Plectrumelectrum

Plectrumelectrum is the thirty-sixth studio album by American recording artist Prince, and first (and only) to feature his backing band 3rdeyegirl.[1] It was released on September 26, 2014 by NPG Records under a renewed license to Warner Bros. Records.[2] Plectrumelectrum received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plectrumelectrum
Studio album by
Prince and 3rdeyegirl
ReleasedSeptember 30, 2014
Recorded2013–14; Paisley Park
GenreFunk rock
Length44:00
Label
Producer
  • Prince
  • 3rdeyegirl
Prince chronology
20Ten
(2010)		 Plectrumelectrum
(2014)		 Art Official Age
(2014)
Singles from Plectrumelectrum
  1. "Fixurlifeup"
    Released: May 16, 2013
  2. "Pretzelbodylogic"
    Released: February 3, 2014
  3. "Whitecaps"
    Released: September 26, 2014 (MP3 single)

Prince released the album Art Official Age simultaneously.[3]

Music and lyrics

According to Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times, Plectrumelectrum is a rock album with lyrics and sound effects characteristic of Prince's "noble weirdness" and "sense of humor".[4] Abigail Covington of The A.V. Club said that "it takes a no-nonsense approach to funk and for the most part plays near the shallow shores of rock 'n' roll's enormous waters."[5] Rolling Stone reviewer Jon Dolan described the record as "a set of exploratory funk-rock jams".[6]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
The A.V. ClubA–[5]
Chicago Tribune[8]
The Daily Telegraph[9]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[10]
The Guardian[11]
Los Angeles Times[4]
Q[12]
Pitchfork Media3.8/10[13]
Rolling Stone[6]

Plectrumelectrum received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 18 reviews.[14] Q magazine said that "the sound of [Prince] working with a lean combo is so refreshing, and a welcome first in his mammoth catalogue."[12] Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly felt its hooks and band dynamic make it a better album than Art Official Age.[10] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph wrote that "the rock format appears to have concentrated him on songwriting basics."[9]

In a less enthusiastic review for The New York Times, Jon Pareles wrote that Plectrumelectrum is limited by its "rigorous, deliberately retro back-to-basics mandate" because Prince is better at synthesizing styles together rather than reproducing them.[15] Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote in his review for AllMusic that the album does not try anything new, but called it "a quiet thrill to hear Prince spar with worthy partners, as he does throughout this record."[7]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 and sold 26,000 copies in its first week.[16] In its second week of sales, the album dropped down to number 47 on the chart, selling 7,000 copies, bringing total sales to 33,000 copies.[17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Prince except "Plectrumelectrum", written by guitarist Donna Grantis, arranged by Prince.[18].

No.TitleLength
1."Wow"4:28
2."Pretzelbodylogic"3:26
3."Aintturninround"3:02
4."Plectrumelectrum" (instrumental)4:51
5."Whitecaps"3:43
6."Fixurlifeup"3:12
7."Boytrouble" (featuring Lizzo and Sophia Eris)3:53
8."Stopthistrain"3:41
9."Anotherlove" (adapted from original song by Alice Smith, Rebecca Jordan, and Reginald "Syience" Perry)4:16
10."Tictactoe"3:38
11."Marz"1:48
12."Funknroll"4:12

Notes

Charts
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] 33
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 11
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] 29
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[22] 8
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 9
French Albums (SNEP)[24] 13
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[25] 6
Italian Albums (FIMI)[26] 21
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[27] 31
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[28] 8
Scottish Albums (OCC)[29] 15
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 8
UK Albums (OCC)[31] 11
US Billboard 200[32] 8
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[33] 1

References
  1. "Prince: watch his new video for Marz". The Guardian. January 19, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  2. "Prince Slates New Albums 'Plectrumelectrum' and 'Art Official Age' - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone.
  3. "Prince to release two new albums Art Official Age and Plectrum Electrum on the same day". The Independent.
  4. Roberts, Randall (2014). "Prince dazzles and baffles on two new releases". Los Angeles Times (September 29). Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  5. Covington, Abigail (October 1, 2014). "Prince puts an end to his patchy period once and for all". The A.V. Club. Chicago: The Onion. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  6. Dolan, Jon (October 23, 2014). "Prince and 3rdEyeGirl's New Album: Plectrumelectrum". Rolling Stone. New York (1220). Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  7. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "PlectrumElectrum – 3rdEyeGirl,Prince". AllMusic. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  8. Kot, Greg (2014). "Prince says let's go crazy in 2 different ways". Chicago Tribune (September 29). Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  9. McCormick, Neil (2014). "Prince & 3rdEyeGirl, Plectrumelectrum, first review: 'a whiff of Hendrix'". The Daily Telegraph (September 26). London. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  10. Anderson, Kyle (October 1, 2014). "Art Official Age and Plectrumelectrum". Entertainment Weekly. Time (#1332). Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  11. Petridis, Alexis (2014). "Prince: Art Official Age and PlectrumElectrum review – no lack of ideas, just focus". The Guardian (September 29). London. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  12. Q. London (November): 107. 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. Deusner, Stephen M. (October 3, 2014). "Prince / 3rdEyeGirl: Art Official Age/PlectrumElectrum". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  14. "Reviews for PlectrumElectrum by Prince". Metacritic. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  15. Pareles, Jon (2014). "Looking at Two Sides of Rock Royalty". The New York Times (September 30). Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  16. HipHopDX (October 8, 2014). "Hip Hop Album Sales: Prince, Chris Brown, Childish Gambino". HipHopDX.
  17. HipHopDX (October 15, 2014). "Hip Hop Album Sales: Keyshia Cole, Childish Gambino, Tinashe, Flying Lotus". HipHopDX.
  18. Nicole, Rhonda. "Album Review: Prince & 3rdEyeGirl's 'PLECTRUMELECTRUM'". Soul Train. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  19. "Australiancharts.com – Prince & 3rdEyeGirl – PlectrumElectrum". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  20. "Ultratop.be – Prince & 3rdEyeGirl – PlectrumElectrum" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  21. "Ultratop.be – Prince & 3rdEyeGirl – PlectrumElectrum" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  22. "Danishcharts.dk – Prince & 3rdEyeGirl – PlectrumElectrum". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  23. "Dutchcharts.nl – Prince & 3rdEyeGirl – PlectrumElectrum" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  24. "Lescharts.com – Prince & 3rdEyeGirl – PlectrumElectrum". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  25. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2014. 40. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  26. "Artisti – Classifica settimanale WK 40 (dal 29-09-2014 al 05-10-2014)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  27. "Charts.nz – Prince & 3rdEyeGirl – PlectrumElectrum". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  28. "Norwegiancharts.com – Prince & 3rdEyeGirl – PlectrumElectrum". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  29. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  30. "Swisscharts.com – Prince & 3rdEyeGirl – PlectrumElectrum". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  31. "Prince | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  32. "Prince Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  33. "Prince Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
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