3121Artist: PrinceGenre: R&B; Publisher: NPG Records / Universal Released: 2006 |
A Review by Andrew Hicks
03/24/2006
Then he changed his name back to Prince and put out the funk and fusion-jazz album The Rainbow Children, which was marred with murky, voice-distorted spiritual sermons between and during songs. All along, there were a few gems here and there, and Prince could still put on a hell of a concert show, but the dude seemed washed up. He even had a garage sale at his Paisley Park compound, presumably emptying his closets of a two-decade supply of the kind of outfits middle-aged black women wear to their office jobs.
The tables finally turned when Prince (fresh from an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) and Beyonce Knowles opened the 2004 Grammy Awards show. The Purple One had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand, and he launched straight into a high-profile U.S. tour. And had probably the most brilliant marketing idea of his career - each concertgoer would receive a copy of his new album, Musicology. Since the cost of the album was built into the cost of the ticket, each distributed copy counted as a sale in the Soundscan system. That's an average of 10,000 copies distributed per show, five shows per week, all but ensuring Musicology would lodge itself in the Top 10 Albums chart for months.
It would have seemed a shameless maneuver if Musicology hadn't turned out to be Prince's most solid album since The Gold Experience, an almost filler-free collection of funk workouts, slow jams and guitar rock. A near-perfect combination of Prince's lifelong influences (James Brown, Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix, George Clinton) channeled into a timeless yet oh so contemporary song set.
The new followup, 3121, continues in the same vein, though it sinks even deeper into funk and house grooves and is damn happy in nature. The album flows from beginning to end with only a few hiccups, and the ride is over in 53 minutes. The triple-disc kitchen sink efforts are a thing of the past - the new Prince is calculatedly commercial, finally capable of self-editing.
The title track kicks off the album - organ and distorted rhythm guitar build on slow, insistent bass and drums. Prince's vocals overlap, each manipulated into a different pitch, and the effect is weird and singalong inviting at the same time. The lyrics are made of the coy, fun-loving nonsense of Prince classics ("Take ur pick from the Japanese robes and sandles / Drink champagne from a glass with chocolate handles"). "3121" could fit well on The Black Album, and it would be one of that 1988 release's best songs.
Less successful is Track 2, "Lolita," a too-poppy organ-funk romp that sounds like a Morris Day and The Time comeback attempt. A too-young girl is after Prince, it seems, and he wants her to stay the hell away ("U're sweeter, but u'll never make a cheater out of me") ...unless she's interested in a harmless dance. Crap, this song's goofy, and I think it might grow on me - I especially enjoy the call and response sections from the New Power Generation toward the end.
Two singles already have been released from 3121. One is the Latin midtempo track "Te Amo Corazon," which I didn't take at all seriously based on the Salma Hayek-directed music video and laughable lyrics ("At 42 thousand feet above the sea / That's where u and I first came to be"). I really enjoy the musical side of it, though - the session horns, strings and percussion, and the structure of the groove itself - and the song is over before it wears out its welcome.
Segue to the other single, "Black Sweat," a by-the-numbers, whistling-synth dance track with minimal production. It's yet another excuse for Prince to do his screaming James Brown falsetto, and the first two minutes are great. "Sweat" does wear out its welcome, though, and two songs later comes "Love," which is built around a strikingly similar keyboard and drum loop.
"Incense and Candles" is another goofball-lyrics number with a couple strikes against it - the ballad verses are treated with a talkbox effect straight out of the current noxious novelty megahit "I'm in Love With a Stripper," and Prince tries to spit out a Ludacris-style rap midway through. Somehow, the chorus is infectious, and I like the vocal interplay between Prince and his latest diva prodigy, Tamar. She also pops up on "Satisfied," the token gospel-tinged, let's-fuck slow jam. Which is one of the album's weakest tracks, a retread of a dozen Prince babymakers from years past that doesn't even have a chance to build to an emotional climax.
Prince plays every instrument on eight of 3121's tracks, including the scorching "Fury," which he performed on a February episode of "Saturday Night Live." The album version of "Fury" makes me sure the most energetic of this set's songs will only truly come to life onstage during the next Prince tour. He wails on uptempo blues guitar all through "Fury," and the lyrics are among the most clever on the album (drawing parallels between romantic breakups and band breakups), but this song is begging for an audience to energize it.
On the other hand, my current favorite song (with a bullet), "The Word," benefits completely from its studio production. The throbbing, insistent R+B drum beat that opens the track leads into jangly acoustic guitars and what sounds like a synthesizer oboe riff. It has a dark undercurrent, but "The Word" is pure joy, a call to action and salvation ("Get up, come on, let's do something") inspired no doubt by Prince's conversion to the Jehovah's Witness religion. There are two separate choruses, a blistering guitar solo, a percussion breakdown and an overall ebullient spirit that almost invites a gospel choir. My favorite song by far.
Even perkier, and nowhere near as good, is "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed," which is essentially a Tamar vehicle. (A 3121 insert card makes sure to note that Tamar's album, which shares the same title, drops on May 2.) "B, L and B" is every Wow The Sun's Shining Bright And I'm Fucking Happy track you've already heard from India Arie, Jill Scott and Floetry. Not a bad song, just one that kind of makes you want to shield your eyes and put on some death metal. It leads into 3121's weakest song by far, "The Dance," which is not (though it would certainly be comically rich) a cover of the Garth Brooks song of the same name. Rather, it's a Latin-tinged, Broadway-reject mood piece that reminds me of the joke songs from the Robert Goulet "Red Ships of Spain" sketch on the second SNL Will Ferrell best-of DVD.
3121 closes on another treacly note, with "Get on the Boat," which is not (though it would also certainly be comically rich) a sonic, nautical recreation of Spike Lee's Million Man March movie Get on the Bus. Rather, it's an uptempo cross between Motown and big band, a buoyant and horn-heavy jam with appearances from Prince bandmates of years past, like percussionist Sheila E. and sax players Candy Dulfer and Maceo Parker. The lyrics, which run along the lines of utopian racial unity ("every single color, every race and every creed"), aren't worthy of the accompanying music, but it's a fun listen.
The bottom line is, there isn't too much here for Prince megafans to be embarrassed of, but 3121 also is definitely not a modern-day Sign O' the Times or 1999. Prince looks backward to his idols and his old music for inspiration, and he occasionally apes his current competitors, but he's not setting the trends anymore. He's just here to have a good time and get people into real music, played by real musicians. For that, we cannot fault him. 3121 is solid, listenable and occasionally classic, and it's definitely a Prince album, not a half-assed effort from a guy with a symbol for a name.
Though, for a laugh, you should check out the photos in the liner notes, which show off Prince's symbol on a purple pool table, hanging over his bed and embroidered on a bunch of back-support pillows resting on dining room chairs.
© Copyright ToxicUniverse.com 03/24/2006
