Prince Album by Album Thread

That would be:

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen
Boys and motherf***in' girls
This is your captain with no name speakin'
And I'm here to rock your world"

Alternatively, "Chaos and Disorder".

 

Not really, it's an unreleased album, but a Prince album all the same. I'm not referring to the hoax/insult that Prince released as a compilation from the vault called "Crystal Ball," I'm referring to the actual album ready for release and pulled at the last minute -- that Crystal Ball

 

IIRC "Rebirth of the Flesh" was the opening track of Camille as well, and is the only still-unreleased track from that project.

 

Yes, absolutely. If I had the key to his Vault, there would be 4 things I'd pull immediately: the full 12 min version of Computer Blue, the complete Camille, Dream Factory and Crystal Ball. There has been speculation that the full Computer Blue will be released with the Purple Rain deluxe, but as with all Prince promises, he never fails to bend-over backward to make sure everyone is unhappy and feels cheated. So . . .

 

but why get things out of there that are already circulating in great sound quality? when you're there, get stuff no one has heard yet!!

 

Well, there are about 200 songs I'd like to pull out of there, but if security was on the way because I tripped the silent alarm, I'd have to grab the top-shelf product in its pristine form -- even if it's all widely available.

 

to me 3121 is the best prince album since 1995. the 4 opening tracks are great. several other good ones after that.

 

Agreed. Those sessions also gave rise to Lotusflow3r, another amazing album in his recent catalogue.

 

3121 may be the closest of his latter day albums in terms of being as consistent as his classic run. I truly liked every song on it and played the hell out of the cd that spring when it came out. To me, this was the real comeback, Musicology was just a warm-up

 

Same here.
It's not his best latter day album (TRC is), but this is the album I will recommend people who ask if Prince did anything great the last 20 years...
It's catching, has great songs and is pretty focused (for a Prince album).

 

There's some great Prince material on 3121 but I wasn't keen on the running order which I felt fell flat about half-way in.
I did myself a CD in this order which I find more satisfying:

3121
Lolita
The Word
Get On The Boat
Satisfied
Fury
Love
Incense And Candles
Beautiful, Loved And Blessed
The Dance
Black Sweat
Te Amo Corazón

 

- edit - nevermind...

 

I think you mean 'Alexander Nevermind'.

 

Solid album--always loved "Lolita", that one swings like crazy.

 

there's one song on 3121 I don't really like, "Get On The Boat", but I like the rest, indeed very consistent. Highlights have been mentioned already, though I'll add "Beautiful Loved And Blessed".

 

Strangely enough the videos for the 3121 singles are available to watch on Universal's German website. So, for anyone that needs to get in the mood, here they are! (Unfortunately, even though this is an "official" site, there's something funky with the picture on all of them.)

"Te Amo Corazón":
http://www.universal-music.de/prince/videos/detail/video:88251/te-amo-corazon
"Black Sweat":
http://www.universal-music.de/prince/videos/detail/video:87992/black-sweat
"Fury":
http://www.universal-music.de/prince/videos/detail/video:87738/fury

I have to say the "Black Sweat" video makes me appreciate the song better... I'm getting a sweat myself...
For trainspotting guitarists, in the "Fury" video, in addition to a rare outing for a Strat, you actually for once get to see what amps he uses, something that is seldom on display (Mesa/Boogie in this case). That is also Támar there in the middle of the "chorus section".

 

3121

Prince and numbers... Remember the song '7'?
7 has a special meaning in Prince's life. Maybe it's biblical, maybe something else. But from time to time we see the number 7 appear in his music. Again with 3121: 3+1+2+1=7. You just knew that this was going to be something special

Prince was very motivated in making this album a success. He did a lot promo for this album, starting a year before the album release at the 36th NAACP Image Awards, performing the song Satisfied and wearing the 3121 jacket he wears on the cover of the album. He did a kick-ass version of Fury and Beautiful, Loved & Blessed on Saturday Night Live and did Lolita on American Idol. He even performed with legendary Wendy & Lisa again (and Sheila E.), this time on the UK 2006 BRIT Awards.
On top of that, he rented a house with the number 3121, giving late night parties for celeberties. Not only did that look mysterious and wanted, but he rebuild his status as musical legend with great result. Even today at award shows all the celebs are standing and giving him a standing ovation when he enters the stage (he's practically the only one who has that nowadays). Looking at last years tv show New Girl (with Zooey Deschanel) he still has that 3121 party association. Great episode btw. He even had a Willy Wonka like Purple Ticket contest with his new album; you could win a private concert at his 3121 house. How cool is that?!
In other words... Prince had firmly established himself as a musical legend/genius, party animal and celebs favorite around the release of 3121.
With this, his album was #1 in no time in the USA (too bad it was gone from the charts within no time too...)

The album had a lot of amazing songs:
3121: This is build around a jam with his old NPG Power Trio (from the video The Undertaker) and is a classic Prince funk jam. Lasting only 4,5 minutes, it could easily last half an hour or more. This is great! There are extended fan releases out there that do extend the song without a dull moment.
Lolita: Borrowing from his old 1981 The Time hit Cool, this is a fun song. A little bit too smooth for me, but still a good song. It does smell like an easy win with the effect of the Cool segment, though.
Te Amo Corazón: The first ballad and a great song. It has a real Spanish vibe to it, so it's not Do Me Baby #10. Great promo video too, directed by Selma Hayek, filmed in Morocco! The song is in English, only the title is (sung) in Spanish.
Black Sweat: A Kiss like song with a very high pitched synth line. Good song, but it gets a bit annoying after repeated listening.
Incense And Candles: Great song/duet with Tamár. It has a very good flow and sounds amazing. Prince is even rapping, and it's a pretty good attempt.
Love: Another great song with Tamár. Unconfirmed, this song seems like a song for his then-wife Manuela. Apparently, the marriage was not that good anymore, because Prince is blaming her for her behavior towards his friends and telling her what love is.
Satisfied: a good ballad, shaped as a r&b ballad by-the-books. Nothing exciting, but not bad at all.
Fury: A great guitar song about a woman's thorn. The SNL live version was heavier on guitar (and amazing), so the album version was a little bit of a let down. Still a great song!
The Word: Another amazing song, with an acoustic feel. This song hints towards a JW song, like The Work on The Rainbow Children. Not sure if that's true or not.
Beautiful, Loved & Blessed: This was supposed to be the cross-over song for Tamár. This is the edited version of the version on Tamár's album. It's a regular ballad. Beautiful, but not outstanding.
The Dance: a rework from the original released version from the NPGMC and the original The Chocolate Invasion. This is the better version and it's a great ballad.
Get On The Boat: A horns heavy funk song. Pretty much in the same style as Prettyman or The Work. Very good song, a bit repetitive though. The ending is very weird with some African percussion and singing. At the time it seemed like a prelude for the next album, but it was never used again...

This is a great album . Like I said before, if someone wants to know what Prince has been doing the last decade, this is what I let them hear. It's catching and to the point without overlong jams or filler.
Actually, there are no bad songs on this album. I think 3121, the song, is a classic Prince song. Besides that, there are 7 very good songs and 4 good songs on this album.
The influence/presence of Tamár is very noticeable. I think she's one of the best female singers Prince ever had!


But, Prince being Prince, what do you do with a kick-ass album released and a insane live performer image?
You don't start an amazing world tour...no... you wait half a year and then start performing in Las Vegas for 5 months straight in a small casino/club (1.100 seats)... beats me.
Then do the most amazing Super Bowl Halftime show ever... and return to Las Vegas.

 

But he then followed that with an amazing 21 night stand at London's o2 Arena, which is still spoken about with awe today.

 

Yep, but that was with the release of his next album Planet Earth. 16 months later.
21 Nights in London was an amazing tour de force

 

Prince did so much promotion for this album, that he even connected his name to a perfume again (after the Get Wild perfume)
Again, the number 7 was all over this release.
Prince 3121 officially launched on 7/7/7. The Eau de Parfum was available in 30, 50 and 100 ml. The 30 ml was available for $31.21 with 7% of the proceeds going to charity.



Did anyone actually buy this?

 

Thank you for this, you just provived me with the perfect ammunition for a very silly argument in another thread!

It seems this is still available too?

 

Yes, you can still buy it, apparently.
I just checked and it very cheap these days...
The picture is also showing the body cream, diamond shaped.

 

Great review

I agree on everything besides Te Amo Corazón ... which is pretty lame IMO.

My favourite songs are 3121, Black Sweat, Love (also a great acoustic version was streamed on 3121.com) & The Word.

During that period I was very high on Prince drivin´ the ride thru the neighborhoud with Black Sweat on MAX volume

I think Lolita could have been a huge hit accompanied by a clever video.

Exactly. I saw the first three gigs and attended two afterparties

 

Thank you
I really hope that it contributes to a wider appreciation of this album. It's really one of his best efforts in recent years and deserves to be heard.
Since there isn't that much discussion on these recent albums, I think that a lot of people aren't that well known with 3121. Hopefully our reviews help in making people curious of the music

 

RIGHT ON!!!

Now watch this folks:

Prince on Saturday Night Live 2006!