Act I

Three is a magical number, and the new album of Prince is made of three very different discs in one package. Elixer primarily showcases Bria Valente's voice over Prince' beats and melodies, while LOtUSFLOW3R and MPLSoUND are first and foremost Prince in nearly all roles: producer, composer and performer. The album counts thirty-one songs and lasts more than two hours, but be aware that it'll be difficult for you to resist to give it more than the usual spins at first listening. This is a galaxy of songs, and if you're in love with adventures you'll be ready to explore and go deep and deeper into the visions of an artist like no other. Here you'll find gems that rival the best of him, and soon you'll fall in love with songs like Home, Another Boy, Immersion, Elixer, Boom, Crimson And Glover, 4ever, Colonized Mind, Feel Good Feel Better Feel Wonderful, Wall Of Berlin, $, Dreamer, Chocolate Box, U're Gonna C Me, Better With Time and Ol' Skool Company - and like me you'll dance like crazy to these lines:

"Put this thing on repeat, go back 2 1 and just...move ur feet
And tell ur friends, Prince and the Minneapolis sound, we can't be beat
Suckas!"



Act II

Act I was about the mind, Act II is about the heart. The heart knows better, and these are songs dreams are made of: Better With Time, Ol' Skool Company, U're Gonna C Me, Dreamer, 4ever, Boom, Elixer and Immersion are just a few examples of songs that grow and unfold with each listening, and until now I gave them a frequency of spins in my iTunes like I gave the best, the immortal tunes of this artist: When Doves Cry, Kiss, If I Was Your Girlfriend and The Most Beautiful Girl In The World. But this shall not be about comparing, it is about listening to your heart and trying to feel the world turn, like Prince sung before in a nearly unknown song called Moonbeam Levels.
LOtUSFLOW3R in its 3-disc-experience is able to give me this feeling, and I'm sure it's able to give it to many of you, too. Just push play.



Act III

Act III is about the perception of the soul, and the soul is a wild thing, free at last, up and above mind and heart, up and above all.
The soul knows no rules, no boundaries, and so this is the real way to listen to LOtUSFLOW3R: Just go into shuffle mode on your iPod and let the adventure begin! Every single adventure is different from the one before, and the possible combinations tend to infinity. This one starts with Ol' Skool Company, and I'll let the story unfold. The beat is the pulse, and the melody creates all the colours, the guitar forms the images and I rise up on a big white cloud. The sight is awesome, oceans and mountains beneath my feet, and the sun's shining bright and is smiling down on me. I'm nearly sure that I could touch her without burning my fingers, but sometimes watching a beautiful thing is enough. Sometimes my guitar is a funky weapon, and although I never played before I do it really good, 'cause in my dreams I can, everything's possible.

"Put this thing on repeat, go back 2 1 and just...move ur feet
And tell ur friends, Prince and the Minneapolis sound, we can't be beat
Suckas!"

Next comes a tune sung by Bria Valente, Something U Already Know, and I'm in a jazz club swinging along to the sound, just not taking my eyes off the beautiful singer and wishing she'd see me before the evening's done.
Third is A Colonized Mind, and I watch a world full of people running around like crazy, never finding a place where they can rest until finally they realize: "Without God it's just the blind leading the blind."
Then there goes a gigolo truly believing in himself, a man like a stray cat, hot and horny and really convincing: There'll Never Be Another Like Me. And he's right because deep from the bottom of his heart he believes he's right. So take it like you want, go back to 1 and start all over again, and you'll find new and different stories all the time, and all the images set by the tunes will blow your mind and impress you like a rotating kaleidoscope of life. If someone's able to let collide real life with the best of your dreams, it's the sign of a really great and unforgettable album.

did not read this

can you break it down for me?

japanrocks said:

Sure. Everytime!

just makes u wanna scratch your head and go....huh?

lol i too had alot of enthisiasm for the project-HAD-its now sadly pretty much gone-along with my $77.....hopefully-something will happen and the passion will return-but right now-i think i don't really care for the deeper meaning of it all other than-wheres my freaking value for money buddy ?

chewymusic said:

I only really like Mpls sound, act 1

I liked how you broke it don into Acts: Mind, Heart and Soul.

Nice Review.

squirrelgrease said:

Ha ha ha !

Tame said:

me too, amazing review. One of the best written ones.

BeautifulExperience said:

Excellent!however, pls explain the "melody creates the colours". I remember an interview Prince did and he said Joni Mitchell taught him about colour and how gratiful he was to her....

Tame said:

Thank you.

WetDream said:

Thanks very much!

colonized mind had me at the intro...whoa!!! head sprung... and $ was so joyful i love swing!!

ScarLett said:

There are a lot of joyful tunes on the new discs, and there are so many catchy passages that make you smile from first listening on. $ is great, playful and deep at the same time.

4bjb said:

Thanks for your feedback!
I just can explain it in the way I did above. I react listening to the melodies, and immediately they show up as something different, something colourful in my mind and form images that translate into stories.

I disagree with almost everything you posted, but really like Lotusflow3r despite.


This is not a singular work, nor does it work well on shuffle. This is 3 very distinct albums with 3 very distinct intentions.

Lotusflow3r is Prince's art-rock album, and the one most deserving of being a proper album release on its own. Oddly, I liked MPLSound more on first listen, but the feeling quickly wore off on repeat listening cause the bad tracks weight down the good tracks too heavily.

MPLSound is a Prince having fun again. Add some nice synth parts and funky grooves. It falls short of a great album, but is far better than much of his recent output with that regards. It's a lot of fun, if not impressive.

Elixir made me laugh out loud when I first listened to it. This , of all 3 albums, is the only one that desperately needs to be released with something stronger--in this case the 2 Prince albums.
Upon repeat listening (I did this almost out of obligation), the album actually isn't half bad. It's an album that neither excites nor offends the ear. A safe, poppy, boring album, with nice moments in it--much like 99% of the garbage on radio. At least with Elixir, it has a bit of Prince's signature touch to it.


Overall, for 12 bucks, Lotusflow3r is a great, great bargain, and deserves a wider audience. Prince has released his strongest material in years.