3121 did have some different sounds on it though. The title track and Black Sweat being good examples.

On 20Ten he's trying to re-create the Minneapolis sound with the drum machine and cheesy synth lines, but it just sounds old and outdated. Listen to a 1980s Prince song and it'll sound quite modern. Listen to his new stuff and it sounds old. Why is that?!

harveya said:

3121 did have some different sounds on it though. The title track and Black Sweat being good examples.

On 20Ten he's trying to re-create the Minneapolis sound with the drum machine and cheesy synth lines, but it just sounds old and outdated. Listen to a 1980s Prince song and it'll sound quite modern. Listen to his new stuff and it sounds old. Why is that?!

You need a hearing aid ?

A couple of good songs, the album won't ever be regarded as one of his better ones but it could have been worse, i did prefer Lotus Flower but this album is easy to listen to, I like Lavaux especially. Prince doesn't need to prove anythin to me anymore and he never will, the man is a living genius and this album only is an extension of his pioneering longevity with some nice highlights.

stillwaiting said:

A response to "Wildboy" :

Wildboy said: This is embarrassingly bad. 3121 is a masterpiece, I would put it on par with The Gold Experience.

Really? Both are much better than 20TEN, but calling 3121 a masterpiece is a bit of a stretch. 20TEN has a few good moments, maybe more bad moments, but no turd...

Wildboy said: Fuck LotusFlow3r with it's shitty overrated Guitar Playing!

Huh??? I've written over 100 songs in the last 20 years, and consider myself a somewhat good judge of music, and his playing and writing on Lotus Flow3r is in my opinion, some of his best stuff since Lovesexy. MPLS Sound was weak, but still listenable. I'm sure the back of your Lotus Flow3r cd is clean with no scuff marks on it. Mine is full of scratches from playing it too much. The truth hurts, but Lovesexy and Sign O The Times did not sell well. In Fact, both of those albums combined did not likely reach the sales of Diamonds And Pears, which was the weakest of his "big hit" albums. In retrospect, if the entire world did not get SOTT and Lovesexy, it is possible some do not dig Lotus Flow3r, but it would seem to me, it is a case of just HEARING Lotus Flow3r, and not taking the time to LISTEN. Yes, there is a difference.

Wildboy said: Lenny Kravitz is another legend who's in creative decline

Lenny Legend? Nope. Kravitz has hardly ever written anything close to an original tune. I once had the pleasure of having a music expert give examples of just how "original," Lenny is. Prince borrows heavily from many, but usually makes it work without being theft. Lenny even took "Wherever You Go," from Rave, and called it "Again." Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some Lenny, but go listen to a lot of 60's and 70's music and decide for yourself if he's paying tribute or just plain stealing ideas. There is a difference.

Wildboy said: The only reason this CD isn't a 0/10 is because on Lavaux.

Watch the mistakes "Because on Lavaux," You could become a target of Bart Van Halen. (Who will be busy spending hours working on his own posts about how much he dislikes Prince's music.) 20Ten is no great cd, but 1/10??? Beginning Endlessly is ok enough to give it 5 or 6/10.

Wildboy said: Prince's Music is Like frog soup. If you throw a frog in a pot of boiling water it'll jump right out, but if you put it in cold water and slowly turn up the heat the frog won't notice the temperature change and will boil to death.

Well, let's say I'm glad I was never in Biology class with you. In conclusion, I am still taking in the songs of 20TEN, and yes, I am not all that impressed, but calling it crap is just not that realistic for me. Nothing personal Wildboy, but you attacked Lotus Flow3r, and I had to defend it. As far as 20TEN goes, like most of his recent material, the lyrics seem to be lacking in spirt, and do not move me...so I agree with you to a point about that. If Boom, Colonized Mind, Love Like Jazz, and Dreamer stink in your ears, than I just think you might have a thing against guitar driven songs. (Or fun light-hearted ones like Love Like Jazz)

[Edited 7/10/10 23:13pm]

[Edited 7/11/10 8:09am]

I couldn't agree more that LoveSexy and SOTT were Low selling albums, they were low selling due to a lack of american promotion/tour. 20Ten wouldn't sell anything because it's a joke. They'd have to give away this turd in papers. It makes Planet Earth look great.

Dude, I don't care if you've written a thousand songs, his guitar playing on Lotus is practically Musak. It's cliche and unoriginal and uninspired. There's ten thousand other guys who could do the same lame, Santana esque crap. All the guitar playing on Lotus lacks the energy of say, the guitar solo in Let's Go Crazy. Or in the Lovesexy Live Dvd when he's playing "If I Had A Harem" THAT is some bad ass guitar playing. Lotus is some easy listening garbage.

PS on Lotus- Why doesn't he sing some more songs underwater and rip off Jimi hendrix some more.

Lenny Kravitz un-original? Dreamer is a STRAIGHT Jimi Hendrix Rip off, and a bad one at that. Lavaux (the only song worth a damn on 20ten) is strangely close to Pointer Sisters "Automatic" People have said before that Lenny Kravitz is a tribute act, but his output in the last decade is listenable, which is more than I can say for P (with the exception of 3121). Furthermore, Lenny Kravitz could play guitar on the toilet and it would sound better than any of that shit on Lotus. and as for Again Sounding like "Wherever". Only mildly and there were a lot of songs around that time that sounded like this, and Again is roughly a thousand times better, give or take a few

Beginning Endlessly is a piece of Dookie. At best It sounds like a B Side of the Chocolate Invasion.

As for LISTENING to prince's music, I've listened to LotusFailur3 front to back at least 6 times. (most people claim to have done something like this, but haven't. I'm not exaggerating. Six is a lot for a shitty album) Lotus is the most over rated hunk of crap in Prince's collection. I'd give Lotus a 3/10 and that's mainly because of $. Without $ it would score lower. BOOM is terrible, as is Colonized Mind. I've put up with this enough,

LOTUSFLOWER IS A PEICE OF CRAP, AND WE ALL KNOW IT!!!

It's the worst, most embarrassing Prince album ever, with the exception of 20ten and possibly NEWS.

FUCK Lotusflower and 20ten. It's Prince just writing junk to say he released an album every year

rwn said:

harveya said:

3121 did have some different sounds on it though. The title track and Black Sweat being good examples.

On 20Ten he's trying to re-create the Minneapolis sound with the drum machine and cheesy synth lines, but it just sounds old and outdated. Listen to a 1980s Prince song and it'll sound quite modern. Listen to his new stuff and it sounds old. Why is that?!

You need a hearing aid ?

div

Wildboy said:

LOTUSFLOWER IS A PEICE OF CRAP, AND WE ALL KNOW IT!!!

Speak for yourself, I love Lotusflow3r.

Wildboy said:

FUCK Lotusflower and 20ten. It's Prince just writing junk to say he released an album every year

If that was his motivation he might have released something from the studio in 2008.

TheEnglishGent said:

Wildboy said:

FUCK Lotusflower and 20ten. It's Prince just writing junk to say he released an album every year

If that was his motivation he might have released something from the studio in 2008.

Yes, that year he only released a Live cd of recent material with a photography book that he took several pictures for. That's not him trying to be prolific AT ALL.

If anything his 08' release with Indigo Nights only further cements my point. He's doing a lot of what he's doing not because he's inspired to write new music, but because he's a "musical genius" and he has always released an album every year (of course there are the occasional exceptions with 83, 05, etc.).

Unfortunately, Nowadays his discography is more well known for it's quantity than it's quality.

[Edited 7/12/10 7:13am]

Unusual.

First I liked the album on first listen. Then I didn't like on second and third listen. (I liked a few songs, but I didn't love them).

I still don't LOVE the songs, but now I really enjoy the album again.

It's actually a pretty good, fun, summer album. Honestly it sounds like B-sides from the mid 80s, but at this point in his career that's a good thing.

Anyways, I'm enjoying the album again. I listened to it twice today without skipping the tracks, even though that REALLY STRANGE closing tracks befuddles me.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I don't hate 20Ten because I didn't bother to get 20Ten. So, I have no feelings of it not living up to the hype nor the feeling of buyers remorse.

Yea, me!

How can the cost of a newspaper induce buyers remorse?

GoldiesParade said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I don't hate 20Ten because I didn't bother to get 20Ten. So, I have no feelings of it not living up to the hype nor the feeling of buyers remorse.

Yea, me!

How can the cost of a newspaper induce buyers remorse?

Especially when the person talking about buyers remorse wasn't even in the same country where the paper was sold? Just saying...

BklynDiamond said:

Dang I can't wait til I can get a hold of it stateside.

This bites

[Edited 7/9/10 6:00am]

I'm really impressed with the album after my initial disappointment. Agree with some comments in that a lot of the songs sounded the same but give it 3 or 4 listens and they really start to stand out from each other.

Its been a while since i've had a riff stuck in my head from Prince for a while but been humming the riff from 'Beginning Endlessly' all day. Really dig 'Act of God' as well. I'm certain I'll be listening to this album for a while and not disregarded like some others. I can kinda tell by the quality of the tracks.

A very good album.

Hate it. My 27 year love affair with Prince, may well be at an end. It is an embarrasment, of which he repeats himself throughout.

TheRIP said:

Another heaping pile of shit. I don't even know where to start with this one. Poor songwriting, lame attempt at bringing back old sounds, cheesy, corny, preachy, what else can I say?

It's an awful, disgusting album. And like the rest, it'll be ignored by everyone except the kiss-ass fams who can't be critical of anything he does.

Hey,

Honestly, I share the same feeling, i just dont get it...listened to it once and cant bring myself to give it another try. He's had a string of really lousy albums but i coulds at least find one or two songs i consider OK..this one bites the dust. Sorry, but maybe its me but i just find it horrible..his worst yet.But on the bright side, i am really happy for him that the majority of the reviews are positive.

[Edited 7/12/10 17:19pm]

TheVoid said:

Unusual.

First I liked the album on first listen. Then I didn't like on second and third listen. (I liked a few songs, but I didn't love them).

I still don't LOVE the songs, but now I really enjoy the album again.

It's actually a pretty good, fun, summer album. Honestly it sounds like B-sides from the mid 80s, but at this point in his career that's a good thing.

Anyways, I'm enjoying the album again. I listened to it twice today without skipping the tracks, even though that REALLY STRANGE closing tracks befuddles me.

Remember yesterday I was bragging about how good it was... I haven't played it today...

Wildboy said:

What a huge load of shit this CD is.

This is embarrassingly bad.

3121 is a masterpiece, I would put it on par with The Gold Experience. But starting with Planet Earth Prince has fallen into this trap of using these ridiculously cheap sounding synths. Nothing on this album sounds like the 80's MPLS Sound (with the exception of Lavaux, which is only good in comparison to the rest of the dookie on this album). Just using synths and something that sounds like a Lyn1 doesn't make it the Minn Sound.

From the first Cheesy cord you just know this is going to be a whole album full of crap on par with Hot Summer or Cause and effect. The fact that ANYBODY is saying that this album is anything but pure shit just goes to show how much the people on this site are out of touch with musical reality. Lotus/MPLSound were just god damned terrible (Fuck LotusFlow3r with it's shitty overrated Guitar Playing! Prince's generic Santana [santana is over-rated to begin with anyway] knock off crap made me sick. Album is terrible in every respect. 4/10 would be generous for that shit show) but 20ten is on a whole new level of bad.

This stuff is Un-listenable. And I don't want to hear any of this "how many other 50yr olds do you know who have an impact" blah blah blah FUCK THAT!!!! Lenny Kravitz is another legend who's in creative decline, but he only releases an album every 4 or 5 years and it's actually pretty good.

I put "Everybody Loves Me" on in the car to show my friends how bad the new prince cd was, and they wouldn't believe me that it was actually Prince. It sounded too childish and cartoon like. They were all convinced I was playing something from sesame street or something.

The songs on this stinker all sound the same (with the exceptions of Lavaux) I literally can't tell you anything specific about any of the songs because they're all so similar and lack anything interesting. The Lyrics are terrible and the same unfocused religious/political crud he's been serving up since 3121. Also, Prince seems to have forgotten he's a singer, and his spoken word pseudo rapping on more than half of this CD is not pleasing to the ear. Don't get me wrong, Prince's double speed rap on Incense and Candles was perfectly placed and executed, but this stuff gives me a headache.

The only reason this CD isn't a 0/10 is because on Lavaux. To be totally honest with everyone, we all know that the MPLSound cd sounded NOTHING like the actual MPLS sound. Lavaux actually sounds like it could have been recorded in 83 (except he sings with his same almost spoken word lyrics and it ruins what could have been a bumping song). This comes musically as close as Prince ever has to recapturing the magic on songs like Turn it Up, Nasty Girls, or Modernare.

Even with Lavaux I'm going to give 20ten a 1/10. If you played this for someone who had never heard Prince Before, they'd think he was a fucking Joke. Remember how Chaos and disorder was a cast off album that was a big fuck you to Warners? Chaos being intentionally mediocre is about ten times better than this and I NEVER thought I would see the day when that happened.

Prince's Music is Like frog soup. If you throw a frog in a pot of boiling water it'll jump right out, but if you put it in cold water and slowly turn up the heat the frog won't notice the temperature change and will boil to death. PE had some goofy songs on it that you chalk up to Prince alway experimenting. LotusFailur3 was a three disc mess that is un listenable to the non Prince fan, but songs like Dreamer, Here, and Feel Better were near misses at good tracks that you could say "He almost had it, he's just in a transition year, and these tracks will be ok live" But this 20ten is the worst material He's ever produced. Hands down. The only reason we aren't rioting in the streets right now is because the last 2 albums were so bad and heading down this same shit path. If he had released this right after 3121 we would think Prince had developed a drug problem or something

This shit makes Rave look CLASSIC!!!

[Edited 7/10/10 17:54pm]

You are so WRONG. 3121 is the low point of the last 12 years IMHO (excluding the song which sounded better live at aftershows).

This is a bloody good album and it's time for people that don't dig it to get off the purple boat. Why people love Emancipation & 3121 is beyond me.

20TEN is a fucking 10/10. F.U.N.K was the start of a new BETTER era of music for Prince after the mediocrity of the Musicology/3121/Planet Earth trilogy . Now I just want to tour the new music because if I hear that annoying edited version of Lets Go Crazy live one more time I'll go crazy although the new funky version of Kiss was awesome on Saturday.

i wouldnt go so far and say i´d hate it. its just boring and unspectacular.

It's another forgettable album. Songs sound the same. "Endlessly Beginning" sounds like a continuation of "Compassion".

Again, this album has no hooks or memorable melodies.

I will say that I like the fact that he attempted to keep the songs simple. And the "ok" songs: (Compassion, Sticky Like Glue, Lavaux, Act Of God, Everybody Loves Me, Laydown) sound like they are from the Dirty Mind / Controvery era. They just are not anywhere near as good.

Another thing: Once I stop listening to the album, I cannot remember how any of the songs go. They're just not that memorable.

chookalana said:

Again, this album has no hooks or memorable melodies.

Another thing: Once I stop listening to the album, I cannot remember how any of the songs go. They're just not that memorable.

Word!

These two statements distill the essence of what is wrong with 20ten.

To Aiden:

While I agree with you that Emancipation is a totally over-rated garbage fest with too many non memorable ballads that don't add anything to Prince either creatively or commercially, get the fuck outa here bashing on 3121 like that.

His worst album in 12 years? That's fucking crazy talk. Are your ears broken or something? Worse than Planet Earth? Worse than the Chocolate Invasion? Worse than NEWS or Rave? That's just silly.

For sure it was his most commercial album in a while, but that's not a bad thing. 3121 was Prince updating his sound while being creative and still keeping his trademark Prince quirkiness. It has Dark Camille esque funk (3121) pop Rand B (I&C) a MPLS sound throwback (Lolita), a crazy Electronic dance song (Black Sweat), and a cool guitar jam (Fury, who's only crime was not being as good as it's live version). 3121 works for both hardcore prince fans and the average listener. If you put 3121 on for someone who hasn't heard Prince since the 80's they'd think he's still got talent. If you put on 20ten they'd think he lost his mind and is addicted to coke.

Everyone can agree that Prince's Greatest album was SOTT. It's a 10/10. Flawless. Why was this album so Great? Because Prince Played a lot of Different styles of music and it ALL WORKED. There are pop songs and 60's rock throwbacks and funk and electronic songs and crazy live jams and awesome ballads. It's Prince showing he can play ALL KINDS OF MUSIC and do it well.

Since SOTT a lot of Prince's albums have been him swinging and missing at this formula of playing all kinds of music. Sometimes it works (Gold Exp) but a lot of the time it falls flat on it's face (Graffiti Bridge, Rave). But starting with Emancipation something terrible happened. Prince started limiting himself to one type of music per album. Emancipation was the first time in a long time you could so thoroughly pigeon hole a prince album in a specific musical genre (R & B).

Prince albums that all have the same sound usually Blur together in a negative way, and 20ten has songs that melt together in an indistinguishable fashion.

Now you just said 20ten is a 10/10. That's just cooky...Let's say as a benchmark SOTT, 1999, and Purple Rain and all 10/10 albums. You're actually going to try to compare 20ten to those?! Against SOTT 20ten scores a 2/10 AT BEST and that is me being generous cause I don't want to hurt anyones feelings and give it the ZERO it really is.

20ten Hurts Princes Legacy. Years from now People will look back at this album and shake their heads. The Chocolate Invasion and the Slaughterhouse are WAAAYYYYY better than this, and that was B side shit he didn't see fit to give out to the public at large.

Fin

[Edited 7/13/10 7:44am]

I hate that 2010 does not include Cause & Effect and Hot Summer. Now that we've heard the album, these two songs really fit in nicely with the themes and sound.

OMG, this is turgid stuff. No cutting edge, anthems, riffs , what the hell. The worst prince album yet and thats saying something. Stick to the live shows, that is where you shine mate, and dont play any new post 1990 stuff either.

love the music but the lyrics are boring. doesnt feel like he really means any of it. his vocal performances are great, but the sincerity of the lyric isnt there, like he's just putting on an act.

last genuine lyric i heard was before his second marriage failed. guess his current muse isnt suppling enough genuine inspiration, although you would think a man who demands advances would be able to come up with some inspiration by himself.

two thumbs up for the music and a big bunch of Z's for the lyrics

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I don't hate 20Ten because I didn't bother to get 20Ten. So, I have no feelings of it not living up to the hype nor the feeling of buyers remorse.

Yea, me!

Blimey - that's dull.

Timmy84 said:

TheVoid said:

Unusual.

First I liked the album on first listen. Then I didn't like on second and third listen. (I liked a few songs, but I didn't love them).

I still don't LOVE the songs, but now I really enjoy the album again.

It's actually a pretty good, fun, summer album. Honestly it sounds like B-sides from the mid 80s, but at this point in his career that's a good thing.

Anyways, I'm enjoying the album again. I listened to it twice today without skipping the tracks, even though that REALLY STRANGE closing tracks befuddles me.

Remember yesterday I was bragging about how good it was... I haven't played it today...

purpuria said:

i wouldnt go so far and say i´d hate it. its just boring and unspectacular.

That's the way I'm feeling about it. I don't think it's HORRIBLE, but it's just THERE for me. Nothing new. Nothing great.

It sounds like a bad b-side compilation.

I don't hate the album but I don't love it either. I really like Future Soul Song & Sticky Like Glue, a couple of others were ok but the rest were just generally quite boring, not very memorable & a lot of the time really cheesy and cringey! Some good moments but on first instinct I'm not a fan of the album as a whole

SOOPER said:

Klyph said:

Other than that it continues the trend of amateur lyrics and an overall feeling of Prince being detached from the music in general. Nothing screams inspired, nothing yells "I'm the best" except for him vocally boasting it. There are a few good elements but you can say that about virtually any album released by any artist.

^ this

Its MPLSound Pt II imho the same "old school" sounds and samples sans a soul or the emotional urgency and intensity of his work of the era hes attempting to mimic. Theres the odd cool grove or little piece here and there that hints at his former glory but no song i can listen to in its entirity without wondering "wtf is that doing in there?". Lyrically its a rambling mess overall and constantly staggers between the akward and the embarassing.

Oh, how I agree with this. The lyrics on this disc are terrible with a capital T.

Purpracer2 said:

If we ignore the ones that call us names, the ones that like his music, perhaps those who dislike us will just vanish. Do not respond to them and they will... poof.. be gone.

Only one question. If there are sooooo many people who say Prince has not done anything good since God knows when, why are you here? Please explain. Why? Is it just to get under people's skin with your rants? I'll probably have some Prince~Lover Hater respond to this, but do not bother. I won't respond to you.

Still diggin' on these grooves y'all.... down a river in Lavaux

You ask a question and want an explanation, but then you say you won't respond? So does that mean your question was a rhetorical one?

alexnvrmind said:

And even though Laydown is possibly one of the best sounding songs on this egotistical mess, with lyrics like 'from the heart of Minnesota here come the purple Yoda guaranteed to bring the dirty new sound' which honestly makes 'My name is Prince and I am funky' sound like Tolstoy, he's going to be laughed out of the business and considered 'done' by anybody except the 'extreme hardcore fans.'

TheRIP said:

purplecam said:

Ok, if people like the CD, why the fuck they gotta be "dick-sucking"? If we like it, we like it. You wouldn't want anyone to knock you for not liking it and I respect you not liking it, but why are you knocking those who like it and what's in it for you? There is something wrong with you to be coming out of your mouth with that crap.

[Edited 7/9/10 10:23am]

It's dick-sucking because they're experiencing "new album syndrome." They're so excited to hear new music that they fall into a trance. I think part of them also believe Prince is reading the review here and they want to make him feel good.

This album is awful and only a hardcore fam could love it, as is usually the case.

That is a dangerous syndrome that has caused many disagreements in the P community. Give it time. People sometimes come to their senses...