Link: Prince and the NPG Official HomePage.
The Inside Pulse: Being a Prince fan hasn’t been easy the past decade or so. Ever since he became The Artist Formerly Known as Prince and painted “SLAVE” on his face, Prince put out a series of maddeningly uneven albums in a quest to get out of his contract with Warner Brothers. Since the mid-90s, fans who grew up with “Purple Rain”, “Little Red Corvette”, “Mountain”, and other classic Prince jams had to sit through weird experiments on albums like Chaos and Disorder, Rainbow Children, and Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. But with 2004’s Musicology, it seemed as if Prince was back on track, and even if the Jehovah’s Witness no longer sang about chicks in hotel lobbies masturbating to a magazine, it was still enough of a glimmer to make old fans flock back in droves. Now, with his newest album, 3121, Prince is trying to prove his newfound relevance wasn’t just a one time event.
Positives: If there’s one thing Prince has always been the master at, it’s putting asses on the dance floor, and he doesn’t disappoint here. Starting with the first cut, “3121”, Prince declares it’s a “bounce party” over a playful bass line and distorted guitars. “Black Sweat” shows the new crop of funksters that, if Prince didn’t invent the funk, he damn sure perfected it. And the album’s closing jam, “Get on the Boat”, with All-World sax master Maceo Parker, is sure to make even the Elaines of the world get up and boogie.
Negatives: It’s still a bit of a mind f*ck listening to Prince extolling the virtues of monogamy. It also doesn’t feel like Prince has really evolved all that much, as the album sounds like much of his mid-80s catalog, albeit if it had been produced by Timbaland or Pharrell. And the ballads don’t really work, as “Te Amo Corazón”, “Beautiful, Loved, & Blessed”, and “The Dance” really drag. Prince has successfully recaptured his funky inner child, but his ballad muse is still out of reach.
Cross-breed: The Revolution, produced by The Neptunes.
Reason to buy: It’s Prince’s best offering since the early 90s, since . If you were disappointed by Musicology, 3121 should reaffirm your faith in His Purple Highness.
