MUSIC REVIEWS
Prince - 3121
David Allun Jones
2004’s Musicology was a brilliant return to Prince making real songs again. He had finally gotten out of his really weird “don’t say my name” phase and had become the more favored “grown ass man wearing high heels” weird again. But as happy as were to see Prince back in fine form, Musicology more or less pointed the man back in the right direction without being the great album we had waited well over a decade for. Filler cuts and Prince’s odd attempts at trying to be contemporary kept the album from being a true classic. For 3121, Prince has worked all the kinks out that dragged down it’s predecessor, coming with a tight, inspired album that proves Musicology was no one-time accessible fluke.
Magnificently condensed to the essentials (meaning no bizarre fifteen minute instrumentals or tossed off contract fulfilling crap), the twelve-track 3121 finds the Purple One at what could be considered his best at this point in his career. Since every song here can be traced back to an earlier similar song (the loose funk of the title track embodies the Sign O The Times favorite “Housequake”, while the brittle, bass-less digital funk of “Black Sweat” works as a new millennium updating of “Kiss”), it’s safe to say that we’re probably not going to see him reach the unpredictable heights of his 80’s heyday but what 3121 does expose is that the man has still got it.
A master of any genre he touches, Prince continues to explore the worlds of rock, funk, soul and pop like no other, retaining the disarmingly horny arrogance that made any lady he directed his attention to all giddy and weak-kneed. “I’m hot and I don’t care who knows it/ I got a job to do”, he sings in creamy falsetto, daring anybody not to succumb to the whiny synthesizers and carnal desires that permeate the electric “Black Sweat”. The candy-coated 80’s splash of “Lolita” casts him cautious, though, steering away from any sort of R. Kelly controversy, as he fights to ignore the erotic advances of a sexy teen (“Ur trying 2 get a brother in trouble girl!!”).
When he showcases his skills as a romantic connoisseur, he remains interesting. Boring slow jams have dominated his most recent releases, if only because he didn’t seem to know when to end them, but here, the descent into Quiet Storm territory doesn’t decelerate the album’s momentum any. The rap break-enhanced “Incense and Candles” is hot and sticky, the Spanish-tinged “Te Amo Corazon” lush and dreamy and “Satisfied” is pure bluesy-soul confessional with Prince promising a night of pleasure in signature text speak fashion (“It’s time to send ur company home and turn off ur cell phone/ Baby can’t u c/ eye just want 2 get u satisfied”). Some moments do begin to teeter into the danger zone with awkward spiritual banter, but they are rescued thanks to likable music choices and respectable durations.
After experiencing the Purple Rain-styled funk-rock decadence on “Fury” and the all-aboard call to arms theme that runs through the JB romp, “Get On The Boat” (featuring new female protogee Tamar and the legendary Maceo Parker), the exhilarating ride comes to a sudden end, leaving you begging for more of Prince’s Paisley Park magic. With 3121, Prince comes even closer to the ultimate comeback he seems capable of again. Is this the album that will gain him new fans or change the world the way his brand of Minneapolis funk did a couple decades back? No, but it reminds his audience that he does remember how to work it like he used to and at this point, that’s satisfying enough.
