My 3121 Review

My 3121 Review






Its taken me a while to write this review because I wanted to fully digest the album before I put pen to paper. 3121 is Princes follow up to his comeback album Musicology of 2004. Musicology wasnt a comeback for Prince. He never left. The dude literally writes songs in his sleep. See 1999. It was a comeback for fans. A comeback for the popular acceptance and critical praise Prince longs for. With the confidence of a 2X platinum album and a ..1 $90 million grossing tour gave him, Prince returns with his most consistent album since Sign O the Times in 1987.

Tracks:

1. 3121: 5 stars out of 10 From the opening notes of this track, you can tell what kind of album this is gonna be. This is a party album with much more up tempo music than on Musicology. Too bad this title track doesnt get me hype. Outside of a short guitar riff this track is uninspired.

2. Lolita: 6 stars out of 10 On this track it at least sounds like Prince is trying. Its gotta a nice pop appeal to the beat the lyrics are insipid and lazy. However, it is somewhat catchy. Prince has done worse, but hes done a WHOLE lot better.

3. Te Amo Corazon: 4 stars out of 10 More like Te Amo BORAzon. When I first heard this single, I thought this was the most boring song Prince could make. Its a light, airy ballad with a latin flair that sounds like a song Prince wrote, performed, and cut all in one night. Thats the things with most Prince songs. They sound like something he knocked out in one sleepless night. Sometimes they turn out to be great, Sign O The Times or they turn out like this. Its a crap shoot. With Te Amo, it sounds like Prince shot the crap.

4. Black Sweat: 6 stars out of 10 Track 4 is Black Sweat aka Prince discovers ProTools. If anything this song is an indication of Princes updated production skills. The drum programming here is inspired and is a stark contrast to the programming thats been on Prince albums since 1996s Emancipation. Too bad his songwriting hasnt caught up. He appears to have trouble crafting the memorable hooks that made him an International Pop Star. Another good thing about this track is this is where the album starts to pick up and the quality of the songs improve.

5. Incense and Candles: 9 stars out of 10 And just like that, Prince comes up with a memorable hook on this track.

Come into my room of incense and candles/I got something that you wont know how to handle/You can tell me nuh uh but you know how this man do/Imma want it all night long. This smoldering groove is definitely the grind on your chick in the club type song.

6. Love: 6 stars out of 10 This is a nice dance song. The subject matter of love may be corny to some, but it has a nice groove and the hook is somewhat catchy. You cant help but sing along at times.

7. Satisfied: 8 stars out of 10 I liked this song better when it was called On the Couch. This is a perfect example of the kind of bedroom numbers Prince can do in his sleep. That is to say, hes not going to make ever to make a bad one, but he doesnt knock your socks off everytime either. Its still a good song, but he just made On the Couch on Musicology and this sounds like a rehash.

8. Fury: 9 stars out of 10 This song is Princes strongest candidate for a single to make noise on the charts. Prince puts together a song with strong lyrics, a catchy hook and great music. The only problem with this song is that he put the wrong version on this album. Prince debuted Fury on Saturday Night Live earlier this year showcasing unbelievable guitar riffs, poppin drums and an urgency that you can only find on live performances. This is almost the same as the live version except Prince mixed the guitars too low. The guitar playing is top notch and the solos are typical Prince, but the fact theyre so low in the mix makes those who have heard the live version feel somewhat disappointed. But if you havent heard the live version.dont worry about it. Its still a great song. If you want a copy of the live version from Saturday Night Live, inbox me. Ill hook you up.

9. The Word: 8 stars out of 10 In case you cant tell from the title, this song is about The Word. You know the kind you can find in the good book. For some reason I like this song. The lyrics for the most part are very good. Just ignore the line about the spiders.

Get up. Come on lets do something, no reason to feel this pain. Get up. Come on lets do something, come on go lets get saved.
Listening to this song makes me feel good. Plus what would a Prince song be without a blazin guitar solo at the end?

10. Beautiful, Loved, and Blessed: 7 stars out of 10 I must be the only person in the world that likes this duet with Tamar. Its a light, breezy R & B joint. It has another catchy hook.

Thats when you came and said I was beautiful, loved and blessed/Im better than the day before cause you made me confess/that I am beautiful, loved and blessed/when youre free youre really free indeed, all you gotta do is plant the seed.
The song loses cool points for Tamars rap around the midpoint of the song. Other than that I find it quite enjoyable. I also have a live version of this song from SNL. Inbox for a link.

11. The Dance: 10 stars out of 10 This song, along with Incense and Candles, is my favorite on this album. The music is both haunting and relaxing. This is a GREAT chill song. Prince gives you some great guitar, some great piano and a great Prince Scream. The last 60 seconds of The Dance is already one of my favorite conclusions to a Prince song ever. The subject matter is reminiscent of the I Hate U Remix from the 1995 I Hate U Maxi Single, where Prince spends the entire song talking about how much he hates his ex lover only to come to the realization that he still has feelings for her. From I Hate U: If I sound a little bitter its because my baby, you danced for a dollar/I know he didnt make you holla/and if he did, it wasnt like that time we did it to Mahler.

Throughout the first 4 minutes and 20 seconds of The Dance, Prince tries to convince his lover (and himself) that he doesnt need her anymore. He almost succeeds, then he just loses it in the final 60 seconds and realizes that he will miss her.

Baby! How you gonna really just stand there and act like you dont want this
Baby! If you do then you know I just dont care
Oh Baby! I can find another just like you anywhere
Oh Baby! They might not have your hips girl and oooh that pretty hair
At least they wont spend all day in the mirror tryin to find something to wear
At least they wont want to make love like you do on the stairs, against the pole, on the north corner of the... aww baby, baby, baby, baby
It's just not fair, it's just not fair, Ooo Ooo...

Those 60 seconds, for me, are worth the price of this album alone.

12. Get on the Boat: 5 stars out of 10 The hierarchy of Prince James Brown songs goes like this:
Sexy MF >> Prettyman >> The Work >> Get on the Boat. Prince needs to retire these James Brown rips cause the law of diminishing returns is in full effect. Theyre just tired and too easy for him to do. Get some Maceo horns and some drums. Ta Da! You got a James Brown inspired Prince jam.


Overall: The only real clunker on this album is Te Amo Corazon. It has more than a couple of Prince songs that a fan could list among some of his/her favorites. Its Prince doing *his* music again without trying compromising his sound for the sake of record sales or beating you over the head with evangelizing. It is a definite buy for fans of Prince or those who havent heard a Prince album since sung about a skinny man [who] died of a big disease with a little name.