Listened a few times on my headphones, and while it doesn't break much new ground I do like the song quite a bit!

-

It's got a good groove, some very nice funky bass, tasty rhythm guitar, some Linn drum sounds, a great guitar solo and those trademark little "add ons" that only Prince can do. The production sounds good on my headphones, tomorrow I will blast the song over my studio monitors.

-

I am quite a bit excited about the new Prince album after hearing "Clouds". Again, nothing really new or groundbreaking, but I have come to accept that the days of groundbreaking albums like Parade or the Black album are over. You can't expect a man deep into his 50's to come with a brand new sound. I think Clouds is a good funky Prince song with non-embarassing lyrics, tasty playing by Prince and a few unexpected twists and turns.

-

These days I am happy with a solid new Prince groove like this one, if the rest of the album is as good as this I will be a happy customer!

~ I like "Clouds" but it instantly remined me of "Her Favorite Song (Oliver Remix)" - Mayer Hawthorne

andykeen said:

Where are you guys hearing this?

http://plectrumelectrum.3...l.com/row/

here, when you make your pre-order of the 2 albums, cd and/or digital downloads:

"Clouds" comes as a single, you can download this song at once (if it works).

-- it did not work for me. My order was yesterday morning, and it's still writing "Pending"!

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ecnirp2004/Prince/Princepending_zps1fc853bc.jpg[/img:$uid]

^ I am gonna try to buy "Clouds" on iTunes now.

I'm likin' it !

This is just what the doctor ordered. It is awesome to hear new music at last after much waiting and anticipating, and a relief that it is rather fantastic to boot. This jam holds up to the rather high standards we've come to expect of Prince, in my opinion. I'm looking forward to hearing more of these two albums. Just over a month away!

Go Prince!

Clouds is great! So psyched for both albums, but really am dying for Artificial Age...the tracks released today make sense together and Im so geeked for the solo project!

I like it. Except all that yapping by the woman in the middle. It's a little discouraging that he still thinks that is sort of thing is neat.

Don't put skits in the middle of your god damn song. Please.

antonb said:

May as well start a thread for the new song, I like the song alot, but i dont think it will be a major hit unless warners uses some serious promotion for it. I like the music behind the song more than the lyrics. I think it sounds like breakfast can wait. I would give it a 7 out of 10

I enjoyed this song

I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It's somewhat seductive. I don't hate it.

Askani said:

I like it. Except all that yapping by the woman in the middle. It's a little discouraging that he still thinks that is sort of thing is neat.

Don't put skits in the middle of your god damn song. Please.

yes .. no skits .. no rapping and no lazers .. tap dancing and moaning women are occasionally ok tho

andykeen said:

Where are you guys hearing this?

It's not so hard to read full threads on the org or simply to use google.

V10LETBLUES said:

And what's with his lyrical phrasing now, so disjointed and awkward with words inserted almost haphazardly. his phrasing used to flow like butter and have charm and charisma. Now its clumsy. So strange. Like he had a stroke and is someone else now. Someone not as good. Not a horrendous track like last one for the TV show, but something you will never hear on rotation on any radio station other than just out of novelty for a week or so. [Edited 8/25/14 19:19pm]

Yeah that!

ludwig said:

V10LETBLUES said:

And what's with his lyrical phrasing now, so disjointed and awkward with words inserted almost haphazardly. his phrasing used to flow like butter and have charm and charisma. Now its clumsy. So strange. Like he had a stroke and is someone else now. Someone not as good. Not a horrendous track like last one for the TV show, but something you will never hear on rotation on any radio station other than just out of novelty for a week or so. [Edited 8/25/14 19:19pm]

Yeah that!

...hah...oh god...some say that predictability in art is a form of death. But honestly odd phrasing is certainly not new in prince music.

It's a good song I like this song,plus "Breakfast Can Wait" and "The Breakdown".If these three songs are an indication of the direction he's going into,I think he's got a great album on his hands.

Reminds me of his "MPLShit" attempt of playing both ends of the stick. Throwing some elements of the Old Prince in there but watering it down with influences of current mainstream music trying to gain some Mousekateer radio listeners also who could give less than a damn about him. That's alright though because my money is staying in my pocket.

vainandy said:

Reminds me of his "MPLShit" attempt of playing both ends of the stick. Throwing some elements of the Old Prince in there but watering it down with influences of current mainstream music trying to gain some Mousekateer radio listeners also who could give less than a damn about him. That's alright though because my money is staying in my pocket.

but you gotta admit,this song is better than stuff like "FixUrLifeUp" and "Rock N' Roll Love Affair"

cosmoplastic said:

SoulAlive said:

SoulAlive said:

vainandy said:

Reminds me of his "MPLShit" attempt of playing both ends of the stick. Throwing some elements of the Old Prince in there but watering it down with influences of current mainstream music trying to gain some Mousekateer radio listeners also who could give less than a damn about him. That's alright though because my money is staying in my pocket.

but you gotta admit,this song is better than stuff like "FixUrLifeUp" and "Rock N' Roll Love Affair"

I kinda like "FixUrLifeUp" because it's hard rock. If he's not going to make hard funk, at least make hard rock. Hell, just whatever you do, keep it hard. The way he delivers the lyrics in this new song sounds like he's "singing a rap" which is how a lot of R&B artists sound these days. In other words, shit hop influenced. The way he delivers those lyrics reminds me of the way Bore-oncy delivers hers. Hell, I'd rather he do a full fledged hillbilly ho down country/western song with banjos and shit than to hear even one ounce of shit hop influence in his songs because I absolutely despise that damn genre with a passion. That bullshit genre is why he, as well as other good artists, don't get R&B radio airplay and selling out to it and watering your music down to compete with it, is contributing to the problem and helping it to grow rather than trying to defeat it.

V10LETBLUES said:

R&R love affair has been his best and most professional sounding track in many years. I say professional because most of his music lately has sounded amateurish.

"Rock N' Roll Love Affair" is a snoozefest Prince can do better than that.A great track like "Clouds" proves it.

The press he's getting for Clouds is very positive -- it's being called funky and psychedelic, jazzy, sultry... The comments on Prince himself that can be found on RS.com are another matter and I think it's clear that while he garners respect and admiration officially, the average person out there doesn't think as highly of him as people imagine. He's not a guy too many male fans are comfortable with.

But on Clouds, I've only seen negative comments here.

SoulAlive said:

vainandy said:

Reminds me of his "MPLShit" attempt of playing both ends of the stick. Throwing some elements of the Old Prince in there but watering it down with influences of current mainstream music trying to gain some Mousekateer radio listeners also who could give less than a damn about him. That's alright though because my money is staying in my pocket.

but you gotta admit,this song is better than stuff like "FixUrLifeUp" and "Rock N' Roll Love Affair"

Doesn't Vainandy think it all went downhill after 1999?

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Nice, breezy R & B. I love the sound of the drums/Linn. The bass is as funky as you want it to be. I like the lyrics. They're seductive, yet also provide some interesting social commentary, which I think many people relate to: The self-obsessed age, where every experience is documented and exhibited.

I like how an acoustic guitar makes an appearance towards the end in the background as Lianne starts talking, then doubled with the bass stabs, and finally playing a rhythm guitar line in the outro.

Lianne's part is very cool, and a bit of a curve ball. I love when she says, "Hot," after the guitar solo.

I like the way he ends the song, too. Very Prince.

I see the comparisons to Breakfast Can Wait. The choruses sound very similar. I like this one better, though.

It's not a "hit," no matter how much promo it gets, but it doesn't need to be. I'm curious to hear the rest.

PS - I wanted to wake up this morning and find that the cover was just a bad dream. But alas, it's real. Damn.

Great discription, well said!

V10LETBLUES said:

SoulAlive said:

but you gotta admit,this song is better than stuff like "FixUrLifeUp" and "Rock N' Roll Love Affair"

R&R love affair has been his best and most professional sounding track in many years. I say professional because most of his music lately has sounded amateurish.

...well u convinced me with that one...u obviously know more about music and delivery than prince...

"Sonically the record is a contemporary concoction of soul, R&B and funk. The melodies are immediate and prominent as ever and Prince's vocals are rich and solid, taking full advantage of his vocal range with decidedly, seductive lyrics." - WB press release.

Too bad they're also describing his last effort, 4 years ago, 20Ten, which this sounds like an outtake of.

V10LETBLUES said:

Nope. For someone who crafted some of the greatest beats and drum patterns of all time, he has sounded like an absolute amateur on the drum machine for ages now. Wow really bad drum programming. And what's with his lyrical phrasing now, so disjointed and awkward with words inserted almost haphazardly. his phrasing used to flow like butter and have charm and charisma. Now its clumsy. So strange. Like he had a stroke and is someone else now. Someone not as good. Not a horrendous track like last one for the TV show, but something you will never hear on rotation on any radio station other than just out of novelty for a week or so. [Edited 8/25/14 19:19pm]

THANK YOU!

Dude essentially taught me (and I'm assuming countless others) how to make a beat! The dude (or dudes) who made this beat needs to sit they Fisher-Price ass down, and let me do the programming!

KingSausage said:

I hear songs like Clouds on which Prince tries to use sounds similar to his classic 80’s sound. Tries being the key word. Is this really what he thinks his classic shit sounded like? MPLSound and 20ten are also bad offenders. Somebody needs to clean his ears.

http://prince.org/msg/7/409016?&pg=3

I was trying to say as much in post #69 ( ) of this thread.

blackbob said:

Pentacle said:

Y'all some deaf MF's.

A brand new age, the same old crap. And the lyrics, well....

Bring on Purple Rain 30!

cant please everyone...people were saying the same about purple rain...30 years ago..

sonicfreak said:

So when is the Purple Rain reissue?

Bambi82 said:

You should never underestimate the power of a kiss on the neck when she doesn't expect a kiss on the neck, when she doesn't expect a kiss on the neck
Every time you catch her singing in the shower you should go and get a flower no matter what the hour and just rub it on her back, rub it on her back, rub it on her back

In this brand-new age we do everything quick, fast in a hurry
All of our life's a stage
Everybody stars, reality so blurry
If you screamed out loud (loud) on top of your voice would it be higher than the crowd? No.
Tattooless and proud (yeah)
We're getting high on something that doesn't require clouds, no
We don't need no clouds, no.

You should never underestimate the power of a kiss on the neck when she doesn't expect a kiss on the neck, when she doesn't expect a kiss on the neck
Every time you catch her singing in the shower you should go and get a flower no matter what the hour and just rub it on her back right, rub it on her back, rub it on her back all over me?

I want to give you something baby but I wonder does it really even matter if it ain't on a stage? If it ain't on stage I don't think it really matters in this brand-new age.

When life's a stage in this brand-new age how do we engage?
Bullying just for fun, no wonder there are so many guns, maybe we're better off in space.

Mr. Nelson, Mr. Nelson, can you hear my voice? Sir, we know you're a little bit groggy and you're probably going to find it hard to speak but don't try to talk or process too much now. We just wanted to let you know that the medication you were given has put you in suspended animation for quite some time. Well, in fact, about 45 years, but where you are now is a place that does not require time. That being said, you are completely safe.. we're here to help you.

You should never underestimate the power of a kiss on the neck when she doesn't expect a kiss on the neck, when she doesn't expect a kiss on the neck
It's in the power to love you, it's in the power to love you up? It's in the power to love you.

[Edited 8/25/14 4:23am]

Wow, cool. What are clouds, the puff of smoke from weed or drugs, or something?