ButterscotchPimp said:

Yeah I know, God forbid that someone would actually *like* the music, they will just pretend that to annoy people like you, right?

mooseriderrik said:

That's all we can do. I'm always hopeful with any new music I buy, especially Prince's.

I've always been a huge opponent of "evenness" in artists and records. It's this sort of thing that makes songs on records bland and artists' careers die because they're not able to create to their hearts' content - it's gotta sound all alike or it's "uneven" or "not a package". IMHO, a good musician is one well versed in all styles of music and able engender all kinds of feelings in the listener. But hey, I guess most people like to listen to one artist make a record of 10 songs that all have plain-jane I-IV-V progressions, commonplace lyrics, use all the same instruments, use basic diatonic melodies with primarily pentatonic guitar solos, and have basically the same structure. I pity those people.

TwiliteKid said:

LOL been here WAY before you.
will be here until they shut the doors.

and doing what i've always done.

Look...I am not totally in the can on The Rainbow Children, either. I think the reviewer's right in his assessment of it as wildly uneven and a hard slog, at times. There are tracks on it that, when they come up, I can't hit "skip" quick enough.

But...when The Rainbow Children shines, it really shines. As much as I hate some tracks, there are others I love.

And if I'm honest, that's where I've been with pretty much everything since Graffiti Bridge. The last Prince album I loved start to finish was N.E.W.S - and I think most would agree that that is not a "standard" sort of outing for him.

I know by now to take reviews with a grain of salt - and form my own opinion.

ButterscotchPimp said:

settle down, you guys.

damn.. what a bummer review

It's not a bad review at all. OK the third CD sounds pretty hopeless but i like Prince indulging himself and wierdness does appeal to me. Also the albums have their own theme or concept which i like so at least there's some sort of direction. His most recent efforts have been really workmanlike.

Ouch. Pretty much what I expected.

Lotusflow3r still sounds promising, I'm expecting more of the Planet Earth stuff that followed on from TRC rather than Musicology/3121. MPLSound sounds as expected, I think I might like it more than I thought I would. Elixir sounds as to be expected, I bet there's a couple of decent tunes on there like there was on 'Milk & Honey'.

LiveToTell86 said:

look. do we have to do this dance again? i don't mind really. but we know where this thread will go as a result of it.

some of ya'll would think a cd of Prince farting would be genius.
and i'm not sorry that i've been impressed by ONE Prince album in the last decade.

and ya'll can run the whole "you're not a fam" speech, or the never tiring "why are you still here if you don't like Prince anymore" lines, blah blah blah.

i would love nothing more than to be blown away by the new album.
it's just not going to happen. i liked ONE song on the last one. and like 3 songs on the album before that. using the current formula i'm going to like the chorus on one song.

and i'm fully prepared to projectile vomit upon listening to the "Bria Valente" cd.

Even before this review, I knew I was going to be playing frisbee with Elixer. No surprises there.

maybe bad reviews is a good thing for me.. cause his latest albums have been getting pretty decent reviews and the music was nothing more than a polished wax job...

so yeah.. maybe this is a return to form


i know out of 2 cd's something is worth hearing

Sdldawn said:

Perspective.....that fact that he dislikes it, means that the Prince FANS will Love it.

Really, it is the AP we're discussing.

I'll take my 3 CD's home for $12.00 and jam it out for myself

Can't wait!

Anxiety said:

Sdldawn said:

Just like Emancipation is a great two-disc set.

so answer me this.. if you join the club.. the set will be available to download on the 24th?

Sdldawn said:

That's the rumor.

Genesia said:

exactly.. or even one disk.


so yeah, load us up on as much music as you can prince.. we will be doing some editing anyway.

purplecam said:

ButterscotchPimp said:

Ha! I highly doubt that dude. I may not have posted much until recently, but I've been around since the days of PPML.

AP said:

- I always had a feeling that Lotus would be similar to TRC. Since I really loved TRC (one of my top 5 Prince albums), I have a feeling I will love this one too.

ButterscotchPimp said:

You sound like you've given up before you even started listening to the CD's. Based on that, I'm sure you'll hate the CD's too.

GustavoRibas said:

well i hope it isn't drenched with hidden messages to convert me.. other than that.. i say bring it on

NeptuneHQ said:

Don't fear that.
Think about all the other reviews we heard early on!
SO many more praised the new work. This is honestly the first "not so good" review I have heard thus far. (Unless I missed one)
When he was inviting peeps over to listen to the new jams the reviews were great!

Graycap23 said:

Weren't reviews for Parade, SOTT and Lovesexy not all that positive with critics when they came out? I may have had the albums then but I wasn't into the news at that time. This is also not me comparing Lotusflow3r with those 3.

I gather that the "Wildly" part is almost a nod to his eccentric musical path he decides to create. Maybe they were looking for a consistency in overall sound in the new album.

I think "wildly uneven" could almost be a good thing sometimes.. i dunno, i guess time will tell

Giovanni777 said:

So was I lol. No matter what prince puts out the reviews will be all over the place with disagreements about what's good and what isn't. It really kicked in post purple rain. what everyone can agree on is that prince in not an ordinary musician.

I have liked the Bria stuff i have heard so far. Nothing earth-shattering but cool chill out music.

The problem with reviewing Prince is that everyone comes from the perspective of he is a genuis so his work must sound like genuis to me or somehow its a let down. In other words Prince is reviewed much more harshly then the average performer. That's why u will see Prince get 2 stars while the pop-tart of the moment will get 3 and a 1/2 for some formula shit that is completly brainless and forgettable.

Sdldawn said:

- It probably will. But I never cared too much about Prince´s lyrics anyway (maybe because english is not my native language) and I believe in God too. But I always cared a lot more about Prince´s arrangements, guitar solos, production, etc.

I am really wanting a solid album with live-band feeling and some psychedelia. Planet Earth had that live-band feeling, but it was a weak album IMO. I loved what I heard so far.
[Edited 3/20/09 9:40am]

purplecam said:

it's hard not to!!!
i mean i could write a freaking novel about how freaking sucky it is to have loved an artist's work for YOUR WHOLE LIFE and he gets to the point where he's become a spoof of himself. I mean to go from thinking to Prince can do no wrong musically to listening to 3121 TWICE (yes, i only listened to the album that many times) isn't fun.

i had just about given up on Prince right before TRC. and that album brought me all the way back. i mean listening to that record and then getting ONA box set was like the glory days all over again. and then he released Musiclogy and it's been a steady decline right back to me just about giving up on the man completely all over again.