbye
The One
So Far, So Pleased
Vavoom
Supercute
A Million Days
The Marrying Kind


I, also, think that chart status effects how some people think of a song. Certain songs that are overlooked if released now, would have been easy chart hits back in the 80s and looked at as classics today.

I'm thinking Fury is just a stone's throw away from being a "stunner."

With just a little more sumthin ... and a refining of the lyrics ...it could have been HUGE.

jtfolden said:

"So Far So Pleased" for sure woulda been a hit. isn't it true they wern't given permission to release it as a single?

anyway i think "Black Sweat" would've been a hit if it wasn't Prince...but then again it's Prince's fault for so many hating him with all his narcissistic antics over the years