I am enjoying the three discs, even Bria's to some extent. Naturally I have approached them as three separate discs, focusing on one at a time, as they are really different sounding.

As separate discs they seem a little light. Very good, and very enjoyable. Better than Planet Earth by a long shot. But perhaps not as great as Prince's best albums.

But then I remind myself, they were released as parts of a whole. In that context LotusFlow3r is a remarkable achievement. A single album composed of three discs that are completely different in style, but each good in their own way.

Do you hear the discs as a single album, though? It's not quite like Emancipation or even Sign o the Times. It's hard to group them together.

No.

if you chop out the crap, yes.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

you think you could compile a cohesive album out of it all?

NDRU said:

No, not at all. But you could keep somewhat of a consistency to a flow. the disc should have been one slow one fast especially since one is supposed to evoke the "MPLS sound".

moussemaker said:

I 2nd that. They are their own "experience".

No.

purplecam said:

I agree, and it keeps it from being too much to swallow. But I AM listening to them together, sometimes all three in a row, and it's not a tiring experience.

You could say he created a huge album for the Short Attention Span Generation

NDRU said:

Good point there. I like that for me, there isn't much filler on these CD's. I can play all 3 CD's all the way through. There are times I don't wanna listen to a song but I still like it. I do the same thing with the 80's CD. I don't listen to Take Me With U on Purple Rain all the time but I still love it.

naw each disc is its own journey

L4OATheOriginal said:

But take the Musicology tour for example. In the middle he did the acoustic set. Totally different, but part of the same concert.

Or was it Kill Bill part 1 that had the extended animated section?

Even though these discs are definitely separate & self contained, could they be constructed to go together--to complement each other?

Most of the music is to different on each of the albums, there are a few tracks maybe on Lotus and MPLS which may work if put together

NDRU said:

that would b more equated with emancipation 3 discs of material each different in their own right ..where this project is 3 seperate albums wrapped in2 one

L4OATheOriginal said:

yeah Emancipation definitely gets points for doing that successfully.

For the record, I don't really hear them as one album either, but I can maybe approach it as a single project.

i don't see the three albums as being connected.

stanleylieber said:

Racist!

Three totally different albums. I listen to Bria's album and I think "wait the same guy that made that music on the other two CD's made this music too."

no

Well they all sound like Prince albums to me, but no, I dont consider them one album. My favorite is Lotusflow3r. MPLS second of course. Bria's is better than I expected, but I didnt expect much. I've listened to Lotus 4x now, and MPLS 3x, I like them better with each play. I haven't listened to Bria's all the way through, too dull. I think Lotusflow3r is quite brilliant.

NDRU said:

only against 'mplsound'

No. It's either three albums (each disc as its own album) or two (his and hers).

It can't be one album because I'd never have one album that I chucked an entire disc from.