Yep, he's back!

I got "3121" today and got blown away on my first listen. The impetus for getting it was "Incense and candles" but found what is oh-so-rare nowadays: buying an album to discover more than half of the songs are better than the song which made you buy it in the first place.

If you're open, it's a great album

If you're expecting or wishing that Prince would stick to one style, you're very likely to be disappointed. I've always pretty much liked Prince ever since I was about 9 or 10 years old. Some of the songs he's composed weren't really to my liking, but because the world revolves around no one person, you're not going to be happy all the time with everything one particular person does. Even though I may have not liked each song Prince has put out there, I respect him as an artist and a person willing to take chances with different sounds and he's one of the few artists around who consistently produces albums that are very good as a whole - there are plenty of performers out there that put out a CD with a couple of good songs, and then fill the rest with idiotic skits and filler crap. Prince is one of the few artists that I know that I can purchase an album and be exposed to something unique and different in every song, and genuinely enjoy most of them.

Rather disappointing

I must say, after the freshness and success of Musicology, I was hoping for something as appealing from Prince's latest effort. Alas, it seems that Prince's style now sits uncomfortably between the latest commercial rnb drivel and whispery memories of his former glory. "Lolita" sounds embarrassingly out of date, while "Incense and Candles" sounds like it could have come from any commercial rnb debutant.