Bite The Beat-Yep, it sounds like Prince(or is it Jesse Johnson? as Lance wrote in his OP that Prince wrote the Song, but JJ wrote the Music, so I am a little confused here on who actually wrote this Song) owned the First 2 B-52's Albums, and decided to write a Song in their Style. The Song is ok, but not necessary for me, as I own all of the B-52's Albums. I rate this Song a 2, but a Stronger 2 compared to other Songs I rated a 2 on this Album, but it might be because I like the Genre of this Song.
Bite The Beat 2/5 Sound like another Dez funk/new wave song. Pretty generic and boring after a while. Why was that a single?
Make Up, like Drive Me Wild, would fit great on 1999. 3.5/5 Bite The Beat.. too slight for me, though I love Brenda’s voice, it doesn’t come through here. 0/5
I've said it before with some of Prince's songs, but again, I get a big Elvis Costello & the Attractions vibe from 'Bite the Beat'. Mainly the keyboard/synth work that's reminiscent of Steve Nieve's work in the band. Love the new wave sound (obviously), but the song doesn't get a massive reaction from me other than "hey, it's cool but let's skip to the next song, you know... the one about boobs". 3/5
Bite The Beat is a nifty slice of New Wave that would have fit nicely on the soundtrack to a movie like Valley Girl or a similar 80’s teen comedy. The production is dry and brittle (ironic given the lyrical content...) in the best Dirty Mind/ Joe Jackson/ B-52’s manner. It’s a testament to the broad talents of these guys that Prince, Jesse Johnson, Dez, etc...., who all were initially expected to operate in rather confined R&B parameters, were able to turn out very credible New Wave ditties. However, it just felt like Flexing sometimes, since they were capable of so much more. The instrumentation is solid (brief Bass solo, Farfisa cheese, in-the-pocket rhythm guitar playing) 3/5
Prince wrote the lyric; Jesse Johnson wrote the music; not sure what I wrote, but that's what I meant. I checked and my information in the OP was correct; but I can see where it would be confusing due to the fact that Prince wrote the lyric but is not credited with writing the lyric, which is credited to Brenda; and Jesse Johnson wrote the music and was credited as having done so.
It's fun and bouncy and works better in context than individually. It's also slight. I like the bass breakdown towards the end in particular. 3/5
Yeah, The B-52's are in the house You can't say that this is a single minded album (music wise...) I like Bite The Beat! It's a nice uptempo new wave song. Just a fun song. It's kinda remind me bit of Ronnie, Talk To Russia. The synths are similar if you adjust the speed a bit. That said, it's nothing more than a nice song to jump and dance to. Nice break at 1:30. For me, this is a solid 3 out of 5.
Bite The Beat I prefer this to He's So Dull, the other New Wave-is song on the album. Lyrics are a bit filthy which is a bonus. 3/5 -George
Today's song is "3x2=6", written by Prince (credited to Vanity); produced by Prince (credited to The Starr Company and Vanity 6.) Lyric. "3x2=6" was released as a B-side on the Drive Me Wild and Bite the Beat singles. Vanity: lead vocals Brenda Bennett: backign vocals Susan Moonsie: backing vocals Prince all instruments except Dez Dickerson: drums
On the one hand, I don't really love this one. On the other hand, it sounds like the prototype for a bunch of Prince's '80s slow-jams to come, everything from "International Lover" to "Purple Rain", the drums, the keyboards, even the (brief) guitar solo. The synths were probably the most forward-sounding electronics on the entire record. Meanwhile, Vanity's vocals aren't bad, but the song certainly reveals instead of conceals her limitations, and the finale gets a bit caterwauly as a result. It seems better than a 2/5 so I guess I'll give it a 3/5 for innovation points, but it's a really weak 3. It mostly serves to demonstrate he evolved really quickly from this point forward thru Parade. All the ingredients were clearly in place, but he didn't yet quite know how to assemble them properly to make fully compelling works. You were still often getting these flashes of brilliance in otherwise half-baked or mediocre work.
I think this is a good song and I agree that it does seem like a prototype for some future 80s classic ballads; the main weakness of the song is Vanity's vocal which actually sounds far less expressive than Prince's falsetto and in fact, I guess I prefer Brenda and Susan's voices in general, even though Susan just kind of "talk sings". I also really like that wobbly sound he gets from those synths, it is really unique to Prince and lends an almost lo-fi aura to it all. 3.3/5
3x2=6 I'm not satisfied at the end of the album girls! Seriously I think this is a filler with stupid lyrics that are barely audible ... the song is a complete sonic mess. The vocals are terrible. A pity as it's a great album. 1.5/5
3x2=6 A nice composition with quite a cinematic feel to it. . Could've been titled Working Girl. A little masterpiece from Prince. 4.5/5
3x2=6-A Bland Ballad(Again, IMO-Prince did not write Good Ballads with the rare exceptions like 'The Morning Papers' 'The Beautiful Ones', 'Darling Nikki' and 'Sometimes It Snows in April' and maybe a few others). While on the topic of the Song Title though, I prefer 2=2=5 by Radiohead. I rate this Song a 2.
Err. I meant 2+2=5 for Radiohead, so corrected in my Quote above before someone else did it for me. I guess 2=2=5 makes as much sense though.
3x2=6 = 1.5/5 for me. Vanity, like Morris, had carachter in abundance. But also like Morris, she didn't have the pipes for big ballads.
I dunno, Morris done a sterling job on the hilarious in retrospect "Donald Trump (Black Version)" IMO. (I can't wait til we come around to that one- I'll have to check back in like, a year's time?
