sorry disagree buddy. 3121 -

I disagree. I really like Te Amo Corazon. It's smooth and with a new sound. Black Sweet is edgy, and slightly ground-breaking. And the rest of the album include tracks I listen to over and over like Love and Get On The Boat.

I cannot believe what I'm reading here. To me, 3121 is so average, so laissez faire Prince. 3121 = Days of Wild, Black Sweat = Kiss, Fury = 1999. And the dross filler of Incense and Candles and Beautiful Loved and Blessed? And the lack of any kind of logical sequencing?

On the other hand, PE was fantastic. Rousing and inspiring opener, moderately successful rocker song, excellent slow ballads and even R&B, and, to top it off, songs that sound more like Revolution than at any time since the Revolution. I cannot see how PE doesn't blow the average 3121 out of the water.

But, one point: I love that I disagree with people here. I think it's awesome to have this variance of opinion. Very interesting and healthy.
[Edited 6/27/08 23:58pm]

I've been listening maniacally to 'Love' and 'The Word'. I love the beats of 'Black Sweat' too, and 'Get on the Boat' is great for working out/jogging!

I was always kind of surprised at the largely positive response to 3121 and the negative response to Planet Earth. IMO, it should've been completely the opposite way around.

3121 represents for me just another in the string of post-WB plasticky pop records treading water - Emancipation, Rave, NPS, Musicology. Planet Earth, whilst also having elements of this strand of records, it also takes in infuences from the other strain of post-WB albums like TRC and ONA.

I felt PE was somewhat of an upswing after the safer sound of the preceeding two albums.

3121 tracks that people seem to like, Black Sweat, Love, The Word offer nothing new and very little of interest for me, and Get On The Boat is another James Brown pastiche that Prince can pull off in his sleep no doubt. I think between 3121 and Musicology you could, if you were being generous, scrape together an EP's worth of half-decent songs, but you'd really have to try hard.

I'm glad so many people like it, it shows Prince does cater to all sorts.

gubbins4ever said:

Should've just read this before I replied, I agree with everything you said.

3121 - overrated piece from Prince's junk pile, disastrous ending.
Lolita - slight. If Prince used his "old man" voice, then this could've been funny and interesting at least.
Te Amo Corazon - stately but by the numbers Prince ballad.
Black Sweat - nostalgic at best. Kiss this is not.
Incense and Candles - pathetic attempt at modern RnB (which is in a bad state as it is).
Love - plastic.
Satisfied - On the Couch redux, though slightly better.
Fury - great song.
The Word - melodious song which one cannot place which is a great thing actually. Prince does best when he gets out of genres.
Beautiful Loved and Blessed - should have been given to Des'ree.
The Dance - there's something so artificial about this song esp. towards the end when it's supposed to soar.
Get On The Boat - the most tired of the James Brown jam clones of late.


Fury/The Word is the only bright spot in this album.

PLANET EARTH has more IMHO.
[Edited 6/28/08 2:47am]

NouveauDance said:

i agree totally- Loved PE from the get go, 3121 its okay- but not one of the most played cds of P's in my house

Sophianestesia said:

wildgoldenhoney said:

rusty1 said:

hmmm 3121 is superb


essential songs:

3121 - is pure Prince , original , original.....

lolita- great dance tune

te amo corazon- maybe is zzzzz 4 u. but the production is amazing.and the lyrics .

Fury - great production

the word - great lyrics and good production.

The Dance - How can u not like "the dance" one of the best, essential . this song is the reason why Prince is one of the best.

i don't have 2 clean out my ears at all. 3121 is mediocore at best. how dare anyone say it's his best since sign o' the times. the album is just average to me. there is nothing on this album that's on the level with his defining works. my opinion is that it's an average album.

i think the title track is a new prince classic

forkupine said:

forkupine-wooden silverware sounding...A stage name I'd keep in the drawer.

rusty1 said:

the problem with your opinion is like an asshole.
everbody's got one and they all stink

3121 had some great songs, but I think he should have taken more time on the production.

Funny how tastes are so different. I thought 3121 was his best album in years, with songs like Lolita and Black Sweat and Te Amo Corazon was beautiful like a summer breeze.

The Rainbow Children had a couple of good songs like She Loves Me For Me and Family Name, but generally I thought that album had too many not-good-enough songs and a disturbing Jehova's Witnesses message.

Wow..I cannot believe that I am actually reading this. 3121 was the bomb!!! I really liked it, and it was really cool. I know that everyone would probably want P to have the same sound as he did, but the years are changing,and P's music styles are changing. I think that 3121 was great, and I liked it better than this new one he has, PE. I was so dissapointed when I heard it

I loved it!

now Planet Earth on the other hand....

YES IT WAS

3121 is funkin brilliant AND PE

Planet Earth got so much attention in the press in Europe
and in the UK ,thanx 2 the free copies-media stunt, and everyone called
PE his comeback and his return 2 form. While we all know Musicology was his comeback
2 the "pop scene" and 3121 was the the climax of that "comeback".
4 the first time,since NPS, I wasn't that excited by his latest release,
better than NPS,but it just doesn't GET me,nor good or bad.

3121 is no SOTT 4 sure,this is more a D&P/PR kind of album,
and his best since TGE...just my opinion.
[Edited 8/3/08 1:39am]

In retrospect i think 3121 is decent, but its an album that doesn't really excite me as a long time Prince fan familiar with his great(er) work from the eighties and the first halve of the nineties.

I think for people who just became familiar with his music around, lets say, the release of Rave or Musicology, it can indeed sound as a (very) good album.
There arent many filler-songs on the album, the songs are mostly well composed, and the lyrics arent to quirky or religious to distract.

But to me, a Princefan who has grown up with the likes of Dirty Mind, 1999, Parade, Sign of The Times, all those great bootlegs etc, it sounds EXACTLY like the kind of albums legendary musicians who have had a longtime career (over 20 or more years) tend to release during a late phase in that career: decent, kind of lazy, not bad or freaky enough to offend, the original key elements that made them popular distilled down to a safe 'formula'.

Examples of those kind of albums? 'All that you can leave behind' by U2, 'Poetic Champions Compose' by Van Morrison, 'Steel Wheels' by The Rolling Stones, 'Humble Pie' by Paul McCartney.
All good, decent albums, but also less exciting carbon-copies of their real masterpieces, missing the real spark and genious of those original albums.
[Edited 8/3/08 5:41am]

rusty1 said:

Same.

Highlights from '3121':

- Fury

- The Dance

- Get On The Boat

Praise for 3121 live rendition at the BET Awards.

Also..

I tend to agree with NouveauDance here.

3121 wasnt really showing anything new or dearing 'soundwise', its a decent, compact outfit, therefore its probably liked a lot here, but IMO its way too safe sounding, boring even.

It might work well as an album playing in the background, or during some party, but it didnt give me the idea Princes music was moving into an inspiring and exiciting direction again.

The last time that happened IMO was during The Rainbow Children / ONA period. Unfortunately i hated most of that period, because i couldnt stand those dogmatic lyrics, and jazz-rock instrumentation is way too often considered intelligent and creative, when in essence its rather traditional and worn out.

At least on Planet Earth did try something (relatively) new with the semi-acoustic pop of All the Midnights in the World and Resolution, those songs had a kind of refreshing California-pop vibe.
Next to that it was nice to hear those female harmonic vocals again in his music, and i also digged the acoustic jazzy-soul sound of Somewhere here on earth.
It would be nice when on his new material he will try to experiment more with acoustic elements, pop compositions and vocal harmonies.
[Edited 8/3/08 5:54am]

yes it was I loved it and still do !!! so there

I liked it!

wildgoldenhoney said: