So, from Prince or any of his current/former bands, which remains your favourite album?

--------------------

2010 Prince | 20TEN

2011 The Time | CONDENSATE

2011 The Family | GASLIGHT

2012 Larry Graham and GCS | RAISE UP

2012 Andy Allo | SUPERCONDUCTOR

2013 Prince feat. 3rdEyeGirl | PLECTRUM ELECTRUM (e.g. Ain't Gonna Miss U, Screwdriver, The Breakdown, Menstrual Cycle, Octopus Heart, Midnight Blues, Hidden Colors etc)

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I actually consider the titles above to be of a consistently high standard and enjoyable for a variety of different reasons. Additionally, though, there may be other albums you prefer from the Prince/associated world, in which case, please feel free to state which one(s) from the past 3 years.

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And, whilst I would like to focus the tenor of this thread to remain on Prince and Prince-related Artists, it might be interesting for the sake of musical comparisons to see if you can also suggest a strong album to contend with the above in the past 3 years from a non-Prince associated Artist e.g. Kanye West's Yeezus or Janelle Monae's The Archandroid, or perhaps something further afield.

Over to you.

I think it's too early to include Plectrum ELectrum, we don't have a clue of what's gonna be on it.

So from the others u mentioned I think my favorite is Superconductor.

U could have included that album by Jesse Johnson and Sue-Ann as well, and I think there's been a few others, like hasn't BrownMark released something lately?

By a very wide margin: Gaslight.

Interesting, Nouveau. I thought you might have also appreciated Condensate? I'd always imagined you dancing secretly to If I Was Yo Man, whilst doing the obligatory The Bird dance ...(in your bedroom, only, of course).

Condensate for me.

20Ten. Plectrum shouldn't be included as we are not sure what's on it or when/if it will actually come out. As it stands, it sounds like Ain't Gonna Miss U and Screwdriver won't be on it. Fixurlifeup, LOL, and the rest being instrumental tracks, from the sounds of it.

I liked Superconductor a lot, I must admit.

But 20Ten made my summer when it came out, and Gaslight is also very nice.

Condensate has slightly too much filler for my taste.

Raise Up was funky in parts, but not too interesting musically.

I don't know enough about Plectrum Electrum to be able to include it here...

SpiritOtter said:

Interesting, Nouveau. I thought you might have also appreciated Condensate? I'd always imagined you dancing secretly to If I Was Yo Man, whilst doing the obligatory The Bird dance ...(in your bedroom, only, of course).

I fly my freak flag high, no need to dance in secret!

If we're including associate recordings since 2010, this list should also include Sheila E.'s "From E 2 U" and the E Family's "Now & Forever."

I liked Superconductor quite a bit. The production and instrumentation are superb, and the songwriting, for the most part, is quite strong. Then again, I'm one of the few who likes both the Tamar and Bria albums (that Tamar album is grossly undervalued). But, the real gem here is 20Ten. It shocks me how many 20Ten haters there are on the .org...to the point that I wonder if we're listening to the same album. Minus the couplet of slooooooooow songs that clogs the 2nd half of the record, it's pretty damn solid. Beginning Endlessly is one of the more original pieces of pop music that's come out in recent years. Compassion is a jam, and the harmonies on Future Soul Song show Prince at his most Brian Wilson-esque best...a gorgeous piece of music for sure. The trio of songs that follows-Sticky Like Glue, Act of God, and Lavaux-really makes this album stand out for me....while I do find the Sticky Like Glue rap to be totally inane, it's a great groove, and I love the Tom Tom Club feel of the vocals. If anything, the album suffers from being a tad short...in my opinion, it was a HUGE mistep omitting Cause and Effect from the album, as I absolutely love that song. To me, it might be his MOST underrated post-symbol tune.

jackmitz said:

while I do find the Sticky Like Glue rap to be totally inane, it's a great groove, and I love the Tom Tom Club feel of the vocals.

Good call.

Gaslight

Hmmm....

although I have Gaslight, I just realized that I don't think I've ever actually listened to it.

The Graham album--it was okay. I've listened to the Prince related tracks a bit more than the whole album, but even they are just okay.

I liked Condensate--played it a fair amount when I first got it. But I can't, honestly, remember a single thing besides the Condensation skit thing and the annoying whine of Morris saying "I'm trendin" I can't remember the things I liked!! But I know there were quite a few.

20Ten I've said a little bit about on the thread going on right now about it. I liked quite a bit of it.

But my favorite (obviously excluding Gaslight, which I haven't listened to--and I obviously should change that--and Plectrum Electrum, which still remains theoretical):

SUPERCONDUCTOR!!

I thought it was great. I also think it's at least half Prince, but even if it ain't, it's GREAT!

On a side note (well, you did ask) I listened to Yeezus while I was getting some work done on my car. Wish that the lyrics were different, so I could have my daughter listen to it, since I thought the thing sounded wonderful.

Superconductor for its production values and the wonderful When Stars Collide, Condensate for the 80's vibe and lots of strong tunes. 20Ten as it was Prince finally doing some proper Prince music again, and Gaslight was an unexpected treat filled with plenty of solid grooves.

Looks like it weren't 3 bad years actually!

Superconductor is best of the bunch. Every song is stellar. Solid album.

Gaslight is almost as good. Doesn't flow quite as well as Superconductor but most tracks are as good as anything any of these artists have done in awhile. I still listen regularly and that is really saying a lot.

Condensate is great but a bit too long. Most tracks are great but there are a few I can not stand. Also the whole Morris/Jerome thing is so old and done. This one needs an editor.

20Ten is weak imo. I have not kept it in rotation in quite awhile and have no desire to revisit. I like Layitdown and that is really it. The rest is forgettable.

I would love to include the latest tracks but since we are not really sure what will be on it the jury is still out. I CAN say it would rank just below Superconductor as it stands. I have been loving his new stuff lately and LOVE 3rdEyeGirl.

Would have to go with Condensate which is my joint favourite album of all time with What Time Is It,

cant say i have heard any 3rd eye/prince song that i find more than mediocre, and not heard the Larry Graham album at all, i really like Gaslight and saw them when they came to London,i also like most songs on 20ten, and ive only heard a couple of songs from Superconductor so dont feel qualified to rate that album

Gaslight

As much as I like Gaslight, I choose Superconductor.

[Edited 7/10/13 23:45pm]

Gaslight and 20ten

not sure which I prefer

SpiritOtter said:

So, from Prince or any of his current/former bands, which remains your favourite album?

--------------------

2010 Prince | 20TEN

2011 The Time | CONDENSATE

2011 The Family | GASLIGHT

2012 Larry Graham and GCS | RAISE UP

2012 Andy Allo | SUPERCONDUCTOR

2013 Prince feat. 3rdEyeGirl | PLECTRUM ELECTRUM (e.g. Ain't Gonna Miss U, Screwdriver, The Breakdown, Menstrual Cycle, Octopus Heart, Midnight Blues, Hidden Colors etc)

--------------------

I actually consider the titles above to be of a consistently high standard and enjoyable for a variety of different reasons. Additionally, though, there may be other albums you prefer from the Prince/associated world, in which case, please feel free to state which one(s) from the past 3 years.

-------------------

And, whilst I would like to focus the tenor of this thread to remain on Prince and Prince-related Artists, it might be interesting for the sake of musical comparisons to see if you can also suggest a strong album to contend with the above in the past 3 years from a non-Prince associated Artist e.g. Kanye West's Yeezus or Janelle Monae's The Archandroid, or perhaps something further afield.

Over to you.

Plectrum Electrum (so far)