BartVanHemelen said:

So P relasing a song that isn't utterly abysmal on first listen is now reason for yelling "best song ever"? Really? Nobody noticed the rather pathetic lyrics? And the sound is just awful, with the pathetic sound effects and the brickwalled mastering.

Must be pretty damn good if it's the first one you don't find utterly abysmal in close to two decades.

As for your sour grapes about the mastering, you've always played armchair producer with Prince. Just admit the only way Prince will issue a record you think sounds good is if you were in the booth with him presiding over the console.

Lasers. Just....no.

Happy to see this.

Having first experienced this song live, it's going to take a while to digest the recording.

Because live? It was a beast.

This "feels" like it doesn't have that little of that extra that it did live. But I suppose that can be said of most live performances.

Glad nonetheless to have the release.

Cant help to think this song is about Warner Brothers...

its actually a great song but it sounds like a TIME song.the lasErs make no sense...why play video games in middle of ballad? Vocals are amaZING!AND IT IS ENTIRELY TOO LOUD AND DISTORTED!

TheEnglishGent said:

Replica said:

Fantastic song. Did Prince force Warner to release it in super bad quality, so that he can release it himself with alot better sound in the future? What's up with the quality? I can do million times better mastering in my bedroom :/ it sounds like it's done on purpose. Cause no legendary musician would release this by an accident. Even in the loudness wars we are witnessing, this is not acceptable. All EDM tracks I've heard that have almost no dynamics, still have better sound quality than this. This is weird. However one of his greatest songs in a good while.

How is the qualiy any worse than Fallinlove2nite Pretelbodylogic etc? Everything for years has been over amplified with nasty distortion.

It might be that I heard a bad streaming version. It's not possible for us in Norway or other places in Europe to buy it yet. They're loosing alot of money doing this. But the one I heard had heavy distortion when the drums came in. It was so extreme that even a little kid with no knowledge would imediatly hear it. I'm not being a snob now, as I listen to alot of electronic music that are extremly compressed. But the version I heard sounded really bad.

Genesia said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I've been out of the loop, so to speak as far as Prince's newer material has been concerned. Is "Baby" some twisted Prince speak for God?

So literal. Like Prince has never given us a "God" song in a secular wrapper?

I suppose but I usually catch those.

Maybe it's just been too long and he's I've...we've...gotten a little rusty.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Replica said:

TheEnglishGent said:

How is the qualiy any worse than Fallinlove2nite Pretelbodylogic etc? Everything for years has been over amplified with nasty distortion.

It might be that I heard a bad streaming version. It's not possible for us in Norway or other places in Europe to buy it yet. They're loosing alot of money doing this. But the one I heard had heavy distortion when the drums came in. It was so extreme that even a little kid with no knowledge would imediatly hear it. I'm not being a snob now, as I listen to alot of electronic music that are extremly compressed. But the version I heard sounded really bad.

It'll be available outside the US on the 21st. I have no distortion on my version btw.

Here's how the wavefile looks when the drums kick in at the beginning:

[img:$uid]http://img.phot.../img:$uid]

and then at the end of the song:

[img:$uid]http://img.phot.../img:$uid]

Genesia said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I suppose but I usually catch those.

Maybe it's just been too long and he's I've...we've...gotten a little rusty.

I got it from the first note. Listen to the intro of The Breakdown - and then listen to the intro of God (Instrumental).

The intro actually has more of an "A Million Days" vibe than a "God (Instrumental)" vibe to me.

Oh well, po-tay-to/po-tah-to.

thats too damn loud! prince old azz must be going deaf!

ufoclub said:

Here's how the wavefile looks when the drums kick in at the beginning:

[img:$uid]http://img.phot.../img:$uid]

and then at the end of the song:

[img:$uid]http://img.phot.../img:$uid]

Wow that was quick on the heals of the WB announcement! Nice move.

.

The distortion nor the laser effects aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. Definitely clips when the drums and bass kicks in though. Not enough to ruin a great tune!

tollyc said:

The distortion is in the mix, not the mastering. The song is loud ala dr Dre

From what I understand, "Dr Dre" loudness happens in the mastering not the mix, when they send the stereo mix through limiters and compressors to make it seem loud by turning everything up to the limit.

SmiggyG said:

Wow that was quick on the heals of the WB announcement! Nice move.

.

The distortion nor the laser effects aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. Definitely clips when the drums and bass kicks in though. Not enough to ruin a great tune!

It's not really clipping, it's just sounds overloaded because everything peaks... a lot. Makes it like harsh mud and loses clarity in those moments.

I bet it will be corrected. It would be easy to correct it.

bashraka said:

Cinny said:

What happened to his album deal with EPIC RECORDS? I thought the new material would still be with Epic, while he licensed his ancient music through Warner Bros.

Prince's business dealing with L.A Reid and Epic Records up until this point was just to distribute "FALLINLOVE2NITE".

Why was Epic Records' L.A. Reid having a PlectrumElectrum listening party last February?

Great song. I would its his best ballad since The Dance. The bassline still reminds of the Isley Bros. Make Me say It Again Girl.

aiden said:

naffi said:

Could it be Andy?

I thought it sounded like Andy..

Yes

https://www.facebook.com/andyallo

"It's HERE!! New Song by Prince. So happy this song is out! Guess who's singing some sweet harmonies?"

Such a great song....still i miss a guitar solo.....

Currently #180 at iTunes US

A great song. Maybe even the best song of its kind from the last 15 years or so.

There are some problems with the clipping, but I rather like the character of sound on the recording as such. Could it be recorded to tape like all the 3EG stuff from the last 1-1½ years is said to be? The various instruments "blend into" each other in a nice way, which is one of the benefits of using tape (the console and other gear used during the recording should play a part in that too). Regardless, the way the bass and the drums work together in the background remind me of some of the mid-80s stuff (I was reminded of "Anotherloverholenyohead" instantly). I really like how that comes off on the recording. The problem with a lot of digitally-recorded stuff from the 00s is that the instruments often sound "detached" from each other and that's bothered me about many of his post-TRC releases quite a bit.

[Edited 4/19/14 13:06pm]

I like this song. Something for everybody....even the geeks have something to pick apart with this one.

I don't have itunes and don't want it. Is it too much to ask to have a damn song/album available everywhere at once or is this another one of those things that us oldsters don't understand?

still not available in the uk

It really is the type of a song that you can listen to on repeat for hours.

ufoclub said:

SmiggyG said:

Wow that was quick on the heals of the WB announcement! Nice move.

.

The distortion nor the laser effects aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. Definitely clips when the drums and bass kicks in though. Not enough to ruin a great tune!

It's not really clipping, it's just sounds overloaded because everything peaks... a lot. Makes it like harsh mud and loses clarity in those moments.

I bet it will be corrected. It would be easy to correct it.

.

I found it sounds better played thru iTunes over any other media player I use. This is due to the fact I have the bass eq'd up on my other players. I never use iTunes as a player so I never messed with the audio settings. So I dropped the bass down and it took much of the distortion out of it. It sounds like the deep timpani drum is the main culprit to me.

novabrkr said:

Genesia said:

novabrkr said:

It really is the type of a song that you can listen to on repeat for hours.

Which I've pretty much done today. First Prince song in awhile that I've really wanted to dig into.

I admit that I did the same with the leaked version and now that we have the official version I've once more had it on repeat.

lifelinz said:

For those who can't find the song in other countries:

http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/prince-the-breakdown-new-song.1876156.html

bigd74 said:

still not available in the uk

http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/prince-the-breakdown-new-song.1876156.html