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LotusFlow3r

Prince - LotusFlow3r Audio CD

A fair review of the Prince "LotusFlow3r" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Prince reviews here, or go back to the Prince tabs.

Band: Prince
Title: LotusFlow3r
Rating:

Release Date:
Media: Audio CD

Tracks:

Come 2 Tjhe Flow3r Garden
I bought these cd's when they were first released.
Let me just say tha I can't believe that I waited so long to post a review. This is Prince at his Rockin, funky best. No frills here , just solid jams.

The first cd Elixer show cases new Prince protege Bria Valente. It took me a while to warm up to this disc, because I foolishly went on critiques of the music rather than listening for myself. Is Bria Valente a strong vocalist in the vein of Mary J. Blige or Chaka or Aretha Franklin? No. She is however an easy artist to listen to. Critics were way too hard on her , when artist like Britney spears, who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, never seem to recieve criticism for their lack of vocal talent. Elixer is a solid cd that is certainly worth listening to. Great cd to play for a romantic evening, especially the songs "Here I Come " and Elixer.

Lotus Flow3r show cases Prince's rock side. My favorite tracks o this disc are Crimsom an clover, $, Colonized Mind, and Love Like Jazz. I have recently gotten into the track entitled dreamer as well. Lotusflow3r is an extrordinary cd for anyone who loves guitar heavy tracks.

MPLS Sound is my favorite of the three cds , since funk is my favorite genrre of music. This cd is so funky it makes your stomach hurt. Chocolate Box featuring Q-Tip is the monster jam on this cd with Dance 4 Me running a tight second Valentina and Another like me hold a tie for third. These songs are so retro 80's Prince funky , yet they sound as fresh as anything on the radio today. My slow Jam from this album is Your'e Gonna C Me. Here and Better With Time are vintage Prince. They just have his style all over them. Ol School Company takes fourth place among the funk jams on this disc , but it is still a solid track. No More Candy 4 U has a big band feel to it. The song reminds me of stomping prince rock- a - billy tracks like Delirious, Let's Pretend We're Married and Play in the Sunshine ,only this one stomps harder .

These three cd's were worth their price and then some . .

Saturated Market
He is truely a workaholic. There is one thing can be said about Prince. With over hundreds of songs lying around in a vault somewhere, Prince has a remarkable body of work in his past, present and future. However, that sometimes remains the problem as Lotus Flower demonstrates.

The triple-album set, the alternatively spelled LOtUSFLOW3R contains two discs of Prince material and a third disc titled Elixir from his new prot�g�e Bria Valente. Right off the back, Prince's prot�g�es have never reached superstardom or enduring functioning and frankly, most of them remain forgotten. Bria Valente's Elixir offers no different consensus.

Of the remaining discs on LOtUSFLOW3R are LOtUSFLOW3R and MPLSoUND. LOtUSFLOW3R is a guitar-leading affair, one worthy of Prince's name. Often left out the greatest guitar players of all time lists, LOtUSFLOW3R demonstrates why such an omission is a sin. Although this disc has its share of fluff, Prince's cover of "Crimson and Clover" is one of his most intriguing in years. The music heats up in the middle as "Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful" kicks in but is the combination of the rocking guitar of "Wall of Berlin" (mentioned previously on "Lolita" on 3121) and the R&B meets Rock of "$" (pronounced Dollar Bill) that makes it worth while. "Dreamer" completes a memorable sequence.

MPLSoUND is Prince's attempt to return to his early sound found albums such as Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999 and Purple Rain. Such a notion is a bit exaggerated as many of the tunes are generic and do not stand up to his material from the late 1970s/early 1980s period. However, "U're Gonna C Me" and "Here" have great potential. Nevertheless, MPLSoUND is full with the cheesy sound and lyrics Prince began sporting in the 1990s. Songs like "Chocolate Box" seem so obviously dated and corny. However, Prince cannot resist his embellishments or his venereal vanity.

Overall, this three disc-collection is similar to much of Prince's 1990s output during which he released albums frequently as if he just unloaded his vault rather than putting together a concentrated effort of material that doesn't let up from top to bottom like Purple Rain. Prince lost that after 1992's Love Symbol. He got it back by the time Musicology came around and struggled to maintain it on 3121 and Planet Earth. LOtUSFLOW3R is the breaking point again. There are fewer songs to take into Prince's history here. More is left for brushing off as Prince's ambitious double and triple albums that saturated a market that people became less interested in.

Because the price of this three-disc album is such a pay-off at its original Target-exclusive vendor, the album is a decent set for a longtime Prince or for a die hard fan who buys everything of "the Purple One" even if just for collector's sake. However, this is is something to skip if a casual listener. If you like Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, Parade and Sign O' the Time, this is a different party. It is one of the sensibilities that brought us Chaos and Disorder, Emancipation and Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. It is big, rushed and not deep enough to express a worthy concern. Yet, Prince's musicianship is more evident here than on other records, so it is not a total waste.

Three times zero is still zero

Prince treads old ground here for at least the fourth or fifth time, delivering a searingly bad message-laden effort accompanied by forgettable music. I don't think I've given a Prince record one star in a long time, but this one was practically begging for it. At three discs you want to hope that there is something salvageable here, but it's a mash of throw-away tracks that sound like tracks he used to give to other, failed bands. The "Lotus" record is an airy mess, filled with lazy writing and retread energy. The "MPLSound" record has all of the funk that was missing on the "Lotus" disc but still fails to do more than frustrate. Even the welcome return of his sonic palette (hello pitched tom toms!) only elevates these tracks to music I still won't be listening to a week from now. Finally, there is the included "non-Prince" record, singer Bria Valente's "Elixer" (misspelled for no apparent reason), which is thoroughly produced by Prince. Valente is not without merit as a vocalist, and of the three records in this set this is the one that doesn't sound like a complete throwaway. At the same time, it's hardly inspiring. It's worth noting that this record - not the two proper Prince albums - contains the sole song worth having out of this whole set: the title track "Elixer", which is a powerful slow-grind of a duet with Prince. That's it: one track worthy of his genius.

I would challenge anyone to find a mere eight songs that would make one good album out of this material, but this 3-panel set doesn't have eight songs on it anyone will care about that isn't on the payroll. If his vault is filled with 1000 songs of stuff that sounds like this, then someone should forget the combination. A waste for anyone who isn't a completist or fanatic, who would even have to admit that at 25 albums deep, this one isn't even in the top 15. If you bought this record AFTER having heard it, you're a very special person, a collector, or you're a person who just likes to collect Prince stuff whether it's good or not.
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Prince Then, Prince Now & Prince Forever
I have listen to both of the new Prince releases extensively and I must say that I could not be anymore satisfied than the first time I heard "Dirty Mind". I agree fully with (BELLE ALMA), it is time fans stop looking for comparisons from past Prince releases. The greatness of Prince is that you can always expect something fresh. From the first note of "Chocolate Box" I found myself bouncing. I heard him tell my story on "4Ever". My spirit was engulfed in "Colonized Mind", and it doesn't get any funkier than "Ol Skool Company". Now if you are locked in the past then let me state on behalf of Prince by paraphrasing a popular wrestler "You Can't Hear Me!". For those who caught that just grab either of the two CD's and enjoy.

Well done Mr. Prince
Prince ever done. In my humble opinion, musicaly, LotusFlow3r is one of the best records Mr. Plsound remind us some old times and sounds. Lotus is diferent! I liked it even more.
The package is simple, has no inlet with lyrics, but is very well made and finished.
Also, this way of selling records is great, because the whole package is much more cheap than one you can buy in a regular record shop.
The only thing I didnt like, was the time it took to arrive in my place, more than two weeks.

You can see a complete list of all Prince discography, or go back to the Prince tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.