http://www.nytimes.com/20...e.html?hpw

PRINCE

"LotusFlow3r" by Prince.

Prince has called his own shots for much of the last two decades, making plenty of odd, stubborn choices along the way. Here comes his latest: a three-disc album, self-released, with one disc devoted to a protégé, Bria Valente. Part nostalgia trip, part futurist manifesto, it’s available either at Target (for under $12) or through a subscription to lotusflow3r.com (for $77). The choice between thrift and indulgence reflects a familiar paradox for Prince, who presents himself on the album(s) as both a sensualist and a scold.

It’s no mystery which side wins out in the end. There may be some satisfaction in hearing Prince rail against the Wall Street bailout in “Ol’ Skool Company” or attack empty fame (along with “all the haters on the Internet”) in “No More Candy 4 U.” But neither of those tunes — from “MPLSound,” the funkiest of the three discs — transcends its own hectoring. The put-downs aren’t half as good as the come-ons.

One bit of good news about the album, then, is how many come-ons Prince delivers, in his voice and through Ms. Valente’s. (Her disc, “Elixer,” which he produced, presents a palatable but undistinguished batch of slow- to medium-tempo R&B fare.) On “Chocolate Box,” which sounds deliriously like a club track from the 1980s, Prince declares his own delectability. On “U’re Gonna C Me” he luxuriates in a simple vow; on “Dance 4 Me” he does the same with a simple request. And in “Love Like Jazz” he woos his quarry with a perfectly audacious line: “I want a lover who can improvise.”

That song comes from “LotusFlow3r,” the set’s strongest disc, and the one that best narrows the distance between Prince’s airtight studio work and his rampaging live shows. He plays a lot of psychedelic guitar, compellingly, in songs like “Boom” and “Dreamer.” And even when he gives in to playful sprawl — his cover of “Crimson and Clover,” by Tommy James and the Shondells, includes passing references to Jimi Hendrix and the Velvet Underground — he rarely strays far from a potent hook.

The title refrain of “Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful” is one of those hooks, a glowing exhortation. Elsewhere in the song, driven by a funk backbeat, Prince expresses umbrage, hauteur and gleeful dominion. It’s not at all a bad combination for him. NATE CHINEN

http://www.boston.com/ae/..._too_many/

Here's an in-store announcement you won't hear on the PA system. "Attention, Target shoppers. In the electronics department you'll find Prince's latest albums, bundled together as a three-CD project that should have been boiled down to a single disc."

The albums, which went on sale exclusively at the retail store yesterday and are also available through www.lotusflow3r.com (assuming you have the patience of a saint needed to navigate it), are being sold together at the budget-friendly price of $11.99. Even so, it's hard to think you're getting a good deal on a product when the quality doesn't match the quantity.

Prince has had a long history of blazing his own trail, and his reluctance to record for a major label is admirable. He gave away his last album, 2007's "Planet Earth," via a newspaper promotion in the United Kingdom. And his decision to distribute through Target, whose headquarters are based in his hometown of Minneapolis, suggests he's open to new business models.

One can't help but wonder, though, if his absolute creative control would have benefited from some third-party supervision and/or editing.

The three albums - "LotusFlow3r," "MPLSoUND," and "Elixer" (his misspelling, not mine), the last of which is credited to Prince's new protégé, Bria Valente - were obviously made with little regard to what's fashionable in Top 40 and hip-hop formats, and they smack of self-indulgence. His progressive business acumen makes the new music - which sounds dated and stale - all the more disappointing.

"LotusFlow3r" is perhaps the most palatable of the three albums, a guitar-driven collection of rockers and slow jams. There's a lot to like here, from the simmering blues-rock of "Colonized Mind" to the James Brown vibe of "Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful." Brawny funk numbers "Dreamer" and "Wall of Berlin," shot through with Prince's electric-guitar assaults, are among the tightest songs he's written in years.

Still, they can't save the album from its turkeys. "The Morning After," "Love Like Jazz," and "4Ever" are just a synthesizer away from parroting low-budget jingles for your local furniture store.

Meanwhile, "MPLSoUND," presumably short for "Minneapolis Sound," is Prince's continued exploration of cosmic funk on the order of George Clinton and Bootsy Collins. "Dance 4 Me" cribs the throwback electro beat of "Erotic City," while "Here" should be served with a tall glass of wine to wash down all the cheese: "How beautiful are you?/ There's more than a thousand replies."

"Valentina," the album's most unintentionally hilarious song, is a musical valentine to actress Salma Hayek. (Valentina is her infant child, and Prince seems to be jealous of those, um, "late-night feedings."). The chorus - "Hey, Valentina, tell your mama she should give me a call/ When she gets tired of running after you down the hall" - could be straight from a "Flight of the Conchords" episode.

Last (and certainly least) is Valente's disc, "Elixer." Throwing it into the mix is the equivalent of super-sizing your meal: You're still a little hungry, and hey, it's included in the bargain price tag, but you really don't need it. Polite and polished, the music amounts to little more than R&B lite with washes of bossa nova and strings.

Like its companion albums, "Elixer" might have been a big hit - if we were still partying like it's 1999.

"LotusFlow3r" is one of those albums where I predict a lot of revisionist history will be written. So many of these reviews are lukewarm, but I have the distinct feeling that at year's end it's gonna be as if the critics gave the set raves because it'll appear on many of their Best of 2009 lists.

livewire said:

I hope so. Some of these reviews are awful. I'll admit I wasn't feeling my first listen that well but love it after the 2nd listen. Funny, most reviews for Musicology and 3121 were great right away but probably declined in time and I feel they are vastly inferior to both Lotusflow3r and mplsound imo.

blumer said:

I feel the same way... I think the initial reviews of Musicology and 3121 were heavily influenced by record label muscle... and in the case of Musicology, RnR Hall of Fame/US Tour glow.

If Prince takes these records on tour (well except for Elixir lol), and actually performs a good number of songs from MPLSound & LotusFlow3r, then I think the set will have a long life this year.

http://music-mix.ew.com/2...usflo.html

Prince's new 'Lotusflow3r' three-disc set: A one-listen review
Mar 29, 2009, 12:56 PM | by Rob Brunner

Just got back from a Sunday trip to Target for some toilet paper, a tube of Colgate, and the new Prince album, which went on sale today exclusively at the big-box retailer. Here's a quick report (on Prince, that is; the other two are performing more or less as expected).

First, the good news. On the surface, at least, this is a fantastic deal. Three CDs -- Prince's new Lotusflow3r and Mplsound albums, plus another disc he wrote and produced for new protege Bria Valente -- for $11.98. That's well over two hours of music for the price of most single-disc albums. Also, there's...well, that's pretty much the only good news. Because after dragging myself through the whole thing, this is Prince's most disappointing set in years. Only a handful of the Prince-sung tracks make much of an impression (if you must, check out "4Ever," which builds to a nice climax, and "U're Gonna C Me," a decent-enough falsetto ballad), while the rest sound dreary and tossed off (the lowpoint: a half-hearted cover of "Crimson and Clover" that mixes in a bit of "Wild Thing" for no discernible reason). It's tempting to say Prince just didn't have the material to fill out two full albums, but a single disc of highlights would still represent a baffling comedown from his often-excellent previous three albums. And by the time he got around to poor Valente's disc, Prince had obviously completely run out of tunes. Her Elixer is a total waste, a 45-minute slog through sleepy, tuneless, listlessly sung lite-R&B tracks that wouldn't have made the cut on a third-rate Vanity record. As a massive Prince fan for 25 years now (Purple Rain is still probably my favorite album) it pains me to say this, but Lotusflow3r just isn't isn't worth your cash -- even at a mere $3.99 a disc.

Has anyone else heard this new set? Weigh in below -- or if you're as disappointed as I am, reminisce about your favorite Prince album of years past.

http://www.thestar.com/En...cle/610285


TheStar.com | Music | Three discs not a charm for Prince


Prince LotusFlow3r (3 out of 4)

MPLSound (2.5 out of 4)

Bria Valente Elixer (1.5 out of 4)




-----

ATLANTA – Unsure of the rabidity of Prince fandom in artsy Little Five Points where I'm staying, I hustled out to the district's Target just after 9 a.m. yesterday to nab The Purple One's latest offering.

I could have slept in.

There were rows and rows of the three-disc LotusFlo3r set (LotusFlow3r, MPLSound and Bria Valente's Elixer) priced at a recession-friendly $11.98, but few early morning takers.

I skulked around the music department like a store detective and observed a couple of people who examined the triptych – available only at this retailer, or on the musician's website with a $77 (U.S.) subscription – but left it behind.

"I want to read the reviews first, then I'll come back and get it," explained one 40ish gent who stopped by twice before deferring his purchase.

I wouldn't count on his return; there's some good music here, but not three albums worth.

Of the three, I most enjoyed LotusFlow3r, which opens with "From the Lotus..." a psychedelic jazz-rock instrumental reminiscent of Weather Report and Jimi Hendrix. It showcases the Minneapolis native's versatility, with political blues ("Colonized Mind''), Brazilian rhythms ("Love Like Jazz"), folky accents ("77 Beverly Park") and a funky James Brown homage ("Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful") that will have you dancing around the living room.

The second record, MPLSound, the title an abbreviation of his hometown, is rife with funk-filled jams that recall the master musician's early career with echoing drums, synthesized vocals, heavy breathing and the swagger of "(There'll Never B) Another Like Me" and "I got a box of chocolates that'll rock the socks of any girl that comes my way" ("Chocolate Box").

The memorable songs reference Prince's 50-year-old, seen-it-all, done-it-all maturity: "Tell your mama she should give me a call/When she get tired of running after you down the hall," he instructs in "Valentina"; "Better With Time" is a naked, piano-driven ballad celebrating long-term monogamy.

Though his virtuosity is never in question, this fare lacks the focus, emotional imperative or movie protagonists that fuelled Prince's best work like "Purple Rain" or "Sometimes It Snows in April."

That malaise is best characterized by the presentation of his latest hot protégé Bria Valente, whose debut, Elixer, completes this set. Why promote this tastefully slinky, but non-descript, R&B singer?

It's not a significant addition to Prince's remarkable catalogue, but there are a few tracks that will fit neatly into his live show.

Papaj said:

japanrocks.... don't read this and stay away from sharp objects... k pumpkin

Alexandernvrmind said:

NYTIMES was a stupid fucking review, obviously the days of real reviewmanship are gone...


I could write more, but it would limit the Mods to simply banning me...

http://www.jambase.com/Ar...ryID=17320

By: Dennis Cook

There's a quaintly reassuring quality to Prince. For such an undeniable musical genius, he's grown pretty predictable, where each new album for more than a decade is a mix of blood warm funk saunters, Up With People style anthems (about God, environment, peace, hole-y unions), mushy ballads and a few wrongheaded, skip-worthy puzzlers. All this is said with absolute affection for Minneapolis' grooviest mastermind. He has no outside editor (and increasingly few collaborators that are more than tools in his kit wielded with iron-fisted authority), so it's all Prince, all the time, and that makes for varied yet largely comfortable, unchallenging listening since 1995's The Gold Experience. This in no way reduces the excitement one feels grabbing a new purple joint. The man did create Purple Rain, Sign o' The Time, Controversy, Parade, The Black Album and many other modern masterpieces of punk-funk-soul-psych, and some vestige of that magic remains intact. The bastard child of Sly Stone, Hendrix and Smokey Robinson knows what he's doing, and even the comfortable Apollo Theatre revue, smooth jazz inflected work of the past 10+ years hasn't totally diminished the feeling that one is sitting at the elbow of serious talent when Prince plays.

Which brings us to his new 3-CD set, Lotusflow3r/Mplsound/Elixir (released March 29 exclusively through Target stores/website on NPG Records). At a mere $12 bucks, one isn't likely to feel too ripped off no matter how they ultimately feel about the latest outpouring. Lotusflow3r is a perverse but not unappealing mix of Hendrix-y ramble with pussyman philosophizing that's alternately air guitar tasty or cringe worthy soft. I'm sure it all makes sense to Prince but to anyone outside his head it's sort of a New Age/self help generation concept album that kinda rocks. Mplsound is a good party that's gonna go over well with anyone who's been missing The Revolution (present company included) – trust me, the water is warm enough. Zero new ground is broken on his homage to the Minneapolis sound he birthed in the late '70s and '80s, but that's not the point. He's showing that he can do it like no other, and this is creamy nostalgia with enough nasty key squiggles and entendre (double and otherwise) to get you doing the electric slide with Morris and Jerome in no time. And Prince tosses in a couple syrupy slow ones to give you time to hit the bar, snag a dancing partner's digits and so on. Besides causing some shrinkage of the set's overall libido, "U're Gonna C Me" reminds us he's been speaking in text message for decades.

And then there's Elixir. For most guys, perfume or flowers will do when wooing the fairer sex but not Prince. He makes them albums, and never has it worked out that any of these ladies has even a thimble of real, lasting talent. The recorded debut from Bria Valente, another in a long line of distressingly beautiful women Prince has taken into the studio, is destined to join the landfill piled high with his productions for Carmen E., Apollonia, Mayte, etc. Valente has a breathy, little girl non-voice propped up by the studio, and the faux orgasmic moaning and Quiet Storm, between-the-sheets production is a snooze. Even the Dionne Warwick pastiche "Everytime" and '08 Madonna-like "2Nite" only momentarily distract us from the sheer crapitude. Really, spare yourself the grief and just skip this disc – I took the bullet for the collective.

Nothing here is going to replace "Let's Go Crazy," "If I Was Your Girlfriend" or any of his other hits. Mplsound andLotusflow3r aren't unpleasant while spinning but few cuts are truly memorable or original. There's not a single liner note or musician credit (if this is a solo Prince affair that may explain the fairly stiff drum sound – he's no Stevie Wonder behind a kit), and the graphics look like they were done by a former Night Flight designer. The music is similarly throwback, employing his pitched up "Camille" voice, loads of screaming, out-of-nowhere guitar histrionics, vocoder tricks, etc. His once vaunted drum machine prowess is sounding a little thin (the ol' 808 can get a stale over the long haul if ya ain't careful). And he should have long ago figured out that he should keep his mocha loverman self WAY far away from rap or anything like it. But again, no editor, no outside influence and the bubble remains firm as a full strength Star Trek shield.

However, while criticisms pile up, this is still a pretty catchy assortment overall. The man can write a decent hook and tosses out lyrics that one delights at working into their lexicon. The guitars are mostly sizzling and he's got one of the great voices of the past hundred years, so, there are plenty of plainly visceral treats scattered throughout. If he could allow an gifted producer into his world, say Rick Rubin or Tom Rothrock (Elliott Smith, Beck), allow them to offer constructive criticism and trim away the fat, then we might see a return to his glory days. There's ample evidence that the wheels are still turning furiously inside Prince and he's blessed with more talent than a fucking orchestra put together. Sadly, the chances of some outside force having ANY impact on his work is next to nil, so we're left with half-satisfying efforts like this. He could be so much more and that's what keeps me (and a whole bunch of others) racing to the record shop on release day to see what he's up to, with the tantalizing prospect of true brilliance always hanging on the edges of whatever he touches.

well written and with more than a glimmer of truth...

Papaj said:

NYT http://www.nytimes.com/20....html?_r=1

Prints said:

Nothing from "Rolling Stone"?????

http://www.philly.com/phi...rince.html


Fans needn't pay a princely sum for his new 3-CD set: Just $11.98 at Target alone, and well worth it.
By Dan DeLuca

Inquirer Music Critic

Times are tough, but there are bargains to be had. On Sunday morning at the Target store on City Avenue, for instance, customers were presented with some sweet "Expect More. Pay Less" options at the point of purchase.

For starters, there were four packs of Tastykake Tasty "Tweets" available for just $2.99. (If only I had a Twitter account, I could have tweeted about it on the spot.)

Right next to that, another great deal, with a "Chocolate Box" of its own: a three-CD set that includes two new albums by Prince - Lotusflow3r (*** out of four stars) and MPLSound (**½) - plus a third, Elixer (**), by his latest comely protege, Bria Valente. The bargain-basement price for the 31-song troika? A hard-to-resist $11.98.

If you want hard copies of the CDs, on Prince's own NPG label, you'll have to go to Target, the box-store chain based in Prince's hometown of Minneapolis. (And in case you're not on the same phonetic wavelength that the Purple One's been on since long before text messaging existed, MPLSound means "Minneapolis Sound.")

There is another, pricier way to get the music. For $77, you can join Lotusflow3r.com, which allows users to download all three albums, plus gain access to all sorts of live performances, videos, and previously unreleased content that the super-prolific 50-year-old imp has been keeping to himself for decades. Tempting for completists, but dubious for the rest of us, especially since Prince has sold "lifetime" memberships to online music clubs before, only to later shut the sites down.

But never mind the distribution details, which are appealing to Prince not only because he behaves in kooky ways, but also because he's a businessman who understands that with Tower Records long gone and many Virgin Megastores going out of business, artists popular with older fans have to find new places to sell CDs. He follows other long-in-the-tooth heavy hitters who have recently sold CDs exclusively through big-box chains such as the Eagles and AC/DC, who have done deals with Wal-Mart, and Guns N' Roses, whose Chinese Democracy was sold solely at Best Buy.

The Target triple disc is a bare-bones package that lists song titles, and nothing else. That's OK. Though Lotusflow3r, the strongest of the bunch, is a full-band album that ranges from topical guitar freak-outs ("Dream") to full-on funk ("Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful") to, of all things, Italian film-score curiosities ("77 Beverly Park"), we know that our control-freak auteur is ultimately responsible for every note being played.

MPLSound is essentially a nostalgic throwback to the synthesizer-flavored pop-funk that Prince and Twin Cities cohorts like The Time specialized in back in their '80s heyday. And we're not surprised to find that the multi-instrumentalist actually did play every note of the album - which proudly kicks off with a (not brilliant) celebration of self called "(There'll Never B) Another Like Me."

And as for Valente, Prince's Grammy-night date falls somewhere in the middle of the long line of beauteous babes he's taken under his wing, dating all the way back to Vanity 6, in 1982. The intentionally misspelled Elixer is a quiet-storm album, with sort-of-sexy songs like "2Nite" and "Immersion," written, produced, and arranged by the Svengali-with-a-hip-replacement, that are not nearly as dynamic as those he kept for himself.

Valente has a pleasant voice, but doesn't distinguish herself as a significant talent. Better than Carmen Elektra, but not Sheila E., by a long (rim) shot.

But then, no one outside her immediate family is buying this package to get Bria Valente's debut CD. The value proposition question here: Are Prince's albums, his first since 2007's uneven Planet Earth (which followed the solid Musicology and 3121), worth shelling out $12 for?

The answer: Why not? Sure, nothing here is going to make anyone forget "Raspberry Beret" or "Adore." And Prince is often guilty of coasting, as he does with a cover of Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover," or a banal ballad like "Better With Time."

But he still has his weirdly resonant moments. In "Ol' Skool Company" he decries the Wall Street bailout and sings, "Everybody talkin' bout hard time like it just started yesterday / The people I know been strugglin', at least it seems that way," in a voice that sounds as though he's been inhaling helium.

And most of the music found here rises to the quality of typical latter-day Prince. That includes MPLS's mildly naughty "Valentina," said to be addressed to Salma Hayek's daughter so he could put the moves on her mom; Lotus' "Colonized Mind," in which the clean-living Jehovah's Witness rejects received ideas and plays wicked guitar, and MPLS's "Chocolate Box," the most freewheeling party tune here.

Which is to say that none of it recaptures the genius of classic albums like Dirty Mind and Sign 'O' the Times. But had it been recorded by a musically omnivorous, polymorphously playful, previously unknown artist, she or he would be immediately praised as the most dazzlingly talented musician to come down the pike since . . . Prince.

dayum lol

http://www.courant.com/en...2065.story


Lotusflow3r
NPG Records


Prince has filled more than 30 years with grand musical statements, among them a pair of three-CD sets he has released since he freed himself from big-label "slavery" in 1996. Now 50, the Minneapolis native's latest triple set -- two CDs under his own name, a third to introduce a female protégé for whom he provides music -- shares with its predecessors the self-confidence to throw together everything he can muster, but also leans on the watered-down personality that has made much of his recent work generally forgettable.



The set's signature disc "Lotusflow3r,"cqis its most consistently enjoyable, a far-flung cornucopia of electric guitar licks from one of the instrument's sharpest practitioners. He lights up the spacey "Wall of Berlin" with sizzling bombast, and creates a dramatic backdrop on "Colonized Mind" even as its social message is muddied by vocal alterations that ill-serve a singer whose natural pipes can still grind and fly with astonishing style.

The drum machine hallmark of his 1980s heyday is a staple of "MPLSound," a disc that hauls that sound into the present with mixed results. His direct appeal to Salma Hayek's baby girl to send mama around in "Valentina" is a scorching hoot, and the shoulder-loosening bob of "Ol' Skool Company" is seven and a half minutes of an artist doing as he pleases. The third disc, Bria Valente's "Elixer," is a tepid afterthought.

Mixed in with the highlights are substantial filler and curiously clunky moments, but at just under $12 retail (the collection is available exclusively at Target), there is value to be had in watching Prince follow his muse to new places such as the ebullient jaunt "$." It isn't signature work, and he doesn't forge trends so much as adhere to them, but even flashes of his still-quirky cleverness compare favorably to most anyone else.

Essential Download: "$"

- Thomas Kintner

An excellent review indeed, fully sums up the fan I am and my feelings regarding this set and prince's career pretty much since the early 1990s. Neither a hater nor a pathetic follower, just a well-intentioned fan who enjoys some of the new music but feels the man could have done so much better if he were not that stubborn and isolated.....

pianoman said:

The Onion AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/art...nte,25946/

Lotusflow3r / MPLSOUND / Elixir

C+

C+

C+
by Keith Phipps March 31, 2009

If anyone has earned the right to record and release whatever he likes, it’s Prince. Not only did he release one album after another of undiluted greatness from 1979’s Prince through Sign O’ The Times (indulgent fans can stretch that run further if they like), he fought a long, public, occasionally embarrassing battle for his artistic independence. The result has been a tremendous outpouring of Prince music in the years since 1996’s Emancipation, a lot of it suggesting that he worked better with handcuffs on. The best moments from Prince: Phase II have come when he tried to shape his music into something like a proper album, as he did with Musicology and 3121, but even these sounded like he was simply treading water a little more enthusiastically than usual. Could he have worked so hard to say what he wanted, only to end up repeating himself? Lostusflow3r/MPLSOUND/Elixir does little to reverse this trend. A three-disc set available only through Prince’s website and Target, it offers a few gems and a lot of solid, unextraordinary music that will probably sound okay sandwiched between greatest hits on the next tour.

Not all of the music belongs entirely to Prince. Elixir showcases Bria Valente, whose sultry-but-dull vocals don’t foretell great things. (Prince presumably wrote and produced Elixir’s songs, but the local-band-like packaging doesn’t provide any liner notes.) Lotusflow3r, which shares a name with Prince’s new subscription web venture, has a slightly harder edge and, maybe not coincidentally, slightly more memorable songs. "4Ever" turns heartbreak into a scorching anthem, and a cover of "Crimson And Clover” makes it sound like the song was written with Prince in mind. Prince’s guitar works overtime on Lotusflow3r, often patching over some unfinished ideas; on MPLSOUND, the beats do the heavy lifting, often making the album sound like a throwback to the ’80s funk he helped define. One track, "Ol’ Skool Company," makes that agenda explicit, while "Chocolate Box" and "Valentina," a mash note to Salma Hayek by way of her toddler, deliver on it. The triple set boils down nicely with judicious iTunes filtering, and the $11.98 price tag doesn’t hurt. But like other once-prestigious brands who’ve struck deals with big-box stores, Prince now sells in bulk what he used to treat as a luxury item. His music remains stylishly functional, but wears out quickly.
[Edited 3/31/09 6:40am]
[Edited 3/31/09 6:41am]

pianoman said:

Most spot on review I've read of a P record in a long long while.

Metacritic is a nice place to keep tabs on reviews. The site creates a weighted composite score out of 100. You can submit reviews they don't have in their database as well. So far, the albums fare as follows:

LOtUSFLOW3R: 69
MPLSoUND: 62
Elixer: 51
[Edited 3/31/09 17:49pm]

Moonbeam said:

Exactly what I've been waiting for! Thanks for posting

Been checking every day for them to update with the new CDs

Rolling Stone review 3/31/09

http://www.rollingstone.c...otusflow3r

MPLSoUND - Three and a half stars
LOtUSFLOW3R - Three stars
Elixer - Two stars

Leaving aside the Super Bowl halftime show and the assless pants, Prince is like Woody Allen: They're both reclusive, sex-obsessed gen­iuses who release new material relentlessly and without any ­regard to the law of diminishing returns. Prince's recording career now spans 31 years: Counting fan-club records, he's averaged more than one studio album per year. His latest release actually contains three separate albums, including one he wrote and produced with his new protégée, Bria Valente. The package is excessive and uneven, of course, but it's also intermittently brilliant and a real bargain (that is, if you buy it for $11.98 at Target — not so much if you download it with a $77 membership at lotusflow3r.com).

Prince played every instrument on MPLSoUND — just like the old days, only now he gets obsessive with Pro Tools. He isn't as bawdy as he once was (becoming a Jehovah's Witness will do that), but he's still got a lot of humor and swagger. On the funky "(There'll Never B) Another Like Me," he sings about his beauty routine (it involves olive oil in his hair), and on the seven-and-a-half-minute "Ol' Skool Company," he covers issues from the TARP bailout to the state of radio ("If the White House is black/We gotta take the radio back").

Five of MPLSoUND's nine songs sound like lost B sides from assorted classic Prince albums (Dirty Mind, 1999, Controversy, etc.); these days, even a really good Prince song usually reminds the listener of a better, earlier one. What really hamstrings the album, though, is a four-song sequence in the middle: Two syrupy ballads, one overlong tribute to Valente and one Caribbean-inflected number that sounds like a Smoove B seduction.

On LOtUSFLOW3R, Prince has a specific mission: showcasing his long-underrated guitar playing. Whether it's the spare funk of "Wall of Berlin," the metal grind of "Dreamer" or the hazy cover of "Crimson and Clover," the music kicks into high gear when Prince starts soloing, delivering one epic face melter after another in a style halfway between David Gilmour's and Eddie Hazel's. The drawback is that when he isn’t playing guitar, the music on this disc is oddly muted — you keep waiting for Captain Six-String to fly in and save the day. It's OK to call a song "Love Like Jazz," but the jazz in the title shouldn't be cocktail jazz.

It’s been more than a dec­ade since Prince successfully launched the career of a female sidekick, but he's trying again with Valente. Prince has touted Elixer as a quiet-storm album in the Sade mode, but most of it is just generic pop ballads. The lyrics are memorable only when they're clunky ("Taste the rainbow," goes one line, which sounds like it could have come from a Skittles ad). Valente has a pleasant, if thin, voice — she doesn’t have the chops to elevate this material into anything memorable. There is one gem here: The catchy dance number "2Nite," where Valente whispers over insistent disco keyboards. One day, it, along with the best tracks from MPLSoUND and LOtUSFLOW3R, will sound right at home on Prince’s inevitable box set: 2 Much of a Good Thing.

Gavin Edwards

(Posted: Mar 31, 2009)
[Edited 3/31/09 19:17pm]
[i]
[Edited 3/31/09 19:18pm]

just about to post the same review

Here's the summary from RS
http://www.rollingstone.c...arish-ugk/

This week in New Reviews, we have not one but three new albums from Prince: LOtUSFLOW3R, MPLSoUND and Elixer by his protégée Bria Valente. First, LOtUSFLOWER finds the Purple One embracing his inner-guitar god. “Whether it’s the spare funk of ‘Wall of Berlin,’ the metal grind of ‘Dreamer’ or the hazy cover of ’Crimson and Clover,’ the music kicks into high gear when Prince starts soloing, delivering one epic face melter after another in a style halfway between David Gilmour’s and Eddie Hazel’s,” Gavin Edwards writes in his three-star review. “The drawback is that when he isn’t playing guitar, the music on this disc is oddly muted.”

Even better is the three-and-a-half star, funky MPLSoUND. As Edwards writes, “Five of MPLSoUND’s nine songs sound like lost B sides from assorted classic Prince albums (Dirty Mind, 1999, Controversy, etc.); these days, even a really good Prince song usually reminds the listener of a better, earlier one.” And Rounding out the collection is Elixir, which mustered a two-star rating. “Prince has touted Elixer as a quiet-storm album in the Sade mode, but most of it is just generic pop ballads.” Still, it’s hard to complain when all three albums have been packaged together at the low price of $11.99 exclusively through Target (or $77 if you joined Prince’s new membership-based LOtUSFLOW3R Website.
[Edited 3/31/09 19:47pm]
[Edited 3/31/09 19:49pm]
[Edited 3/31/09 19:51pm]

Rolling Stone also gave Springsteen's and U2's latest generic, uninspired offerings 5 stars. Each!! Screw 'em. Obviously they see sucking up to Prince as pointless. Anyway,their integrity as a respected music mag went out the window years ago, so who cares what they had to say.

ThiefInTheTemple said:

Correct ....this is the problem with modern reviews ...the reports fear artist like Bruce and U2 they are the "rock" gods and if they cross them they and their record companies will cause trouble....

It's just the record industry boys club ....pats on the back ...

I find these two reviews from two writers for the same college rag funny ...as one of them goes on a rant about Prince in the 80's, quotes "Purple Rain" giving prince a grade of D -

and the other reviewer likes the CD but really can't say that he does as he's not sure if it's "cool" or not and plays safe ....giving Prince a grade of C ....

...it's so funny the games people play....here's the "reviews"
http://www.collegiatetime...ries/13387

New Prince albums are lacking in royal pedigree

by Tom Minogue, staff writer, Jonathan Yi, features reporter
Tuesday, March 31, 2009; 9:23 PM

Jonathan's review:

Not a lot of artists can say that they've released 25 albums. And certainly not many artists can say they've won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, an Oscar and been ranked on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

It is only Prince that can boast these subsequent achievements along with being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the first year eligible.

Although the R&B funk gurus pastime mirrors a hefty resume, Prince, is an avid futurist - so much of a futurist, in fact, that he's willing to counter the common man's technological feats.

Prince just doesn't like people using his "art" on the Internet. In 1999, he sued the Swedish fan site "Uptown" for unauthorized use of his symbol and for making unauthorized references to some unreleased material.

A few years ago, he sued a fan site of another artist for linking to Web sites that carried his music, and now he plans to go after YouTube for fans posting live clips of the Purple One's performances. And he's reportedly targeting eBay and torrent site Pirate Bay as well.

Musician "integrity" aside, Prince is always striving to bless us with his new wave pop and psychedelic vocals.

Prince, as expected, circumvented the iTunes outlet and lumped together three albums that will sell in an $11.98 bundle at Target this week: LOtUSFLOW3R, MPLSoUND and Elixir.

And although we've all seen that infamous, drawn out, rock-out-too-emotionally bit on "Purple Rain" over and over again, I have to say that LOtUSFLOW3R has the upbeat funk progression of a Parliament record.

The record is seemingly blessed by extremely dynamic guitar, which oozes over the record like a slice of butter melting on top of a big-ol' pile of flapjacks. Tracks such as "Colonized Mind" offers minimal soul but maintains a glossy space-rock tone offered by moaning, doodling electric guitar.

"Crimson and Clover" opens up like a soft country record, and although you wait for the precious and glittery soul of Prince to thaw in, it never seems to come. Prince goes bananas on whammy bar, drawing a long and uncomfortable atmosphere on "Boom."

But the whole record goes to show that song delivery is more rewarding when he introduces control and structure.

LOtUSFLOW3R indicates that after all these years, Prince's curiosity for the outer limits of music has not been satisfied. I commend Prince for finally emulating a live feel, but he isn't as munificent with quality as he used to be.

The lack of a killer track has the record falling short.

Although LOtUSFLOW3R itself holds a stain of mediocrity, $11.98 isn't a bad deal for three albums.

Grade: C

.....

Oh master of the funky fresh, jammer of the hottest of jams, why in the name of God hast thou forsaken us, Artist-Formerly-Known-As-And-Now-Back-Again-To-Prince? I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, but this album really isn't worth a lick of your time or money.

Tom's review:

Sure, you present the interesting cover of "Crimson and Clover" that provides a simple distraction from the overwhelming awfulness the rest of this record consists of. As further proof, there's the constant unyielding presence of his Purpleness hitting up the auto-tuner a little too hard, no small sin coming from the man who put on a Super Bowl half-time show, against which all others must now stand up.

Isn't there an ounce of decency or artistic legitimacy left in you, Prince? Apparently not, considering your album is a collection of featherweight, lifeless R&B tunes on cruise control. After your previous album, "Planet Earth," I really expected better. Doing the Pepsi challenge on this one doesn't quite make the cut, especially when we consider that this is coming from the same guy who brought us the pop masterpiece "Purple Rain."

But enough about past transgressions - let's move on to the current sins inflicted on mankind by this album. Getting past the egregious use of auto-tuner there's also a distinct lack of clarity in the vision for the album. Though "LOtUSFLOW3R" is only one disc in a set of three, the music inside feels like a jumbled incoherent journey through lost musical genius. "U're Gonna C Me" is a ballad that clunks instead of soaring; "Colonized Mind" seemingly has no lyrical focus; and "Wall of Berlin" can't decide whether it wants to be an average studio-produced rock song or an average studio-produced piece of candy-coated pop. Maybe it's all this indecision that has Prince stuck in this black hole of sheer musical banality, or maybe the well has run dry. Either way the listener doesn't benefit from the situation, and returning to the idea that Prince should stick with making pop music with that slight-enough guitar edge is inevitable.

Alright, so now you've seen all I want to really discuss regarding Prince's latest effort. Why don't you listen to something good instead? In particular, "Purple Rain." From that album it's easy to infer that Prince is a man not afraid to take chances. Unfortunately, with his latest effort it sounds less like taking chances and more like conforming to the modern sound of auto-tune. It's also a sad possibility that Prince's time might have passed him by. It's fascinating to see how a man who has scaled the highest musical peaks of the pop mountain has now succumbed to its lowest musical valley. Listen to "Purple Rain" after this train wreck and you'll thank me.

Grade: D -

Rolling Stone is a joke, they barely name a couple songs from a 3 disc set, yet when it's a 12 track U2 album they highlight most of the tracks and call them a return to form.

I guess having no record label affects these critic sites as well.

LondonStyle said:

We really have to get used to this type of thing as a perquisite for most reviews. Prince has hurt his public perception, no matter that the law may be on his side. Bad pub is sometimes just that.




That blasted Autotune is cringe-inducing. Simply because it's usually used by mediocre artists who can't sing. Is this Prince trying to be current? C'mon, Cher used this horrible device 15 yeas ago, and it should have been retired then. Autotune should be renamed "Run-Out-Of-Options-Effect".

There's no grand media conspiracy against Prince. Mediocre work --surprise, surprise-- equates to mediocre reviews. But don't let a litany of educated music critics bring down the Purple Party -- about.com is simply raving about the new material.