Ugot2shakesumthin said:

It's hardly been hailed as anything than passable filler at best. The only place it's getting anything resembling rave reviews is surprise, surprise from Prince fans.

There is a circle of Hell where There'll Never Be Another Like Me is on repeat. Actually, strike that -- the song's so painful, even the deepest pits of Hell would only play the thing one or twice to drive someone mad.

There’ll Never B) Another Like Me - Reminds me of "Hot With U" - I like it
Chocolate Box - didn't like this one when I first heard it on the site, but it's growing on me. Q-Tip is one of my favorites. Any Tribe Fans out there?
Dance 4 Me - Tied with Valentina as my favorite
U’re Gonna C Me - Classic Prince ballad ( same melody as "Here")
Here - Another classsic Prince ballad
Valentina - Love it
Better with Time - My favorite of the ballads
Ol’ Skool Company - Funky (..flava in ya ear)
No More Candy 4 U - ???? - not digging this one
[Edited 3/31/09 5:26am]

Ok. Had a while to digest it all now.

There'll Never... - Muscially I like it as there are some nice sounds, but the refrain is annoying. Would love an instrumental version.

Chocolate Box - Same as above. From where Q-Tip comes in it's great. Again, spoiled by a bragging refrain.

Dance 4 Me - Love it. Great, sexy dance tune.

U're Gonna C Me - Lovely. Prefer it to the original.

Here - Pretty, but a little drippy. I prefer it when he screams at his lovers.

Valentina - Brilliant.

Better With Time - Same as 'Here'

Ol'Skool Company - Love this too. Nice chunky synths.

No More Candy 4 U - Excellent. It's been a while since he did something this funny and perverse.

Overall, I am really impressed. Lovely sounds all through the album. If I was being picky, I'd say one ballad was enough and a couple more synth heavy dance monsters would have gone down a treat.

Much better than I expected though. I'd love to hear more in this vein.

Chalk one up for the kid.
[Edited 3/31/09 6:06am]

KeithyT said:

I also had the same reaction seeing the Leno version before hearing the studio. It's rare when the Prince studio version of a recent song kicks the ass of its live counterpart, but I think this one does.

BanishedBrian said:

Oooooo, this my song!

Put this thang on repeat...go back to 1 and justa MOVE ya feet!


[Edited 3/31/09 8:19am]

While the Leno performance of Old School Company was flat, a live performance is still the only manner in which Prince can redeem the song. With the album cut, much like $, one waits for something, anything to happen but it never does. Sure, it's not an unbearable composition but it's not very interesting either. The song is seven minutes of funk filler, repeating ideas Prince has already explored a thousand times over, with mildly interesting guitar work towards its end.

"Valentina" is my favorite cut from this album,. That is my JAM!!!!

Wall said:

Nicely put.

SomewhereHereOnEarth said:

This beat reminds me of the beat from Craig Mack's "Flava in Yo' Ear", a beat Prince has been known to jack or sample for the past 10 years now. Hmmmm...

shellyann said:

WTF???? Okay, what in the hell are you smoking, and are you sure it's legal?! Your "review" lost all merit after this sentence. Don't even breathe or mention ANY of this album in the same vein, class, or sentence as Erotic City. That was pure funk! This shit here...well like I said, shit.

Never Be Another--After the initial disappointment of the melody & empty subject matter, this song flows really well to me. It's arranged brilliantly, of course, and it's fun. Comes across as a good vault song, which means it's not the best thing ever, but sounds like some fairly classic Prince.

Chocolate Box--to paraphrase another orger, I feel like a fucking idiot for bopping my head and singing "she wants a B. O. X. of chocolate..." But again the song moves really well, and is really catchy. Like the simple rap, like the synths. It might go on just a little long for listening, but maybe not for dancing?

Dance 4 Me--A little forgettable, though it's kind of cute. I'd also call this the first proper "song" in terms of actually having a melody.

Ur Gonna C Me--I have grown to expect these kind of songs, so I'm no longer disappointed. I'll probably be skipping this one before too long. But the lyrics are just a little tough to digest. Give me a page on my 2-way? Please, prince don't buy into the same shitty content you criticize a minute later! How about rollin on dubs, as well? Just nothing new here, it's a love song for the sake of a love song. Makes me wonder if he actually feels anything or if it's just part of the process, like buying flowers. It's a nice arrangement, but pretty empty. Uptempo dance songs like Le Grind can be empty, but ballads? They should actually say something IMO.

Here--I actually really like this one. It doesn't feel like a forced song, it sounds somewhat inspired. A new beat, a nice melody that catches me by surprise the way it changes keys. This, to me may be the most original composition on the cd, not quite Little Red Corvette, but something that pushes Prince's musical story just a little farther.

Valentina--I don't like this one, but I will listen a few more times. It's the only one I am skipping. Not qualified to give a proper review.

Better With Time--This is nice, but I am getting a little tired of the slow songs at this point. This album started off with a bang, and now it's dragging a little. The lyrics try, but might have been a little rushed. the absurd & cultured rhymes are a little empty. And the end might have been stretched out just a little. But I can imagine many women who wish they were Kristin Scott Thomas. It's still very beautiful, particularly the backup vocals.

Old School Company--thank you. After the last 4 songs I am so relieved. This is the best Prince jam since I don't know when. I have only listened a few times, but I really feel this is something of a classic ala DMSR. But it reminds me that I wish this album had kept more to the dance feel through the middle. Oh well...

No More Candy--weird prince sound. Silly song, but I like it. I like the energy, I like that he mentions us haters on the internets. Pretty good closeout for this album.



At first listen I thought "who is he singing to? Does he think his fans are ten years old?" I said earlier, this album feels like eating a bagful of sugar. But I can't deny the songs are catchy, and as always crafted with the precision and ease that sets prince apart. It flows more naturally than the more forced sound of Musicology, and is not scattered like Planet Earth, and it actually sounds a little like old Prince (Prince in 2008-9, but Prince nonetheless), unlike Rave. The compartmentalizing of his styles really benefits the album.

I like the production overall. Very consistent and feels good, musical, and synthetically organic This sets it apart from the painful sounds on 3121, which song for song may be better than MPLSound (if Black Sweat didn't send an icepick into my brain).

I feel like maybe the album could have been better with a couple more upbeat tunes, perhaps sacrificing the "MPLSound" by adding "Feel Better" or "$" from the Lotus album. But I haven't listened enough to know if they would really fit the flow of the album.

But all in all, this is pretty good, if very light, stuff.

out of 5
[Edited 3/31/09 11:37am]

terrible...so bad, we laughed in the car when some of these songs played. it was either laugh or cringe...and the whole "hallelujah" mess. good grief, lol!

My God, some of ya'll have zero sense of humor.

Thankfully, Prince hasn't lost his.

My favorite of the 3 and my favorite Prince album since Lovesexy.

I thought I would like it but it was even better than I expected.

(There'll Never) Be Another Like Me 8

(Least favorite song on the album but the best track to start the album with because the last two minutes are fantastic)

Chocolate Box 10

Dance 4 Me 10

U're Gonna C Me 9

Here 9

Valentina 9

Better With Time 9

Ol Skool Company 10

No More Candy 4 U 10

on the whole I don't really get a Controversy vibe but a number of the tracks remind me of the 1986-1988 output.
[Edited 3/31/09 12:39pm]

Riverpoet31 said:

Welp...

That's it everyone. Close the thread.

Someone with taste has informed us not to like this album.

Accujack said:

Amen to that! I'm glad he has his humor back cause I must say, in recent years he's had either a small amount of humor or none at all.

herb4 said:

More like someone with bad taste.

purplecam said:

I should have put quotes around "taste". Sarcasm's hard to pull off on the internet.

herb4 said:

True but that's alright I got what you were getting at.

MPLSound has to grow on me because I've listened to it twice and it's my least favorite of the 3. Sounds more like a collection of grooves than a cohesive package of it's own. "Chocolate Box", "Here", and "Valentina" are the stand-out cuts. "Valentina" is the best radio song, but I bet it never even gets played live, let alone released to radio.

MPLSound grade: C+ or B-

worth it just for NO MORE CANDY 4 U...but as a whole ..probably his worst of the decade....while Lotus is his best since TRC

sassybritches said:

Would you prefer "handolosilia?"

Who could forget the epic seriousness found in songs like "Horny Toad" and "Housequake"? "Green Eggs and Ham!" was Dylan-esque in the way it invoked Sr. Suess into the national political consciousness, and when Prince intoned "You Gotta Rock This Mother", you could feel the depths of that calling resonate in your very soul.

That "Lion in my pocket?" He's ready to roar. Serious business that lion. And that "Starfish and Cofee" only tastes right with "butterscotch clouds, tangerines and a side order of ham." Otherwise it tastes silly.

Honestly, this album is fun, playful, danceable and deceptively creative.

"We gonna shake, we gonna quake, Cause we got the baddest grooves, baby, we could make" is practically a danceable modern metaphor for "Blowin' in the Wind" or "Hey Joe".

Lighten up and feel the party, people. I don't think he was shooting for "Sign O' the Times" here - or even "Dear Mr. Man" - but if you still want to 'wear lingerie to a restaurant', remember a time 'before soda pop still had fizz' or know what 'squirrel meat' is, there's a lot of fun to be had with this record.

I don't remember finding too much deep meaning in "Atomic Dog" either, but I liked it.

Rebeljuice said:

Excellent points. A characteristic of the "Minneapolis Sound" is the linn drum, but just using a linn drum does not make something Minneapolis Sound. This album is not MPLS. A sped-up voice is not the same as Camille (Camille was also a vibe, a state of mind, imo).

No More Candy 4 U hurts my ears, it sounds like noise to me.

sassybritches said:

I laughed, too, but I am not sure laughing is bad. It was silly, yes, and immature and lite, but I actually like it.

Prince has been making me laugh with his ridiculousness since 1982.

ItsOnlyMountains said:

Agreed on the Camille voice. On Mplsound it's nothing more than a gimmick in hopes of eliciting a Pavolvian reaction from what remains of his fan base. The irony is, of course, a majority of criticism directed at Prince's anemic recent output is often met with the misguided retort of "You people just want him to go back to the 80's!" No, but apparently Prince is now doing his damndest to get there himself.

Camille was a great Ziggy-like guise for Prince and his attempting to reuse the mask is as pathetic as it would be for Bowie to announce he was resurrecting Ziggy. And while Prince may have, I can't imagine Camille ever becoming a Jehovah's Witness.

The Linn, the sped up voice, all over played gimmicks. It's rather humorous that Prince declares "The new Minneapolis sound" in one of the songs when it all sounds rather like a failed attempt to rekindle the old one.

NDRU said:

The liteness and the humor of this CD is part of why I love this CD. We've had quite a few serious CD's in the last several years, so to have songs that I can laugh with is a postitive to me. The music goes right along with the mood and it makes the CD even better.

This album was made to play both ends of the stick. The title of the album and the hype of it being a return to Classic Prince is to draw folks in like me and also a lot of folks around my age that listened to him back in the early 1980s. The shit hop attitude all over the place is to draw the youngsters in.

I guess the Linn drum machine all over the place was supposed to make us blissfully happy but look what's placed on top of it....shit hop rapping and attitude. And the Minneapolis Sound I remember had some strong ass synths in it. Not some squealing Mickey Mouse type synths that sound like Snoop Doggy Dog. He would have done better leaving all that mess on the shit hop tracks like "Valentina" and "Ol' Skool Company" and placing some singing and melody over the fast tracks. That way, we could just skip over the shit hop and get to the good tracks. Instead, he carried the foolishness over to the fast tracks also so now the whole album is damn near unlistenable.
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[Edited 3/31/09 14:28pm]

vainandy said:

You hear hip hop in Ol Skool Company and Valentina? Wow, I never heard it like that.

"Ol' Skool Company" reminds me of that song that Usher made in 2004 around the time "Musicology" came out. And that silly opening to the song....."Oooo....this my song" .....made me taste vomit coming up my throat. I didn't know if I was listening to Prince or fucking Sha Nay Nay from "Martin".

vainandy said:

Oh God no! That "Oooo that's my song" part made me laugh.