First off, this has to do with the new album but just one segment of it (his voice on it) so I made it a brand-new topic (also since this topic has to do with AOA as well).

Just my personal opinion, but Prince's voice just isn't cutting it anymore. Does anyone else think it's been sounding different? Just a lot more nasal recently and not as smooth as it was on his earlier releases. I've been hearing this on albums from at least 1996, where Prince sings in a more nasal higher-pitched whine, but it's been dominating most of his albums in the 2000s! I think that "Shut This Down" song has one of the worst Prince vocal performances I've heard in my life. IDK, the album to me shares those same AOA style vocals. When I heard "Hard Rock Lover" and "X's Face" and even "Baltimore" before, I felt it was refreshing that Prince was going back to a deeper, smoother vocal, the lyrics on those songs were sung nice even if you can't dig the song. So I was disappointed hearing the new album and hearing those same AOA style vocals. The two albums are more similar than I thought, but I won't go into that here because there's a thread for that already, and this is just about the VOICE.

I know a lot of Prince fans get offended by stuff like this, so I hope we can all just have an intelligent discussion about it without insulting each other's music tastes I respect opposing opinions. I've seen some other people who've talked about this, that Prince's voice in recent years has sounded nasally/higher-pitched/cluttered/and my favorite sentence from an orger: "dude sounds like a duck now." His voice has definitely changed recently. I liked "Breakdown" but even his falsetto sounds kinda eh to me now.

Discuss

CharismaDove said:

First off, this has to do with the new album but just one segment of it (his voice on it) so I made it a brand-new topic (also since this topic has to do with AOA as well).

Just my personal opinion, but Prince's voice just isn't cutting it anymore. Does anyone else think it's been sounding different? Just a lot more nasal recently and not as smooth as it was on his earlier releases. I've been hearing this on albums from at least 1996, where Prince sings in a more nasal higher-pitched whine, but it's been dominating most of his albums in the 2000s! I think that "Shut This Down" song has one of the worst Prince vocal performances I've heard in my life. IDK, the album to me shares those same AOA style vocals. When I heard "Hard Rock Lover" and "X's Face" and even "Baltimore" before, I felt it was refreshing that Prince was going back to a deeper, smoother vocal, the lyrics on those songs were sung nice even if you can't dig the song. So I was disappointed hearing the new album and hearing those same AOA style vocals. The two albums are more similar than I thought, but I won't go into that here because there's a thread for that already, and this is just about the VOICE.

I know a lot of Prince fans get offended by stuff like this, so I hope we can all just have an intelligent discussion about it without insulting each other's music tastes I respect opposing opinions. I've seen some other people who've talked about this, that Prince's voice in recent years has sounded nasally/higher-pitched/cluttered/and my favorite sentence from an orger: "dude sounds like a duck now." His voice has definitely changed recently. I liked "Breakdown" but even his falsetto sounds kinda eh to me now.

Discuss

I would imagine that the falsetto has to change over the years. Smokey Robinson doesn't sound like he did in the 50s. Imagine what Prince's voice has been through over that last 4 decades: the volume of recordings, the sheer number and intensity of concerts and after-shows, the range of material that he has used it to do. I always assumed everyone;s voice changed a little with age. Being a fan since the beginning, I am old enough to appreciate the fact that Prince is not a young man anymore. His young, Josh-clone "fans" of the hip hop generation lack this perspective. This is why they compare him to neophytes like Bruno Mars who rip him off and pass it off as originality.

CharismaDove said:

First off, this has to do with the new album but just one segment of it (his voice on it) so I made it a brand-new topic (also since this topic has to do with AOA as well).

Just my personal opinion, but Prince's voice just isn't cutting it anymore. Does anyone else think it's been sounding different? Just a lot more nasal recently and not as smooth as it was on his earlier releases. I've been hearing this on albums from at least 1996, where Prince sings in a more nasal higher-pitched whine, but it's been dominating most of his albums in the 2000s! I think that "Shut This Down" song has one of the worst Prince vocal performances I've heard in my life. IDK, the album to me shares those same AOA style vocals. When I heard "Hard Rock Lover" and "X's Face" and even "Baltimore" before, I felt it was refreshing that Prince was going back to a deeper, smoother vocal, the lyrics on those songs were sung nice even if you can't dig the song. So I was disappointed hearing the new album and hearing those same AOA style vocals. The two albums are more similar than I thought, but I won't go into that here because there's a thread for that already, and this is just about the VOICE.

I know a lot of Prince fans get offended by stuff like this, so I hope we can all just have an intelligent discussion about it without insulting each other's music tastes I respect opposing opinions. I've seen some other people who've talked about this, that Prince's voice in recent years has sounded nasally/higher-pitched/cluttered/and my favorite sentence from an orger: "dude sounds like a duck now." His voice has definitely changed recently. I liked "Breakdown" but even his falsetto sounds kinda eh to me now.

Discuss

I'm sure the word "tinny" will appear soon.

Prince always could sing in that slightly more nasal voice when it suited the song. Especially on songs like Shut This Down, it's fully on purpose.

Some of it is the effects they are using. I clearly hear some place where I could tell his voice was just sounding old, for lack of a better word, but then in other places they are also processing the hell out of what seems like a perfectly good vocal just for effect.

Aerogram said:

I'm sure the word "tinny" will appear soon.

Prince always could sing in that slightly more nasal voice when it suited the song. Especially on songs like Shut This Down, it's fully on purpose.

shrill, tinny, produced by a deaf octopus with penisses for tentacles etc etc.

like prince says on "guitar": '....you know the rest'

It's just age - completely natural. And he's been screaming and squealing for 30+ years, of course it would take it's tole. His voice has been different for years now, it's funny when people say it hasn't because it's plainly obvious that it has - and there's nothing wrong with that.

CharismaDove said:

What has happened to Prince's voice?

Age. We all get old, we change, then we die. What else is there to discuss?

got a lot of crap for saying that a while back in a thread.

yes it's normal with time that his voice changes but some people on here were acting like his voice was still in top form.

I also mentioned a while back that his voice changing might explain the direction he's been taking with his music which is more club oriented or garage rock with 3rdeyegirl, genres that are less about vocals.

so he seems aware of that his voice is changing and making adjustements but it's still hurting some of the new songs

Like stated above though it happens to all the best of them. Look at Springsteen.. his voice has been barely recognizable for years.

[Edited 9/7/15 17:36pm]

Not just age. There is a way that he sings certain things now. Like he's trying to sound like Prince now.

Songs like 'Baltimore' even. It is nasally.

His falsetto is fine, the thing he does in his lower register 'pop/rock' songs is a little grating for me.

Listen to something like 'Until You're in My Arms Again', not the best song, maybe but the difference in the way he projects is obvious.

It bugs me, too.

KingSausage said:

It's probably age. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned age yet.

Aerogram said:

CharismaDove said:

First off, this has to do with the new album but just one segment of it (his voice on it) so I made it a brand-new topic (also since this topic has to do with AOA as well).

Just my personal opinion, but Prince's voice just isn't cutting it anymore. Does anyone else think it's been sounding different? Just a lot more nasal recently and not as smooth as it was on his earlier releases. I've been hearing this on albums from at least 1996, where Prince sings in a more nasal higher-pitched whine, but it's been dominating most of his albums in the 2000s! I think that "Shut This Down" song has one of the worst Prince vocal performances I've heard in my life. IDK, the album to me shares those same AOA style vocals. When I heard "Hard Rock Lover" and "X's Face" and even "Baltimore" before, I felt it was refreshing that Prince was going back to a deeper, smoother vocal, the lyrics on those songs were sung nice even if you can't dig the song. So I was disappointed hearing the new album and hearing those same AOA style vocals. The two albums are more similar than I thought, but I won't go into that here because there's a thread for that already, and this is just about the VOICE.

I know a lot of Prince fans get offended by stuff like this, so I hope we can all just have an intelligent discussion about it without insulting each other's music tastes I respect opposing opinions. I've seen some other people who've talked about this, that Prince's voice in recent years has sounded nasally/higher-pitched/cluttered/and my favorite sentence from an orger: "dude sounds like a duck now." His voice has definitely changed recently. I liked "Breakdown" but even his falsetto sounds kinda eh to me now.

Discuss

I'm sure the word "tinny" will appear soon.

Prince always could sing in that slightly more nasal voice when it suited the song. Especially on songs like Shut This Down, it's fully on purpose.

I see what you're saying and yeah you're right, he has used the nasal voice on songs as far back as the early-80s. It was actually pretty dominating on his mid-80s albums (imo). So maybe it's me. I just can't dig the way it's changed. When he was singing nasal in the 80s, it was sounding different than how he does it now, and yeah age has to do with it. I know he was trying to sing a certain way in "Shut This Down" but in my opinion, the result was bleh. He was even sort of doing that thing on songs like "It" and "My Name is Prince", but they were much more listenable.

funksterr said:

Some of it is the effects they are using. I clearly hear some place where I could tell his voice was just sounding old, for lack of a better word, but then in other places they are also processing the hell out of what seems like a perfectly good vocal just for effect.

great post, and so true. I can't stand when he does that and it's been REALLY prevalent lately. In general, this is why I love live shows and aftershows. Take away the 15-Princes-singing-at-once choir, and his voice can be like smooth chocolate

[Edited 9/7/15 18:23pm]

NouveauDance said:

It's just age - completely natural. And he's been screaming and squealing for 30+ years, of course it would take it's tole. His voice has been different for years now, it's funny when people say it hasn't because it's plainly obvious that it has - and there's nothing wrong with that.

Agreed. Some folks have said he sounds just like he did in 'Purple Rain' (I've seriously read that).

FunkyD said:

got a lot of crap for saying that a while back in a thread.

yes it's normal with time that his voice changes but some people on here were acting like his voice was still in top form.

I also mentioned a while back that his voice changing might explain the direction he's been taking with his music which is more club oriented or garage rock with 3rdeyegirl, genres that are less about vocals.

so he seems aware of that his voice is changing and making adjustements but it's still hurting some of the new songs

Like stated above though it happens to all the best of them. Look at Springsteen.. his voice has been barely recognizable for years.

[Edited 9/7/15 17:36pm]

I just really can't dig it anymore. If these 'top-notch' vocals were what he had in the '80s, I wouldn't be here I know it's harsh considering the guy's been singing for 40 years and his voice is bound to be affected. I just can't dig it.

VelvetKittyKat said:

Not just age. There is a way that he sings certain things now. Like he's trying to sound like Prince now.

Songs like 'Baltimore' even. It is nasally.

His falsetto is fine, the thing he does in his lower register 'pop/rock' songs is a little grating for me.

Listen to something like 'Until You're in My Arms Again', not the best song, maybe but the difference in the way he projects is obvious.

It bugs me, too.

I first felt it in the 2000s era albums, but he still sounded good. His voice just sounded a little huskier to me, hard to describe. I only really noticed his singing style and how annoying it could be with albums like MPL Sound, AOA, and this 1.

Glad I got to hear his NEW albums when he was at his prime.

Wonder if he can reproduce The Beautifu Ones nowadays.

Actually, I TAKE THAT BACK!!!! Dont you DARE Prince!

Nobody's voice sounds "natural" in modern music. It's just the effects and production.

It's NOTHING wrong with his voice! In fact the question should b.

Why is 's voice still so great after all these years? His 3 octive vocal range is still PHENOMENAL at his age!

He is not really showing it off that much on the classic album "HitnRun" because it's a mainly electronic affair with the exception of TCBU. Phase 2 will most likely showcase his vocal power.

But 's intricate,unmatched vocal layering is still "intact" on this new GROUNDBREAKING album...

callimnate said:

Glad I got to hear his NEW albums when he was at his prime.

Wonder if he can reproduce The Beautifu Ones nowadays.

Actually, I TAKE THAT BACK!!!! Dont you DARE Prince!

Listen to some of the boots from the UK shows last year. He can still nail (relatively speaking) The Beautiful Ones.