Unlike other posts in the Celebration series - this one was written on the day of the release and at the very first listen.

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3121

So here it is – 3121 in my hot little hand. As I set up the Prince Celebration music threads to be about the feelings you got first listening to the albums that you have by now listened to 100 times of more and perhaps rediscovering gems you had forgotten about that fell by the wayside of the hits and fave tracks of your own compile.

So this is first, rather than a reflection this is the album at first listen thoughts hitting me while I listen. I know in 6 months I’ll have a different opinion, and in another 6 years some songs will mean more and change in preference… but for now this is how I hear it.

There is a degree of anticipation before hitting play – there is an (unfair) expectation of 3121 but for now I will try and put aside what I think it should sound like and just be open to the experience of 3121.

Pressing play now…

The first hitting me about 3121 is the thumping intro – the kind of dark delight that The Slaughterhouse brought – oooooh one mix one mix one mix. Oh this sounds like George Clinton and Camille have had a baby. I love the distorted and effected vocal. Laughing at the chorus 31 21 I’ve always read it as 3 1 2 1 – an eduction in process. This is gritty funk, rolled in mud and left to harden. Oh the mid section takes me back to Superfunkycalifragisexy with that wonky clavier. Here comes the solo – oh that treatment and run takes me to New Power Generation from GB –nice lick.

Tripping back to the old skool on Lolita. The synth line just cooks. This is classic Prince – radio friendly funk just shy of being harsh. Wonderful delivery on the chorus. This has a late nite mix feel to it. Like the kind of song you’d groove to on the way to show. I love that the song flips the Lolita myth on its head – the ultimate temptress has met her match it seems, who would have thought a song with such a title would be a strong statement in fidelity.

It’s funny, first hearing Te Amo Corazon I wasn’t that impressed with it. A beautiful enough song, but a dime a dozen track for Prince. But here, following in the high heels of Lolita it has a smoothness and tranquillity to it I have missed in previous listens. I still hear touches of Santana on the guitar line, but maybe the groove is taking me to that place. Either way, this shows P can play – not that there was ever any doubt.

From one single to the next, the two sides of Prince – the balladeer and the funk miester of Black Sweat. I’ve said it before and will say it again, no one works a drum machine as hard as P. The patterns he comes up with always sound fresh and inventive. And when you are working with such a base, you can only get better. This song brings out my inner soul brother. I start pulling that funk face and getting into the groove thinking of myself as way cooler than I am. A boost to the ego track no doubt. I pity the song that follows. Oh here comes my favourite part – that synth scream oooohweee.

Oh what do we have here? A vocoder intro can only be a good indication. Incense and Candles is smooth and its hooked me already and we’re only 10 seconds in. Nice intoxicating chorus and layering of vocals, and the verse effected vocals mixed with Tamar’s purity just float. I want to point out the percussion work on this track; it is sublime oh and based on the liner notes its all Prince. I love the reversed bass drum beat hidden in the flow of it all. This needs to be a single. You with me?

Love – this is funky – and with such a title I was expecting an adore style ballad. I love surprises. Again with Tamar as co-vocalist. Hear that chorus, that gently climb says, “hit”. I’m getting a sense of the album and that synth stab in the second verse is Interactive influenced. Ok so I’m gonna throw this out there, Tamar seems to be on here a fair bit, I wonder if these were song originally intended for her, but when P heard how cool they were he couldn’t put his baby up for adoption?!?!?! Oh are we just being introduced to her vocals so when her album drops our ears are tuned? I interrupt this thought with appreciation of the drum break down – classic prince programming. Yes this needs to be. OOOOOh shake that thing c’mon.

Satisfied – ok here is the super ballad. On the couch part 2, but for my ear a smoother and more focused ballad. No one milks a slow burn like Prince. Heralding the classic soul ballads of Otis, this song just lays it on the line and delivers. This is the kind of song (like adore) that sounds full and passionate equally with a band behind him or solo on the keys. This has concert crowd pleaser all over it.

Fury – endorphin machine with a bit more of a pop feel and tinged with 1999 synth lines – how can you go wrong with that mix. I can’t help but see the Brits performance in my head listening to this – and I only saw that performance once so this song obviously made an impression. It has a touch of the new wave sound that was around dirty mind and for some reason I’m hearing a touch of The Rolling Stones, don’t ask me why, just has that classic rock structure to it.

The opening beat to The Word is setting me up for instant love already. And that guitar and sax play off is sealing the deal. This is the 7 of the album. An beautiful singsong lyric with a deep as the ocean message. Love love love those layered vocals of the chorus. Prince is pulling out all tricks on the floating vocals, the reversed reverb punctuation of key words. Powerful production. The perfect mix of melody and instrumentation that seems to place you in the middle of the mix. Ok I’m counting another single here.

Beautiful Loved and Blessed – to be honest I’ve never really listened to this track as much as I did Black Sweat in the lead up to the album. It’s a soft pop beauty no doubt, but when set against BS I was always going to go to the funk side. Having said that this has a smoothness of Space and Love Sign which instantly makes it radio friendly, maybe for Tamar’s release, but I hope it’s held back from being a 3121 release. Props to the clarity of Prince’s vocals in this mix.

Listening to The Dance (a rework of the recording from NPGMC)is kinda hard for me just where I am at the moment in life. “If eye can’t b ur lover eye don’t want to be friends.” Love can mess you up for sure, and here it is in all the pain and joy it can bring. I love songs like this where Prince plays everything cause it’s like he’s using every instrument and track to extol the passion and pain inside. Expression in every note that’s played. The same kind of pain that made the beautiful ones so powerful, and here is that anguished scream again. Hot.

Get on the boat is pure funk, Pretty Man in a new tailored suit. A pure joy song with a hook that enrols you with every word.

I know I’ve kinda been listening to this album with a history of Prince tunes swirling around in my mind and sometimes I envy the music lover who is picking up a Prince album for the first time. Not having a back catalogue to reference and compare. I guess it’s natural to see influence and progression, but sometimes I wish I could listen to it with fresh ears and see what I hear. That said, this album feels more cohesive and confident. Less trying to prove a point and more just making it knowing there is nothing left to prove. Without the weight of having to make a “come back” it seems the load has been lightened and as a result the music seems fresher.

So as I see it, this is an album with 3 –4 more singles. Just enough time to support it til the next one, lol. I see myself wanting to go back straight away and listen to a few choice cuts, then hop on my kit and drum along to it. And that is always a good sign.

---- post note ----

Obviously the predictions of singles didn't come to pass, which is a shame because this album should have had a bigger appeal than it received, especially with his residency in Vegas. Also it seemed he was keen to move through the release and then bring out Planet Earth. But I still think there was more here than he saw.

Swa

nice read.... i love this album

ARock said:

What tracks excite you the most?

Swa

This is the album that introduced me to Prince. A delectible cornicopia of Prince partying, sexin U up and cooling you down, just in time to listen to the Word. I loved it immediately. At first the music took possession of my body and as I deciphered the words and studied the lyrics my heart intellect was confronted with salvation.

3121
Lolita
Te Amo Corazon
Black Sweat
Incense and Candles
Love
Satisfied
Fury
The Word
Beautiful, Loved and Blessed
The Dance
Get on the Boat

jill4life said:

A nice introduction to Prince - where did you go next. Did you go back to the beginning, or did you go to the peak, or a few albums back?

Swa

I Love it...and I celebrate this album like all of Prince's albums unique to themselves.

3121 is a very good Prince album, solid without any fillers. There's something to like about every song. After my first listens in 2006 Love and Lolita became my favorites. Then after perhaps a year Incense And Candles grew on me and became my new favorite and is to this day. Incense And Candles is so sophisticated and the music sounds special and very inspired. The rap adds a nice touch too.

Best songs in my opinion, in order: Incense And Candles, Love, Lolita, Satisfied and Te Amo Corazon.

I'm still digging 3121. He had a great run with it!!

Swa said:

I bought 3121 late in 2006 and followed it with the single Te Amo Corazon. After that I found Chaos & Disorder, Musicology and The Vault at a wrecka stow in L.A. Now no particular order -- of course I buy the new releases as they drop and continue picking up older CDs as I find them.

hated it on first listen. I was working in Hawaii temporarily at the time and I'd been reading about it a little bit on the org when it leaked, but my online time was limited. My bf sent me a CD copy in the mail, but there was a mix-up and they sent it back.

So I was finally able to get enough time online to dl a link he sent me. I don't know if it was all that anticipation and having to wait so long to get the leak, but I was totally underwhelmed by it. LOVED the title track. Black Sweat, Love, and The Word were instant stand-outs. Lolita and Incense & Candles made me want to punch something. Satisfied was warmed over On The Couch and a dozen others. Fury was a HUGE let-down after having seen him tear it up on SNL. Beautiful, Loved And Blessed is a nice number, but it goes on too long. I prefer the earlier version of The Dance because the 3121 version is too overwrought for its lyrical content and I'm not a fan of the latin vibe he's been obsessed with for the last 10 years. Te Amo Corazon and Get On The Boat...

And it's never really grown on me since. I still like Fury as a song, though the album version is lame. Still into 3121, Black Sweat, Love, BL&B, and The Word. And the rest I can completely do without.

It's my least favorite studio vocal album from him this decade, and I just can never warm to it. It's overproduced to within an inch its life: all of the spark, the fun, the energy is drained. I think that's why I like the few tracks from it that I do: because there's a bit of sparseness and rawness to them that the rest doesn't have.

I prefer Musicology and Planet Earth to this. And they suffer from some of the same problems, but I feel like the songwriting on those two were better and they aren't drowning in their own attempts at coolness. They have a fire to them that overproduction doused on 3121.

Classic album

the tracks I didn't like at first (B, L & B, Incense & Candles) are seriously growing on me.
[Edited 7/19/09 10:51am]

I have tried hard, but I don't like 3121 at all.

Black Sweat is great and 3121 is great when played live,

that's about it

Best of the 00's albums. (which REALLY doesn't mean that much)

Love, Black Sweat and The Word are the highlights of this album, the ballads are nothing spectacular and could have fit very well on PE.

After hearing the title track, i was worried that he had nowhere to go but down for the rest of the album..it was so hot..i had it on repeat before i even got to the next song and once i did get to lolita my frown went upside down quick.It was the drop off that i was fearing.I still dont know why he sung THAT song on american idol. but Black Sweat was hot.Maybe because of the video and the emptiness of the track,it was like Kiss-reloaded to me..and that was cool...the rest of the album went down the path i expected so i wasn't disappointed.Incense and Candles is a great song(he even got the rap part right) and I agree that I thought it would be a single.He can do a video for Te Amo Corazon but not that?.All in all it was a good listen and thats all i can ask for these days.

Pure Prince Power
When I got it on the first day of its release March 21st 2006, I played it non stop and loved it, it was just so brilliant, until PE and MPLsOUND dropped this was his best since Lovesexy (It was truly that good). From the shimmering brilliance of 3121 to the last horn squeak of Get on the Boat, it was a Prince party, great tight dance numbers, with a sexy ballad and lots of hornz along with a few feel good ballads made this a funky respite from a yuk time in my life (I broke up with my 2nd partner and was in a job I detested).
I also remember we all posted panegyrics about it on the org for weeks, everyone was just blown away by it.
Best songs Lolita, Black Sweat (OMG Love, Beautiful Loved and Blessed, The Dance, the rest is pretty good too. Its a shame it wasn't a bigger singles hit (It was a #1 but only one week and dropped quite fast thanks to disposable rappers running the charts)
A true 2000's classic - A- (The only A of the post 1992 period)

Huggiebear said:

..... tastes are different, lol

Prince power? the only A since 1992....?

I respect your opinion, I just strongly disagree lol....

Since 1992:

the masterpiece The Gold Experience (10/10) is far better, more powerful,
The Rainbow Children (9/10)....
Crystal Ball (9/10),
even Emancipation (8/10)

is better than 3121 (6/10).

I wish I could hear what is so great albout 3121...

thedance said:

That is the great part of discussing the music - you may hear what others don't in your favourite albums, and others may hear something in the ones you don't get. No point of view is more important.

Swa

thedance said:

Sorry I 4got about Crystal Ball, another A (But mostly for its 80s material like Crucial, Last Heart and Good Love. TGE I gave a nearly equal mark and Emancipation was ok a B- and Come nearly as good as 3121, I think u know my views on the Rainbow Children (Hated it!)
But I am really an early Prince fan, choosing between a90s album and a pre lovesexy one, it will be the older one always - But I have to realise he won't be turning out Dirty Mind and 1999 style albums anymore

3121 to me was like Musicology part II. Another coherent album with strong songs from beginning to end, not necessarily better than Musicology but not worse either. That album made his only american number 1 album in 17 years and that has something to do with the quality of the album itself and also with the fact that he was back in the public eye after Musicology.
The album opens pretty strongly with 3121, a very Prince sounding funky number with a strong instrumental towards the end and the Camille voice in use for the first time in years. Right from this song you know this is a Prince album.
I used to like Lolita in the beginning but I got tired of it very fast. Now I mostly skip it. This is probably one of the weakest tracks on the cd.
Te Amo Corazon was the first single and a very bizzare choice as this is an OK but somehow bland ballad. This had no chance at all to become a hit.It's OK but nothing more
Black Sweat was the second single and if Prince had one song in the 00s with real potential hitting the Top 40, this should be it. The melody is pure Prince but the funky beat behind makes the real difference here. Probably the best song to dance Prince made for years, not as good as early 90s stuff such as Sexy MF but still quite good. Shame it didn't become a hit.
Incense And Candles is another highlight on the album. A mellow sexy R&B little number, this one should have been a single (it wasn't). Even better than Black Sweat.
Love is a big fan favourite around here but personally I don't see why. It is an OK kind of dance song, reminiscent slightly of I Wanna Melt With You but not as good and it goes on for a bit too long. It is OK though
Satisfied is the obligatory R&B/soul ballad which seems to appear in every Prince album at the time, it's a bit like Call My Name part II and I guess that was to be expected since Call My Name was the biggest US hit from Musicology. I think this is not as good as Call My Name but it's pretty close.
Now Fury is the big rock song on the album and a surprisingly third single. This is an amazing song (my favourite on this album) but one without any hit potential. This evokes memories of Bambi and Darlin' Nicky from back in the 80s and that's not a bad thing at all.
The Word is another winner on the album. Once again a religious message musically this is a pure Prince groove which keeps on growing to you for months. Beautiful.
I have to admit that on first listen Beautiful Loved and Blessed sounded like another bland ballad to me. But this one (unlike Te Amo Corazon) has grown on me and now I consider it one of the best songs on this album.Mellow, classy and romantic.
And the strong songs keep on coming. The Dance is another winner in my book, similar to the Word in mood but different enough to stand on its own. Georgeous
The closing track Get On The Boat sounds made especially for live performances. Jazzy, with a long instrumental wouldn't sound out of place somewhere in the Musicology tour. Not as good as the previous four songs but pretty good all the same.
3121 was a good album but not as good as Musicology because of the first half. The second half is great. But another good reward for us who stayed with Prince through the rough 90s.

This is another great post 2003 album from Prince. For me ever since Musicology he has been on a pretty good roll. I would probably rank Musicology and Planet Earth above 3121 because I find those two albums to be a bit more consistent. I'd definitely rank Lotusflow3r above 3121 and MPLSoUND just below 3121. I think that the first four songs are so good that they tend to overshadow the rest of the album. "Incense And Candles," "Love" and "Beautiful, Loved And Blessed" are the only weak tracks on the disc. I do like the acoustic take on "Love" much better than the album version. As others have pointed out "Fury" does seem a bit tame on the album but it is still a great track. I'm not sure which take of "The Dance" I like better, they both have their merits. Overall, a very solid album and I have to say that I am very happy with Prince's music circa 2004-2009.

I think 3121 is the best album Prince has done in the 00's by a mile every song is awesome (My favourite is Fury) next would be lotusflow3r and then planet earth and then MPLSound with Musicology next i think the 00's are better than most of the 90's the exceptions being The Gold Experience and , Diamonds And Pearls and Come 3121 was the album that made me a diehard fan

rialb said:

Although I mostly disagree with your song preferences on the album I completely agree with your post 2003 album rankings

aiden3121 said:

I seem to overlook 3121 a bit when I pull out albums to play, but when I do I am always rewarded by how strong the album is and how pure the mix is.

Swa

NEVER understood why Black Sweat was not a HUGE hit! But after all, we are in an era where artist like Kanye and lil Wayne are called "Genius"

joseph8 said:

Exactly. I thought it had all the elements required. I would have loved to have heard some remixes of it.

Swa

nice.

3121 is quickly climbing the list of my favorite Prince albums.

This album always reminds me of a particularly fun evening in Vegas.

Swa said:

It was a hit in my house cause I was rocking that joint out. I think the video didn't have enough movement which didn't help it out in that regard but if Prince doesn't want to dance anymore he just doesn't have to. Some people said that the high pitch sound drove them crazy but it was a unique jam that I had never heard before and it made want to get my behind out the chair and dance. But LOVE should have been a single and I hope if and when he goes on tour that he will at least play it live beit the acoustic version or cd version which is so funky that it just stank.

Genesia said:

The 3121 Vegas shows were the jam, and that after party Genesia, I am sure you'll never forget. So close. And Sheila - oh la la.

Swa

Swa said:

That party was the shit...no doubt about it.

As for Sheila - yes, ooh la la. In fact, I had to switch places with my sweetie during that part, so he could see her better. After watching me over Prince all evening, I felt he had earned it.