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Thread started 10/09/16 2:08pm

funkaholic1972

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Hitnrun Phase 2 album

I am listening to this album now and I think it is quite impressive. The songwriting is good, the arrangements are great, the playing is top notch and the production is very pleasant. I am glad to have this one as his last, because it certainly doesn't sounds like an album of a dying man. It is a very positive, hopeful, vibrant album to me. Anyone with me? Or against me? wink

RIP Prince: thank U 4 a funky Time...
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Reply #1 posted 10/09/16 2:46pm

theartistirl

funkaholic1972 said:

I am listening to this album now and I think it is quite impressive. The songwriting is good, the arrangements are great, the playing is top notch and the production is very pleasant. I am glad to have this one as his last, because it certainly doesn't sounds like an album of a dying man. It is a very positive, hopeful, vibrant album to me. Anyone with me? Or against me? wink

Just listening to it very loud today and it is wonderfully produced. I think it is really good and if it was to be his last album it was a good one to finish on. I fully agree with everything you say. I love revisiting it from time to time. I always hear differnent things with each listen.

I love hearing Andy's voice in the background of Black Muse. This one is very much deserving of a Vinyl release. I remember Prince Tweeting Al Green's Simply Beautiful between phase 1 & 2 releases, I get a similar vibe. I don't mean the songs sound the same, but revelation hits me like this. Big City is a great upbeat ending..... Alright u polaroids let's go, hmm we're in the big city.....c'mon on.

Anyway, to answer your question - I am with you on this one.

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Reply #2 posted 10/09/16 3:13pm

EmmaMcG

I love this album. Baltimore, RockNroll Love Affair and Screwdriver are the only songs that let it down. Every other song on the album rank up there with my favourites of all time, especially Look At Me Look At U, When She Comes and Revelation. Three all time classics and proof that he had plenty left in the tank. Had he died after Phase One I would have thought "What a sad way to go out" but with Phase Two and songs like Free Urself and Indifference released afterwards, I'm convinced he was about to go on a run of brilliant albums. Hopefully some of these songs that were intended for a possible Phase Three will see the light of day soon.
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Reply #3 posted 10/09/16 3:55pm

TrivialPursuit

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I didn't much like either when they came out. I was just bored with his music. Seemed like he was too - at least it felt that way. Anyhoo - I did go back and listen to it again. There are a lot of things I like about HNR2. When I read about the guy who was doing orchestrations for Prince, and Prince's idea that he had found a new sound, I was intrigued. Basically, Prince did his guitar solo, the guy orchestrated it, then Prince mixed the orchestrations first, and slowly blended them into the actual guitar solo. Long one long ass crossfade, of sorts. The solo in "Baltimore" is a prime example of that. I thought that was quite an interesting idea.

I think what gnaws at me about his more recent albums is the really compressed and tight sound on things. The drums always sound like a machine to me, even if they're not. Every bit of reverb and echo seems to be taken out of all the instruments, and the keyboards often sound like a Casio or Kawaii from 1984.

I'm not always sure a Prince song should have to grow on you. Either you dig it or you don't. But with time comes perspective, growth, and new hearing. Things change. I like HNR2 better. "Big City" is muh shit.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #4 posted 10/09/16 4:18pm

laurarichardso
n

One of the engineers said he carried around a Casio Kiddie keyboard and did record with it.

TrivialPursuit said:

I didn't much like either when they came out. I was just bored with his music. Seemed like he was too - at least it felt that way. Anyhoo - I did go back and listen to it again. There are a lot of things I like about HNR2. When I read about the guy who was doing orchestrations for Prince, and Prince's idea that he had found a new sound, I was intrigued. Basically, Prince did his guitar solo, the guy orchestrated it, then Prince mixed the orchestrations first, and slowly blended them into the actual guitar solo. Long one long ass crossfade, of sorts. The solo in "Baltimore" is a prime example of that. I thought that was quite an interesting idea.

I think what gnaws at me about his more recent albums is the really compressed and tight sound on things. The drums always sound like a machine to me, even if they're not. Every bit of reverb and echo seems to be taken out of all the instruments, and the keyboards often sound like a Casio or Kawaii from 1984.

I'm not always sure a Prince song should have to grow on you. Either you dig it or you don't. But with time comes perspective, growth, and new hearing. Things change. I like HNR2 better. "Big City" is muh shit.

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Reply #5 posted 10/09/16 5:12pm

MrSquiggle

I think the idea for the HitNRuns was not to think about it too much. Phase Two sounds like an album made for an age when you can just put an album out online instantly. Just throw a bunch of songs together in an order that feels somewhat right and rush it out. It lacks a cohesive whole like say Lovesexy or Rainbow Children, but it gains by feeling natural and spontaneous. Also, they're mostly very good songs. "Black Muse" in particular is excellent. Although I certainly don't think Prince expected it to be his last album. It's a shame it's turned out that way because it's such a casual effort from him.

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Reply #6 posted 10/09/16 6:16pm

206Michelle

MrSquiggle said:

I think the idea for the HitNRuns was not to think about it too much. Phase Two sounds like an album made for an age when you can just put an album out online instantly. Just throw a bunch of songs together in an order that feels somewhat right and rush it out. It lacks a cohesive whole like say Lovesexy or Rainbow Children, but it gains by feeling natural and spontaneous. Also, they're mostly very good songs. "Black Muse" in particular is excellent. Although I certainly don't think Prince expected it to be his last album. It's a shame it's turned out that way because it's such a casual effort from him.

"Black Muse" is exquisite! Best song on HNR P2 if you ask me!

[Edited 10/12/16 19:40pm]

Live 4 Love ~ Love is God, God is love, Girls and boys love God above
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Reply #7 posted 10/09/16 10:11pm

sonshine

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I like Hitnrun phase 2 a lot. More than phase 1.
It's a hurtful place, the world, in and of itself. We don't need to add to it. We all need one another. ~ PRN
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Reply #8 posted 10/10/16 3:39am

dodger

If half the tracks hadn't already been released it would get a lot more praise but I agree with others; the likes of Look At Me, Revelation and Black Muse are real gems. And you could probably say the same about Groovy Potential, just that it had already been around for years.

.

When She Comes isn't too far behind, his Al Green tribute. Big City has grown on me even though it sounds like a cross between Broadway and The Muppets

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Reply #9 posted 10/10/16 7:47am

MIRvmn

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sonshine said:

I like Hitnrun phase 2 a lot. More than phase 1.

Yes HnR2 is much better than HnR1 smile

Welcome 2 The Dawn
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Reply #10 posted 10/10/16 7:56am

rogifan

Black Muse is one of my favorite Prince songs. Hopefully it and or the album are nominated for a Grammy.
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever đź’ś
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Reply #11 posted 10/10/16 8:09am

TheEnglishGent

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I prefer Phase 1 but don't have much against Phase 2 apart from Extraloveable.

RIP sad
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Reply #12 posted 10/10/16 9:05am

databank

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It was the first Prince album I was totally, madly in love with since the Lotusflow3r trilogy in 2009 (not that I disliked what came in between, but I was less passionate about it). I think it's a gem, and a wonderful way to end a wonderful discography.

A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #13 posted 10/10/16 9:18am

purplerabbitho
le

I love this album as well but I am starting to really love Art Official Age. At first, the weirdness of the album alienated me, but now I am starting to realize how wonderful most of the songs on that album are. I am starting to like it more than Hit N Run phase 2 (at least some of the individual songs).

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Reply #14 posted 10/10/16 9:36am

jdcxc

purplerabbithole said:

I love this album as well but I am starting to really love Art Official Age. At first, the weirdness of the album alienated me, but now I am starting to realize how wonderful most of the songs on that album are. I am starting to like it more than Hit N Run phase 2 (at least some of the individual songs).






Good points...AOA was truly underrated.
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Reply #15 posted 10/10/16 9:50am

Se7en

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Great album, and a good one to "go out on" - but (and not to sound morbid), Art Official Age would've been the perfect "final album". Especially with all of the Affirmation and Way Back Home stuff going on in that concept album.

Plus, the cover image alludes to quite a few of his former albums - kinda a mashup.

I like AOA better, but I find that I listen to HnR Phase Two more . . . probably because it's more of a "collection" than a proper album.

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Reply #16 posted 10/10/16 11:14am

TheEnglishGent

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jdcxc said:

purplerabbithole said:

I love this album as well but I am starting to really love Art Official Age. At first, the weirdness of the album alienated me, but now I am starting to realize how wonderful most of the songs on that album are. I am starting to like it more than Hit N Run phase 2 (at least some of the individual songs).

Good points...AOA was truly underrated.

Not around these parts it wasn't.

RIP sad
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Reply #17 posted 10/10/16 11:35am

Genesia

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I still wish Art Official Age had been his last album.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #18 posted 10/10/16 12:03pm

EmmaMcG

Genesia said:

I still wish Art Official Age had been his last album.



Why? Even if you hated Phase One and Two, surely more music is better, no? I don't like Phase One as a whole but without it I wouldn't have 1000 Hugs and Kisses and June.
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Reply #19 posted 10/10/16 12:08pm

Genesia

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EmmaMcG said:

Genesia said:

I still wish Art Official Age had been his last album.

Why? Even if you hated Phase One and Two, surely more music is better, no? I don't like Phase One as a whole but without it I wouldn't have 1000 Hugs and Kisses and June.


Sure - if you value quantity over quality.

Art Official Age was the most solidly concepted, completely thought through, cohesive album Prince had done in years. It would have been a very high note to go out on.

The name "HITNRUN" on the other two pretty much says it all. No concept, no thought, no cohesion on either.

[Edited 10/10/16 12:09pm]

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #20 posted 10/10/16 12:18pm

databank

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Genesia said:

EmmaMcG said:

Genesia said: Why? Even if you hated Phase One and Two, surely more music is better, no? I don't like Phase One as a whole but without it I wouldn't have 1000 Hugs and Kisses and June.


Sure - if you value quantity over quality.

Art Official Age was the most solidly concepted, completely thought through, cohesive album Prince had done in years. It would have been a very high note to go out on.

The name "HITNRUN" on the other two pretty much says it all. No concept, no thought, no cohesion on either.

[Edited 10/10/16 12:09pm]

That's interesting. My main problem with AOA is that I always found it structurally weak despite the conceptual angle (or desire to have one). I'd like to hear you explain in more details why you feel it achieved its purpose smile

A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #21 posted 10/10/16 12:44pm

Noodled24

TrivialPursuit said:

I didn't much like either when they came out. I was just bored with his music. Seemed like he was too - at least it felt that way. Anyhoo - I did go back and listen to it again. There are a lot of things I like about HNR2. When I read about the guy who was doing orchestrations for Prince, and Prince's idea that he had found a new sound, I was intrigued. Basically, Prince did his guitar solo, the guy orchestrated it, then Prince mixed the orchestrations first, and slowly blended them into the actual guitar solo. Long one long ass crossfade, of sorts. The solo in "Baltimore" is a prime example of that. I thought that was quite an interesting idea.

I think what gnaws at me about his more recent albums is the really compressed and tight sound on things. The drums always sound like a machine to me, even if they're not. Every bit of reverb and echo seems to be taken out of all the instruments, and the keyboards often sound like a Casio or Kawaii from 1984.

I'm not always sure a Prince song should have to grow on you. Either you dig it or you don't. But with time comes perspective, growth, and new hearing. Things change. I like HNR2 better. "Big City" is muh shit.


yeahthat

It started with Emancipation. IMO the worst examples are PE & 20TEN. Though not every song got the same treatment. Occasionally something more organic sounding would pop up.

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Reply #22 posted 10/10/16 12:44pm

Genesia

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databank said:

Genesia said:


Sure - if you value quantity over quality.

Art Official Age was the most solidly concepted, completely thought through, cohesive album Prince had done in years. It would have been a very high note to go out on.

The name "HITNRUN" on the other two pretty much says it all. No concept, no thought, no cohesion on either.

[Edited 10/10/16 12:09pm]

That's interesting. My main problem with AOA is that I always found it structurally weak despite the conceptual angle (or desire to have one). I'd like to hear you explain in more details why you feel it achieved its purpose smile


Let me gather my thoughts on it. I'll have a little more time later this week and will tackle it then.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #23 posted 10/10/16 1:28pm

TrivialPursuit

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Noodled24 said:

TrivialPursuit said:


I think what gnaws at me about his more recent albums is the really compressed and tight sound on things. The drums always sound like a machine to me, even if they're not. Every bit of reverb and echo seems to be taken out of all the instruments, and the keyboards often sound like a Casio or Kawaii from 1984.



yeahthat

It started with Emancipation. IMO the worst examples are PE & 20TEN. Though not every song got the same treatment. Occasionally something more organic sounding would pop up.


That's a great way of putting it. There was a slightly dry sound with Emancipation, but wasn't as tough as later albums were. It's a stark contrast to something with a very organic production like The Rainbow Children. Then you hear 20Ten that sounds like someone plucking at parchment paper from Staples sometimes. I really missed that from his sound. The thing w/ the guitar solo orchestration would be so textured and lovely over a more open sound like we felt on earlier records.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #24 posted 10/10/16 1:29pm

gandorb

Genesia said:

EmmaMcG said:

Genesia said: Why? Even if you hated Phase One and Two, surely more music is better, no? I don't like Phase One as a whole but without it I wouldn't have 1000 Hugs and Kisses and June.


The name "HITNRUN" on the other two pretty much says it all. No concept, no thought, no cohesion on either.

[Edited 10/10/16 12:09pm]

Totally disagree even though not at huge fan of HnR1. Each of the HnR albums cohere very well together in terms of sound and being distinct from all of his other albums. The wonderful brass and jazzy arrangements hold HnR2 together very well except for screwdriver. The HnR1 songs belong together and not on any other Prince album in that they attempt to modernize music, though it could be argued that it was too derivative.

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Reply #25 posted 10/10/16 1:37pm

Genesia

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gandorb said:

Genesia said:


The name "HITNRUN" on the other two pretty much says it all. No concept, no thought, no cohesion on either.

[Edited 10/10/16 12:09pm]

Totally disagree even though not at huge fan of HnR1. Each of the HnR albums cohere very well together in terms of sound and being distinct from all of his other albums. The wonderful brass and jazzy arrangements hold HnR2 together very well except for screwdriver. The HnR1 songs belong together and not on any other Prince album in that they attempt to modernize music, though it could be argued that it was too derivative.


They don't tell a story, is my point.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #26 posted 10/10/16 1:57pm

MrSquiggle

Genesia said:

I still wish Art Official Age had been his last album.

In some ways, I feel like it was. The HNRs are mixtapes.

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Reply #27 posted 10/10/16 2:09pm

Genesia

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MrSquiggle said:

Genesia said:

I still wish Art Official Age had been his last album.

In some ways, I feel like it was. The HNRs are mixtapes.


YES! Mixtapes is the perfect word to describe them.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #28 posted 10/10/16 2:17pm

EmmaMcG

Genesia said:



EmmaMcG said:


Genesia said:

I still wish Art Official Age had been his last album.



Why? Even if you hated Phase One and Two, surely more music is better, no? I don't like Phase One as a whole but without it I wouldn't have 1000 Hugs and Kisses and June.


Sure - if you value quantity over quality.


Art Official Age was the most solidly concepted, completely thought through, cohesive album Prince had done in years. It would have been a very high note to go out on.

The name "HITNRUN" on the other two pretty much says it all. No concept, no thought, no cohesion on either.

[Edited 10/10/16 12:09pm]



AOA may well have a more cohesive concept than the HitnRun albums but in terms of individual songs, I think Phase Two is better. I understand where you're coming from but I'm glad AOA wasn't his last release because if it was, I would never have heard songs like Revelation and When She Comes etc.
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Reply #29 posted 10/10/16 5:00pm

luvgirl

This was a well thought out album by Prince. He wanted to make a statement and I think he said what he wanted to say. On first listen, Baltimore seemed mundane until I realized that I was actually listening to a masterpiece. Along with John Lennon's 'Imagine', Its's one of the most enjoyable social conscious songs I ever encountered. Black Muse is also a favorite.
[Edited 10/10/16 17:02pm]
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