V10LETBLUES said:

Much much better. Sounds great. Nice to hear Prince stepping out of his old comfort zone. The production doesn't sound as poor as the last couple of tracks. I like it a lot

What makes the production on this song better?

Well I too reserved my judgement for this song because I didn't want you to think I'm shallow.

U Know is great and its production fits the other tracks released so far, a good omen given that many Prince albums have tracks that seem to belong on different joints, production wise. This is a subtle soundscape and like Clouds it has many nooks and cranies that fall into place after a couple of listening sessions -- at first they sound a bit disjointed, but with Prince, I've learned that "initally disjointed" means "grower", these songs are yours to discover.

[Edited 9/7/14 5:18am]

Aerogram said:

tintin said:

thedance said:

this evening I have got 2 emails from Warner:

1st. email: with download link to "U Know",

2nd: with a download link to "Whitecaps".

Yup. I emailed Warners to ask about the download links and a couple of hours later they both came through. I thought it was because I asked but I guess I would have got them anyway.

^ Good work, tintin.

Where exactly on Soundcloud do I find "U Know"...???

Last time I looked, all the songs on Prince's official account (whatever it is), those songs (Clouds & U Know) were removed....?

Or am I wrong... is "U Know" still officially on Soundcloud.... ?

Its' empty... now??

https://soundcloud.com/prince

thedance said:

Its' empty... now??

https://soundcloud.com/prince

Its been empty for me since day one as far as the page goes
I thought maybe my browser was acting up, but i can listen to other artist on Soundcloud

All the various site that posted the track used embeded code players
Its like they are hidden and can only be streamed via the embedded players?
It seems to be the only way to hear them, unless you bought the tracks
The players still work for me, But i already bought the tracks

thanks Fragile:


Ps I found the Soundcloud links are working

On this danish music site Soundvenue.com


http://soundvenue.com/mus...bum-111685


.

[Edited 9/7/14 6:07am]

tatocorcu said:

Aerogram said:

Well I too reserved my judgement for this song because I didn't want you to think I'm shallow.

U Know is great and its production fits the other tracks released so far, a good omen given that many Prince albums have tracks that seem to belong on different joints, production wise.

If you play U Know followed by Breakfast Can Wait (as they appear in the trackist) the transition from one song to the other is perfect (although I'm still hoping we'll get a new version of breakfast...)

Agreed. That's why I asked Violet why (s)he thought the production on U know was better than on the other tracks.

Prince: "No. I don't sample".
Yeah right, but thank you nonetheless for the dopest track you've done in a long time. I'm liking it more and more.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Identity said:

Prince: "No. I don't sample".
Yeah right, but thank you nonetheless for the dopest track you've done in a long time. I'm liking it more and more.

Me too. It doesn't rise to the level of his greatest music, but I think it's slightly less good as Gett Off. That's a HUGE improvement over almost every R&B styled track he's done since Gett Off. It's properly mixed. I'm looking forward to the album.

funksterr said:

Identity said:

Prince: "No. I don't sample".
Yeah right, but thank you nonetheless for the dopest track you've done in a long time. I'm liking it more and more.

Me too. It doesn't rise to the level of his greatest music, but I think it's slightly less good as Gett Off. That's a HUGE improvement over almost every R&B styled track he's done since Gett Off. It's properly mixed. I'm looking forward to the album.

I'm suprised by the positive reaction from people usually critical of his latets output. What is it about U Know that makes it better than say Breakfast Can Wait? Is it the sample that perhaps support the idea that Prince can't do anything worthwhile without the input from others? Do you think that it sounds less like a Prince track and therfore it must be better? What do think about Cloud?

[Edited 9/7/14 10:16am]

thedance said:

Where exactly on Soundcloud do I find "U Know"...???

Last time I looked, all the songs on Prince's official account (whatever it is), those songs (Clouds & U Know) were removed....?

Or am I wrong... is "U Know" still officially on Soundcloud.... ?

The very first post in this whole thread has a link to it which is sitll active.

Stymie said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I've reserved my opinion of the song because I wanted to really give it the chance to "grow on me". I've tried getting through the song 10 times now and the only thing that has grown is my distaste for it.

The obviously inserted over used sound byte of "Unh. Uh huh, uh huh" starts off making me cring.

Then comes this flat out crock of BS:

For the record, let me state
That I never had a reason to
Break contractually or sever
Relationship with anyone I pleasure

Which leads directly into this:

For the playa, let me stop and say-a
That I only paid attention when
When I heard you mention that
He tried to take your treasure

Oh no he didn’t

My very best efforts at trying to give this song the benefit of the doubt were no match to hearing Prince himself say, "Oh no he didn't."

By 49 seconds in, I've just been completely like:

And by the end of it:

****DISCLAIMER*****

This is just my honest expression of what I feel regarding Prince's new song "U Know". My stating this is in no way, meant to disparage what anyone else feels regarding it. So bless you! Do you! Bless me! Leave me be!

i agree with every word down to the number of times I listened to it.

Did you also hear at the 1:56 mark Prince tells us to AXE somebody else?

paulludvig said:

I'm suprised by the positive reaction from people usually critical of his latets output. What is it about U Know that makes it better than say Breakfast Can Wait? Is it the sample that perhaps support the idea that Prince can't do anything worthwhile without the input from others? Do you think that it sounds less like a Prince track and therfore it must be better? What do think about Cloud?

[Edited 9/7/14 10:16am]

Although I quite enjoyed "Breakfast Can Wait", it has more of a retro vibe and sounds like a retread of earlier Prince songs.

"Clouds" also has that retro vibe but it is mixed with more modern sounding elements, making it more interesting and entertaining to me.

"U Know" has even sharper modern production: the mix is fat, the beat sounds modern and it has lots of interesting little production things going on like the backwards samples when he sings about "rewind". Although I usually hate autotune I think Prince uses it to great effect in here, and his falsetto parts are killer: it sounds like "oldschool horny Prince" to me and not like "preachy old JW Prince".

"U Know" sounds less like a standard Prince tune because he didn't produce it, or at least not all of it. It sound like he opened a window to let in some fresh air. To me this song sounds like how a modern Prince RnB song should sound: fat electronic production with Prince laying down his trademark smooth and sexy vocals.

This is what I and some other fans in here have been asking for: work with some outside producer who can "dress up" the basic framework of a Prince song to modern standards. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion, it brings out more interesting sounds after Prince having done his own production for over 35 years.

[Edited 9/7/14 12:36pm]

EroticDreamer said:

paulludvig said:

funksterr said:

Me too. It doesn't rise to the level of his greatest music, but I think it's slightly less good as Gett Off. That's a HUGE improvement over almost every R&B styled track he's done since Gett Off. It's properly mixed. I'm looking forward to the album.

I'm suprised by the positive reaction from people usually critical of his latets output. What is it about U Know that makes it better than say Breakfast Can Wait? Is it the sample that perhaps support the idea that Prince can't do anything worthwhile without the input from others? Do you think that it sounds less like a Prince track and therfore it must be better? What do think about Cloud?

[Edited 9/7/14 10:16am]

I haven't listened to Cloud. I have intentionaly avoided most of the previews and leaks just because I've found, no matter who the artist is, I respond better to the music within the context of the album.

Breakfast Can Wait, was really good in places, just overall it was to cutesy for it's own good. I don't hate that one. It's just ok, but I'm still open to that song.

Smoother producion helps more than anything else. The vocals on U Know are particularly better mixed than anything Prince has done in a long while. That's important because Prince's tenor has more of a rock style or James Brown type grit, and he got away from rolling off that top edge of his voice that can kind of grate on the listener. Every instance of it in this song was treated and either buried in the ix or heavily eq'ed. He's using the autotune effect the same way he used delay and stompbox effects during the Purple Rain era, which is pleasing to the ear, once you get past the fact that he's sounding like 'today's music'.

Lyricaly, U Know is still a fairly cornball hot mess, but honestly Prince's lyrics were always a hot mess of random sometimes shocking or rude imagery. You'd hae to do some work to know what Prince is saying on this song which is robably a good thing. I'm into the groove of the song and the overall feel of it. I know it's not P's greatest work, but it's good enough that I don't want to skip over it. Would classic Purple Rain era styled music be better? Oh yeah, but since Prince can't seem to pull that off, then this is at least an improvement over what he was doing.

U Know has some great elements, like the melody of the chorus (and also the harmonies in the first chorus). Stuff like the delay effect at around 1:10, which is modified a bit to be a bit off key, sounds creatively inspired. That's the kind of stuff that I consider to be Top Form Prince.

The song has a LOT of elements that don't do anything for me, either positive or negative. Like the autotune, the rapping, the lyrics...

There are also a few elements that sound like someone very self consciously trying to inject "cool" into the mix, like the 'unh, uh uh' sample and the overuse of the "record slow-down" effect. There needs to be some more restraint when it comes to this stuff.

funkaholic1972 said:

paulludvig said:

I'm suprised by the positive reaction from people usually critical of his latets output. What is it about U Know that makes it better than say Breakfast Can Wait? Is it the sample that perhaps support the idea that Prince can't do anything worthwhile without the input from others? Do you think that it sounds less like a Prince track and therfore it must be better? What do think about Cloud?

[Edited 9/7/14 10:16am]

Although I quite enjoyed "Breakfast Can Wait", it has more of a retro vibe and sounds like a retread of earlier Prince songs.

"Clouds" also has that retro vibe but it is mixed with more modern sounding elements, making it more interesting and entertaining to me.

"U Know" has even sharper modern production: the mix is fat, the beat sounds modern and it has lots of interesting little production things going on like the backwards samples when he sings about "rewind". Although I usually hate autotune I think Prince uses it to great effect in here, and his falsetto parts are killer: it sounds like "oldschool horny Prince" to me and not like "preachy old JW Prince".

"U Know" sounds less like a standard Prince tune because he didn't produce it, or at least not all of it. It sound like he opened a window to let in some fresh air. To me this song sounds like how a modern Prince RnB song should sound: fat electronic production with Prince laying down his trademark smooth and sexy vocals.

This is what I and some other fans in here have been asking for: work with some outside producer who can "dress up" the basic framework of a Prince song to modern standards. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion, it brings out more interesting sounds after Prince having done his own production for over 35 years.

[Edited 9/7/14 12:36pm]

If you were under the impression that this was a (totally) Prince produced track, would you think differently of it? Would it change your perception? Do feel inclined to like the song because bringing in an outside producer is what you have been asking for, and you (like all of us) like to be proven right? I'm not trying to be rude. I'm just curious. I think it is interesting that people who are very critical of Prince single out a non Prince produced track for praise.

funksterr said:

paulludvig said:

I'm suprised by the positive reaction from people usually critical of his latets output. What is it about U Know that makes it better than say Breakfast Can Wait? Is it the sample that perhaps support the idea that Prince can't do anything worthwhile without the input from others? Do you think that it sounds less like a Prince track and therfore it must be better? What do think about Cloud?

[Edited 9/7/14 10:16am]

I haven't listened to Cloud. I have intentionaly avoided most of the previews and leaks just because I've found, no matter who the artist is, I respond better to the music within the context of the album.

Breakfast Can Wait, was really good in places, just overall it was to cutesy for it's own good. I don't hate that one. It's just ok, but I'm still open to that song.

Smoother producion helps more than anything else. The vocals on U Know are particularly better mixed than anything Prince has done in a long while. That's important because Prince's tenor has more of a rock style or James Brown type grit, and he got away from rolling off that top edge of his voice that can kind of grate on the listener. Every instance of it in this song was treated and either buried in the ix or heavily eq'ed. He's using the autotune effect the same way he used delay and stompbox effects during the Purple Rain era, which is pleasing to the ear, once you get past the fact that he's sounding like 'today's music'.

Lyricaly, U Know is still a fairly cornball hot mess, but honestly Prince's lyrics were always a hot mess of random sometimes shocking or rude imagery. You'd hae to do some work to know what Prince is saying on this song which is robably a good thing. I'm into the groove of the song and the overall feel of it. I know it's not P's greatest work, but it's good enough that I don't want to skip over it. Would classic Purple Rain era styled music be better? Oh yeah, but since Prince can't seem to pull that off, then this is at least an improvement over what he was doing.

I think I agree with this. His vocals have tended to sound a little flat on records. No reverb is my main complaint.

funkaholic1972 said:

paulludvig said:

funkaholic1972 said:

Although I quite enjoyed "Breakfast Can Wait", it has more of a retro vibe and sounds like a retread of earlier Prince songs.

"Clouds" also has that retro vibe but it is mixed with more modern sounding elements, making it more interesting and entertaining to me.

"U Know" has even sharper modern production: the mix is fat, the beat sounds modern and it has lots of interesting little production things going on like the backwards samples when he sings about "rewind". Although I usually hate autotune I think Prince uses it to great effect in here, and his falsetto parts are killer: it sounds like "oldschool horny Prince" to me and not like "preachy old JW Prince".

"U Know" sounds less like a standard Prince tune because he didn't produce it, or at least not all of it. It sound like he opened a window to let in some fresh air. To me this song sounds like how a modern Prince RnB song should sound: fat electronic production with Prince laying down his trademark smooth and sexy vocals.

This is what I and some other fans in here have been asking for: work with some outside producer who can "dress up" the basic framework of a Prince song to modern standards. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion, it brings out more interesting sounds after Prince having done his own production for over 35 years.

[Edited 9/7/14 12:36pm]

If you were under the impression that this was a (totally) Prince produced track, would you think differently of it? Would it change your perception? Do feel inclined to like the song because bringing in an outside producer is what you have been asking for, and you (like all of us) like to be proven right? I'm not trying to be rude. I'm just curious. I think it is interesting that people who are very critical of Prince single out a non Prince produced track for praise.

NO not at all, I would be very proud of him for stretching out and produce a track like "U Know". I am not a hater, I am a huge fan and admirer of Prince. I just feel he has been stuck in a rut for a long long time now, most likely by the lack of input from others/peers.

And another thing, what is up with Prince and autotune?

For someone that loves to talk about "real music by real musicians", shouldn't real singers that can really sing, SING? He is still a real singer, isn't he?

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

paulludvig said:

funkaholic1972 said:

Although I quite enjoyed "Breakfast Can Wait", it has more of a retro vibe and sounds like a retread of earlier Prince songs.

"Clouds" also has that retro vibe but it is mixed with more modern sounding elements, making it more interesting and entertaining to me.

"U Know" has even sharper modern production: the mix is fat, the beat sounds modern and it has lots of interesting little production things going on like the backwards samples when he sings about "rewind". Although I usually hate autotune I think Prince uses it to great effect in here, and his falsetto parts are killer: it sounds like "oldschool horny Prince" to me and not like "preachy old JW Prince".

"U Know" sounds less like a standard Prince tune because he didn't produce it, or at least not all of it. It sound like he opened a window to let in some fresh air. To me this song sounds like how a modern Prince RnB song should sound: fat electronic production with Prince laying down his trademark smooth and sexy vocals.

This is what I and some other fans in here have been asking for: work with some outside producer who can "dress up" the basic framework of a Prince song to modern standards. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion, it brings out more interesting sounds after Prince having done his own production for over 35 years.

[Edited 9/7/14 12:36pm]

If you were under the impression that this was a (totally) Prince produced track, would you think differently of it? Would it change your perception? Do feel inclined to like the song because bringing in an outside producer is what you have been asking for, and you (like all of us) like to be proven right? I'm not trying to be rude. I'm just curious. I think it is interesting that people who are very critical of Prince single out a non Prince produced track for praise.

I just assume all new Prince music is being produced by Josh. And I'm no Josh fan at all. I was probably the first to call BS on him, and accuse Prince of passing off Josh's input on his records as something Prince himself was responsible for. If Josh produced this then it's the first example I can point to of Josh and Prince getting more things right in a song than they got wrong. The more I think about it there is no way that they engineered this. Still it's a record with serious lyric issues and if Prince wasn't Mr Purple Rain, there is nothing in this song that would merit a release, imo. But hey I like it more than I dislike it.

tatocorcu said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

And another thing, what is up with Prince and autotune?

For someone that loves to talk about "real music by real musicians", shouldn't real singers that can really sing, SING? He is still a real singer, isn't he?

Come on, it's not like he uses it in every song...

I don't think I said he does but come on, he CAN sing. So I don't think he needs to use it at all but he has been using it to some degree for a while now, since LotusFlow3r. I'm just wondering why because to me, it doesn't enhance his vocals, it takes away from them.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

And another thing, what is up with Prince and autotune?

For someone that loves to talk about "real music by real musicians", shouldn't real singers that can really sing, SING? He is still a real singer, isn't he?

Maybe the fact that he does say these things, can definitely sing, etc. should alert you that he's doing it for a reason? He's the composer -- he can play drums but he uses drum machines too -- OMG? Does not compute?

HatrinaHaterwitz said: