MPLSound is okay at best.
i absolutely loathe "chocolate box" though

It's growing on me

LotusFlower is good

MPLsound is ok i like a few songs off this album (i LOVE the artwork though )

the 3rd cd just blows

nosajd said:

Really don't like the first 2 songs but I can play the rest through and enjoy them.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

I dig Dance 4 Me, No More Candy 4 U and Ol' Skool Company as well, but MPLSound is the first Prince album since Rave where I felt he really delivered with the slow jams (apart from Ur Gonna C Me - which is in no way interesting enough to justify being on two Prince albums).
[Edited 12/2/09 1:52am]

Mplsound is a rare perfect pop record that doesn't come around anymore. Not even when pop king was around for his latter years.

Revolution said:

You share my view

it's okay 8/10

IMO the entire Lotusflow3r collection is beautiful.

Um....I like it even more now hearing live versions of Dance 4 Me, Old School Company, and No More Candy 4 U on the All Day All Night boot....fantastic. it shows that these songs are more complex than just made on a drum machine especially No More Candy. Dance 4 Me has to be the best tune he released since Black Sweat.

I believe "HERE" should have been the first single. That song is so awesome! He sings it straight from the heart and his voice cries out at the end.

I jam MPLSound on the way to work everyday and LOTUS on the way home. It gets me ready for the day.

I was in the doctors office a few months ago and i read a magazine,I think it was ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY and i read the review for the 3 disc set and it said that there wasnt enough great songs to fit one disc and the only song worth listening to "Ur Gonna C Me"

No its a not a good record, its an absolutely fucking brilliant one!
[Edited 12/2/09 13:28pm]

zobilamouche said:

-----
I guess some of you missed the memo but this CD is suppose to be a fun party record. I don't listen to party records for deep insight. You got the other disc for the social commentary. Nothing is wrong with this disc. It is probaly his best stuff in years the only thing wrong was the lack of promotion and the fact he went independent so very few people had the chance to hear it.

When I first got the set, MPLSound was immediately the first disc I went for based on the title alone. I was under the impression that it was going to be a return to form, but unfortunately I found the album to be a watered down, paint-by-numbers, and overproduced version of the Minneapolis Sound. I think Valentina, No More Candy 4 U, and Dance 4 Me are fun (especially the latter two live), but the rest of the songs are unbearable for me.

On the flip-side, Lotusflow3r is absolutely one of my favorite albums, and restored my faith in Prince's ability to make a great album, so it's not all bad.

I like it...I just don't feel like it has the flow that "LotusFlow3r," has.

Loutus is longer with 12 tracks, and MPLSound with 9 tracks.

I do prefer Lotus flow3r to MPLS sound..BUT...I love MPLS sound..its my man Prince doin what others do... but doin it better...LOVE the name checkin'...by the way..when he mentions "Nicole"..on Old school co., saying she aint invited and niether is her man...do you think he's reffering to Nicole Ritchie...(Shiela E.'s biological neice)?

laurarichardson said:

Well, I play the album and I'm quite happy with the whole lotusflower project (having made the good choice not to enlist on his site), but there's and edgy playfulness that's missing. I don't think it's a really bad record but it does point out the fantastic level of the older material in contrast.

I agree with the OP.

IMO MPLsound is one of his worst albums ever. It belongs in my top 5 of weakest Prince albums (together with Come, New Power Soul, Rave and The Rainbow Children).

Why?

The songwriting / quality of the compositions is below mediocre or simply very poor, especially on the dance / funk-songs:
The two first songs are as bland and bad as any recent Black Eyed Peas song, Valentina is mere kiddies-pop, Old Skool Company just drags along and along and along (like Come On did on New Power Soul), No More Candy for U sounds like a forced and unfortunate attempt at another Jack U off or Horny Toad, and Dance 4 me is way, way overrated on the Org. A b-side from the eighties like Feel U Up
is far better then it.
The ballads are a bit better composed, but they suffer from cheesy, dated production, and music- and lyricwise they dont offer anything new compared to the dozens of ballads Prince did put out before.

The album might be named 'MPLsound' but using the Linn-drummmachine and those 'synths-that are clearly sounding-as-synths' again, doenst automatically mean the music is on level with the Minneapolis sound from the eighties:
Its about HOW you use these devices. In the eighties Prince created intricate, intelligent sounding drum patterns with the Linn. The Linn-beats on MPLsound are way too simple and bland as hell.
The same goes with the way he is using the synths: On MPLsound he seems more obsessed with 'copying' what is popular in the charts (Black Eyed Peas, other contemporary R&B crap) then going for his own sound, based on his own artistic merits.

Most of the lyrics are annoying and cringeworthy:
It gets very tiresome when a 50 yo acts likes he 'can get all the chickies' by bragging like some 15yo (Never be another one like me, Chocolate Box), and whats new about the forced quasi-sexy lyrics of Dance 4 Me? He has done it dozens of time before. Way too easy and predictable
Its like his lyrics have been degenerating since Sign of Times. On that album he sounded like he was maturing as a person, a person you could sometimes even relate too as an individual. Since then it has mostly gone downhill: all posure and surface (wether it comes to sexual or religious subjects).

Final verdict: 4 out of 10.

Riverpoet31 said:

Yes, the Rainbow Children is one of his worst albums.

I have posted my opinions on that album on numerous threads allready.

Riverpoet31 said:

That's why Prince is sooooo special...TRC is in my top 5 albums of all time Prince albums. He's got something for everyone

Wrong. MPLS is fantastic.

It's ok for what it is I guess.

It was originally the the one I liked the most from the set. All the songs were immediately likeable. I'm a sucker for the synth sound in music, so the fact that many of the tracks featured lots of synth made me happy.

But it didn't do well on repeated spins. One thing I notice is if I leave the album alone for a while and spin it again, I enjoy it more--but I can't play it more than once without skipping tracks.

I disliked old skool company and still don't care for it too much. But sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't--mostly don't.

I think it's fantastic.

I'm a massive fan of the true MPlSound from the 1980's,The Time, Jesse,RFTW,Mazarati,Jak, Exotic Storm,QT Hush,Sam Bostic etc.

So when Prince named the album MPLSound I was excited, but I didn't really expect it to sound like it was recorded between 1982-1988, And it doesn't. I think if you were realy hoping for that you are going to be disappointed to some extent. He might have been btter off naming the album differently.


But it's a great Funky Pop album. The drum programming is great, I love the production on the album overall. There some great guitar on the album also and great use of background vocals on U're Gonna C Me and Better With Time.

Not a weak moment on the album my top picks

There'll Never Be (Another Like Me)
Chocolate Box
Dance 4 Me
U're Gonna C Me
Here
Valentina

I loved 3121 and MPLSound is on a par with it for the best albums of this decade and his best two albums since Lovesexy.
[Edited 12/5/09 23:49pm]

it contains a few songs that i really enjoy. i´d say it´s uneven, but not bad

True, its not as good as Lotus Flower or the Rainbow children, however it was sold together as an extra deal. There are enough songs on there that I like and they wouldnt have fitted on Lotus all together.

No more Candy - cool popppy - enjoyable for Prince fans who understand his music
Choc box - cute enough
Here
Better with time
U r gonna C me - all perfect tracks in my opinion -

The other tracks I dont listen to.

Riverpoet31 said:

Prince said: SAY IT TO MY FACE!!

i liked it alot at first, but tired of it hella quick . just other shit i've been on, i guess . still says it's okay . it's no 3121, but it works