It was over 5 years ago when P lit it up at the RRHOF/"comeback" (I know he never went away)and in that time, he has released relatively successful albums: Musicology, 3121, Planet Earth, Lotus Flower (3 disc set).

Based on your individual tastes and time to absorb these albums, which of these albums provides a newcomer the best glimpse into Prince musical genius?

I think that of these four, 3121 is as close to a traditional "Prince" album. Solid, but underpromoted, it was a great listen back to front.

Lotus Flower, Planet Earth, and Muisicology round out the rest.

The problem w/ Lotusflow3r is elixer. I wouldn't ask anyone to listen to that, besides that one BAD album I think they all have some great songs that represent P musical genius. Although there are a lot of folks out there that despise each of these albums, so it's really to each their own.

3121 is a great album but i must disagree with you on the fact that it is very prince like. To me it was unfocused and a little modern pop like for the charts. Musicology and Lotusflow3r definitely are more Prince like. Musicology and Lotusflow3r both have a variety of tastes and styles. For example on Musicology we have 'On the couch' and then again songs like 'Call my name' and 'If Eye was the man in your life'. On Lotusflow3r we have 'Feel Good Feel Better Feel Wonderful' and then again ' Songs like 'Dreamer' and '$' which show P's true colors and talent both instrumentally and lyrically.
[Edited 4/26/09 7:12am]

I would say LotusFlow3r. Definitely NOT Planet Earth - even die-hards are on the fence about that one.

Pre-LF I would say 3121. Musicology is a great album, but it's not as lush and diverse as the others.

nosajd said:

Elixer is NOT Lotus or MPLSOUND. That's like saying Crystal Ball is horrible because Karmasutra is included.

daPrettyman said:

Exactly - it's also like judging NPS based on Larry Graham's GCS2000 vocals.

daPrettyman said:

well i didn't mean to say lotusflow3r was elixer, but u can't make the purchase w/o getting it, that's all i was saying... it's there, like it or not just like kamasutra & crystal ball, it's n the gd packaging altogether.

nosajd said:

My point is that just because it's packaged together, doesn't mean it's apart of the album. It is a generalization that many do here on the org. The Truth and Karmasutra are NOT Crystal Ball, NPS, Come 2 My House and GCS 2000 are ALL different albums.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

Why ask a newcomer to listen to any of those albums? None of them are his best work.

daPrettyman said:

i get it, they're different. 100%

the ? was what would u recommend to a new comer. my point is the newcomer buying the album will most likely be subjected to all of what comes in the "packaging"...

funksterr said:

It's still his work though & beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

nosajd said:

If a person was a new comer into the world of Prince, it all depends on the type of music they like. I have turned on a few people to Bria's new cd. Only because they tend to like neo-soul and smooth r&b. I also have turned people on to MPLSOund. Mostly because they tend to like "Kiss", "WDC" and DMSR. So, it all depends on the taste of the people u are trying to introduce Prince's music to.

Now, I would also recommend 3121 to the traditional pop music/r&b music lover.
[Edited 4/26/09 10:30am]

nosajd said:

True and I did this post mainly because with Prince being in the biz for 30 plus years, he would attract fans whose main intro to him may be based off of what they have seen or heard recently in various outlets (Leno, Tavis, etc) and may not be well versed on his older works.

I hate 3121

Se7en said:

really? I see Musicology being the most diverse of any of them. He pretty much covers all of his styles on that one. 3121 is pretty much a straight up r&b album.

Musicology, I like half of the album.....

and I like a few songs on 3121/ Planet Earth.


I rank the albums like this:

1. Lotusflower/ MPLSound (8)
2. Musicology (7)
3. 3121 (6)
4. Planet Earth (5)
5. Indigo Nights (2)

I had been trying to "convert" a friend into a Prince fan for years and it never took. However, when she heard 3121 (and I didn't even ask her to listen) she played it to death and declared it one of her favorite albums. It caused her to buy Musicology and her enthusiasm for Prince music seemed to go south afterwards. I don't know what any of that means, if anything. I just thought it was interesting.

I like them all in different ways, Im not crazy about MPLsound at all, i almost stopped listening to it at this point. Its funny how people rag on NPS when i can hear a couple of those MPLS tracks on that record easily. 3121 is strong with the exception of the god awful "Incense" track the same can be said of PE which has the god awful "Future Baby Mama" and then Musicology with the awful "Illusion Pimp" song. As for Lotus for the most part its strong but there again he doesnt stay straight with the theme of the record, so it slips off a bit too.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

Interesting idea

Based on personal experience, Musicology is NOT one of them.
It was the first Prince album I bought, the first one I listened to. It wasn't nothing like what I expected. Experience was so bad that after "Cinnamon Girl," I gave up listening to it completely.
Not quite what I was expecting when I'd check into a Prince album

3121 helped me bounce back completely to the opposite pole (aside from the fact I'd seen Purple Rain at least 5x that week )... it was just as I expected and then some. I liked the way it came across to me and the alternation was nice between slow songs and fast songs.

Planet Earth was the first new album released when I first became a member of the Prince community
By this time, I thought of 3121 as a rollercoaster cuz every other song is either awesome or not so much.
This was like a mini-rollercoaster for me.
It started out really, really good for the first three songs, went downhill for a track or two... Mr. Good-night picked me up, All the Midnights kept me, then it kinda went downhill from there

I haven't heard the new albums enough to comment.

3121 probably is the best example of the three
with Planet Earth being in second... its kinda like the Parade of this decade in the way that its sound is kinda unlike everything else that came b4 it, certain unique edge that I totally dig

I would go with 3121. I think Planet Earth and Musicology are not strong first introduction albums. Lotus Flower (and the albums it comes with) are the best of all those albums, but it's too much for a new comer to take in. They want one album to give them a taste. If your gonna give them a 3 disc set. with one album being song by a women but really it's all prince's music, could be a bit much for someone to take in all at once. Also newcomers seem to be unsure what to make of the Camille voice at first (based upon many people reviews on i tunes of the song F.U.N.K. did not like Camille).

Not really a fan of Musicology but the rest really walks over the 1994-2004 period. Not that that was a hard thing to do...

I think the best CD would be 3121 and then MPLSound.