Ive just been watching some of 3121-saturday night live..the chaka tribute,the naacp awards

shit for most of 06 the man was on fire supported by (for my money) a genuinly good album

3121-stone cold funk

the word-a modern day classic

love

satisfied..all great great songs adding to the prince canon...

so it was some surprise that planet earth was so ..disposable-apart from FUTURE BABY MAMMA for me none of this album stands up

he should ahve given away 3121 for free in the uk as it sold jackshit and would have reminded audiences why after 30 yrs he is still indespinsible as opposed to fiving the impression hes now disposable

Different Strokes me thinks....There are key tracks on PE that demonstrate signature Prince - and I dont think FBM is one of em.....

I really like Planet Earth and i feel as a whole its a more consistent listen than 3121.Though 3121 does contain more standout tracks.. What affects PE is the feel of the album, it's somewhat subdued compared to a lot of his other studio albums. It almost feels like one of those contractual obligation albums he released. Ie Come, Chaos and Disorder and The Vault and not a major release. It's a modest album compared to 3121 which i think thats why a lot of people found it disappointing. Almost like 'is this all?!' Also it's funny you mention Future Baby Mama as IMO it's the worst track on PE by a mile. Yet another one of his dodgy 'modern' R&B tunes to appeal to the radio and 'the kids'.
[Edited 1/27/08 16:46pm]
[Edited 1/27/08 16:48pm]

there was nothing modest about its release though

jonylawson said:

Yeah and thats the thing and that's probably why it disappointed so many. You think he would've delivered something more akin to 3121, a bigger album, instead of Planet Earth. Maybe he knew PE wasn't substantial enough and thats why he gave it away like he did. In the end it served as a great tool to promote his 02 shows.

I love Planet Earth

sexxydancer said:

me too. but 3121 was better. loved me some 3121 when it came out. underrated classic, imo.
[Edited 1/28/08 0:43am]

jonylawson said:

3121 went to no.9 in uk

I abosolutely love 3121, Planet Earth is only half-good to me as I literally only like about half of the album

I am shocked at how much I like 3121 now. I am not sure if it's because PE has waned on me....I certainly don't listen to it that much. And going back to 3121...Songs like Black Sweat, Love, Incense and Candles, BL&B and Get on the Boat...very fresh.

I love both CD's but I think that I enjoyed 3121 a little more, although I did get to see some of the shows in Vegas supporting the CD. PE might have had a little more meaning to me if would have been able to make it out to London

Are you EVER gonna stop bitchin?

wlcm2thdwn said:

Why don't you quit yours?!
Motherfuckin' tart.

3121 is an amazing album, and would say its the best since Gold.

Initially PE didn't grab me and I compared it with the likes of Chocolate Invasion and The Slaughterhouse. A collection of singles as opposed to a complete album.

But over the past 6 months, Planet Earth is getting more and more 'Ear' time from me.

Where as I initally only rated 3 maybe 4 of the tracks, its now more like 8!!

I do feel I've been cheated out of a couple of tracks though. I don't like these 10 track albums. Maybe back in the day when he first started, but these days the albums should have closer to 14 tracks on them, definitely no less than 12!!!

What I do find now is how 'Future Baby Mama' sounds like it could be from Emancipation, and how much 'All the goodnights in the world' sounds straight off of Musicology!!!

Planet Earth is not as bad as we all initially made it out to be, and I don't think I'm the only one that is liking it more and more with every listen!

Anji said:

I LOVE 3121. It's my favorite Prince CD this decade so far. I played it on my iPod on the way home from work a week or 2 ago and I loved it as much as I did last year and the year before. It album has aged well and I expect it to contiue to age well. I also expect more people who hated 3121 when it dropped in 06 (can you believe it's been almost 2 years now?!) to dig this album within 5 years. You watch.

As for Planet Earth, I like the CD but it's already dated to me. There are real gems on there but it gets sketchy after The 1 U Wanna C. It's not bad but Prince could have come more correct than he did. It's all good though, here's to the next CD and I hope to God it's super funky, cause we need some hard funk in our musical diets now!

I have an admission to make, I have played PE at least once everyday since last Thursday, for some strange reason the album is growing on me, definitely not as dull as i thought it was up till now. The biggest problem I have with the album, at the moment, is the track sequence, which seems to make no sense at all, but in the digital age, we can all sequence things the way we want them.

I still rate 3121 a far better album though, but I certainly see PE making ground on Musicology. I will be curious what I will think next week

BTW, a bizarre thing happened the other day, I ripped my expectation cd back onto my pc, and the track listing it gave me was Planet Earth tracks 1-9, I still have not figured this out, coz when I rip Planet Earth all I get is a track listing without track names, has anyone else tried this?

I'd say 3121 is a little closer to being a great Prince album, but only a little. Both have serious flaws, as well as positive aspects that the other doesn't have.

jonylawson said:

And it's this part of your post that'll probably make a lot of people dismiss your opinion on the album.

The one song that sounds the most plastic and bland on the CD.

Haystack said:

I agree with that, i have never understood why that song gets so many props

My only issue with PE is that he put in tracks like FBM and Mr. if he hadnt and threw in 2 other pop/rock tracks than it would have been his strongest pop works in a long time. I like 3121 too and it doesnt stray away from its theme for the most part, though Te Amo does not fit on the album at all, good song, wrong theme.

Haystack said:

yes, but like you said ... it's 'his' opinion .. and there are others who 'do' agree with his opinion ... just like how your opinion of the song.. wont stand too much either with others.. i dont understand why ppl go back n forth with critiquing others for their opinions and tastes of Prince music.. everybody have different tastes...

Whitnail said:

because ppl like the song... that's why it's raved over..

3121 would have been huge had it been released back in 1994, instead of Come.

lastdecember said:

Im with you with Mr Goodnight and FBM. The problem is Prince has been doing this since Diamonds And Pearls and thats trying to appeal to mainstream radio with these terrible 'R&B' tunes. 3121 was the same with Incense and Candles. Fucking terrible songs.

Even though I feel Planet Earth is more consistent than 3121, I do have to give to the latter album props for the few killer tunes that are on there. 3121's low points may be lower than PE's, but the highs are certainly higher.

And that's PE's big weakness - While most of the tunes are listenable and mildly enjoyable, there's nothing particularly inspired or energetic on there.

I really can't separate the two.

Toejam's take:

OUTSTANDING TRACKS
3121
Fury
The Dance
The Word
Planet Earth
Somewhere Here On Earth
Chelsea Rogers

GOOD TRACKS
Lolita
Black Sweat
Incense & Candles
Get On The Boat
Guitar
The One U Wanna C
Future Baby Mama
Mr. Goodnight

AVERAGE TRACKS
Te Amo Corazon
Love
Satisfied
Beautiful, Loved & Blessed
All The Midnights
Lion Of Judah
Resolution

3121 is clearly the better album, but it's not exactly spectacular either.

Anji said:

Back to the OP: I still feel the exact opposite. I still acquaint 3121 with the plastic sound of the latter half of the 90s and beyond, it bored and disappointed me beyond belief, and there's really no reason for me to put the LP on - the 2nd half of the The Dance is good, title track, sure - other than that, nothing else on it for me. Quite the opposite to I feel about Planet Earth.

Same as always: Different strokes.




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[Edited 1/29/08 2:06am]