I remember when this 3 disc set came out. The direction that P was going seemd more guitar focused especially for LotusFlow3r. MPLSound has some decent tracks.

Personally I find the albums too digital sound, I believe this was around the time P was starting to use ProTools.

guitarman81 said:

A hybrid of both, because neither stands on its own. There are probably 10-12 solid songs on there to make one good record.

The best album in the 2009 Triple-LP set he released will always and forever be:

Elixer

"Everytime" alone is better than the other two LPs combo.

lurker316 said:

I think LotusFlow3r is one of Prince’s greatest masterpieces. It’s not just the individual great songs (Colonized Mind, Feel Better, Love Like Jazz, $, Dreamer). It’s also that it was a cohesive concept album. In some songs, or sections of songs, he was certainly going for a more artsy vibe, as opposed to a commercial vibe, but I appreciate that, rather than finding it pretentious. I love when Prince William experiments and is weird. It doesn’t always work, but I find it preferable to his trying to write radio hits. I think MPLSound is an okay album, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near as amazing as LotusFlow3r.

Do you use an A.I. app for composing?

WhisperingDandelions said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Prince always told us that MLPSound will be "better with time"

WhisperingDandelions said:

To my ears, MPLSound has always seemd to have tried too hard with the 80s Prince sound pastiche and overall just fell flat. LotusFlower, on the other hand, has a thematic and sonic cohesion that is just lovely to experience. And Elixer is surprisingly solid. Perfect for driving or working or a blissful zoning out.

[Edited 11/9/23 12:55pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

The best album in the 2009 Triple-LP set he released will always and forever be:

Elixer

"Everytime" alone is better than the other two LPs combo.

.

Just realised I've NEVER listened to this album!

Catching up with it now... and I think you might be right. Each song is pretty solid!!

i prob need to revisit these, but from memory, i did like crimson and clover, 77 beverly park, no more candy 4 u and here.

^^^a man of taste.

happyshopper said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

The best album in the 2009 Triple-LP set he released will always and forever be:

Elixer

"Everytime" alone is better than the other two LPs combo.

.

Just realised I've NEVER listened to this album!

Catching up with it now... and I think you might be right. Each song is pretty solid!!

I ignored it for years myself.

A lot of the Prince stuff I'm super passionate about is because I let it collect dust or go unexplored for far too long.

Elixir gets better each spin, too.

WhisperingDandelions said:

happyshopper said:

.

Just realised I've NEVER listened to this album!

Catching up with it now... and I think you might be right. Each song is pretty solid!!

I ignored it for years myself.

A lot of the Prince stuff I'm super passionate about is because I let it collect dust or go unexplored for far too long.

Elixir gets better each spin, too.

Same for me. Got into it recently. Nice little album with some clever songwriting, like the Kim Basinger reference in Here I Come.

Something U Already Know the highlight for me

I think MPLSound is possibly the worst album of his. Not one really good offering. Lotusflow3r is mostly solid, and nothing on there I can think of as unlistenable.

FunkJam said:

I think MPLSound is possibly the worst album of his. Not one really good offering. Lotusflow3r is mostly solid, and nothing on there I can think of as unlistenable.

.

- Agree. I dont even consider MPLSound an album. I see it like a bonus. Wasnt Prince that said that he was only messing around with Pro Tools or something like that?

.

Lotus Flow3r is such an underrated album. Prince was great as a producer and guitar player there. And some real good songs too.

[Edited 11/10/23 16:57pm]

Yeah there isn't much on MPLS for me to go back too, I rarely gave it any attention back then, I felt and always felt Lotus was better and Prince is better overall playing guitar driven songs, I just feel this was where he was strongest, by this time I was growing tired of his slow jams too, meaning songs like Insatiable in that vein not prince slow songs like a "The love we make" there's a huge difference, I feel Prince always felt he had to have that slow jam on every record and most of the time in later days it rarely worked in the flow of the records

In general, I think Lotusflow3r is the better album, but I think Ol' Skool Company is the song of the triptych.

SolaceAHA said:

IanRG said:

In general, I think Lotusflow3r is the better album, but I think Ol' Skool Company is the song of the triptych.

I dread these albums, but maybe I'll revisit enough to compile my hybrid.

Someone owes me for this one.

TrivialPursuit said:

26ten said:

SolaceAHA said:

Yeah there isn't much on MPLS for me to go back too, I rarely gave it any attention back then, I felt and always felt Lotus was better and Prince is better overall playing guitar driven songs, I just feel this was where he was strongest, by this time I was growing tired of his slow jams too, meaning songs like Insatiable in that vein not prince slow songs like a "The love we make" there's a huge difference, I feel Prince always felt he had to have that slow jam on every record and most of the time in later days it rarely worked in the flow of the records

Do you differentiate between a slow jam and a ballad? I may be drawing a blank but are there any slow jams on MPLSound? I wouldn't consider U're Gonna See Me as a slow jam.

not necessarily the satisfied type slow jam, but the slowish mid tempo numbers on this record I feel were very plastic sounding and coming one after another I think was part of the reason this record is pretty forgettable, to go from Ure gonna C me (one nite alone version is light years better) Valentina is a little annoying Better with Time sounds like the very plastic throwaways from emancipation days, and Here is just again boring.