Lotus Flower (3CD)

This is a three-CD set containing two albums of new music by Prince and one by the impressivley gorgeous Bria Valente.

If Prince had taken the best tracks off Lotusflow3r and MPLSound and mashed them together, he would have made his best album since Sign O' the Times. But, typically Prince, he puts out a three CD set and lets his fans pick though everything.

So, first we have MPLSound, which is probably the best Prince album since Lovesexy. All linn drums and meaty 80's synths, Prince is having more fun here than he has for a long time. The pure pop joy of 'Here', the old school funk grooves of 'Ol Skool Company' and the more bluesy 'Valentina', the dirty dance-pop of 'Chocolate Box', the high-octane vocals of Camille on 'Dance 4 Me', the pure abandon of 'No More Candy 4 U' - everything you need to know about Prince is right here on this disc. And it's a joy to hear. I haven't stopped listening to this disc since I bought it three weeks ago. It's a very 'complete' Prince… more »

This is a three-CD set containing two albums of new music by Prince and one by the impressivley gorgeous Bria Valente.

If Prince had taken the best tracks off Lotusflow3r and MPLSound and mashed them together, he would have made his best album since Sign O' the Times. But, typically Prince, he puts out a three CD set and lets his fans pick though everything.

So, first we have MPLSound, which is probably the best Prince album since Lovesexy. All linn drums and meaty 80's synths, Prince is having more fun here than he has for a long time. The pure pop joy of 'Here', the old school funk grooves of 'Ol Skool Company' and the more bluesy 'Valentina', the dirty dance-pop of 'Chocolate Box', the high-octane vocals of Camille on 'Dance 4 Me', the pure abandon of 'No More Candy 4 U' - everything you need to know about Prince is right here on this disc. And it's a joy to hear. I haven't stopped listening to this disc since I bought it three weeks ago. It's a very 'complete' Prince album, and one that no true Prince fan will want to be without.

Lotusflow3r has been touted as Prince's "return to the guitar" album, but if you're expecting 'Purple Rain' style Hendrix-influenced workouts (as I was after reading the reviews) then you'll be sorely disappointed. Perhaps it's this disappointment which leads to me be less enamoured by this disc than I am of MPLSound.

'Boom' would fit perfectly onto 'Around the World in a Day' (not my favourite Prince album), but the opening and closing instrumentals just strike me as self-indulgent. In amongst these tracks however, there are some true jewels. 'Dreamer' is a contender for best song on the set - Hendrix-styled funk rock that reminds you of just how good Prince can be when he lives up to all those Hendrix comparisons he had to put up with when he first strapped on his guitar and rocked out. 'Crimson & Clover' is a nice light & fluffy mid-tempo Prince ballad which is more typical of his use of the guitar throughout Lotusflow3r - there's also a nice cheeky wink to the Troggs 'Wild Thing' in the song. 'Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful' is a feelgood 'Rainbow Children'-era funk workout that wears it's love of James Brown on it's sleeve. 'S' is uptempo jazzy pop par excellance - it's hard not to listen to this without getting a smile on your face. But the rest of the album contains too much filler for me, and Prince fans who've bought everything he's put out over the last 20 years or so have plenty of that in our collections already.

Finally we come to Elixir, the Bria Valente disc. I think Prince has done a grave dis-service to both his fans and to Bria by including this album in this set. Bria is a not-outstanding but perfectly adequate RnB singer who sings songs exactly as you'd expect. She would be better off battling it out with the other pretenders to Beyonce's crown, amongst whom she would probably find an appreciative fanbase. I've listened to the disc twice (which is at least once more than most people buying this set), but I bought the set to hear the Prince stuff. Like most Prince fans, it's not a disc I intend to listen to again. It could make a particularly attractive coaster though......no offence Bria, you're just not my cup of tea.

So there we have it - Prince's latest offering undoubtedly contains his best set of music for years, but it could have been so much more. As a lifelong Prince fan I'm quite used to this, and hoping that his 21 nights in London had energised him into making music for the masses was it seems a dream too far. What we do have though is one disc that is worth owning for the diamonds in the rough (Lotusflow3r) and his best disc for about 20 years (MLPSound).