do you guys get the feeling prince could do albums like 3121 in his sleep. dont get me wrong i dig it.but i much rather have an album that prince challenges his listners.only thing challenging is the song 3121 the rest prince could do in his sleep. nice cd,but its almost what the ladies would call a quickie.the song 3121 is classic prince and the bridge on love9like a bird flying over the hilltop etc]is just plan phat.

joelmarable said:

that "bird flying" part hits right in all ways! so does the part in incence and candles where the lady's voice comes in strong "circles of flowers" and hits the consonant "s" on "flowers"...even though that particular song is not my thang.

If this is what he does in his sleep please don't wake him up.

PurpleKnight said:

purplecam said:

ufoclub said:

As "simple" as the chorus to "Love" is, that chorus speaks to me and it's been a while since that's happened with me from a Prince song. I'm not much of a lyrics person but when a lyric grabs me, it grabs me. That's part of why I love the song and why I wouldn't dismiss 3121 cause it seems like Prince took some time to get this CD right and for me, he succeeded.

ufoclub said:

you are so right...the hook "like a bird flying over the hilltops love is like the sky you know it nevers stops..." that is on point

I still have yet to figure how people don't like that song...I even heard some compare it to Prince trying to be like Usher or Britany which is absurd in and of itself
[Edited 4/17/06 19:37pm]

Prince takes the bass line from the instrumental ending of "Glam Slam", makes it darker in tone, and builds the song "Love" around it...and it has one ferociously catchy chorus...

3121 feels cohesive and purposeful...so it doesn't feel like something he'd "do in his sleep" (BEEP BEEP...Overused cliche alert...BEEP BEEP). I agree with PurpleKnight, Musicology fits closer to that description...it sounds pieced together, like the songs were laying scattered around the house or something. Good CD, just not as good as 3121.

joelmarable said:

COME ON JOEL

EVERYONE KNOW PRINCE NOT SLEEP

EverlastingNow said:

PurpleKnight said:

PurpleKnight said:

joelmarable said:

I do think he he rushed it. Don’t get me wrong, I like it, but there are certain bits which sound rushed to me. The drum break in Lolita is exactly the same snare sound as in Love. And in both songs they don’t seem to fit well into the mix. I also think Get on the Boat is quite badly mixed. The vocals in some parts are too loud (when he is supposed to be shouting out to the band) and the whole mix goes quiet in places, especially toward the end when the trumpet(?) comes in and does a solo… A lot of the keyboard sounds are just presets as, I suspect, are some of the drum samples. And that whiney noise in BS just hurts my ears when the volume is cranked up…

Anyway, not to diss the songs themselves, theyre all by and large great tunes. I just think he rushed putting it all together at times. But that never stopped SOT being the great album that it is. Digital recording is very unforgiving of small errors.

It is a good album, but u guys are right, it dosent challenge you. Its inoffensive and quite formulaic. Theres a lot of Prince magic, but its nothing new. Love could be anyone song hes recorded between 1990, now and possibly 20 years into the future. 3121 Won't get him many new fans but its doing a good job tiding us over. What I am saying he could do 3121 awake too, but nothing more adventorous. Prince has played it safe with pleasing results. It wont lose him many fans at least

EverlastingNow said:

3121 is the first Prince record I've enjoyed, and taken seriously, since...Emancipation? The Symbol album? It's been a hell of a long time. I believe in him again. To me it sounds like the first "fun" record he's made in many years.

i have zero interest in listening to it !!!!! the first week it was interesting particularly "Love"...but not earth moving..the 2nd week it was something i had to remind myself i should be listening to...at this point i pretty much dont give a damn if i had it or not...sad... I am diggin the hell outta Parade..& music of my mind and innervisions by stevie wonder though...

Why all the hatin'? It's a great album, the only thing wrong with it is that it's too short! What do you critizisers want?? What kind of cd would make you happy?....Ok, I'd also like to have some more 17 Days, When Doves Cry or so on it, but it's still far away from being bad.

PurpleKnight said:

I actually get the feeling that Prince was trying too hard with Musicology, which is why it is so bad. that is the opposite of doing something in his sleep.

dumbass said:

Wow, really? To me, it's his least ambitious album ever (though not his worst).

A bunch of songs that sound like they were recorded a long time ago, no musical risks at all, and a lot of songs sound like scaled down ripoffs of a past one of his.

It feels like Prince trying desperately to not take any risks, so as to not turn off the casual listener again.
[Edited 4/18/06 8:40am]

VenusBlingBling said:

let's ee, where to start. the lyrics are unimaginitive and blatant, the subject matters of the songs uninteresting and unchallenging, and the production standard and boring.

its funny that the thread asks if Prince could have done this in is sleep, but it is far too uncreative to have done in his sleep. this was an album written with effort, not inspired by creativity.

when I think of Prince writing a song in his sleep, I think of the story of how he went to take a nap and woke up with little red corvette. when Prince writes music in his sleep, it is genius, creative, imaginitive and sounds effortless. 3121 is none of these things, it is a labored album trying to create a muse, not a repercussion of being inspired by one.

I'm not saying it is a bad album, but classic Prince sounds like it was written in his sleep, because it sounds inspired, effortless and creative, where as 3121 seems contrived and efforted.

dumbass said:

Let's see... the combination of words in the above post is way unimaginative and blatant. It was a post that took "effort" to put together and is also unencumbered by "creativity".

It's a "labored" post, desperately trying to enforce a view but failing miserably.

Handel said:

I don't see him trying to enforce his view any harder than the rest of us in this thread.

dumbass said:

Yeah, I'd agree with that. Sleep is a powerful creative process. Communing with your unconscious and all that. But don't knock effort entirely. There is such a thing as concerted effort to bring forth inspiration. A vital step in the creative process is doubt, hesitation, reworking, making mistakes, trial and error.

Art is not all free flowing effortless ecstacy. That's the ILLUSION artists create.

PurpleKnight said:

It was a joke

PurpleKnight said:

for me, it stinks with ambition, trying to prove he is a real musician and making music for real music lovers.

the music is dependent simply on sounding like live instruments, and the lyrics are the most forced and labored of his career. even on call my name, the only song I really like on the album, I swear he uses pause to ryhme throughout the entire second verse because he couldn't think of any other word. it is painful stuff for my ears.

oh how I hate that cd, the worst of his entire career.

3121 isn't as bad, and I place it higher than say Diamonds and Pearls, Garfitti Bridge and Rave, but i don't know how much of a defense of 3121 that really is.
[Edited 4/18/06 10:33am]

It really is shocking to me how much people think 3121 is better than Musicology. I think P has you all fooled with production. 3121 was definitely given a fuller production value, but Musicology was far, far more substantial musically and songwise. 3121 is so half-baked creatively, so forced. Musicology was slightly forced as well, but had better results in terms of the songs presented. I know it's all subjective, so I won't go on too much, but when I read people's comments here and some of the reviews I've seen for 3121 I can't help but think, "Well, you did it P! You fooled them all!" Prince must be a conflicted dude. On one hand, he clearly wants to be valid in the public eye with hits and high selling albums. On the other hand, to achieve that he has to turn in watered down schlock like 3121, which has to be disappointing on some level for him, being the musician that he is. Oh well, he'll deal with that conflict all the way to the bank I suppose! But as for 3121 being done in his sleep, well, I'd say it's more like he fell asleep before finishing, judging by the amount of half-baked songs and lyrics on 3121! Try some No-Doze next time P, and let the bread rise!!

I dont want u to get the wrong impression here if any other artist, face wyclef etc, would have come out with 3121 it would have been a remarkable accomplishment.but we are talking the best here [prince]he is capable of so much more challenging music.3121 is great its just going to wear thin quicker than trc or news or around the world or anything else concepted music he's delivered.again its got some bombs just non challenging like the song 3121.

3121 is fun to listen to. That's about all I care about. Ambition is nice but give it a break every freakin' decade so we can dance. Sometimes recording doesn't have to be about capturing brilliance - it can be about preserving a fun time. And recreating it with every listen.