So I listened to 3121 again yesterday and I absolutely love it AGAIN (more than Planet Earth).

Apart from the time when the deer ran out of the bushes, hitting the side of my SUV... I enjoyed every minute of listening to it. The deer is fine, my car is dented.

... and Prince if you read this... we want More... More... More... !!
[Edited 4/24/08 22:37pm]

amen no more of that planet bullshit ..bring the ruckus ..bring us DA FUNK!!

L4OATheOriginal said:

While I prefer the funky side of thang, after seeing him rock out last summer and his preference for doing albums in pairs, I'd say 'get that guitar out of your system and deliver a solid focused rock album, then get back to us with a solid focused Funk-album'.

It won't happen, Prince always mixes and matches, but hey...

3121 is the better album of the two, not that either are exactly spectacular efforts by the man.

I love both of them.

I love 3121.

His best work since the Gold Experience!

I Love both of these albums, however, "3121" as a whole, is a little better, in my eyes.

I'll know for sure when I get to listen to them both again.
But by then, I'll most likely be gone from this place for the summer

3121 truly is a rollercoaster ride because most of the music is on the same level, which is so-so to pretty good... and it peaks a couple of times with the really good stuff (Love, The Word, The Dance). Its a bit uneven for me.
And it's one I've fought with, trying to get myself to like it because it started to come off as "too modern" sounding.
First I thought it was and I liked it so much. Then the other albums started coming and it just seemed manufactured and not quite as heartfull.

I might be kinda biased, though
because PE is the new guy and with newer albums that stand out, I end up enjoying them a lot. There's no fighting to like this one. It was automatic I'm also biased because I was also listening to it at a time where I was getting sick of fighitng with the music and trying to "get" it. Simple as it is, it was easy for me to get in2 and I've been in its favor ever since.

I've heard that PE wasnt too well received because people are still wanting the "old Prince"... when I came back, I had no idea things were so out of balance. Not so much that there are more people on either side... but it seems like the side that hates it are a bit more... what's the word... they seem to fight hard, I guess.

You know things are bad when people think there's something wrong with the other side just because they love what the other side hates.
Or do they just love to hate it?
I don't know.

PE for me please.

3121 is a dust-collector, file under 'flacid, boring or filler' alongside Emancipation, Rave and Musicology.

NouveauDance said:

Have to agree (except for the dig at Emancipation). While just a pale shade of the past, at least PE sounds like Prince being Prince.

Completely disagree !

3121 is by far a much better album than PE. The structure of 3121 as a full album works better, the songs have more variety and although they may be more pop tinged or commercial I don't think this is a probelm at all (rather that than N.E.W.S. which takes hard work to appreciate)

"3121" is VERY MUCH TRIPLE TIMES better than "Planet Earth". Even though I pledge allegiance to force myself to find 2-3 songs on every Prince album that I can enjoy (i know I know...quite fam-ish of me ) I without a doubt can listen to 3121 more times than Planet Earth, PE is so...bouncy and cookie cutter, 3121 is like velvet to the senses. Makes me all

3121 WHUPS Planet Earths ass. Last night as I was visiting my aunt and uncle, I heard somebody BLASTING Incense and Candles from his sound system of his SUV. I forgot how hot that song was, though I'm sure some will be quick to disagree. I actually think if Prince released it as a single, it would have been huge. This CD is one of my all time Prince favorites and I hope the next one can be one of my favorite.

3121 is more immediate, and it takes you places, from Lolita to the Dance- 3121's songs demand your attention. Planet Earth is pleasant, but its highs like The One U wanna C are light compared to songs like "Love" 3121 hands down

CoolTarik1 said:

I agree! The only songs I can really enjoy are SHOE...TOUWC...and Guitar. Those are the immediate three I can think of.

retrofunk said:

i love news! fabulous instrumentals.

i think PE is the better album but prefer many of the songs on 3121!

3121 sounds like he was trying 2 hard. PLANET EARTH sounds more inspired...
not saying that there was anything wrong with 3121, but PLANET EARTH is more enjoyable if u're in2 his more "pop-ish" and lite songs. like starfish & coffee, neon telephone, it's a wonderful day, teacher,teacher.

NAMOR3000 said:

They don't call me DreamyPop for nothing. Growing up, I was a Pop Music Junkie and I still am... just not today's sort of pop music

I have an interesting idea, though.
Suppose that PE was released by some other artist, would the critics here be as hard on the album?
Seriously, I think people don't like PE because it's either not their genre (pop instead of funk) or Prince just set the bar so high that very little can compete with it. If you knew Prince was capable of better than PE, would you still trash it for being a sub-album (sub-album, as in being not worthy of being called an album because albums are works of art and therefore, PE is not).

PE sounds more inspired to me. I had a problem with 3121 for a while because it was chock full of studio-plastic songs like Lolita, Black Sweat and Fury.

Given the high points of both albums, though...

PE, SHOE, Lion of Judah vs. Love, The Word, The Dance, 3121

I'd say they're pretty even, though it would be cool to have more of the likes of "The Word". It has a certain unique edge to it that put most of the album to shame

quite interesting to read all the different answers
for me, not many albums have excited me as much as 3121
however, i think its biggest fault is the song order
i prefer to place all the chill-out tracks together at the end

NAMOR3000 said:

the songs u mentioned r insulting 2 their brilliance compared 2 what's on PE which is pure pop crap

I prefer Planet Earth. It's more cohesive and I feel that 3121 is so over-produced that all of the life is sucked out of the songs. Also, they both have track sequencing problems, but 3121 is the bigger mess in that regard. Planet Earth has some really cheesey tracks, but 3121 has more of them.

I really like PE. 3121 is just okay to me.

PLANET EARTH wins.
Better production. Deeper lyrics/subject matter (think PE itself and Resolution). Good mixture of styles. He also uses styles from his past to good effect (great PR ish guitar in Lion of Judah/similarity to For You album in PE song itself/riffs and melodies from Diamonds and Pearls in some of the tracks) while 3121 more imitated other artists (like the Cher like vocoder and R and B artists!!)

Also the test is listenability and I actually listen to this still quite a bit while 3121 got shelved much more quickly.
Out of the Mcology/3121/PE trilogy Planet Earth wins hands down.
[Edited 4/27/08 15:09pm]
[Edited 4/27/08 15:10pm]
[Edited 4/27/08 15:14pm]

3121 by a MILE. I love this album. I listen to this more than anything the guy produced since Gold Experience. Every song is great, and that title track is DRIPPING funk.

Planet Earth is ok. Thats it. Simply ok.

pplrain said:

i can't pick a favorite.