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.

purplecam said:

There was no apostrophe "s" on it. He sounded straight out ghetto. And this coming from the same man who used words in his 20s that made me run for a dictionary to find out what they meant.

i'm not telling anyone else not to like the music, i'm not insulting anyone's preferences. i simply found the music bad enough to make me laugh. so...why take some personal issue with my personal preferences? it's fucking music, dude. maybe YOU should get the sense the of humor??

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.

I actually wish Prince hadn't named the album after his legendary Minneapolis sound and talked about a return to his old style of music.

In its own right, I think MPLSOUND is simply a really good, fun dance album. To me, it has none of the annoying contrivances of NPS, or the cheap sounding production of Slaughterhouse, and it manages to rekindle the simple charm and confidence I always enjoyed in his old work.

Contrary to NPS and Rave where he sounded like a bored, unhappy, and insecure artist pretending to have fun, he seems to genuinely believe in himself and enjoy the songs he's performing on this album.

When he says, for example, "Prince and the MPLSOUND, we can't be beat", I believe him because it sounds like he himself believes it.

So, no, MPLSOUND isn't quite the old Prince that he promised to show us, but it still contains most of the qualities that made Prince endearing in the first place.

herb4 said:

ok, first off...maybe simmer down, lol.

i have been laughing WITH prince for years. gett off, pussy control, most of the black album...these are funny because they are meant to be. i laughed at so many of the tracks on this record...and a few on lotusflow3r (especially the one that sounds like the theme song to growing pains!!!)...but i laughed AT them, not with them. big difference.

i'm not telling anyone else not to like the music, i'm not insulting anyone's preferences. i simply found the music bad enough to make me laugh. so...why take some personal issue with my personal preferences? it's fucking music, dude. maybe YOU should get the sense the of humor??

livewire said:

I think it works better in the context of the full album. It's still my least favorite, but I don't hate it as much as when I first heard it. (and I love the album as a whole).

I think one of the reasons critics may like it more is that they aren't as familiar with Prince's vast amount of work, and may not realize when Prince is recycling, or repeating himself (which he is doing on this track to a certain extent, IMHO.)
[Edited 3/30/09 9:24am]

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.

purplecam said:

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

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.

The more i listen to this album, the more i feel Prince is totally out of touch: both with himself, and people around him.

Using that linn drummachine and that 'cheap' sounding synths, as a trick, a gimmick, for....what....to feel relevant again?

He fails on so many levels: the music on MPLsound lacks any soul and urgency, it goes on on autopilot.

Any gifted musician with selfrespect, should be critical about him or himself.

MPLsound is an awfully bad album, it should be a wake up-call for Prince that he is producing 'nonsense'.... or are you that stupid you simply don't get it?

Riverpoet31 said:

I suppose I'm a moron then. Thanks for elucidating this.

PurpleKnight said:

Hey a lot of the paid reviewers are saying its a gem!

I think its the turd of the century.

so what, if you enjoy it great! big deal if someone else doesnt.

Opinions are just opinions but lets not insult one another tho'

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

But that's just it. PK is responding to an insult that Riverpoet31 directed at everyone who likes MPLSound. It's wrong for him to do that.

purplecam said:

Right. One of the more respected users here still defends Planet Earth, but you don't see me calling the person ignorant or foolish for it.

PurpleKnight said:

I didn't mean it specifically for you or him, just saying.

i enjoy reading your post btw, and riverpoets too.
[Edited 3/31/09 21:21pm]

Well I've had all the 3 albums on CD from the wav files for a few days now and after listening at home and in the car the one that I keep going back to is MPLSOUND. After hearing "(There'll Never B) Another Like Me" a month or so ago I did not have the highest hopes for this disc. I do like the NPGMC 2001 tracks and Emancipationm, and don't really give a flying fudge for what type of production is used. For me it's all about the feel of the track, the music, and does it connect. There'll Never B Another sounded too much like the non-connecting bragging Prince (that NuPwrSoul mentions on another thread).

...then the press reviews started to come in and I was like hmmmm, MPLSOUND is getting the best response. Could I trust these non-Prince fan heathens? Then, once we all got to download and burn and listen, most people here were going a bit nuts! Well it turns out most people were right IMHO. I think it's the most interesting and exciting of the 3 discs (at least for me - at this moment in time).

My faves so far are

Dance 4 Me - starts off like George Clinton & Prince on Paradigm with a bit of New Power Generation (Graffiti Bridge) style choppy syncopated keyboard punches, and a small helping of When Doves Cry double Linn snare/claps. I was grooving around the house to this one . You can't help but dance for yourself. If you resist you are just missing out. Shut your eyes, loosen up, and let yourself go people.

U’re Gonna C Me - love this re-recorded version. Lush and lovely synth strings and orchestration. A memorable hook and chorus line. I actually think he should have done this one on Leno to get it stuck in the public's heads.

Ol’ Skool Company - Just amazing. I've watched the Leno live version a few times now and thought it was a typical Prince funk workout but the studio version just blew me away . The groove on this is so crisp and clean. The funky guitar licks and Camille-esque vocals. All the silly ad-libbing and talking to himself. THIS is the bragging cocky kind of Prince I like. And the fact that it is set over that classic mid-tempo MPLS funk groove. Let your head bob ...SUCKAS!

No More Candy 4 U - When this one kicked in I was like "WTH?" , this is reminiscent of Gotta Stop Messin About/Jack U Off/Horny Toad/Delirious. The amusing lyrics and the discordant piano seems like a FU to everybody who is negatively critical. But it's knowing too. How can he stop giving out candy to them ole' naysayers too. Like a bird he'll keep on singing...

Valentina is cool too, very memorable, and does make me giggle. But doesn't connect quite as much as the 4 above for me.

MPLSOUND is the big pleasant surprise for me. I love it. Thanks Prince.

Rebeljuice said:

As you'll see from my post above I disagree with your views almost completely but Better with Time certainly reminded me of a New Power Soul 1998 style ballad.

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

herb4 said:

what's the difference between this and you telling people they should like it?

MPLsound is an awfully bad album, it should be a wake up-call for Prince that he is producing 'nonsense'.... or are you that stupid you simply don't get it?

Riverpoet31 said:

You can continue to post with impugnity these insults to other fans' intelligence, but you won't change anyone's mind. A whole lot of us love this album and your campaign against it will never undo that. So, carry on I guess...

NDRU said:

Same here.