OK MPLSOUND has me interested. Lotus Flower is great name for an album, I just hope the 4 tracks we've heard arent the four best tracks.

Who or what is Valente?

How Much Prince Is 2 Much?
Posted Mon Jan 5, 2009 12:51pm PST by David Marchese in The Spin Blog

No one could ever accuse Prince of being lazy. The ultra-talented funkateer recently told the Los Angeles Times that he plans on releasing three albums in 2009, all of which will explore different musical ideas and all without any major label help. Two of the discs will be Prince affairs (the pop-oriented MPLSOUND and the guitar-heavy Lotus Flower), while the third, Elixir, is a Svengali job for some singer named Bria Valente.

Now I'm the kind of person who has seen Under A Cherry Moon multiple times and paid big money for both Crystal Ball and One Nite Alone...Live! (never heard of 'em? Exactly)--yet I find myself worried rather than excited about Prince's upcoming output.

His purple majesty has always been prolific. During the height of his popularity in the '80s, he was putting out an album a year when sales rivals like Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen were taking three and four years between studio releases. But that fecundity came with a cost. While Prince's music is never less than interesting, it isn't always great. The guy, it turns out, is human. By the mid-'90s, his flood of new material had drowned out casual listeners. Slowly but surely, the artist once known as TAFKAP became an underground phenomenon, his descent fuelled by rote R&B, hectoring lyrics, and jazz fusion excursions.

Then he was quiet--no new studio material arrived in the three years between 2001's The Rainbow Children and 2004's Musicology. But the latter, straightforwardly funky album was exactly what the mainstream wanted. Unsurprisingly, the ensuing tour and his induction into the Rock Hall of Fame helped transform Prince from gifted weirdo in the basement to beloved icon. Two more well-regarded albums (3121 and Planet Earth) followed in 2006 and 2007. And last year, Prince basked in the adoration of the indie crowd, blowing minds with an epic set at Coachella.

What all this means is that Prince has some goodwill capital to spend. I'd hate to see him blow it on genre exercises. Even if the music on the new albums is great, its impact will be blunted by its quantity. Unfortunately, when Prince competes against himself, there's a good chance no one will win.

Would someone care to send Spin a copy of N.E.W.S.? Hell, they can have mine.

It is precisely Prince's delusion that his only competition is his past self that contributes to his music becoming so dull and uninspiring. Once an artist reaches a certain comfort zone, the art deteriorates. It's odd, but Prince's acceptance by the mass media as an unassailable legend may be the worst thing that could have happened to his studio album legacy.

I would love a total experimental cd. For me songs like Tamborine and Lalala, heheehee were weird, funny and different. AND I LOVED THEM.

I don't want those exact songs but I would like him to experiment more.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

It funny you'd mention Tambourine cause the song popped up on my iPod last night and I forgot how weird and funky that song was. If we get a song anywhere near that on any of these CD's, I'll be VERY happy. I'm cool if it doesn't happen but it would be like having Ice Cream with the cake if it does.
[Edited 1/6/09 9:37am]

PurpleKnight said:

i've also thought that the mainstream media's embrace of prince as an official, bona fide pop music legend in the past few years has done more harm than good for his evolution as an artist. it's as if all the mass acceptance has enabled him to rest on his laurels creatively.

personally, i'm excited to see that he's working on three projects to (hopefully) be released this year. this will be the first time he's done one of his uber-prolific multi-album onslaughts since acquiring his mainstream legend status, so who knows - maybe all this music will be greeted with open arms and the success of it will enable him to be as creatively unhinged as he used to be.

or not.

All the news sounds great except the Q-Tip part.

vainandy said:

I can think of many worse choices!

NDRU said:

not to mention prince will probably end up mixing Q-Tip waaay down in the mix anyway, like he does to almost all the special guests on his albums.

NDRU said:

not to mention prince will probably end up mixing Q-Tip waaay down in the mix anyway, like he does to almost all the special guests on his albums.

great .....

Like I said before...

I WONT beleive it until I SEE it

Anxiety said:

Right?

Or have them sing the 8 word chorus AND THAT'S IT. (referring to the most underused great singer of our time CHANTE MOORE, on the song LA LA MEANS I LOVE YOU.)

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

I can picture Prince bringing Q-Tip along on tour for nothing else but the "go go go" part in "Lets Go Crazy"

Oh yeah, and for all you chilrens....Crimson and Clover is a cover.