having listened to both albums again this week...i cant believe anyone would think that mplsound is better than lotusflower...??....i think that lotusflower.... despite being far from his best....is his best album since gold experience...although i like some stuff on mplsound....overall i would have been very disapointed if this had been released on its own.....the first two tracks are weak imo ....picks up a bit towards the end with old skool and candy but weak overall....lotusflower has some very good moments and his guitar playing is a joy to listen to .....cant believe the critics reviewed lotus the weaker of the two discs but they dont always get it right...

blackbob said:

Well i think both have some good on them, but Prince can do better look at 3121 and Musicology plus its coming up on a year already since it's been relesed 2 and i think it's time for a really good cd from PRINCE - he owes us

There's no accounting for taste. People actually like 3121 and Musicology, if you can believe that.

They're both decent (which is more than I can say for Musicology or 3121).

They just don't excite.

LF is definitely better than MPLSound. It's more cohesive and fun. Of course we will never get another Purple Rain or 1999, but I look at it this way: Manic Street Preachers will never record another Holy Bible, but their last albums are still great. We can be glad that we could say the same thing about Prince..at least he's not doing the same music as Lil'Wayne

Personally, I hear 'Lotusflow3r' as one of his best albums ever. With musical genres becoming more and more generic and homogenized, and music listening trends becoming based on singles (as opposed to an artist's album), reviewing anything by Prince is bound to result in inconsistent musical reporting. Indeed, just as diverse as Prince's music is, so are the various reviews.

I am sorry. I could only like maybe 2 songs between the 3 CDs. It sounded dated to me. The MPLS sounded like Prince pretending to be old Prince
Not my cup of tea.We may never get another '1999' or 'SOTT' I would settle for a 'Come' ( which I loved at this point)

Giovanni777 said:

Dead on it.

Agreed. Lotus set is a friggin benchmark, Musicology/3121 were just great and talented pop albums, Planet Earth is subjective but, the Lotus set is beyond it all! No other right now has the capacity to do a Lotus other than the most complete virtuoso in popular music history, Prince.
[Edited 1/20/10 7:02am]

i have to disagree there, both have fair share of beauties which slung together would have made one nice winner

Giovanni777 said:

I agree! I actually think both albums are superb.

I got better reviews for Lotus than Mplsound when it first came out, I am not sure what u are talking about


Deservingly so....If Mplsound was more experiemental in it's slow jams I think there would have been more praise from me.

I think they both suck dead donkey dicks.

After having these albums for almost a year, I just can't seem to get into them as 3 different albums. I like a lot of tracks between the 3 cds (lotus, mpls and elixer), but I think I would have rather had a double disc set of solid material.

I guess it's just a matter of what types of music you dig. I think if u r mostly an r&b fan, you'll like MPLS. If your tastes lean toward the rock side more, then you'll like Lotus. So, it's just a matter of personal taste.

I Love both "Musicology," and "3121."

I Prefer "LotusFlow3r," to "MplSound."

paisleypark4 said:

.
metacritic....gives a score for overall music critic's reviews....
lotusflower 61/100 .....mplsound 62/100.....
.
http://www.metacritic.com...r?q=prince
.
http://www.metacritic.com...d?q=prince

about to dust them all off for a 3rd go round . was thinking of trying to give them away tho ...

Elixer = better than both

Veego said:

that's a bold statement.

well... Lotusflow3r > Elixer > MPLsound

Veego said:

I can see why you would say that. I love "Something U Already Know" more than any ballad on the 3 albums.

MPLSound and Lotus - I love both equally, 8/10 to both.

I still haven't listened to Bria's album yet.

And yes I like half of Musicology, the first half of the album is great, imo.

But not Life O' The Party and Cinnamon Girl.... nono I don't like these, and I don't like the 3121 album, either.

thedance said:

You're missing out if you haven't listened to Bria's album.

When you listen to it, I suggest that you approach it with an open mind and block out all you've read here on the org and come to your own conclusions. There are some really good songs on there. "Something U Already Know" is one of the sexiest songs Prince has ever written.

PurpleJane said:

Totally agree! He could have put out 1 great album, with the best of each. LF wins it 4 me if U had 2 choose.

jamiestarthief said:

It's the old 1 disc Emancipation argument again. Yes, he could have made a fantastic 1 disc set for me, but it might then have been shit to you. That's why I'd always take the quantity, I can make my own favourites into a compilation and everyone else can do the same.

Having said that, the Lotusflow3r album is pretty much fine as it is, I'd only drop 77 Beverly Park and even then that one has its time.
[Edited 1/20/10 16:12pm]

daPrettyman said:

I agree it's very well produced and performed, I like to sit back with a glass of wine or a blunt and chill to it. MAYBE THATS WHY I LIKE IT!?
[Edited 1/20/10 19:53pm]

Lotus is one of his best albums for sure.

Msound is by far one of the worst albums in the history of music. I really find it pathetic. Something 90's prince would have dredged out.
I hate to sound so negative about it but for me it's just bottom of the barrel. I have no idea what any of those Meta-critics are on or how much they were paid.
[Edited 1/20/10 20:19pm]

I guess i prefer Lotus to MPLS. The psychedelic feel of the opening tracks of Lotus always drag me in2 what could've been a great album if P kept the music ethereal... And really dig the closing track Back in2 the Lotus...

I love Prince's funky side but, try as I might, there are too many songs on MPLSound that I just don't want to hear. Lotusflow3r to me is a much weightier effort - I love it when Prince stretches out beyond his standard pop formula (see PE, Musicology). Like Rainbow Children, LF seems like a more mature effort, musically at least.

TheEnglishGent said:

Very well said. Some people here rant and rave about the oddest Prince songs and completely ignore songs that I think are amongst his best. Each person likes what they like.

violetblues said:

fixed

starbuck said:

I couldn't get why the first and last trax went so early ont he survivor here on the org. The track that stops LF from being a killer album is 4Ever - that shit is almost as embarrassing as Arms of Orion!