Musicology from 2003 was Prince's comeback album to the spotlight. His best effort in over 10 years time, although it didn't score any major hit singles it was a powerful back to back album that proved Prince was back for real and so was his lost respect. Musicology was a somewhat careful album that sounded like a mix between ealy 90's NPG and an older grown up artist wanting to get back into the reputation he had built up for 2 decades, as great as it was it didn't take any risks and there were no explicit lyrics on the album either. 3121 goes one step further, it's not only better but it's more playful, with retro beats simular to what Prince delivered in his prime, catchy straight forward melodies and lyrics that only a poet could have written. You may think it's commercial and perhaps a little too much retro but it still feels fresh and original and considering that the Neptunes have made a name of themselves as one of the greatest producer teams around, relying on old skool beats like Prince already made in the early 80's, no wonder that Prince goes way back again into fammiliar territory. 3121 delivers 12 songs, and all of them are good on their own and yet coherant to the album concept, it also is shifting mood between the songs which makes it a pleasant listen all the way out. It may sound as a cliché but Prince is defenitely back in great form, this album only confirms his reputation as a musical genius.
It starts with the title track, a funky, sexy and extremly catchy song that is a duet with his high-pitched alter ego Camille. The hook goes "Don't U Wanna Come?, Gonna B So Much Fun, That's Where the Party B, U Can Come If U Want 2, But U Can Never Leave". Right on the spot. "Lolita" uses heavy synthesizer beats and sound so 80's but it still is one of my favorite picks, remind you alot of classic Prince around 81-84, but then again the Neptunes are doing the same thing with success so It's defenitely NOT dated. "Te Amo Corazon" or "I love you, sweetheart" is a slow ballad, I suppose it's for his wife Manuela Testolini. It's far from the typical hit single, but it's surprisingly moving and beautifully aranged musically. For you trivia geeks, Salma Hayek directed the video for it!.
"Black Sweat" is a blend of funk and hip hop and proves that Prince is still into contemporary music and it's trends. Gotta love the title and lyrics to this one. In the song Prince is anxious to dance in the presence of a beautiful woman, but doesn't have the choise cause the music is so funky. " I don't want too dance too hard, baby, but this is a groove (yes it is! funky!)" Eventually he just releases himself and gets over the anxiety and dances like never before. "I'm hot, and I don't care who knows it, I got a job to do"). The next song "Incense and Candles" is the closest thing you get to explicit sexuality on this album. It's a smooth and sexy mid tempo that will make old fans happy.
"Love" is one of the best songs on 3121 and should also be an upcoming single. The song deals with "Free Love" something that we've heard alot in older songs but once again it's convincing, fresh with wonderful lyrics and a truly beautiful chorus. "Satisfied" could have been made for Marvin Gaye, it's a seducing love-song with well written intelligent lyrics about how to get his woman satisfied. No wonder with a promise like "I Can Get U Out Of Your Body". "Fury" reminds me a little of "Let's Go Crazy" it's a Hendrix influenced uptempo rock song but still with trademark synthesizers and 80's feel. Based on the lyrics you could think it's a fury at his ex-wife maybe?.
"The Word" with it's jazzy feeling with horns is a personal favorite aswell. Brilliant and touching lyrics. It ends with a brilliant guitar solo. "Beautiful and Blessed" is a duet with a singer callled Tamar, it's a sweet ballad and this young woman certainly got a great voice. "The Dance" is another jazzy song that feautures great piano playing, no hit single but adds diversity to a already diverse album. "Get On the Boat" remind me alot of some songs of his previous album, especially it's title track, it's a funky uptempo song a la NPG.
Overall, Prince is defenitely back on point. This may be a rather commercial album compared to certain others he made but on the other hand he delivers an album full of great songs that will remind you of the good old days and compared to the 2003 comeback "Musicology" this one is more diverse with both ballads, funk, hip hop, retro pop songs and even a little jazz. 3121 is Prince's best album in almost 15 years and I'm not being biased when I say that. He's just happens to be back in great form and showing his best qualities. Genies never dies.
The fans have already spoken and this is an album for fans of Prince's most commercial work. As much as I despise reviews that predict the commercial success of an album (an approach that is killing music and ensured that some of Prince's greatest work, including "The Truth", which is a work of genius, remains unheard by the sheepish masses), be warned: this album is going to be a monster!
In the early Eighties, Prince, as everyone knows, released the legendary "1999" album, built around the topical and timely concept of an apocalyptic vision of the future in the nuclear age. It was the perfect signifier for his passionate, obsessive themes of eros and thanatos and celebrated a conscious revolution of the sexual, beyond the sexual: a neo-hippy movement ("All the hippies sing together") which he fathered. That movement became The Revolution (aptly named), evolving into the Paisley Park label, before it finally matured into the New Power Generation. In 2006, Prince has released "3121", which comments very little on our times; instead, it revisits and revises those themes, both lyrically and musically, which is how this album succeeds.
In the Eighties, Prince's vision of the future truly made him visionary. "3121", however, is a stunningly vivid collage of lessons of the past. Those seeking the adventure and innovation of masterpieces like "Parade" will be disappointed; in fact, they may even cry "Sell out!" But Prince has proven in the past that he is definitely his own man and the fact that this album doesn't sound like anyone else but so-called "classic" Prince should confirm that, more than anything else, "3121" is Prince at play, enjoying being true to himself.
A mark of Prince's genius has always been the one song or more on every album that doesn't sound like any other song recorded in the history of music. It is the greatest pleasure any artist can give to the listener: the musical equivalent of a first kiss with your one true love. Can you name any song that sounds even remotely similar to "Rasberry Beret"? Of course, you can't. "3121" is this album's genuine original: the funkiest, nastiest, sexiest work Prince has produced since "Sexy MF". The vocal reacquaints you with the immortal Camille but precious little else is familiar. Although the song casts itself as a "futuristic fantasy", it is more like a lyrical reworking of "Darling Nikki" in every respect except for two things: there are oriental, perhaps even taoist allusions; and the fatalism of "1999" and "Purple Rain" has been revised with an exhileratingly ominous declaration of our sweet Prince being here to stay ("You can come if you want to / But you can never leave"). Again, this the expression of an artist who knows he is at his best.
As I'm sure most fans will recognise, "Lolita" echoes "Soft and Wet", although the production is jaw-droppingly free of bells and whistles and all their shackles. This may be why it sounds so modern, despite its Eighties-style construction. The song also features the popular catch-phrases of older recordings by The Time ("Fellas, how bad is this groove?"). Not surprisingly, the song is receiving virtually continuous airplay on Australian radio and would be a logical choice for a third single.
"Te Amo Corazon" is unique amongst Prince compositions, which is precisely why it infuriated as many established Prince fans as it awed. The fans it infuriated have obviously long forgotten how many of them wanted to throw their vinyl record of "Parade" against a brick wall before, a week later, they realised, like me, that "Parade" was and is the man's finest album. "Te Amo Corazon" is a delicate, layered work of art, further elevated by intimate, insightful lyrics ("Once when I first laied eyes on you /I saw heaven and earth anew") and typically sumptuous strings.
"Black Sweat" is the equally attractive cousin of "Kiss". When you first hear it, you may even think he can do this in his sleep, which is precisely the point. As the song says, "I don't wanna dance too hard / But this is a groove". Amen to that. Some have compared this mind-scrambling groove to the work of The Neptunes but Pharrell only wishes he could write something this intelligently infectious. Prince's trademark wit ("You'll be screaming like a white lady"), complete with delightfully deliquent androgeny, again transgresses all the dull, conformity that plagues contemporary radio-friendly hits. This may just be the music they play in neo-hippy heaven.
"Incense and Candles" is the closest thing to sex incarnate Prince will share these days with anyone other than his wife. Prince used to prefer "slamming" but now he likes to slow down, take his time and visit, even make, new worlds in the mind. Hence, this song is the centrepiece for the revelations introduced by the title track. Musically, the oriental influences are reintroduced as well. The song would be another worthy single.
"Love" is an ambitious piece. The arrangement is reminiscent of "I Want To Melt With U" but the heavy use of reverb delivers on its promise of warmer, engulfing vibes. The message is simple ("Love is free") but Prince, as usual, makes it sound like it's never been said before.
"Satisfied" is better than "Do Me, Baby" ever was at seducing the listener both literally and metaphorically. Prince always wrote, indeed seduced, on an intuitive level, blurting out brilliantly blunt truths along way like John Lennon; now he brings the wisdom of wider experience to his game. "Foreplay starts in the mind", he sings and how can anyone argue with him?
"Fury" is one of my personal favorite songs on the album and showcases more than one sizzling guitar solo. It rocks ... hard. The lyric is presumably directed at his lovely ex wife, Mayte, and comments she may have made in the press. Unless Universal totally lose their minds, this, too, will be a single.
Like Dylan before him, Prince reached new heights of unpopularity when what could be termed his "born again" period began, but it will be difficult for even the most cynical critics to dismiss a song as immaculate, in every sense, as "The Word". Scored by a subtle electro rhythm and melody, I can't remember the last time I was so moved by a Prince lyric: "...the truth has got to told / No matter how shiny ur lips r / They'll never b streets of gold.."
"Beautiful, Loved and Blessed", a duet with Tamar, is a case of Daddy Pop and his new protege looking in the mirror and reciting an exquisite affirmation of divine humanism. It is happily aimed at a wide audience and likely to win it.
For some strange reason, this allbum includes, albeit in a drastically improved version, "The Dance", a song previously released on Prince's criminally overlooked album, "The Chocolate Invasion", available now through the website: www.npgmusicclub.com. For those who haven't heard it before, "The Dance" is an epic tale of lust, self-doubt and tortured desire, in the tradition of "Something In The Water". It is the album's only curiosity but its inclusion here is obviously an indicator of how much Prince personally likes the song. As such, it is best received as a valentine from someone close.
Lastly, "Get On The Boat", like "Dear Mr Man" on "Musicolgy", exceeds all reasonable expectations as the album's political statement. Prince applies irresistible peer pressure on the proles to become conscious("We got room for a hundred more"). The James Brown style horns give the song a gospel edge that almost make it the funky equivalent of "Purple Rain". Maceo Parker has scarcely played better than he does on his solo.
Back in the day, C. Moon loved to tell the story of how he pitched Prince to Warner Bros. He apparently said, "I think I've found the new Stevie Wonder". Many times, I've tried to imagine the excitement that must have been in the room when C. Moon played Prince to "the suits" for the first time. Warner Bros must be kicking themselves now because that's just how this record defines itself and the man who made it. If anything, after "3121", every other artist out there may only be able to dream forever after of receiving the highest of all compliments: to, one day, be called the new Prince.
For years the only Prince album I owned, like a lot of people, was "Purple Rain". Within the past few years though I've been exploring his back catalog. Was curious to hear what he was doing now and picked up "3121" based on his performance of "Fury" on SNL this past winter. That song is certainly a highlight. Other highlights for me would be "Black Sweat", "Lolita", "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed", and of course "Fury". The rest of the album is growing on me too. For fans of "Purple Rain" era Prince, this isn't really that sound. The sound today is very funky, very R&B and for some of you it may not be your thing. But if you do venture into this disc, you will find yourself getting into it.
As the quintessential Prince fan, I have witnessed not only a musical maturity but an obvious personal maturity as demonstrated in his lyrics ("Lolita- you're a fine mama mia, but you'll never make a cheater out of me). I am loving this CD. It has an old school electronica funk to it. I can hear the same vibe from some of his earlier work. Because I feel like I know Prince, I feel a certain pride when listening to 3121. The music feels (notice I said feels, because one just doesn't hear a Prince song, you FEEl it) like a purposeful effort, like he wrote these songs with us in mind. The songs I like least are `Black Sweat' and `Satisfied'; they are too reminiscent of older songs. 3121 is my favorite because the listener can interpret it in many different ways. Tamar as an additional vocalist is refreshing. Her voice is not overpowering like Rosie Gaines used to form the NPG. I find it interesting that Prince can sing "gospel" songs, `Word' & `Beautiful, Loved and Blessed', and not at all sound preachy nor sacrilegious. 'The Dance' is a captivating song, especially the ending seemingly ad libbed lyrics.
One of the best things about the CD is the photos in the liner notes. I feel like Prince is sharing his world with his fans by allowing us a tour into how he lives. The Purple Highness is nearing 50 years old and is aging like a fine wine. I feel honored to drink from his cup. Keep the music pouring.
