On a whim, I listened thru the album backwards from Get on the Boat 2 3121.

It has such a completely different vibe. Actually, I think it would sound really cool after going thru Musicology.
Get on the Boat is big on instrumentals like the Musicology album, and The Dance is pretty much the same way. Slowly, the vibe changes and its like Prince saying "this is my music going forward through time". The technology gets more advanced and the sound becomes more modern.

Actually, the album can be seen as a mirror image. The message of 3121 and Get on the Boat is very similar, the sound is just different. And The Dance sounds pretty cool in the beginning of the album.

As for 3121 itself, it's almost like 3121 is a metaphor for the ride one takes when they get into Prince. Like the man says, "you can come if you want to, but you can never leave". Isn't that really what being a "fan" of Prince's music is all about?

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Not for the person that got me into Prince. He was a fan since the beginning, introduced me in 91/92 and then buggered off in about 94 never to return. He left big time.

TheEnglishGent said:

I suppose quite a few of his fans jumped off the wagon after the name change.

Quite a few songs at the end of the album have that Musicology vibe. Get on the Boat and The Dance had a pretty elaborate set up with all of the instruments that went into them... which is what musicology is all about.

And The Word, is such a cool song and its a nice change of pace to listen to it earlier on. When I listen to it, I can picture Prince sitting on a stool and playing his acoustic guitar with the other instruments playing in the background.