Say what you want about the music, but what is up with the mixing & mastering on Lotusflow3r [all 3 CD's], & 20TEN? They sound amateurish! "Forever" has some of the weakest & lifeless drums I've ever heard Prince use in my life [they're pretty much drowned out & cheap sounding]! "Boom" & "Future Soul Song" would be FAR more hypnotic if properly mixed. All of these albums sound like "basement studio" albums to me. I'm sure he most likely mixed them his self, but I feel that has something to do with why "some" people have issues with these albums. Too me, everything since "Rave" is dodgy in the mix & mastering department [& the song picking & writing too for you sarcastic mofo's out there] . My whole point is this...."when" Prince does decide to record a new album, I'm hoping he pays someone who knows what they're doing this department.......

......but most likely.....he won't.

[Edited 7/10/11 10:02am]

I keep thinking Prince's other reasons why he can't stand the digital sound of music is he couldn't figure it out how to master it or get someone to master it. When you do things mainly on your own, it can be a little difficult and it seems he made it hard on himself to make a decent digital copy of a record and is now ranting against it because of it. Of course that's one reason why.

Timmy84 said:

I keep thinking Prince's other reasons why he can't stand the digital sound of music is he couldn't figure it out how to master it or get someone to master it. When you do things mainly on your own, it can be a little difficult and it seems he made it hard on himself to make a decent digital copy of a record and is now ranting against it because of it. Of course that's one reason why.

Very good point! I honestly think with the proper mixing & mastering, a nice amount of the songs would be better...

There is nothing at all "amateurish" about the mixing/mastering of the 'Lotusflower' album. Not only do I consider that album one of Prince's best albums musically, I also consider it a sonic gem within his catalog. I listen to it from the CD, on a proper home stereo system.

Giovanni777 said:

There is nothing at all "amateurish" about the mixing/mastering of the 'Lotusflower' album. Not only do I consider that album one of Prince's best albums musically, I also consider it a sonic gem within his catalog. I listen to it from the CD, on a proper home stereo system.

Uh...I listen to pretty much all my music through my home stereo system with good ass headphones, & it sounds pretty bad to me. 20TEN might be even worse. 'Crystal Ball' [the song & album] smashes these albums easily in the sound quality. But hey, we all have our opinions....

The first and last thing i said when i listened to 20ten was "oh my god the mixing on this album is so DULL AND DEAD, this kills it for me"

MrLee192 said:

The first and last thing i said when i listened to 20ten was "oh my god the mixing on this album is so DULL AND DEAD, this kills it for me"

YES Indeed!!!

You call it a "basement studio" album as if that´s a bad thing. Some of his greatest sounding songs were recorded at places like, for instance, that warehouse in Eden Prairie, and I love that rough, raw and direct sound of those mid 80s songs ( I know and understand what you´re referring to, though, I´m just saying....).

I think TRC was one of his best sounding albums, sonically, and I don´t know to what extent this can be attributed to either Prince or Femi Jiya, but that album sounds thick and organic. And I understand nothing about the technical little tidbits of songs...but that is a good sound.

So, why would the same artist who has a incredible musical talent and an incredible ear allow his album to sound weak? I don´t know....to be honest, I think Lotusflower sounds fine but I have to give it a closer listen after reading your post. Some of his albums do sound a bit thin but I wouldn´t think of Lotusflower as an example of that. But the question remains whether Prince does or doesn´t hear those differences in sonic quality. Why would he allow that?

I'm picky sometimes. But the "snap" 0:04 into LotusFlow3r kind of seems amateurish. And, TRC's sound seems almost overdriven on some tracks, definitely past the meters...

But, you know, too many 1's and 0's in the mix can mess up one's ears.

Prince is in2 the feeling of a song not the sound quality. U want perfect sound dig out MJ's albums with Quincy Jones....

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

I have to say not really any of his albums are mixed or mastered very well. There are a few songs here and there on each album that do sound better than the rest though. Almost all the 1994-present stuff sounds overdriven to me. Endorphinmachine on the official TGE bugged me from day 1. Seemed like the cymbals were way off the meter.

Personally I did not think TRC sounded too bad. Especially compared to 20Ten.

Is anyone else so over the scratchy old record effect? I sure am.

I would bet you he's mastering them himself with whoever is engineering.... possibly they're just mixing down, and running a plugin. That's the blessing and the curse of digital. The step often seems redundant, and it probably is unless you're employing one of the legendary mastering technicians.

ThreadBare said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Prince is in2 the feeling of a song not the sound quality. U want perfect sound dig out MJ's albums with Quincy Jones....

Since when are they mutually exclusive? A lot of folks manage to nail both.

"Dirty Mind" was meant to sound....well...Dirty, & it worked [Even The Time's first album sounds dirty in the mixing department]!! "Planet Earth" & "3121" aren't super good in the mixing department, but they sound better than "TRC", "Musicology", "N.E.W.S.", & the main ones I'm talking about...

i see no problem with the sound of lotusflower, or for that fact 20ten either. as for 20ten though, to my ears it sounds like he was rtying to recapture that old sound everyone wishes he still had. theres just no way to make something sound like 1999. you cant recreate whatever it was that makes something like that sound the way it did. even if you use all the old equipment from a time period you just cant recapture the vibe of it. it just happens, it not something you try to do.

Tittypants said:

MrLee192 said:

The first and last thing i said when i listened to 20ten was "oh my god the mixing on this album is so DULL AND DEAD, this kills it for me"

YES Indeed!!!

Right? It sounds ass-y like 1999. Total home studio job.

ThreadBare said:

I'm picky sometimes. But the "snap" 0:04 into LotusFlow3r kind of seems amateurish. And, TRC's sound seems almost overdriven on some tracks, definitely past the meters...

But, you know, too many 1's and 0's in the mix can mess up one's ears.

TRC is a classic victim of the loudness wars. BRICKWALLED LIKE A MUG

Pricne doesn't care about sound. He's said it a million times himself. He's going for the performance, spirit, gusto, whateves...

He's talked many times, (and I remember Sheila talking about it in a video interview, too) about throwing up some mics quicly to capture a drum idea before he lost it. The drums on The Cross are a prime example. They sound like shit, but the feel is good. That was MAYBE 3 mics, probably less. He works fast and doesn't care for the technical stuff until he's finished. This worked GREAT when he was using tape and printing everything hot to tape because saturated tape gives the illusion of depth and the warm overdrive you get sounds pleasing to most ears.

When I listened to Lotus on my home system, it sounded like one big cluster-f**ck of noise. Annoying.

Might be the system but everything else sounds good.

He's kinda raw with the mixing and mastering, on some (or maybe about all) the '80s albums, it worked (like Dirty Mind and 1999 for example).

Timmy84 said:

He's kinda raw with the mixing and mastering, on some (or maybe about all) the '80s albums, it worked (like Dirty Mind and 1999 for example).

Yup. Not recently though.....

Giovanni777 said:

There is nothing at all "amateurish" about the mixing/mastering of the 'Lotusflower' album. Not only do I consider that album one of Prince's best albums musically, I also consider it a sonic gem within his catalog. I listen to it from the CD, on a proper home stereo system.

Yeah, the mix of "Boom" is great from what I remember...

ufoclub said:

Giovanni777 said:

There is nothing at all "amateurish" about the mixing/mastering of the 'Lotusflower' album. Not only do I consider that album one of Prince's best albums musically, I also consider it a sonic gem within his catalog. I listen to it from the CD, on a proper home stereo system.

Yeah, the mix of "Boom" is great from what I remember...

and even though 3121 is pushed too hot, the mix is outstanding on all tracks and very clear.

I do have issues with the choice of arrangement and mixing on Planet Earth the song, but a lot of tracks on that album sound great too.

Can you give a specific example of a few seconds and describe what you find wrong?

ufoclub said:

ufoclub said:

Yeah, the mix of "Boom" is great from what I remember...

and even though 3121 is pushed too hot, the mix is outstanding on all tracks and very clear.

I do have issues with the choice of arrangement and mixing on Planet Earth the song, but a lot of tracks on that album sound great too.

Can you give a specific example of a few seconds and describe what you find wrong?

20Ten [the full album] sounds very dull & straight forward [no dimension whatsoever to any of the tracks]. Lotusflow3r [all three disc] sounds very hollow. It sounds like he was trying to mix Lotusflow3r to have a live sound, but ultimately, it cheapens how good it could sound. 3121 & Planet Earth both are mixed better imo [they have issues too as you already said, but they're better]. I truly believe if Prince let a true professional mix & master pretty much everything since "TRC", all of these albums would have seen better results. I was listening to "Come" recently, & it sounds way better than all of these albums in the mixing & mastering department...