I say yes!!:

CLASSIC:

compassion: great message, slick arrangement ; this as international anthem is allright with me

future soul song: takes it's time and space, words and melody mix as never before

sticky like glue: sticky and sweet, fresh. Crank up the volume!

maybe classic:

lavaux still not sure..

beginning endlessly the beginning not sure, the end gets better.

Overall verdict: the first 7 songs flow perfectly musically, lyricly (yes that includes walk in the sand)

Rating: 9 (for the first 7 songs)

M Curtiz:"don't talk to me while I'm interrupting"

I'd say "Beginning Endlessly" and "Sticky Like Glue" are really strong.

No.

The better tracks are merely ok.

There is nothing remotely close to "classic" about 20ten.

This album does a very good job of tip toeing between pandering and nostalgia. It manages not to offend too much because Prince has been churning this stuff out in his sleep for so long at this stage in his life he is able to run on autopilot so well, that it prevents him from crashing and burning too bad regardless how lazy or careless his music may be.

[Edited 7/26/10 8:34am]

violetblues said:

No.

The better tracks are merely ok.

There is nothing remotely close to "classic" about 20ten.

This album does a very good job of tip toeing between pandering and nostalgia. It manages not to offend too much because Prince has been churning this stuff out in his sleep for so long at this stage in his life he is able to run on autopilot so well, that it prevents him from crashing and burning too bad regardless how lazy or careless his music may be.

[Edited 7/26/10 8:34am]

I think Sticky Like Glue and Beginning Endlessly are good strong songs, classic well the man has some high standards that he probably won't ever match again but those songs are proof his talents are there. Yeah the rap in Sticky Like Glue is a bit off but it doesn't run the song. Lavaux and Act Of God i don't mind either. I just can't get excited about any of the ballads though and Laydown is just plain bad.

ufoclub said:

I'd say "Beginning Endlessly" and "Sticky Like Glue" are really strong.

That's being generous.

However admittingly those are the songs particularly the latter that I come back to at gunpoint.

'dre

20ten barely contains so-so Prince. Laydown and Lavaux would be weak cuts on 3121 or Gold Exp, and they are by far the best ones on 20ten

ufoclub said:

I'd say "Beginning Endlessly" and "Sticky Like Glue" are really strong.

X 4 million

Easily the best two songs on the album for me. And they both have issues as well.

I think the end of Beginning Endlessly should have had a ripping guitar solo instead of the two chord jam just going on and on.

And then there's that rap in Sticky Like Glue. Just

That being said Sticky Like Glue feels like it came right off The Time or What Time Is It to me.

Love the song....

I think what is throwing people off is that in order to continue his peculiar way of putting out demo like dry sparse compositions with all instruments at 10 (his Prince "brand"), Prince has to keep going with the idea, finding even dryer and more clear ways to put his minimal mixes. All of these tracks including the ones from the last MPLS album are just mixed in a more clear, dry way that is folllowing his philosophy further. If he had chosen to drench these track in reverb (like "Crucial") and given them out as demos and they had ended up on bootleg... well folks might be saying it was pure gold from the vault.

Fenwick said:

I think the end of Beginning Endlessly should have had a ripping guitar solo instead of the two chord jam just going on and on.

yes, a Planet Earth style solo would have helped. The synth is okay, but gets a little bit old, as does the song in general.

purpledoveuk said:

It also contains some good tracks against recent offerings...but I doubt we will be talking about any individual tracks in this album in 10 years

Similar comments were made when New Power Soul was released, yet I hear Come On, The One, and Wasted Kisses praised here frequently 12 years later.

Two songs that have been mentioned, Beginning Endlessly and Sticky, are definite "classic" Prince tunes, though not without faults. The dry/clean/plastic/etc. production is the main problem I have with both songs.

Beginning Endlessly with a kick ass guitar solo and less slick sound would have solidified it as one of his best tracks in the past twenty years for me. It still may be. I'll have to see how it ages.

Sticky Like Glue, Act of God and Lavaux are the ones that come close to "classic Prince" to me.

Timmy84 said:

Sticky Like Glue, Act of God and Lavaux are the ones that come close to "classic Prince" to me.

I keep those three in heavy rotation the past 2 weeks..and played in a row with eachother...its like they flow all together, but don't sound the same.

I think on an insturmental/vocal side, it does a lot of what Prince did on his "classic" ablums.

Lyrically, I like him best on his ballads/slow songs; "Walk In Sand" is just as romantic as you can get, really. I'd like him to touch on more personal issues with his writing, but that side of his persona he doesn't show too often nowadays. Its a very pop album, which I think songs like "Sticky Like Glue, Laydown and Walk in Sand" would be my single choices.

ufoclub said:

I think what is throwing people off is that in order to continue his peculiar way of putting out demo like dry sparse compositions with all instruments at 10 (his Prince "brand"), Prince has to keep going with the idea, finding even dryer and more clear ways to put his minimal mixes. All of these tracks including the ones from the last MPLS album are just mixed in a more clear, dry way that is folllowing his philosophy further. If he had chosen to drench these track in reverb (like "Crucial") and given them out as demos and they had ended up on bootleg... well folks might be saying it was pure gold from the vault.

I actually like how he produces, i think especially with this album, it has a really good mix of electronic/ natural insturments, maybe except for "Beginning Endlessly" which needed that funk guitar in the beginning. I wonder about "Walk in Sand" and "Sea of Everything" they are definitely a warmer aural experience; he probably included them on the album so it all doesn't sound the same

jockeyb4u said:

purpledoveuk said:

I think the great thing about this album for me is that it is the first I can listen to and just enjoy. I can't yet tell whether this is because I have lost that expectation of "Prince shock me and make everything else poo" or that I just genuinely like it. I know there is still that issue with Prince where he wants contemporary feels but I feel this a lot less on the album. It just simply is breezy and a delight. I think you can sniff whether or not something is pretending to be more than it is-this album has no delusions of grandeur and benefits massively by an artist having fun and not being obsessed that he is called a genius

purpledoveuk said:

jockeyb4u said:

Similar comments were made when New Power Soul was released, yet I hear Come On, The One, and Wasted Kisses praised here frequently 12 years later.

Two songs that have been mentioned, Beginning Endlessly and Sticky, are definite "classic" Prince tunes, though not without faults. The dry/clean/plastic/etc. production is the main problem I have with both songs.

Beginning Endlessly with a kick ass guitar solo and less slick sound would have solidified it as one of his best tracks in the past twenty years for me. It still may be. I'll have to see how it ages.

Those 3 songs from NPS ae good but, in my opinion, they get praise because they standout from the test of a crap album...they have something about them that triggers that 'Prince feel' but I doubt they'd make any completion(except a singles collection) aimed at illustrating 'Classic Prince'

Not true for me! I would make a "best of" with Mad Sex, Come On, and The One. I think they are top notch tunes. I like "Wasted Kisses" for it's expression of a feeling, but I don't think it has a great construction or melody. I do think the previous three are GREAT.

I don't think it has classic prince, but that is partly due to the level of classic prince being hard to match.

I think that we need to be a few years out from an albums release to judge if there are any "classics" on it.

Dig this:

When Uptown magazine was around, they reviewed the album and I recall that they said there were no classics on it. For sure, many Prince fans would call this a misjudgment now.

No, it doesn't

I got the cd here in the US a week after it came out. I have listened to it entirely everyday since I got it. My faves are compassion, sticky like glue, act of god, lay down, Beginning Endlessly, Future Soul Song, and everybody loves me. The other three are alright. Walk In Sand reminds me of For You era Prince. Lavaux has cool synths but I just dont like it as much as the other songs.

Always the same: I can't understand the lightness with which y'all use the word 'classic'.

Everything has to be a classic 5 mins after release.

Seriously, does the word 'classic' still mean anything to you?

But, to answer your question, no 'classics' on 20Ten: it's just Prince desperately trying to sound like he used to but without success.

Beginning Endlessly and Laydown are the two strongest songs on the record, hands down.

Yep it does .

At least 2 : Lavaux + Beginning Endlessly

Not 2 mention Everybody Loves Me....Which will be refered 2 as an all time Classic in the years 2 come...

no.

for me, classic prince comes from a real, raw, original and enlivened place.

classic prince is genuine.

20ten is a good copy, but not the real deal.

imo, ever since musicology we've been getting 'copy prince', not 'classic prince'.