This limited edition gem from Prince marks 20 years – and every hi-fi fan should own one
In case you missed any of the many posts we’ve published recently, What is Hi-Fi? reached a milestone. Specially, we are turning 50 this year.
Alright, get your party hats and disco balls ready, we’re hitting the big five-O. We have another 20 years to go before we retire.
Now look, I get why young people in particular won’t rank the album as Prince’s best, or, based on my conversations with our Gen Z writers, even know of its existence. The virtuoso has been around for a long time, and there are many great moments to choose from, after all.
All in all, there are many good things to choose from…
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But 3121 it was one of my favorite examples of his recent work and a hidden gem wrongly overlooked by many fans, ironic as it was popular at the time, it reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart – something Prince hadn’t achieved since 1989 Batman sound track.
A sandwich in between Musicologygood but not his best work, and (in my mind) the most forgettable Planet Earth again Lotusflow3rthe album is one of Prince’s most brilliant pieces of recent work and a great example of his brilliance as a singer, producer and composer.
Prince brought out a band of his collaborators for the album, including drummer CC Dunham, bassist Joshua Dunham and singer Támar Davis, and the album is a hive of eclectic tracks that happily change pace and melody on a whim – resulting in an album that not only sounds great, but is a great way to test your performance.
It starts with a previous listening room favorite 3121the album’s titular track is an experimental juggernaut that begins with trip-hop elements before adding complex interlocking parts and beats.
With electronically enhanced vocals, a staccato guitar part that sounds more like something from Mr. Bungle than Prince, and a funky, bass, as our tech editor Ketan Bharadia explains so well: “3121 it is a complex work of art with rhythm in a noble setting and absurd chaos in anything else.”
Then there’s what I like, Anger. One of the album’s more traditional tracks, it’s a funky funk track that’s sure to get even the staunchest of music fans’ feet tapping to the beat.
From a testing standpoint, its intentionally flabby bass is a surefire way to see if your speakers are going to rattle. And the stark contrast between it and Prince’s aggressive lead guitar and silky-smooth vocals will also give a solid gauge of its general dynamics and tonal balance.
If it can’t properly separate different parts of the frequency range, your system won’t Anger justice – trust me, I checked.
And that tour de force continues until the last track, Get in the Boat. Opening with a booming horn section and sweeping bassline before a big-band freeform burst, the funktastic song builds from start to finish and exemplifies why, for me, 3121 an album all hi-fi and music fans should check out.
While it’s not Prince’s most avant garde effort, especially compared to his early 1980s era, it’s a great album and one of the most well-produced in his vast back catalog. And as it turns 20, there’s never been a better time to revisit it, or check it out for the first time. You won’t be disappointed if you do.
I would especially recommend the 2019 vinyl posthumous version, which has been spinning all week for “research” purposes…
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