Laydown is by far my favorite track on the album, I'll never forget him opening the W2A tour by debuting it as the opening song in Izod Center.

Let's see--haven't listened to it in a while (though I did listen pretty much just to it in the car for a couple months, so this isn't just a "I gave it a cursory spin"), but based on what I remember from the last time:

Compassion--don't like it. Insistent, but dull.

Beginning Endlessly--like it.

Future Soul Song--like it more.

Sticky Like Glue--I know lots of people like it, but all that comes to my mind is how annoyed I am by "sticky, sticky LIKE GLUE." I guess there's some tasteful playing. I don't care for it, though.

Act of God--don't like it. Can barely even call it to mind.

Lavaux--synths are too loud. Not very interesting, and the vocals are covered up. Might be okay, but I hate the way it sounds as mixed.

Walk in Sand--I like it. I know lots of people don't, but I really don't understand why. I'm guessing the word cheesy will come up if they told me, but I honestly don't know what people mean by that word.

Sea of Everything--I like it more. As someone said earlier, very nice vocal.

Everybody Loves Me--I don't understand the hate. It's no worse than many of his party songs. I really don't know (as a preschool teacher) what the heck people are thinking when they say (as many have) that preschool kids are the only ones who would like this. Believe me, none of ours would. Of course, none of ours can find the beat of anything. It's terrifying.

Laydown--okay. I like the extended version better, and maybe that live version more. But it's not earthshattering.

It's all listenable, except for Compassion--the standouts for me are the slower songs, which I know lots of people complain about. Beginning Endlessly, Future Soul Song, Walk in Sand, Sea of Everything. Not top-tier Prince, but nothing to be ashamed of, in my opinion.

It's 5 years since I listened to 20Ten. To be honest, I can barely remember a thing about it.

[Edited 3/17/15 19:27pm]

I enjoyed it when it came out. But it hasnt left a lasting impression. I dont listen to it these days. But it is certainly a better effort than MPLSound which I think is its poorer, ugly cousin.

Milty2 said:

I like it alot. It's just a nice, compact album from start to end. It's totally underrated and prolly better than AOA - which I also like but 20ten is definitely a reminder of when Prince would hunker down in the studio mostly by himself and pop out a new album.

This is pretty much how I feel about the album. Even the songs that aren't my favorite I can tolerate. I'm surprised the album gets so much hate (being dull, avg), but I guess I can understand, b/c when I don't like something I'm pretty vocal about it as well.

.

Really did not like it when it came out, but the album has grown on me a lot and now I listen to it quite a bit. The album starts with 3 very strong songs, but drops off after that.

.

Compassion is a great opener, driving melody and flow and powerful feel. The lyrics are standard Prince melodrama and worry about our fragile planet. 8/10

.

Beginning Endlessly, a great driving pop/funk number, I love it 8/10

.

Future soul song is a very creamy and dreamy ballad, it feels like you are flying and his voice is at its best in a while, a sexy ballad that is quite subtle and great cascading melodies at the end, a true standout 10/10

.

Sticky like glue another funky dance pop cut, not as good as above, but enjoyable and again Prince is having fun with the lyrics - 7/10

.

Act of God, not bad, a slightly boring song, but there is much worse and the melody drives it a long 6/10

.

Lavaux another beautiful and quite catchy song, go nowhere lyrics about some mythical piece of nirvana called lavaux, again a 7/10 song, catchy, dreamy, melodical but ultimately pointless, in an essence brainless but catchy music.

.

Walk in Sand, the cutesy pie lyrics and sugar filled soppiness of the lyrics are saved by some great falsetto singing and this creates a great song - 8/10

.

Sea of Everything and now it gets self indulgent, this not too bad, and serves as a bit of a companion piece to the above, but gets too dreamy and quite forgettable. - 6/10

.

Everybody loves me, a bit of a stinker and the only real filler on the set. Maybe he added it as a joke, and ego laden keyboard stomp, the lyrics are rather childish and trite, but it can be enjoyable at times and we can thank God he did not put Purple and Gold on instead. - 4/10

.

Laydown - apart from its hidden location and cool lyrics, a great pounding melody, this song is not the lost nugget everyone says it is. It is good enough though and ends the set well enough - 6/10.

.

Overall a decent set shorn of some the excess found on the Lotusflow3r sets and 9 of the 10 songs are at least average of better with the 10th song more mediocre rather than terrible. One song one the other hand is in the league of his 80s greatness and the highlights of Art Official Age.

Rather than say it is Lotusflow3r 2, this is a proto Art Official age sound coming through here, Future soul song, walk in sand and Compassion sound a lot like Clouds, this could be us and Time in an earlier form. My opinion is I like it a lot overall and 8 of the songs are definite likes, with one love (Future soul song) and one dislike (Everybody loves me).

Overall its a solid B+ album in my book

The only thing I don't like is its oh so 2000stendency to play it safe, as competent and good as the music is, none of it challenges you and none of it is experimental. It is all styles and moods he has done before and offers nothing new to the afficionado. Prince is treading water here and it shows. As great as Future soul song is, it is still a Prince style ballad and songs like Walk in Sand could just be the All the Midnights in the World, Love, The Man in your life and Saviour rehashed for 2010 and you get the point.

.

This is where the album falls down compared to the 2014 ones, Plectrum Electrum is a lesser album, but it is at least something new and Art Official Age is the Prince sound mixed with some refreshing modern touches that introduce a new Prince sound experience to the fan. And in this case its just an album, although a very good just an album. I think a new fan or casual listener would have got less out of it than us "Uh, this is guy who made Purple Rain, boring!!"

[Edited 3/18/15 4:44am]

EddieC said:

Let's see--haven't listened to it in a while (though I did listen pretty much just to it in the car for a couple months, so this isn't just a "I gave it a cursory spin"), but based on what I remember from the last time:

Compassion--don't like it. Insistent, but dull.

Beginning Endlessly--like it.

Future Soul Song--like it more.

Sticky Like Glue--I know lots of people like it, but all that comes to my mind is how annoyed I am by "sticky, sticky LIKE GLUE." I guess there's some tasteful playing. I don't care for it, though.

Act of God--don't like it. Can barely even call it to mind.

Lavaux--synths are too loud. Not very interesting, and the vocals are covered up. Might be okay, but I hate the way it sounds as mixed.

Walk in Sand--I like it. I know lots of people don't, but I really don't understand why. I'm guessing the word cheesy will come up if they told me, but I honestly don't know what people mean by that word.

Sea of Everything--I like it more. As someone said earlier, very nice vocal.

Everybody Loves Me--I don't understand the hate. It's no worse than many of his party songs. I really don't know (as a preschool teacher) what the heck people are thinking when they say (as many have) that preschool kids are the only ones who would like this. Believe me, none of ours would. Of course, none of ours can find the beat of anything. It's terrifying.

Laydown--okay. I like the extended version better, and maybe that live version more. But it's not earthshattering.

It's all listenable, except for Compassion--the standouts for me are the slower songs, which I know lots of people complain about. Beginning Endlessly, Future Soul Song, Walk in Sand, Sea of Everything. Not top-tier Prince, but nothing to be ashamed of, in my opinion.

Thanks for song by song analysis, it's nice to see what other people take from the album.

I do like the chorus of walk in sand

.

I see a lot of people that don't care for the album tend to prefer Walk in Sand &/or Sea of Everything, that's very interesting to me. While I don't particulalry care for these songs, they're ok to me.

.

I'm also kind of surprised everyone seems to compare his albums to Purple Rain or other classics for that matter, I mean I don't get me wrong I get it, but I'm not sure that I do that... I don't even think I compare new albums to the first one I bought, I just listen to see if I like what I hear or how it might compare to his prior release.

.

I don't think Prince will ever come out with anymore Purple Rain type of material, he will still do his thing, but that leads me to think about which of his albums do sound similar to other ones he's released, sounds like another thread though...

nosajd said:

Adorecream said:

Really did not like it when it came out, but the album has grown on me a lot and now I listen to it quite a bit. The album starts with 3 very strong songs, but drops off after that.

.

Compassion is a great opener, driving melody and flow and powerful feel. The lyrics are standard Prince melodrama and worry about our fragile planet. 8/10

.

Beginning Endlessly, a great driving pop/funk number, I love it 8/10

.

Future soul song is a very creamy and dreamy ballad, it feels like you are flying and his voice is at its best in a while, a sexy ballad that is quite subtle and great cascading melodies at the end, a true standout 10/10

.

Sticky like glue another funky dance pop cut, not as good as above, but enjoyable and again Prince is having fun with the lyrics - 7/10

.

Act of God, not bad, a slightly boring song, but there is much worse and the melody drives it a long 6/10

.

Lavaux another beautiful and quite catchy song, go nowhere lyrics about some mythical piece of nirvana called lavaux, again a 7/10 song, catchy, dreamy, melodical but ultimately pointless, in an essence brainless but catchy music.

.

Walk in Sand, the cutesy pie lyrics and sugar filled soppiness of the lyrics are saved by some great falsetto singing and this creates a great song - 8/10

.

Sea of Everything and now it gets self indulgent, this not too bad, and serves as a bit of a companion piece to the above, but gets too dreamy and quite forgettable. - 6/10

.

Everybody loves me, a bit of a stinker and the only real filler on the set. Maybe he added it as a joke, and ego laden keyboard stomp, the lyrics are rather childish and trite, but it can be enjoyable at times and we can thank God he did not put Purple and Gold on instead. - 4/10

.

Laydown - apart from its hidden location and cool lyrics, a great pounding melody, this song is not the lost nugget everyone says it is. It is good enough though and ends the set well enough - 6/10.

.

Overall a decent set shorn of some the excess found on the Lotusflow3r sets and 9 of the 10 songs are at least average of better with the 10th song more mediocre rather than terrible. One song one the other hand is in the league of his 80s greatness and the highlights of Art Official Age.

Rather than say it is Lotusflow3r 2, this is a proto Art Official age sound coming through here, Future soul song, walk in sand and Compassion sound a lot like Clouds, this could be us and Time in an earlier form. My opinion is I like it a lot overall and 8 of the songs are definite likes, with one love (Future soul song) and one dislike (Everybody loves me).

Overall its a solid B+ album in my book

The only thing I don't like is its oh so 2000stendency to play it safe, as competent and good as the music is, none of it challenges you and none of it is experimental. It is all styles and moods he has done before and offers nothing new to the afficionado. Prince is treading water here and it shows. As great as Future soul song is, it is still a Prince style ballad and songs like Walk in Sand could just be the All the Midnights in the World, Love, The Man in your life and Saviour rehashed for 2010 and you get the point.

.

This is where the album falls down compared to the 2014 ones, Plectrum Electrum is a lesser album, but it is at least something new and Art Official Age is the Prince sound mixed with some refreshing modern touches that introduce a new Prince sound experience to the fan. And in this case its just an album, although a very good just an album. I think a new fan or casual listener would have got less out of it than us "Uh, this is guy who made Purple Rain, boring!!"

[Edited 3/18/15 4:44am]

Great song by song analysis... I enjoyed your take on these tracks & agree with much of what you said.

.

I even agree with your 4/10 for Everybody Loves Me, even though I love that song , only b/c I don't really take it too seriously, kind of like Wedding Feast, not that they're the same thing by any stretch of the means, but neither are very serious numbers. They're certainly no masterpieces but I can appreciate them for what they are... To me it's kind of like not liking everything picasso or any other artist did, some things strike a nerve for some & others not so much. Some things are just a sketch or an experiment, others are great masterpieces.

KingSausage said:

nosajd said:

Thanks for song by song analysis, it's nice to see what other people take from the album.

I do like the chorus of walk in sand

.

I see a lot of people that don't care for the album tend to prefer Walk in Sand &/or Sea of Everything, that's very interesting to me. While I don't particulalry care for these songs, they're ok to me.

.

I'm also kind of surprised everyone seems to compare his albums to Purple Rain or other classics for that matter, I mean I don't get me wrong I get it, but I'm not sure that I do that... I don't even think I compare new albums to the first one I bought, I just listen to see if I like what I hear or how it might compare to his prior release.

.

I don't think Prince will ever come out with anymore Purple Rain type of material, he will still do his thing, but that leads me to think about which of his albums do sound similar to other ones he's released, sounds like another thread though...

I think it's best to compare 20ten to his other releases after 2000. In my opinion, it holds up quite well.

Yes I agree, except for PLEL, that one is a sonic curveball.

BlackCandle said:

Future Soul Song - It's "I Wish U Heaven" with better lyrics, and that's why I like it. You could actually put this track on Lovesexy.

"Future Soul Song"' is the most beautiful ballad, he has written since "Adore'. He should add it back on his 3RDEYEGIRL' Hit & Run tour, during his solo piano segment. It's a complete "Masterpiece".

BlackCandle said:

Future Soul Song - It's "I Wish U Heaven" with better lyrics, and that's why I like it. You could actually put this track on Lovesexy.

I don't see this--I'll have to listen again to them, together, but I don't get the basis for comparison. And I fail to see how it could have better lyrics than I Wish U Heaven. Those are incredible for the amount of potential meaning in minimal space. Unless of course they're as simplistic as they seem, but I don't really think they are.

EddieC said:

BlackCandle said:

Future Soul Song - It's "I Wish U Heaven" with better lyrics, and that's why I like it. You could actually put this track on Lovesexy.

I don't see this--I'll have to listen again to them, together, but I don't get the basis for comparison. And I fail to see how it could have better lyrics than I Wish U Heaven. Those are incredible for the amount of potential meaning in minimal space. Unless of course they're as simplistic as they seem, but I don't really think they are.

"Eye Wish U Heaven" is NOT a ballad....

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

EddieC said:

I don't see this--I'll have to listen again to them, together, but I don't get the basis for comparison. And I fail to see how it could have better lyrics than I Wish U Heaven. Those are incredible for the amount of potential meaning in minimal space. Unless of course they're as simplistic as they seem, but I don't really think they are.

"Eye Wish U Heaven" is NOT a ballad....

Yeah--that's part of what I don't get about the comparison.

dandan said:

EddieC said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

"Eye Wish U Heaven" is NOT a ballad....

Yeah--that's part of what I don't get about the comparison.

I think if you listen to these songs back to back you can't deny the similarities, maybe I'm wrong, but they sound similar to my ears.