donnyenglish said:

The strength of these albums is that they both have a bunch of very good songs. If I were to be critical, neither song has that instant classic. Perhaps Million Days and Call My Name on Musicology. Perhaps Fury on 3121. But, in fairness to the 80’s crowd, there is no Lady Cab Driver, Computer Blue, Sometimes It Snows, If I was Ur Girlfriend or Anna Stesia on either album. But, the rest of the tracks are very good.

Completely agree... Although everyone has their on opinion... I can not ever say this is one of his BEST albums.

As a matter of fact I'd never dare to say Musicology or 3121 should even be mentioned amongst his BEST.

feeluupp said:

Moonbeam said:

These two albums finished very close together in the recent album poll I hosted: 3121 finished as the 18th most beloved Prince studio album, and Musicology finished as the 20th most beloved.

I have a pretty strong preference for 3121, which I think is one of his best post-80s albums. It has the mainstream appeal of Musicology but returns with the Princely weirdness that I felt was lacking in Musicology. I rate 3121 an 8.8/10 (11th on my list of Prince studio albums) and Musicology a 7.1/10 (29th).

Agreed, kinda sorta I've thought of Musicology as the weird(er) one tho, maybe it was too straight forward or commercial & that was weird to me

donnyenglish said:

feeluupp said:

Completely agree... Although everyone has their on opinion... I can not ever say this is one of his BEST albums.

As a matter of fact I'd never dare to say Musicology or 3121 should even be mentioned amongst his BEST.

I would say that they are both arguably better than Parade, ATWIAD and Lovesexy. Less A+ songs but many more B+ songs.

How about they are better albums than say Rave and NPS...

For Me, Musicology gets MORE spins than 3121! But I ALWAYS skip "Life Of The Party"! The LIVE version (w/the "Hot Pants" groove) was DOPE tho'!!!

donnyenglish said:

feeluupp said:

Completely agree... Although everyone has their on opinion... I can not ever say this is one of his BEST albums.

As a matter of fact I'd never dare to say Musicology or 3121 should even be mentioned amongst his BEST.

I would say that they are both arguably better than Parade, ATWIAD and Lovesexy. Less A+ songs but many more B+ songs.

out loud?

really?

macaylasdad said:

MoBettaBliss said:

donnyenglish said:

MoBettaBliss said:

out loud?

really?

I will compare Musicology vs Parade from top to bottom. Sometimes it Snows better than Million Days Anotherlover better than Call My Name Mountains better than Musicology Cinnamon Girl better than Kiss The Marrying Kind better than Girls and Boys Reflection is better than Life Can be so Nice Illusion Pimp and Circumstances better than Under the Cherry Moon Venus de milo better than Dear Mr Man If Eye Was The Man in Ur life better than New Position On the couch better than I wonder you Do u lie better than Life of the party I think the two albums are comparable. [Edited 1/30/19 17:08pm]

u lost all relevance after saying Cinammon Girl is better than Kiss

I like them both, for different reasons. Though, I do lean more toward 3121 because I see as more spiritual in a sense, than the Musicology album. (I tend to lean more towards his spiritual music.)

And I do mean "spiritual" not "religious".

[Edited 1/30/19 22:45pm]

I think 3121 does come within striking distance of his 80s glory, enough that I rank it ahead of a few of the 80s albums (Around the World in a Day, The Black Album, and Batman), but Musicology falls well short of his 80s glory for me. Still a decent album, but it isn't nearly as hallowed.

feeluupp said:

donnyenglish said:

MoBettaBliss said:

out loud?

really?

I will compare Musicology vs Parade from top to bottom. Sometimes it Snows better than Million Days Anotherlover better than Call My Name Mountains better than Musicology Cinnamon Girl better than Kiss The Marrying Kind better than Girls and Boys Reflection is better than Life Can be so Nice Illusion Pimp and Circumstances better than Under the Cherry Moon Venus de milo better than Dear Mr Man If Eye Was The Man in Ur life better than New Position On the couch better than I wonder you Do u lie better than Life of the party I think the two albums are comparable. [Edited 1/30/19 17:08pm]

thanks for the laugh!

That's like having two children and having to pick more beautiful one!

Not even close, for me. All about that 3121. Disagree that there are no giants on it, too. The title track is that classic joint ya lookin' for.

Musicology for me. The only songs off 3121 I care about are the title track and Black Sweat (can I count Fury if it's strictly the live performances? ) While I don't consider either to be among his best, I at least dig half of Musicology.

Moonbeam said:

I think 3121 does come within striking distance of his 80s glory, enough that I rank it ahead of a few of the 80s albums (Around the World in a Day, The Black Album, and Batman), but Musicology falls well short of his 80s glory for me. Still a decent album, but it isn't nearly as hallowed.

Moonbeam said:

Overall, both albums are a mixed bag for me...But I will go with 3121, I've definitely listened to it more over the years.

MattyJam said:

MIRvmn said:

MattyJam said:

I prefer Rave and NPS all day to Musicology and 3121.

Me too, Rave and NPS are much better albums.

.

Thank God for a couple VOICES OF REASON in this thread.

.

MUSICOLOGY and 3121 are both bottom-barrell Prince albums. Emphasis on bottom. The very lowest. Take them both out of his discography and its overall value is not diminished.

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in the case of Rave, the title track alone elevates it about those mid-'00s misfires.

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in the case of NPS, "When U Love Somebody" alone has the same effect.

.

and that's just one highlight of each album.

.

Musicology and 3121 are true rarities in the Prince cannon, in that neither one contains any highlights.

RJOrion said:

NewPowerSoul is WAY better than 3121...or Musicology...or Rave

Yikes. The engineer on NPS basically said the album was released unfinished. And you can really hear it in the production/mix/mastering.

3121 for sure

Post 1980s......3121, TGE and are in the patheon of greatest prince album ever.

It always cracks me up to see the wide variety of opinions on what Prince's best work was. With an artist as diverse as Prince was, it's bound to happen. Nobody is right or wrong, I'd like to add!

If I had to compare the two, I'm definitely more of a 3121 guy. I was much more excited by it than I was by Musicology, which felt kind of lifeless to me.

3121 the song is a total funk beast that I never get sick off, Black Sweat is a classic, especially the early live versions with the extended bass solos, Te Amo Corazon is beautiful, and has one of the loveliest videos he's ever done, Love is total jam (the change into the chorus is addictive), The Word is an all time favorite and could have been a stunning live moment had he toured this record (just him with an acoustic guitar, spotlight, and darkened stage), Get On The Boat is one of the many I wish I could have seen live. That band was on fire!

This was the record that got many of my hits-only Prince friends back into him.