Time to point out another of my flaws - I'm a sucker for a lot of music for a small price. I'll buy it even if I don't have any reason to believe it is good. It's something to listen to - and it was cheap!
So of course I jumped on it when Prince released a 3-disc set for $12 this week. Yes, I know that everything he has made since Sign O' The Times has been a mess. Even his best records since then (The Gold Experience, The Love Symbol, Musicology) aren't albums you'd ever want to hear start to finish. He hasn't done anything in that time that even approaches his unprecedented 1982-1987 run of records.
So now, we get three new albums, one of which is by his protege Bria Valente:
LotusFlow3r: Finally, Prince decided to make a blues-guitar Jimi Hendrix tribute album. The guitar playing is exceptional (even for him), but the singing is meandering and sometimes has no purpose - I really don't get the blurred vocal production in "Crimson and Clover". When he brings his R&B vocal styles back, he sounds more comfortable and makes some gems like "4Ever" and "Love Like Jazz". The overbearing politics in "Colonized Mind" are made up for with great soloing, and the second half of the record is more unrestrained (he even goes metal on "Dreamer"). Overall, this is one of the best discs he produced this decade. Not a bad track here.
MPLsound: After listening to the first disc, you may wonder to yourself: "what did he do with all of his generic, crappy dance tracks"? Here you go! "Chocolate Box" and "Dance 4 Me" would have sounded corny in 1985. "U're Gonna C Me" and "Better With Time" are love ballads that are so syrupy and sappy they make my stomach turn. "Here" is a lone gem on this album; its high-pitched sonics and acoustic rhythms make for the only memorable ballad worth salvaging. The $12 you paid were for the first disc - forget this one happened.
Elixer: The third disc is sung by Prince's protege and sound-alike Bria Valente. Her album can be best described as pleasant and unmemorable. Her voice doesn't vary in tone or pitch and the instrumentation is Prince-by-the-numbers. That's really all I can tell you.
To summarize, LotusFlow3r is a must-have for Prince fans. You have to buy the two other discs too, but at $12, this is still a good deal, but not a great one.
If you don't know Prince, ignore this and go buy Purple Rain, Sign O' The Times, Dirty Mind, and 1999 in that order.
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