i can understand musicology , planet earth , 3121 and whatever other album in the last 10 to 15 years not getting great reviews from the music critics but i cant understand why LOTUSFLOWER (the single disc) was not reviewed better by people who should really know better......when i read some of the reviews....i cant believe its the same album they are talking about ???.....all the albums above got BETTER critical reviews than LOTUSFLOWER....i cant understand that.....

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http://www.metacritic.com...r?q=prince

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They didn't like it because some people have different opinions then others?...

Most of those reviews are for the whole set, and certainly Bria's disc brings it down, as well as the number of Prince-by-numbers songs on <i>MPLSound</i>.

I'm getting 31 songs, of which 7 or 8 are suitable for repeat. Not a good batting average.

Which reviews specifically did you think were off-target?

They didn't like it cuz it isn't good.

TheRIP said:

They didn't like it cuz it isn't good.

It actually is good, so you're kinda wrong, kthxbai.

I read some good reviews on it.

I think the reviews were mixed but mostly positive.

You have to blame the material--not the critics. They're doing their job.

billymeade said:

Most of those reviews are for the whole set, and certainly Bria's disc brings it down, as well as the number of Prince-by-numbers songs on <i>MPLSound</i>.

I'm getting 31 songs, of which 7 or 8 are suitable for repeat. Not a good batting average.

Which reviews specifically did you think were off-target?

just thought the single disc deserved better reviews...i find i generally agree with critics overall views on albums....prince's 80s albums almost always got great reviews.....would like to see him getting some props from the critics when he does something great.....the fans recognise the lotusflower album was his best in many a year....maybe i shouldnt care ....

they didn't give it a chance

WetDream said:

It's the most talented album set released in a long time. A critic (not that they mean shit) did say it was more creative than 95% of other artists out there. Lotusflow3r set is an unbelievable, extremely talented production that NOT ONE other artist could do nor pull off, regardless of whether you like it or not. Another high in Prince's career and will be appreciated over time just like his past work, which were also mainly critised upon release.

Based on what is out there now it's awesome...based on Prince's music IN THE PAST..it's ok...based on what you think ..only matters.

I liked it..more than Mplsound and I agree with your post

[Edited 7/19/10 10:27am]

It wasnt all that great. While was nice to hear him jam on the guitar again, most of the tracks are quite forgettable. I think the closest in "sound" to this one is SOTT but without SOTT stand out tracks of BODP, S&C, ICNTTPOYM, SOTT, PITS, Adore, Beautiful Night, etc).

Its like SOTT, if it all sounded like "It" and "Slow Love"...

blackbob said:

i can understand musicology , planet earth , 3121 and whatever other album in the last 10 to 15 years not getting great reviews from the music critics but i cant understand why LOTUSFLOWER (the single disc) was not reviewed better by people who should really know better......when i read some of the reviews....i cant believe its the same album they are talking about ???.....all the albums above got BETTER critical reviews than LOTUSFLOWER....i cant understand that.....

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http://www.metacritic.com...r?q=prince

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Show me 10 critics that like or love Prince's LoTUSFLOW3R album and I'll show you 10 more critics who do not like it. It's a matter of personal taste.

who listen's to music critics?

ozone14 said:

who listen's to music critics?

i find their views important in discovering great music past and present....i dont have time to listen to every album that comes out so i use music critics views on what is worth checking out......arcade fire's album funeral...for example....i discovered that from the great reviews it was getting from canadian critics and i got it on import and it became my favourite album of the decade....long before they had any success here in the uk.....it just helps finding good music....and finding the great music from the past...... the site i use mainly is www.acclaimedmusic.net .....great site and a good guide ....

[Edited 7/19/10 11:12am]

blackbob said:

ozone14 said:

who listen's to music critics?

i find their views important in discovering great music past and present....i dont have time to listen to every album that comes out so i use music critics views on what is worth checking out......arcade fire's album funeral...for example....i discovered that from the great reviews it was getting from canadian critics and i got it on import and it became my favourite album of the decade....long before they had any success here in the uk.....it just helps finding good music....and finding the great music from the past...... the site i use mainly is www.acclaimedmusic.net .....great site and a good guide ....

[Edited 7/19/10 11:12am]

I agree 100% - Critics are mostly useless, but they do help you discover music you may have never knew existed. It's impossible to listen to every piece of released music.

I think though that most of us on this board have observational bias and therefore can't truly understand where a critic is coming from in regards to Prince.

Not his greatest album, but his ability to do two discs in a single year (let's ignore the Bria disc) that are so totally different in style still says a lot about his abilities vs other musicians.

And on top of that, I like both of them.

I don't get the hate for the album either. Lots of flavor and great production... I liked it at first and its grown on me even more.

Prince has had worse press than this. The reviews for this one were actually quite positive, meaning some even gave three and a half stars out of five.

But the thing about music critics is that they always tend to go way back to things like Purple Rain and when they do that, their reviews tend to have a copy&paste feeling.

I'm also sure that some of these journalists don't even listen to all the albums they are supposed to be reviewing, and if they do, they frequently use fast forward button. Also, the way people are listening to music in general have changed over the years.

[Edited 7/19/10 12:08pm]

its the best album hes made in a long time, but that doesnt mean its great. its OK.

I'm not being dismissive of your question, which is most definitely valid. But really, I don't care what critics think anymore.

First, the day and age of the honest (and some would say important) critic has passed. Once upon a time critics were trained and/or schooled in the arts they were critiquing. That is DEFINITELY no longer the case. Now days anybody who has access to the internet can be a critic (possibly even achieving "fame" for their hateful nonsense) and they don't all deserve that right. There are music/entertainment blogs written by people who have ZERO journalism, writing or musical training that are read by more people than the review sections of magazines and newspapers. Most places where you buy ANY item online allow the consumer to instantly become a critic (one whose words will actually be read and have an impact on future costumers).

Second, Prince has always been an artist that critics loved to pick apart. Since the days around Purple Rain when he achieved super stardom there has been a pretty consistent critical backlash against everything he's released. SOTT is one of the rare exceptions where I remember most critics absolutely LOVING the release. And there's the few critics who have remained fans of his work, so they're able to give honest, heartfelt reviews (not always good, not always bad). But mostly, critics just shit on the dude and think they're clever because they said something in the article about his height, the color purple, or how he's a "consumate performer in a live setting, but his albums just don't equal that greatness".

This is a positive review:

http://www.slate.com/id/2215000

I generally find reviews from critics and other people give me little indication whether or not I'll like something... movies or music...

It looks like they i guess rightly bulked all three as their reviews. Most had the single disk Lotusflo3r as the strongest.

I think the more serious reviewers were pretty much spot on. The single disk Lotus is not a catchy poppy disk for the faint of heart and apart from a few amazing tracks it did have some amazingly bad ones too that drag the disk down a couple of notches.

Interestingly Entertainment weekly was mostly alone in proclaiming Mplsound the best.

[Edited 7/19/10 22:40pm]

It's an album that required repeat listens.

Journo's are music-industry connected and don't appreciate Prince selling albums for $10 at Target.

I have noticed all his truly independent efforts (TRC, 20TEN etc) tend to get mauled or ignored, whereas albums like '3121' and 'Musicology' are more reviewed and rated.

Can we find a critic who actually LISTENED to Lotus Flow3r ???? We can find a bunch who at least say they HEARD the 3 cds. Finding anyone who actually listened to all 3 takes some work. I would assume that with press deadlines, and the chore of listening to 3 full cds to write a review would make most simply hear a few tracks, and just write some slop, and click submit. If Prince is not your musical passion, then carefully reviewing 3 discs is a chore. If someone handed me 3 cds of Oasis, I would probably never hear each track, I just never cared for them. Nearly every review I read had very little to say about more than one or two individual songs. Most reviews of Prince's music in the last 15 years either focused too much attention on his name change game, what outfits he was wearing, or something else that had nothing to do with the MUSIC.

Sadly, even the reviews that were even slightly about MUSIC went on and on about Purple Rain, 1999, SOTT, etc. It is pretty sad when it is hard to tell what cd the "Reviewer" is actually reviewing!!!