3121

Since his 1978 debut, Prince has been known for his eccentric and synthetic music production, layered R&B grooves, taboo lyrics, and his irresistible and instantly recognizable falsetto (see “Kiss”).

3121
Provided By:The Daily Vault

3121
Prince
Umvd Labels, 2006
REVIEW BY: Kenny McGuane
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/04/2008
[READ THIS FIRST.]

Since his 1978 debut, Prince has been known for his eccentric and synthetic music production, layered R&B grooves, taboo lyrics, and his irresistible and instantly recognizable falsetto (see “Kiss”). 3121 finds the bad-boy pop-prodigy in regular form, although the edgy, sexualized words have subsided some since his more recent conversion to Jehovah’s Witness. Don’t let this frighten you; the absence of such content is hardly noticeable because the alternate lyrical quality, and of course, the music, are so damn good.
To say that Prince has not experienced a high level of commercial success would be a lie, but one could argue that he has not, by a long shot, received the recognition that he so obviously deserves. This could be mostly due to his rather, shall we say, bizarre persona – like his officially changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol in order to dodge record execs, not to mention his feminine, lipstick-wearing exterior. Girly or not, Prince is one of the last authentic pop performers, a performer and an entertainer to the very core. He writes, produces and plays almost every instrument on all of his records.
Following up 2003’s internationally acclaimed Musicology could not have been an easy task. Not hard because Prince has trouble writing pop tunes; he can write those in his sleep (in fact he will probably forget more songs then most will ever even hear.) But hard because Musicology was the first Prince record to come along in a while that appealed to more than the diehard fans. Not to worry, he has done it again; 3121 is, in many ways, even better.

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