Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 20/03/06
Label: Universal

Hang out the bunting, have ticker-tape at the ready and breathe a collective sigh of relief. There's news from the front, and it's all good. The twenty-fifth album of Prince's twenty-eight year career is a true landmark. Following a decade of misguided, shapeless and self-gratifying nonsense, "3121" is his second good album in a row.

After the unexpected return to form that was last album, "Musicology", it seemed almost too much to hope that the diminutive force-of-pop's return from the funk wilderness was anything more than a one off; a brief and much appreciated reminder that he was once the greatest musical mind of a generation. No one dared think that it might be the start of an actual comeback. Now, two years of breath holding later, Prince fans get the news they could only have dreamt of: "3121" is better than "Musicology".

Well, almost. It's a close run thing, so close it's not really worth worrying about. All that matters is that for the second time in two albums, Prince is proving that he can handle funk without straying into the abyss; that verses and choruses are once again his friends. Better still, he's harnessed his off-head imagination as a force for mind-blowing good and he's got his production-genius head firmly screwed on.

If "Musicology" was Prince flexing his muscles and checking that all his old tricks were still in working order, "3121" is the living legend in him getting firmly back into his stride. "Musicology" was a thing of wonder for its focused simplicity: organic funk, spangled rock and tender seduction, pure and condensed. "3121" is an altogether more sophisticated proposition, awash with a confidence, elegance and subtly not seen since "Diamonds And Pearls".

The bleary, drunk funk and multi-tracked helium / baritone vocals of the title track set the tone as club ready R&B with that unmistakable, Princely strut, and things just get better from there. The sexy synth bounce of "Lolita", "Incense And Candles"' vintage soul with a twist and "Black Sweat"'s taut, trademarked trusting, all confirm that he knows Outkast and The Neptunes have been making good living out of his act, and he's ready to reclaim it.

Of course, there are those who'll note that, great as soul-rock show stopper "Fury" is and sweet as "Word"'s honeyed melodies are, they're nothing he wasn't doing 20 years ago. And it's true. But while "3121" might suggest that, at 47, Prince isn't looking to change the face of music anymore, he's clearly still more than capable of delivering classic Prince albums.

Perhaps the more critical question is whether Prince's comeback - and it's safe to call it that now - will excite anyone under the age of 30. On that, only time will tell, but it's safe to say that if the seething clatter of "Love" and the gorgeously sweet chorus which quietly soars from it doesn't make a whole new generation fall for his enigmatic charms, nothing will.

    by Dan Gennoe