Review LotusFlow3r
Prince

Prince - LotusFlow3r review
  1. Year: 2009
  2. Genre: Pop/DanceFunk
  3. Rating: ****

The prophet of pop music

The musician, mostly known all over the world as Prince, stays in the center of public and press attention for more than thirty years – actually, since the release of his debut disc For You in 1978. Well, musical fertility and daring experiments of the artists sometimes made the audience scary, sometimes made it roar with excitement, but they never left anyone emotionless. Some of the singer’s innovations were cheered by the critics, some of them stayed unwelcome, as his change of the scenic name Prince for the mysterious sign, for example. Getting acquainted with the creativity of this wonderful performer, you come to a feeling like he has come to nowadays right from the future or he possesses the prophetic gift, which lets him see the tendencies that will dominate the musical and fashion world soon. In spite of the fact that Prince started as the rock musician, he came to fame after he created several pop hits, and then mixed pop music with the genres of funk, folk and his favorite rock. Although the fame of the singer faded in 90s, his authority stayed firm. Prince’s presence at any work, connected to music or any other field of arts, is the witness of its high quality for the public. However, being sometimes misunderstood even by his colleagues, Prince began to get back his popularity in the early twenty-first century. After such hits as Musicology and Planet Earth, the artist recorded a new collection of pop tracks titled LotusFlow3r.

Lotus Flow3r: the return to the shape

Listening to the previous releases, you could notice that Prince not only comes back from his jazz experiments to the firm style of the Purple Rain’s period, but also returns to that-time tunes and song topics. It means, we can cheer the sweet-voiced troubadour, whose eyes are set on women. The long-play features one song, which can be familiar to Prince’s fans. It is the positive funk melody Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful. It was available back in 2006 on the artist’s site. The album opens with the tranquil, peaceful track From The Lotus... with the psychedelia decorations. He lets us see clear that he wants to introduce himself as the talented guitarist to the public, and Prince’s play truly impresses on the whole length of LotusFlow3r. It strikingly reminds of the Jimi Hendrix improvisations. The placid final composition ...Back To The Lotus is also worthy attention due to its elaborated and sensual guitar solo. They frame tender, sunny track with sometimes playful, sometimes sexual lyrics. Thus, the melody Love Like Jazz is a real manual of love relations by Prince, while the song with the recognizable title $ is written about “the most popular girl in the whole wide world”. The album also features an amusing interpretation of the rock song Crimson & Clover, originally performed by Tommy James and The Shondells.

Prince brings love into the world with the help of rock

Initially, the album LotusFlow3r is one of the three discs (the other two are his own MplSound and Bria Valente's Elixer), which were released by Prince in the USA as one set. He also did not record any of the full-lengths at a major label – it seems like his track 77 Beverly Park, titled in honor of the artist’s studio, has a significant moment for him. Of all the three, the disc LotusFlow3r is definitely the most bright and impressing of the “trilogy”. It is amazingly positive and sensual pop rock tracks, filled with love. It is natural, of cause, that Prince just had to stick to his dear eclectics on the long-play, and LotusFlow3r has the tints of his beloved genres of funk, jazz and Latino. It seems like the musician has a new light period in his life, as his compositions are loaded with heat and optimism to the maximum. In spite of the psychedelic slant of many tracks, the release LotusFlow3r is easy and pleasant for digestion. The major attention is paid to Prince’s guitar and expressive, sometimes unbelievingly high-pitched vocals. These two instruments are targeted to create the major part of the album’s atmosphere. And finally, the daring, sexually-charged verses by the musician just have to be appreciated. The new disc by Prince, titled LotusFlow3r, proved once again that he can write as many works as he wants, without sacrificing the quality to the quantity.

Other artist's reviews

Prince - 20ten review20ten
2010
Although Prince has remained faithful to his own original traditions and keeps on making unexpected statements, it is clear from the very first sounds of the album 20ten that the second breath has finally opened in his music
Prince - MplSound reviewMplSound
2009
Prince seems to remember his own forgotten recipe of a successful danceable piece on MplSound. The lyrics of the danceable songs are simple and on the contrary real soul dramas unfold in R&B ballads
Prince - Planet Earth reviewPlanet Earth
2007
Prince’s 24th studio album Planet Earth can hardly compete with Purple Rain by the standards of Prince himself it turned out to be a pretty strong disk. The material sounds very streamlined and unobtrusive while the sound strikes with its energy
Prince - 3121 review3121
2006
A new Prince album is always an event. His first release on Universal Records is an album entitled 3121. This hour-long collection of pop, rock, Latin and funk tunes proves miniature maestro is back to the highs of Purple Rain and 1999

subscribe to new reviews

New reviews

Random review

Michael Buble - Christmas reviewChristmas 2011
by Michael Buble

***

Charismatic and very stylish Canadian singer Michael Buble is busy preparing for the New Year holidays. Meet his brand new Christmas album titled Christmas!

Latest news

 
in reviews in news