This little ditty is alright, not great and certainly not a masterpiece. The mastering is so much of an issue for me that it is virtually unlistenable. The first verse annoys me too

ludwig said:

jaypotton said:

Nah this is just ok but the way some of you have been talking this was the best song since leaving Warner Bros! For ME that honour goes to The Dance (awesome song) or perhaps Colonised Mind.

[Edited 4/20/14 9:03am]

I LOVED Colonized Mind and played it to death, until I found out where prince had his "inspiration" from:

Since then I can't listen to the song anymore.

Amen. Prince deserves no credit for adding retarded lyrics to Mariam's music.

Why is Mr "Time Is a Trick" pleading for more time on this track? Big Brother Larry will whup his ass for getting off doctrine.

Still not available at german amazon. I don't like Itunes. But I can wait, I've ripped the stream days ago.

Dsoul said:

ludwig said:

I LOVED Colonized Mind and played it to death, until I found out where prince had his "inspiration" from:

Since then I can't listen to the song anymore.

Amen. Prince deserves no credit for adding retarded lyrics to Mariam's music.

jeez, get over it! isnt this thread about the Breakdown song?

I am not sure if I completely agree with Dsoul, I can find lots of classic rhythm and blues songs that use that signature, but I would be deaf not to hear the similarity indeed.

I think the breakdown is a cool song, and for me it demands repeat listens. Not because it is ground breaking musical innovation all over again, but more so because it sounds so passionate and heart - felt, I appreciate convincing emotion, not to mention some pretty clever lyrics as well. Peace.

novabrkr said:

SuperFurryAnimal said:

Thats true, you see they don't understand. Prince could compress the hell out of his music and it would sound good on all these devices with small speakers but that's not his fault. Prince knows that. Just like radio compresses music like mad to make it sound good on a wide range of crappy systems.

Listen through good headphones that can handle bass and this new song sounds big, sounds ace. I don't think the track sucks at all, it will sound great on a good system and sounds awesome with quality headphones. Compressing Prince music which has multiple layers of music is not the answer.

It's not Prince who took the giant leap backwards but how music is compressed these days and how we listen to music these days.

Okay, I'm going to explain it to you two in a simpler way. Here's a limiter:

[img:$uid]http://static.kvraudio.com/i/b/l2ultramaximiser.jpg[/img:$uid]

See those two orange triangles on the left that say "threshold" above them? You don't yank them so far down that distortion becomes audible in the mix as a result. Pretty damn simple and shouldn't have been too hard to avoid. Would have taken just as much time to get it right as getting it wrong.

Well thank you for that explanation! I just think some, NOT ALL are being harsh! In all of the reviews I have read outside of the org, no one is pointing out the distortion and all of that!

andykeen said:

Yup I agree the quality on the UK itunes version is much better. No distortion on my studio speakers to speak of.

samt said:

Listening now after buying on ITunes UK, sounds great through my headphones, maybe it's been cleaned up a bit since the original US iTunes release.... Loving the song, would of liked to of heard a guitar solo towards the end but that's just me being greedy!

A guitar solo would be way too predictable. I like it the way it is, Lasers and all.

Good evening to all, it's been 4.5 years since I last posted!!! That's mainly because I forgot my password until I had an epiphany today. plus my email has changed since so couldn't reset.

I too have downloaded the UK iTunes version and listened to the US version.

I have to say, to my untrained ears that do not look for and pick out tiny differences and distortions, the UK version sounds much better.

I listened to it on a Zeppelin Air and some Harman/Kardon speakers connected to my iMac.

I downloaded from Amazon in the US--sounds kind of bad to me, but my ears aren't great, and my headphones aren't either, and I haven't listened on anything higher quality.

Like the song, though. If this is the same as the one played at the Dakota, then shouldn't there be a 3rdEyeGirl re-recording? Wasn't there some sort of indication that such a thing happened?

RemasteSmiggyG said:

ARock said:

ufoclub said:

andykeen said:

IMO 'The Breakdown' is decent. Prince is in good form vocally, but the lazer zap sound effects detracted from the song. Maybe a remix or maxi single will be released

EddieC said:

I downloaded from Amazon in the US--sounds kind of bad to me, but my ears aren't great, and my headphones aren't either, and I haven't listened on anything higher quality.

Like the song, though. If this is the same as the one played at the Dakota, then shouldn't there be a 3rdEyeGirl re-recording? Wasn't there some sort of indication that such a thing happened?

According to our local german djs in Germany (HR1), their promo cd is credited to "Prince & 3rdeyegirl".

Although, to me, the recording sounds like it was recorded before their time together.

Who knows?

Prost!

andykeen said:

This little ditty is alright, not great and certainly not a masterpiece. The mastering is so much of an issue for me that it is virtually unlistenable. The first verse annoys me too

+1

I've just done an Audacity review of the US and UK itunes versions. The UK version is slightly less distorted, about 10% off the top of the scale, but its still overloud. The UK version is better, but there isn't much in it.

Probably the wrong thread for it but the real question about the WB re-issues and all that is will Prinve clean up the lyrics and strip the songs of the raw sexuality that helped make them so great in the first place?

.

I'm not standing in line to re-up for censored versions of "Darling Nikki", "Head", DMSR" or "Let's Pretend We're Married".

3rdeyeboy said:

I've just done an Audacity review of the US and UK itunes versions. The UK version is slightly less distorted, about 10% off the top of the scale, but its still overloud. The UK version is better, but there isn't much in it.

i was kind of hoping there would be a physical single release for this song, with perhaps

even a non album b-side. but i guess not.

we'll have to wait and see what it sounds like once the album is released. i am clueless

about these things, but i'm assuming there's every chance that it sounds almost exactly

the same on a physical cd since that's the source for the itunes version? or vice versa,

the digital file he/they gave to itunes, comes from the same source material that will be

put onto a cd.

Stymie said:

kewlschool said:

I like the song, best release song since most of the songs on Lotusflow3r album.

I agree.

For certain it sounds better now. The UK itunes download is pretty good. None of the distortion when the chorus kicks in. Sounds like the bass is down a bit.

The more I listen, the more I like.

Stormtrooper effects are perfect. I LOVE it

His vocals are brilliant.

Forgive me is this has already been discussed... Is there a physical single being sold anywhere, preferably vinyl?

TeeeeHaaaaHoooo said:

Forgive me is this has already been discussed... Is there a physical single being sold anywhere, preferably vinyl?

Nope

jasontate said:

For certain it sounds better now. The UK itunes download is pretty good. None of the distortion when the chorus kicks in. Sounds like the bass is down a bit.

The more I listen, the more I like.

Stormtrooper effects are perfect. I LOVE it

His vocals are brilliant.

how many star wars references does that make in prince songs now?

.

The Rainbow Children - Darth Vader voice

Laydown - Yoda reference

The Breakdown - Stormtrooper effects