Customer Reviews

Lotus Flow3r/Mplsound/Elixer

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Title: Lotus Flow3r
Band: Prince, Bria Valente
Producer: Prince
Label: NPG Records
Parental Advisory: No
If You Can Only Buy One Song Make It: Everytime, $, Dance 4 Me

Though Prince's career has had it's ups and downs no one can deny that the man is bold when it comes to his music. From the sound, to the feel, to the distribution itself, Prince is always looking for new ways to get his content out to the fans (ironic, seeing that he also has the biggest archive full of unreleased finished projects). Now we have "Lotus Flow3r," one of his biggest ambitions yet: A triple album release that is being given away for free. Well...okay, maybe not FREE per say! Basically Prince is launching a new site/fansite where he can distribute his music to his fans easier. Fans who subscribe to this service for $77.99 a year get the entire album for free (plus other benefits).

Everyone else can get the album exclusively at Target in a cardboard fold out release. And for those who don't know, this is practically 3 hours worth of content for $12 measly dollars! Just because you have lots of content doesn't mean it's very good though. So let's take a look at the opening album; "Elixer." Now, even though this is the opening album this is NOT a Prince album! Yeah the music has his fingerprints, and he's definetly playing on the guitar, but the singer for this album is his protegée Bria Valente. This album will likely receive lots of critism from Prince's fans. Though it's far from terrible (with tracks "Somthing u Already Have" and "Everytime" being stand outs), the fact of the matter is Bria is a very easy radio listen. She doesn't have the charisma or boldness that Prince himself has, and most of his fans likely wouldn't listen to this sort of thing anyway.

No, they'll likely skip to the second album, "Lotus Flow3r," which has Prince riffing a concept album of sorts. A quarter of these tracks are actually segue tracks with no vocals, giving the album a consitant flow feeling. Highlights include "$" and cover track "Crimson and Clover" (it should be noted the latter is only available on the Target disk, and fans who get the album online get a replacement track from one of his previous albums). Chances are the album that's going to be most popular is the third one, "MPLSoUND." This is the album that has Prince doing what he does best. Namely, singing tracks with lots of funk and pop perfectly blended together. This album has the fewest amount of tracks, but the tracks are longer then on the other albums, making this one the longest of the three.

A couple of these tracks are unreleased singles that have even been remixec (I believe). Due to the single nature of the album this has a feel that makes it ideal for radio airplay, but it's also so much fun that any notions of "artist compromise" are hard to justify. Though Prince has released better albums rarely do we get a release so ambitious and cheap at the same time. We're in a world where digital downloads are killing CD's, and the best way to make CD's relevant today are to fill them up with content. Prince has long been the lead for experimenting with alternate forms of distribution, and this may be his best idea yet.

Grade: ***

This is a 3-cd set, but is really 3 cd's that should have been marketed and sold separately. All three are distinctive in their own way and one features someone other than Prince delivering the vocals, so doesn't even qualify as a Prince cd in my book. So I'll start with the music that is definitely PRINCE, which are the LOTUSFLOW3R and MPLSOUND discs.

The first is LOTUSFLOW3R, and this is a jazz flavored guitar oriented disc, which is not to say it's bad, but if you like the Prince that can deliver a catchy pop hook in a concise hit single, this is not for you. If you're one of the faithful that will allow Prince his indulgences though, this is good (but not great) stuff. Standout cuts are his psychedelic take on "Crimson and Clover" which also incorporates a Hendrix-influenced take on "Wild Thing" (the old Troggs tune, NOT the Tone Loc song!) and "Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful", which is a little on the light and poppy side, but a good song that might belong on the more song-oriented "MPLSound" cd. But LOTUSFLOW3R does feature some great instrument-oriented music from Prince, so it's a worthy disc overall.

For me though, the MPLSOUND disc makes this all worthwhile, and without it this set would be pretty thin. Songs like the opening "There'll Never B Another Like Me," "Chocolate Box," "Dance 4 Me," and "No More Candy 4 U" sound like Prince's best from the early 80's era when he put out albums like "Purple Rain," "1999" and "Controversy" and delivered some of his best singles. Catchy & concise music, with fun, playful and slightly humorous lyrics, these cuts are flat out fun to listen to. This is Prince on top of his songwriting game! Other tracks like "Valentina" are a step down, but still good, and "Ol' Skool Company" is a solid groove, although a bit overly long at 7 and a half minutes. Unfortunately, Prince burdens these great songs with a few ballads that fall flat for me and just weigh this disc down. Prince's ballads have never been my favorite, but songs like "Do Me Baby," "Diamonds and Pearls" and "Nothing Compares 2 U" are distinctive and more than worth a listen. Not so for the ballads here. Songs like "U're Gonna See Me," "Here," and "Better With Time" seriously weaken the middle portion of "MPLSOUND". Still, the majority of this disc is among the best Prince has done since 2004's "Musicology", and with the reasonable price of this 3 cd set, the MPLSOUND disc alone justifies getting the set.

The final disc is "Elixer", which contains Prince's stamp all over the songwriting, intstrumentation and production, but the songs are among the more generic Prince has offered and the vocals from his protege Bria Valente, while technically proficient, are nothing that grabs me, so this disc adds next to nothing to the set in my opinion.

So I view this set as one great Prince CD (MPLSOUND), which I'd give 4 stars, a bonus LOTUSFLOW3R cd that is worth the occasional listen but not Prince's best (2.5 stars), and the Elixer cd that doesn't quite qualify as Prince and is best suited for use as a coaster or for skeet shooting (one star). PULL!

So on average, this is a 3-star set, but I'd still recommend it becauase the best songs on MPLSOUND are among the best Prince has ever done.

Okay so I am only 26 years old but I grew up hearing Prince. I can honestly say the Prince we knew from "Purple Rain" is back. Out of all three disc I really enjoyed "Elixer" that album does not have Prince's vocals but you can hear his production and electric guitar, but the album is sultry and sexy especially #1 "Here I come" beautifully compose. I can not remember the artist name on that album I think it is Tia Valiente but her vioce is puts me in the mood. MLPSound the second one in the collection had alot of cover song and I felt like at times like I was listening to Hendrix. I can not qiute remember the name of the songs I like on the ablum but #11 is awesome. Also the "Feel Better Feel Good" has a really creative James Brown sound to it I play on the way to work everyday. Last but not least Lotus Flower what can I say "Chocolate Box" is Prince at his prime. I recommend this album to any real Prince fan out there and I you are not a fan you will be.

The Purple One never disappoints. This triple CD (his protege's is not bad) for the price of one delivers him in tireless, ageless form. He brings the swagger of the Funk Soul Brother and man, oh man, does he still play one hot guitar! As one track title aptly declares, "(There'll Never B) Another Like Me" . . . so true.

One's again Prince puts his personal spin on what is going on in the world of purple rain,purple music. If you are not a ture fan of prince this three set cd is not for you.Since I am a true fan I did enjoy the up temor ,slow jams as well as club music he put together.

Picked up this three-disc set at Target for $4.99. I am a huge Purple Rain fan, and like many of his other works as well, so for 3 discs at $5 bucks, thats a no-brainer.

I thought Bria was a decent album with a variety of songs that might appeal to many. It just didn't appeal to me. She has a good voice, and the music is well produced, I'm just not a classic R&B fan.

Lotus Flower was basiclly the male version of Bria's disc. Too much R&B, not enough jam. Not for me.

MPLSound, right from the start, felt like Purple Rain. Very classic Prince. Loved it.

Overall I am happy with the albums.

It's a beautiful record. If you love Prince here you can find his music, his sound, his creativity. There's nothing new in this cd becouse Prince is always Prince! Many artists try to do their best to arrive to Prince (and someone sometime makes something good...) but the original artist is always him! If you love him or hate him...
Roberto

Lotus flower is my favorite of the 3 discs. Great variety and Prince back to his rock and funk roots. Boom, 4ever, colinized mind, love like jazz, dreamer are stand outs! MPLS sound is not quite my taste. Alot of club songs and fillers but you have to listen to HERE and Old school Company. They are great!

Elixer however is a breath of fresh air!!!!!!! It had some negative reviews but i think they missed the point. Each CD is totally different and fits a different mood.
This collaboration between Prince and Bria Valente is refreshing and suprising! The chemistry between the two is undeniable. Especially with the surrounding rumors of their love affair. You get a glimpse into their romance with each song. All i can say is WOW. Prince has no doubt penned and played all the instruments on this 3 cd music set. His versatility is unmatched!!! Very impressive songwriting, singing, and musicianship on Elixer. This CD has become my favorite with each listen. Pour a glass of wine, light some candles and get a sexy ambience going in the room. She has a smooth sexy voice that is innocent and pure and doesnt distract from the experience. Symmetry.