God, I love the guitar solos on this album. Dirty, scratchy and sexy fun.

It's just the perfect album for my taste. All the electro Funk/Pop and Camille.

I loved 3121 but always wished he made the whole thing in the vein of the electronic based tracks on that album.

This is the album I've been waiting for.

I love every track, It's hard to pick a favorite. After 5 listens the early favorites have been joined by those that at first didn't stick out, namely Here which is a real grower.

I'm gonna say It.

The Best album since Lovesexy and probably my album of the Decade, by any artist.

Thank god he didn't just stick this in the Vault and only release LotusFlow3r.

What a great time to be a Prince Fan.

2 absoulutly brilliant albums and a dam fine associated artist album.

It's also great to see these boards full of mostly postive reactions.
[Edited 3/26/09 15:37pm]

Nikeze said:

Hmmm....I must admit, I really like Lotusflower and MPLSound a lot...so far.
Then again, there are a few clunkers on both of them but there are also songs on some of his classic albums from the 1980s that I don´t dig that much.
I don´t like songs like Chocolate Box ( though I do like the instrumental Discojellyfish....but the lyrics don´t really do much for me). Does sound a bit as if he soaked up too much of that BlackEyedPeas or Fergie vibe, which I hate, but keep in mind that Prince has ALWAYS been a reflection of what´s hip in contemporary music. People love to forget that even his classic stuff from his glorious heyday incorporated ideas and bits and pieces from what was hip back in the 1980s...take , for instance, Erotic City and then listen to cheesy club hits like Laid Back´s White Horse and you´ll catch my drift. Prince always soaked up the music around him and took it to another level.
Thing is, in the 1980s, he experimented with Linn Drum machines and used all kinds of tricks and gadgets to create something new, using guitar effect pedals and other stuff with his LM 1 and so on. Unfortunately, you don´t really get to hear that much of that on this album. I mean, I still get chills when I listen to the first few seconds of She´s Always In My Hair, where he has that trademark Linn Drum sound in the very first seconds..but I digress.

There´ll Never Be Another Like Me doesn´t move me much. I don´t like the bragging in the lyrics, especially since the lyrics are not really justified or backed up with quality music but it does contain a few really interesting elements, and I kinda like the uplifting spirit or energy of the song. If it wasn´t for the "Whoooooh" and if the lyrics were a bit deeper I could have liked the song a lot.

The rest ? Dance 4 Me is a song that grabbed my attention the very second it started...a classic dance track in the vein of Erotic City or Nasty Girl WITHOUT the stupid lyrics of 1+1+1=3 . Just a good, banging Prince club song that I really like.
Valentina is great, I love the music and his singing style though it does sound as if he listened to Lil Wayne before recording this song. The music is cool but the lyrics are a tad too creepy for me. Singing to a baby about how sexy her mom is ? Not really my cup of tea. However, the music and the vocal delivery are nice. I wish he would have used this infectious beat and singing style with better lyrics but hey, it´s still a very catchy song. I guess some of his output in the past decade was partly so flawed ,with all the dogmatic lyrics, that I really enjoy stuff like this now. Good song but weird lyrics..if that makes any sense.
I like the ballads on this album....Here and U´re Gonna C Me or Better With Time are for sure not Beautiful Ones or Adore or Condition of the Heart but they are lightyears ahead of Satisfied or On the Couch or whatever dull stuff he´s put on his more recent albums. The only ballad I liked in the last few years was Somewhere Here On Earth , and this time I really like a lot of the ballads on one album. The lyrics are not very deep and profound but hey, I´m happy. Things could be worse.

I also like Ol Skool Company...again, it´s not perfect and the synth line sounds like he´s trying to " get some of that Dr.Dre money"
but hey,it reminds me a bit of Come On and some of the stuff on Exodus, and there´s a little bit of Funkadelic vibe there, so I really dig this one, especially since the lyrics are not really that bad. It´s a VERY funky song that you will like if you also like 3121, Days Of Wild or PFUNK, or Get Wild.

And by the way, I loved the live version he did on Jay Leno´s Tonight Show. Reminded me a bit of how he did Come On a decade ago , also at the Tonight Show.

Wonder how 1985 Prince would have reacted if someone sent him these albums with a timemachine.
All in all, these albums are, at least in my opinion, a real return to form..I hate that expression but I think critics used it way too often in the past few years...this time, at least in my opinion, it IS justified. It sounds a bit like Prince trying to sound like those people who try to sound like Prince. Maybe he should listen to his old stuff instead of who´s hot at the moment, and maybe he should have respected the his creation, namely the Minneapolis Sound, a bit more and tried to live up to it a bit more but hey, it´s nice to hear him still having fun at this stage in his life.

PS: I absolutely can´t digest No More Candy 4 U but I also didn´t like stuff like Ronnie Talk To Russia or Gotta Stop Messin About or Jack U Off. This song reminds me of them.
[Edited 3/26/09 16:00pm]

Welcome to plastic soul, Prince style. Here’s the recipe: (1) Plenty of Linn drum to get the Pavlovian reaction from longtime fans that it’s a return to the classic sound – it’s been working for him with some fans since Rave, so why not keep the trend going. And if the Linn doesn’t work, use the Camille voice. I mean, if he’s using that trick from 1987, it’s got to be classic, right? His use of these tired devices raises the question: Is it a segment of Prince’s fans that want him to recreate the 80’s or is it Prince himself who now is struggling to recapture that sound? (2) Embarrassingly simple and naïve lyrics that would sound under-developed coming from a fourteen year old girl. Now, add into the equation that they were written by and are being sung by a man closer to the geriatric wing than he is to Freshman year and tragedy ensues. (3) Layered choruses and/or song titles that you repeat ad nauseam through each and every track. (4) A few musical breaks here and there which thankfully remind people you are in fact a musician and not the composer of High School Musical: The Outtakes which the music and lyrics from the majority of the album would lead the listener to believe.

Then there is the incredibly creepy ‘Valentina.’ The lyrics, and I’m paraphrasing: “When she’s all worn out from the late night feedings it’s time for a rock n’ roll meeting,’ provide a new level of intentional hilarity in Prince’s already laughable lyric prowess. Yes, by all means, after your tats have been sucked dry, call up Prince to get down. At least it’s original, I suppose.

Aging is the Achilles Heel of many pop artists. Attempting to remain relevant in what is essentially a young man's game is no easy task. However, Prince has the ace in the hole of being an incredibly gifted and deft musician but as has been the case on the majority of his releases for over a decade now, a guitar solo isn't enough to help the trite lyrics and compositions he's been releasing. Another avenue might be to age gracefully and compose material that doesn't sound as if it was written by a dimwitted 15 year old anxious for the big day she's finally allowed into the club. Alas, no such luck here.

A failed, synthetic mess.

Grade: D

Wall said:

why do you torture yourself so?

Wall said:

I agree with you about the weak lyrics and the use of certain trademark gimmicks like the Linn Drum or the Camille voice. Using Linn sounds , whether as plug ins or samples, is nowhere near the same as what he did with the LM-1 in the 80s.
However, I must admit that I do find Valentina, Dance 4 Me and Ol Skool Company quite catchy, despite the silly lyrics in Valentina.
Would your opinion be any different if, say , Valentina or the ballads had better lyrics ?

Have listened to MPL quite a bit now & it's not bad ..... i like dance 4 me, here, valentina & better with time ..... but i love ol'skool company!

i just cannot get jiggy with NO MORE CANDY 4 U

IstenSzek said:

The org's not working properly for me tonight, can't get into the other threads, what do you think about the Leno performance? I loved it. A little different with the steady beat from the live drums bu those synths.... damn. I NEED to hear this live. Loved the changes towards the end when the harmonica player started, great descending synth notes. And those background vocals, straight P-Funk!

Ah, this is just great.


To each their own, but how some people cannot feel this, I don't understand.

And yet again, I agree with Wall here.

I mean, really, am I hearing the same album? Songs like "Ol'Skool Co." and "Valentina" are some of the worst this man has put out in recent times. What potential they might have had is put to waste. A damn shame... (Though I must say, the former song worked well live, in my opinion.)

To put it more plainly: The synths he uses kill just about every single song dead. Hopelessly dated and loaded with cheese, they simply DON'T cut it anymore. Why can't he just play his Bass? Seriously! Has he forgotten how? Some of the "funk" he's making here is simply pathetic..

THE ONLY half-way good songs on this set are, as far as I can tell.."Dance 4 Me" and "U're Gonna See Me." "Dance" is actually a good number, while "See Me" is simply decent..."Here" and "Better with Time" aren't terrible either, but so far, I'm not inspired enough by them to call the music great by any means...

(As a side note:: Though it was blasted here on the .org, "Turn Me Loose" is a hell of a lot better than most of the songs on this album. It was a VERY dumb decision to leave it off here. F.U.N.K, though not great, would also have helped this album..)

Overall, as it stands, this was a disappointing endeavor. Worse than I thought it would be.. **/*****

(Bria's album, though heavily criticized, is actually significantly better than MplSound. No, it isn't a masterpiece, but at least it can be occasionally delicate and beautiful..)

Wall said:

[Edited 3/26/09 18:35pm]
[Edited 3/26/09 23:35pm]
[Edited 3/27/09 0:32am]

som listening to MPLSound now, read the first few pages of posts and simply had to stop, Dance 4 me is "Der absolute hammer", as they say in german, as someone said, getting a pole installed in the sitting room dosent sound like a bad idea

anyway, have to listen to what the reat of the album brings.

PS this reminds me of 2 yrs ago when he released the PFU Phunk song, and everyone was giddy disecting it. I havent felt like this about music in a very long long time

I'm going to listen to MPLSound over the w/end, I have some driving to do so I'll see if my opinions on it change. All this talk of 'plastic soul' makes me wonder if I can't find some love for the comedy value of the album like NPS.

ok, on first listen, i am well impressed with Mplsound, has a real feel good vibe to it, No more candy 4u is f.... halirious, reminds of the music he used put on his b-sides back in the 80´s like horny toad, gotta stop messin about, totally tongue in cheek.

Old Skool, oddly the studio version sounds better than the version on Leno, but I will have to give that another listen later.

Valentina, like this track, although it has a very odd lyrical theme,

Dance 4 me, see my earlier post.

Choc Box, liked but i will have to give it another few plays.

not so sure about Ure gonna C me and Here, especially that they are tracked one after another, seems to slow the feel good factor of the album, but after one airplay it is hard to judge for sure

NouveauDance said:

I can see where you are coming from with the comparisons to NPS, which was also my main concern, especially with a title like MPLSound, but after just 1 play it appears to me to be on a different level. Anyway, I think these two albums put one theory to bed, that of PE being a great album

----
[Edited 3/27/09 0:33am]

ShadeoViolet said:

now that's a bit of a stretch...

If every song was Chocolate Box level then it for sure would be.

ShadeoViolet said:

Was his favorite Plant Earth?

Whitnail said:

Honestly how anyone could listen to NPS and think Mplsound is beyond me

Whitnail said:

very likely or Rave

I usually agree with Wall about Prince's new output, but I find myself loving MPLSOUND so far. Infectious beats, Prince having fun, and hooks galore. His best album in years. I'll listen more before giving it further thought. I thought I would detest this album too. Heh.
[Edited 3/26/09 20:09pm]

ShadeoViolet said:

I'm going to agree with your bro, this one surpasses my hate for TRC, dim-witted musically and lyrically. I agree with another post that proclaims them to as bookends on either side of the worst Prince spectrum.

Alexandernvrmind said:

hahahha, i cant believe I forgot about that one

VALENTINA WOULD BE BETTER without those lyrics ....guess only prince knows the meaning behind it .



IN any case it'll make you scratch your head just like SISTER

i think that album rocks

utopia7 said:

give P one thing, he has a great taste in women, who dosent think Salma is or was one of the most beautiful women ever, but in Princes case, a simple SMS text would have been enough

great piece of music though

test post

posting a test

having a slash here


.....

h0uSeQuAkE said:

this song must be the b-side to PFUnk.