talk about A SIGN O' THE TIMES

By: B -- 4/19/06

It takes but one listen through 3121 to recognize Prince’s enduring ability to create quality music. After recovering from mid-90s legal frustrations and double-album indulgences, Prince’s 21st century m.o. has favored a nuts-n-bolts approach. Improving on that spirit, first heard in Musicology, 3121 is full of conventional R&B numbers that ring with old-school horns and new-school studio production, songs that simultaneously remind me of Morris Day & The Time and John Legend while still remaining all Prince. He’s still the master of cocktailing genres to create his own style, this time making a tightly-produced album intended for the masses.

So with the understanding that the music in 3121 is well-made, pleasant tunage, the lasting impression is that it’s all so…well, clean. Prince is 47 years old now, a happily married Jehovah’s Witness who renounced the smut years ago. That PC lifestyle has leaked into his music and, as far as I’m concerned, the music is worse off for it.

An example: in “Lolita,” Prince asks young Lo’ in a call-and-answer, “how bad are you, girl?” to which she answers, “bad!” Then, when asked what she wants to do, Lolita answers, “whatever you want.” Present-day Prince simply responds with “then come on, let’s dance!”

Dance? Seriously? The Prince I know would have been feverishly humping the young lady with careless aplomb at that point, shrieking in his pitch-perfect falsetto. Nowadays, the man just wants to dance. Shame, that.

Moments like this abound. Beginning to end, the album is infused with a distracting sensibility. It takes no chances, breaks no ground, elicits no blushes. Decent music throughout, but considering Prince’s audacious catalog, 3121 is sadly underwhelming.

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