at least he used live instrumentation on that album. it sounded as if he pured his heart and soul into it. granted, it was kind of weak lyrically but at least he was daring in the arrangements. songs such as last december, everlasting now, family name, the sensual everafter, everywhere,and 1+1+1=3 had that classic prince sound. it seems as if he has been coasting since 2004.

i think the planning of the musicology tour was the last very focused, concerted effort on his part that seemed to end up fully realized.

i think you're right about TRC, though - it's probably the last album that he put his heart and soul into, not just in terms of the songs but in terms of the overall concept.

i just want prince 2 be that quirky motherfucker once again. i want him 2 just get away from r&b to a more bluesy and rock vibe

i read a review a while ago, i think it was on planet earth, and the
writer said something to the effect of prince's last albums being in
general more about new means of distribution than about the music.

which, sadly, seems very true indeed.

nothing he's done since The Rainbow Children has got me remotely as
excited as i was when i first listened to that album, after all the
grueling hours of download hell on the npgmc.

despite my sheer hatred for all things prince after those 18 [!!!]
hours of aborted and restarted downloads, when i pressed "play" and
the album began to unfold itself i was utterly baffled by how good
it sounded.

the playing, the melodies, the shifts and changes, the excitement,
the surprising twists, the organic feel and cohesive vibe of that
album caught me completely off guard after nps, rave etc etc.

it was nothing short of a triumph for prince to return to using
his name and this being the first official new album by "prince"
after the symbol years.

the lyrics, indeed, are up for debate, but despite a few lines
that i don't agree with or cringe at, the album still stands as
one of his biggest creative achievements in the last 20 years.

I AGREE with the last post indeed. PRINCE wanted to prove he could do more than the plastic sounding rave album. the high project was aborted because it was another album in the same vain. THE RAINBOW CHILDREN was his last controversial piece of work. it reminded us of how he was back in the early years, when he didn't care what people thought of his music. i just want an album were he sounds as if he is really trying to say something different.

IstenSzek said:

He was back on top of his game with TRC and all the subsequent albums sporned from that period with that band & it started going flat with Musicology! i suppose The Chocolate Invasion & The Slaughterhouse shoud've been a warning of things 2 come. Chocolate Invasion was probably his last decent effort in the studio!

"The Rainbow Children," is fantastic work...I don't think I would ever say that Prince doesn't give all that he can at the time. I love the cd's that follow, "The Rainbow Children."

Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one. I am not crazzy about Rainbow children myself.

rusty1 said:

last effort..... > london 21 nights , 3121 cd album,

Crap quality of TRC aside, it was his last truly cohesive album. Since then, his records have been much more loosely connected collections of crap.

Although, I really don't agree with that cause I am one of those few that liked PE and still play it as opposed to the many who call it a coaster. I just love music and if you don't enjoy something then you should just not play it. But it is your right as it is mine to enjoy it. And I loved 3121 from start to finish and I don't see his art as crap at all because it is art. Which merely for the enjoyment of people and if you don't want to listen then don't. No harm,No foul.

jimmyrogertodd said:

3121 is indeed a good solid album. much much better than musicology or pe

I would say that The Rainbow Children was his last true concept album. In other words, whether you liked it or not (and I'm more on the not than the liked), the whole thing told a strong, cohesive story start to finish.

3121 was also meant to be a concept (the intimate housejam thing) but it worked better as a "whole house" theme (restaurant, club, aftershows, etc.) than it did as an album. That's not to say I don't like 3121 - I do, a lot - it just doesn't have the strong thread linking all the songs together the way The Rainbow Children does.

IstenSzek said:

i think 3121 is a more coherant album than musicology but i still think there's something much more earnest about the songs on musicology that makes me favor it more. 3121 just has a slick, disingenuous vibe that keeps me at arm's length.

I agree his last fully realized album that really challenged the fans and sounded super fresh was TRC (lyrical content aside).

I do think he sort of meandered after that with News the NPG downloads etc. Most of which is good but not cohesive...more one off tracks that didn't really have a home. I did find these offerings to be also challenging and enjoyable and certainly the weird/experimental Prince we came to love over the years even though some of it strayed from the live instruntation of TRC. Songs like Judas Smile and In Silicon were his best in years. I prefered much of that material over TRC. But as I said these were just musings...one offs that had no backdrop of thought behind them.

Until Musicology. Musicology I think changed his direction into one that was more hit driven for mass consumption. His tours contained mostly hits and his albums contained mostly nods to older material as well as keeping things pretty accessable. I mean let's face it...Musicology was for the fans that forgot him, which is one of the reasons why he gave the CDs away. If you put something like Chocolate invasion side by Side with Musicology, the differences are pretty clear. TCI would never sell like Musicology would. Even look at the song Musicology...he'd been doing that type song for a while (The work and Prettyman) and here he was presnting it again...but a MUCH more watered down version of that type of song. He was also looking for innovative ways of distribution that would get his music in the hands of as many people as he could....The Give away at the Musicology Tour, The WIlly WOnka ticket for 3121 and free PE in the Paper.

In terms of what's he been given out with quality for the last 3 albums, I'd have to say that this is how I'd rank them...3121, PE and then Musicology. I think of these 3121 is probably the closest to old skool/new skool Prince blend that it seems as though he's trying to achieve.

i don't see everyone's fascination with the 3121 album. the album is okay at best. i listened to it once and that was it. Te amo carzon was a very flat first single. the song 3121 is nothing to write home about. 3121 doesn't coonect with me on any level. love is alright but i like the acoustic version better. nothing grabs my attention on that album. get on the boat is