skywalker said:

i was gonna say that too, but settled with answering the question with the ethel merman album cover.

Mong said:

Funny you saw that becuase I believe in the opposite. The title track feels like classic Prince filler. For the most part, the album does sound very natural, with Prince doing what he does best....just making hot ass music. A song like "The Word" just flows out so well.

Now "Musicology" felt like a kind of blatant attempt to showcase how talented he is but it fails becuase the songwriting isn't his strongest (adoes "Musicology" have a chorus....do most of the songs?). There are a lot of strong moments in it, though, but frankly, one of his least memorable efforts, IMHO.

Prince still has it in him, I´ve witnessed this too many times after ppl had already written him off, so I don´t even see the need to discuss this thing BUT ....speaking about contemporary music...I think there´s absolutely no competition for Prince, unlike in the 1980´s , so that may be one reason why his music makes you feel the way you do these days.

Sometimes it takes a bit of competition or fresh ppl around you to take you higher. I don´t see any Rick James, MJ, Madonna in her prime, ZAPP, Cameo, U2 in their prime, Bruce Springsteen, George Michael, Queen, Alexander O´Neal, The Time, SOS Band, Midnight Star, etc.etc. etc . in the charts these days...the only few talented people out there are hardly rivals since they all are in awe of Prince.

Must be weird to be blessed like Prince these days....so much talent, and nobody around you to challenge you except for a few RnB mofos who are your biggest fans.

I don't know if I should laugh or cry when I read NON-creative poeple discussing something creative.

booyah said:

Darn! Does this mean I can quit hoping for that Prince and Willie Nelson duet that I've been waiting for?

LQ

The only songs I don´t like on 3121 are Lolita and Satisfied, and some details , like the chorus and hook on The Word, which is all in all still a great song.

People would freak out if Prince had quit releasing music and this album were just a bootleg.

Graycap23 said:

Or you could try adding to the conversation?


.
[Edited 8/3/06 14:00pm]

No
Its authentically Prince, true Prince fans knew what 2 expect and they got it.

No.


(I really like 3121--except TAC, Lolita, & I&C--but I think Musicology was/is very dull.)

3121

laurarichardson said:

Ok... people running around acting like that's some original stuff Pharrell has done. Hell he didn't even make the beat better he just stripped most of the funk out of it and made it bland.

jaynoonan said:

My thoughts exactly!

What is considered contemporary music today?

Graycap23 said:

But U don't really know who's creative and who's not....
That's kind of an unfair comment for U to make.


Lynn

7teen said:

Yeah... I used to love her, but her recent material just hurt my feelings!

Lynn

No, not by any stretch... Firstly, it is not much of an attempt at sounding contemporary, as it sounds unmistakably retro in many ways. Secondly, other artists have made really embarassing attempts at sounding more contemporary and relevant, and Prince couldn't top them at that even if he tried.

chocolate1 said:

Really? Anyone putting Pharell in the same conversation with Prince says it all.

Nevermind that Pharell reference - whatever.

But MattyJam has a very valid point!

C'mon man honestly, weren't you the least bit embarrassed for Prince when you first heard Incense and Candles? Even Cher was probably like

7teen said:

I still cant listen to I & C for the 2nd time.

3121 isn't a bad track, but then again, it isn't one of his best either. He needs to get that old arrogance back, that old, 'this is what I'm gonna do and it's gonna work' kind of attitude.

When I heard the "Camille" voice from the 80's open the album I was all like "man Prince is being SO contemporary". Wait...no I wasn't, I was all like "some douchebag is going to write a thread about this album calling it 'embarassing' and 'contemporary'"

Listen to any Madonna lately? That should answer your question.

Mars23 said:

Graycap23 said:

But that still doesn't indicate the person's individual level of creativity...

Huh, what? What's the point here?

God, I certainly was embarassed for Prince when I heard the opening few bars of Incense & Candles. I can still remember my wifes reaction to this day... I think her exact words were "is that a Victoria Beckham song?"

When I referred to the over-blown production I was talking about three minutes into The Word, not the entire album.

And tracks like Heaven Can Wait, Butterflies and Unbreakable piss over anything on 3121.
[Edited 8/5/06 1:58am]

MattyJam said:

That is at the very lest debatable and I'm not quite sure how that belongs to the topic anyway. Personally, I take the 3121 title song over any of those songs any day. Butterflies might be close.

3121 is a very very very good album.
I think the ppl that do not like it is use to P being rock and funk and in this album (to me) it seems more R&B. Get over it. It's good. U still love him.
[Edited 8/5/06 19:33pm]