Brofie said:

I'd agree with Noveaudancer, that "The Undertaker" was the guitar album we wanted. Just Prince being raw, angry, and lashing out on his ax.

Even Chaos and Disorder was a great guitar album, if you removed a few lame fillers. (I always thought that should have been an EP extra with TGE anyway.) Even TGE is a great guitar album. "Shy" is the only song I'd remove from that one.

Lotus has a lot of non-guitar/soft songs on it. Where's the guitar in that? It's like some horrible intermission before the next song comes up, and we all know the tracks I'm talking about.

tuztones said:

TRC is a pile of hot monkey doo. "instant classic" stands the test of time. TRC does not....not by a long shot.

Lotus is inconsistent. However, having said that, if he removed just a couple of tracks, and added one, it'd be a much stronger album.

scififilmnerd said:

Agreed. "Love like Jazz", "77 Beverly Park" (which sounds like some instrumental of "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" from Bryan Adams). "$" is a fun song that I enjoy...but is it a great rock song with a screaming ax? Hellz no. "Feel Good" is a mix of "Musicology", and "Love" (from 3121). Not a rock song, not a guitar highlight album.

"4ever" is good, with some guitar, but is it a rock song, or even a power ballad? Nope. It sounds like an outtake from the Rave era actually, and starts out like "3 Chains".

Not a guitar album by any stretch. The songs I mentioned....some have good points to them, but they're 1/3 of the album, and that deletes any possibility of a guitar album. Close.....but not so much.

undertaker is coll but prince's guitar playing evolved much after underttaker .
lotuus have much better riffs and solos

tuztones said:

agreed...thank u P....maybe we have some more please?
[Edited 4/1/09 11:12am]

unfreakin real....people still findin ways to crap on this cd...and then "legitimize" their result

luvsexy4all said:

I'm not saying it's a crap album. Just that it ain't a rock album.

I agree with scififilmnerd. "Lotus" is a little easier on the ears. Jesse's CD is great but it's more in the hard rock blues vein.

"Lotus" is great and the songs are very cool..but "The Undertaker" is more raw. .."Lotus" is more "Electric Ladyland" and "The Undertaker" is more like the "Band Of Gypsys".

I think P should start releasing 3 different CD joints all the time.

The Undertaker is about thirty minutes long, and is basically Prince, Sonny, and Michael B rehearsing. It is probably my favorite Prince album (even though it is only an e.p.). So those that consider that an album might say that it is Prince's best guitar record. I would say that. So when I heard that Lotusflower was going to be a guitar record, I had Undertaker in mind. Lotusflower sounds nothing like Undertaker. It is produced heavily, has a lot of keyboard, etc. I think Lotusflower sounds most like The War or Beautiful Strange in production style. But I like that there is a lot of guitar in a full length album and I think it has a great sound. So is it the guitar record that I have wanted for so long? Not quite, but it is very close.

I think at points and on certain songs yes, someone mentioned the lyrics and I was cringing on a few, also on MPLS Sound too.


This to me is on the same level of Musicology, but not as refreshing as TRC. Thankfully I don't think its is anything like 3121 or planet earth both of which I do not care for.

The mix itself sounds better, I haven't listen with in ear monitors yet, but it is def more natural sounding.

I think each Prince disc Lotus and MPLS have about 3 songs which I would return to, kind of like Musicology.

What has got me more interested is the setlists from the other night, and the possibility that Prince might be older and wiser enough to celebrate some of his past outtakes "No Light Large Room", rather than always trying to prove his new stuff is better.

Now just leave the outtakes alone and release them as is.... PLEASE
[Edited 4/1/09 13:53pm]

SPYZFAN1 said:

I totally agree with you.

I can't say I've longed for any specific type of album--just something really good for a change.

Lotusflow3r and MPLSound satisfies this quite a bit. I like both albums, though I much preferred MPLSound on first listen.

They're fun, vibrant, fresh, and not too desperately "radio friendly", which makes them on par with much of his earlier material (at least to me).


It makes it all the more sad he packaged that ultra mega infinately uber terrible Bria Valente album, a tour de force of mediocrity and uninspired drivel along side the two best records he's released in a least a decade.

Great album [lotusflow3r].

Imago said:

(although i prefer/preferred lotus on first listen)

SirPsycho said:

This is because you're better looking, more talented, and smarter than me.

But I'm not jealous. I just like to recognize you for what you are---more worthy than the rest of the folks on this forum

Imago said:

did i post a sexy picture recently or something?

tomds said:

the japanese laserdisc was officially released. it's pretty much the same as the withdrawn cd. the most commonly circulating audio is taken from the laserdisc, and so has a few bits of sound from the film that are not really on the album audio.

a rip of the actual cd is also floating around. some folks actually have the actual cd. not all of them were irrevocably destroyed.

TheEnglishGent said:

yes, also vhs.

i like 'lotusflow3f' plenty, but i disagree that the guitar playing is better than on 'the undertaker.' 'lotusflow3r' is unique in that it does a good job of capturing the feeling of his live playing style; but 'the undertaker' is another beast entirely. it has a very consistent vibe and the playing is absolutely flawless. i think his later live playing style, which is wonderfully captured on 'lotusflow3r,' is on the whole a bit showier than i prefer. 'the undertaker' boasts a lot of pyrotechnics but prince and sonny are carrying all the melodic weight by themselves. i think 'the undertaker' is perfect and there is not a sound out of place. prince plays only what is necessary to convey the songs. 'lotusflow3r' grooves and i like it a great deal but i don't quite think it perfectly accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish.

it's a matter of taste but i don't think we can just brush off 'the undertaker' by saying his playing has evolved and improved in the intervening years. prince was a veteran pro in '93 and i consider 'the undertaker' to be the last gasp of the old prince. from 'six feet in the grave,' if you will.

ernestsewell said:

the weird quiet ones on 'lotusflow3r' are my favorites.

i like very much that he gives this album room to breathe. it's not all junked up with orchestra hits and sound effects and constantly spiking your attention with gimmicks and slang and big kool moe dee glasses.

comeon said:

NouveauDance said:

Couldn't have said it better

Especially the intro 'From the Lotus' and outro 'Back 2 the Lotus'.
Michael B on the drums... sho U recognize him.

It's Prince in his Rock element....I get a mix of N.E.W.S too I have had lOTUSFLOW3r on constant repeat.

utopia7 said:

Well that answers the question in the negative for sure then, because the miserable N.E.W.S. is not a guitar album by any means, and since there is a fair share of the same elevator type music on Lotus, then it totally negates ever thinking that Lotus is the guitar record fans have wanted.

purplecam said:

One disc isnt enough to encompass the genius of Prince. Sign O the Times, 1999, even Emancipation - the bigger picture gives Prince the space to reveal all that God has blessed him with. AND now LotusFlow3r is the best investment you are likely to make this year at roughly $4 per disc.

N.E.W.S. wasn't so bad. but "east" is my favorite from that album.
3121 was also very good.

Its a solid album, but its hardly a rock album.

Besides, the guitar style seems more homage to Hendrix and Santana than original prince. I find the limited guitar work on MPLS far more interesting in originality.

It's a very good rock-oriented album. I liked Planet Earth as well, but this is easily of the same quality (imHO) as The Rainbow Children.

Moreover, LotusFlow3r makes me think of what TRC would have been like without the horrible Darth Vader voice.



A

ernestsewell said:

oh noooo don't feel negative. I mean in the sense of the instrumental Back to the Lotus and From the Lotus. Give them a listen ... this is Prince's Electric Lady land.

SquirrelMeat said:

Very interesting point

stanleylieber said:

I am trying to remember if I have Undertaker or The Victor one at home in Ireland on vhs, anyway, my question is, did the music from Undertaker end up on a bootleg called Pseudo Gold?

Whitnail said:

eek, that title sounds familiar but i don't recall. there was a cd that just hda the audio from the laserdisc. and then the cassette dub i used to have had the audio from the laserdisc on one side and the audio from one of the paisley park shows on the other side.