AOA is his best album since... well...

In my opinion in the last 14 years.

It's better than:

The Rainbow Children

NEWS

MUSICOLOGY

3121

PLANET EARTH

PURPLE LOTUS/MPLS SOUND

20TEN

Dare I say it's his best since The Gold Experience...

Apparently in Australia, this album gets its release this Friday 26th September so Ill be sure to provide my views on both albums on Friday when I have had a full listen to both.

While it is a bit hard to review albums based on 30 second snippets, I have to say that both albums definitely have some really solid tracks by the sounds of it, however for me, PlectrumElectrum seems more cohesive perhaps. A couple of standout tracks would be The Gold Standard on AOA which sounds like a good dose of the old school funky Prince we all know and love.

On PlectrumElectrum, AnotherLove struck me instantly as possibly one of the best tracks Prince has ever done, but there are other high points on both albums. The Breakdown FunkNRoll are both very interesting tracks, The Breakdown being very much a soaring soul ballad which Prince excels at, and FunkNRoll is catchy and funky. The AOA version is more of an electronic R&B affair, and the PlectrumElectrum version is quite similar to the version he performed live on The Arsenio Hall Show.

Based on the snippets I have heard, both albums show a return to form by Prince, and he actually sounds like he is interested in making music again. While many will disagree with me, Ive long considered 20Ten to be a real low point in the recorded catalogue of Prince, and I did worry if Prince had finally burnt out. These two new albums have restored my faith that Prince still has plenty to offer the music world. If Prince can stick to the idea of "quality over quantity" Im sure he can continue to have a long standing impact in the music world, particularly now where the music world is awash with barely talented and bland acts. There is a hunger out there for real music by real musicians, and this is defintely a market that Prince can continue to tap into if he plays his cards right.

Time would have been better with Sheena Easton.

September 30th!

Interesting. Both albums have the potential to wipe away my more than a decade long sceptisism. I hope Im not setting myself up for another fall in a long line of falls.

popgodazipa said:

Prince is unreal...dude is a bonafide genius. To be at it this long and still be able to produce suprising new sounds, new flow...geez!

.

What "new" about following trends that are years old?

.

Have you ever listened to Chvrches? Damon Albarn? FKA Twigs? Godspeed You Black Emperor? Kate Tempest? Mogwai? Royal Blood? Shabazz Palaces? Sun Kil Moon? The War On Drugs? tUnE-yArDs?

BartVanHemelen said:

popgodazipa said:

Prince is unreal...dude is a bonafide genius. To be at it this long and still be able to produce suprising new sounds, new flow...geez!

.

What "new" about following trends that are years old?

.

Have you ever listened to Chvrches? Damon Albarn? FKA Twigs? Godspeed You Black Emperor? Kate Tempest? Mogwai? Royal Blood? Shabazz Palaces? Sun Kil Moon? The War On Drugs? tUnE-yArDs?

No. Yes No. No. No. Brightlight! No. No. No. No. No.

[Edited 9/24/14 3:24am]

Rebeljuice said:

Interesting. Both albums have the potential to wipe away my more than a decade long sceptisism. I hope Im not setting myself up for another fall in a long line of falls.

I'm getting excited now, not going to listen to the snippets, so much of this album will be fresh to me.

Hard to tell from the snippets, but my initial impression is that he really should have just combined the best tracks from both record and put out a single record (perhaps with some production tweaks on some songs to make them fit).

Both records are a lot slower than what the general direction of the music was supposed to be according to the press tidbits. AOA also seems to be cobbled together from some of the more recent sessions and I don't get the vibe that it's really the "cohesive statement" Prince claimed it to be (there's even an outtake from the sessions that produced the Andy Allo album on it - I expected at least a new version).

[Edited 9/24/14 2:54am]

BartVanHemelen said:

popgodazipa said:

Prince is unreal...dude is a bonafide genius. To be at it this long and still be able to produce suprising new sounds, new flow...geez!

.

What "new" about following trends that are years old?

.

Have you ever listened to Chvrches? Damon Albarn? FKA Twigs? Godspeed You Black Emperor? Kate Tempest? Mogwai? Royal Blood? Shabazz Palaces? Sun Kil Moon? The War On Drugs? tUnE-yArDs?

Perhaps the person means new for him, and credibly? But thank you for your patented pedantic response.l

I've listened to Mogwai in the 1990s.

novabrkr said:

Hard to tell from the snippets, but my initial impression is that he really should have just combined the best tracks from both record and put out a single record (perhaps with some production tweaks on some songs to make them fit).

The thing with that is that Prince's idea of best would not be the same as yours or mine. I'd much rather have both discs and be able to pick my favourites than have Prince decide what is best. For starters, he's included Breakfast Can Wait which I feel is one of his worst from the last 2 years.

We only have to look at any of the best single disc Emancipation threads to see that nobody agrees on the 12 best songs from that set to know that it's always better to have more to choose from.

feeluupp said:

AOA is his best album since... well...

In my opinion in the last 14 years.

It's better than:

The Rainbow Children

NEWS

MUSICOLOGY

3121

PLANET EARTH

PURPLE LOTUS/MPLS SOUND

20TEN

Dare I say it's his best since The Gold Experience...

How could an album containing some shits like FUNKNROLL, BREAKFAST... and BREAKDOWN, be better than RAINBOW CHILDREN, which is a very well written, composed, produced and thought album ? That's fucking non sense.

[Edited 9/24/14 3:42am]

TheEnglishGent said:

novabrkr said:

Hard to tell from the snippets, but my initial impression is that he really should have just combined the best tracks from both record and put out a single record (perhaps with some production tweaks on some songs to make them fit).

The thing with that is that Prince's idea of best would not be the same as yours or mine. I'd much rather have both discs and be able to pick my favourites than have Prince decide what is best. For starters, he's included Breakfast Can Wait which I feel is one of his worst from the last 2 years.

We only have to look at any of the best single disc Emancipation threads to see that nobody agrees on the 12 best songs from that set to know that it's always better to have more to choose from.

Well, that just requires the skill to be able to pick up the songs that make the album seem cohesive and satisfying enough for the listener (or "most listeners"). It's hardly like he didn't do that successfully in the past. That's what most artists are required to do anyway as they're not big enough names to be able to put out two records at the same time.

Emancipation is a good example of the phenomenon you're describing, of course. But then again, when I've read those "12 song edition of Emancipation" threads it's hard not to get the impression that most orgers who post theirs just post the tracks they've liked the most and aren't able to think of the overall flow of the proposed single disc release at all.

I don't really like BCW that much myself either, but I can see why it (probably) makes the AOA release, as such, a stronger compilation of tracks.

feeluupp said:

Ive listened to the whole album of AOA the full verisions... Like I stated before, in my opinion AOA is his best album in years. To be honest I believe AOA is his best album since The Gold Experience.

It is not purple rain, shouldn't be compared to Sign o the times, or anything else. it is AOA. New sound, new funk, new Prince.

Prince being Prince in today's time, is even more exciting for me...

Agreed.

Great review, thank you. Tells me all I need to know. Salivating now...

Well. I have to admit that, listening the snippets, the two albums seem a lot lot lot better than I expected.

novabrkr said:

TheEnglishGent said:

The thing with that is that Prince's idea of best would not be the same as yours or mine. I'd much rather have both discs and be able to pick my favourites than have Prince decide what is best. For starters, he's included Breakfast Can Wait which I feel is one of his worst from the last 2 years.

We only have to look at any of the best single disc Emancipation threads to see that nobody agrees on the 12 best songs from that set to know that it's always better to have more to choose from.

Well, that just requires the skill to be able to pick up the songs that make the album seem cohesive and satisfying enough for the listener (or "most listeners"). It's hardly like he didn't do that successfully in the past. That's what most artists are required to do anyway as they're not big enough names to be able to put out two records at the same time.

Emancipation is a good example of the phenomenon you're describing, of course. But then again, when I've read those "12 song edition of Emancipation" threads it's hard not to get the impression that most orgers who post theirs just post the tracks they've liked the most and aren't able to think of the overall flow of the proposed single disc release at all.

I don't really like BCW that much myself either, but I can see why it (probably) makes the AOA release, as such, a stronger compilation of tracks.

Emancipation is a polished plastic turd so you can pick any songs from it and put them together to give the same overall cohesive listen.... Even if it still sounds like a polished turd. But when you got two very sonically different sounding albums, it is much harder to get an album feel when combining songs from the two. The songs on PE and AOA should stay well apart unless you want to make an 'album' that sounds all over the place....

Oh, wait... Prince has been doing that for years!

My bad. Now back to the regular programming.

Rebeljuice said:

novabrkr said:

Well, that just requires the skill to be able to pick up the songs that make the album seem cohesive and satisfying enough for the listener (or "most listeners"). It's hardly like he didn't do that successfully in the past. That's what most artists are required to do anyway as they're not big enough names to be able to put out two records at the same time.

Emancipation is a good example of the phenomenon you're describing, of course. But then again, when I've read those "12 song edition of Emancipation" threads it's hard not to get the impression that most orgers who post theirs just post the tracks they've liked the most and aren't able to think of the overall flow of the proposed single disc release at all.

I don't really like BCW that much myself either, but I can see why it (probably) makes the AOA release, as such, a stronger compilation of tracks.

Emancipation is a polished plastic turd so you can pick any songs from it and put them together to give the same overall cohesive listen.... Even if it still sounds like a polished turd. But when you got two very sonically different sounding albums, it is much harder to get an album feel when combining songs from the two. The songs on PE and AOA should stay well apart unless you want to make an 'album' that sounds all over the place....

Oh, wait... Prince has been doing that for years!

My bad. Now back to the regular programming.

I'm sorry, while your point on these new releases is of course worth noting, your sweeping generalization on the Emancipation album should not be taken seriously at all.

[Edited 9/24/14 4:33am]

BartVanHemelen said:

popgodazipa said:

Prince is unreal...dude is a bonafide genius. To be at it this long and still be able to produce suprising new sounds, new flow...geez!

.

What "new" about following trends that are years old?

.

Have you ever listened to Chvrches? Damon Albarn? FKA Twigs? Godspeed You Black Emperor? Kate Tempest? Mogwai? Royal Blood? Shabazz Palaces? Sun Kil Moon? The War On Drugs? tUnE-yArDs?

you were going well until you mentioned Royal Blood - good band BUT sound like a Led Zepp/ Jack White tribute act! Also, we need to remember how long P is into his career. Like you I dislike a LOT of his recent output but must give him due respect for still being around & keeping his career going.

Looking forward to release date friday, 26th in germany.

But I don't expect much, because the few tracks previewed via amazon.de are - imho - sub-standard.

I am pleased with what i have heard from AOA. THe snippets sounds good to. I have noticed that 'the gold standard' has 'lady cab drivers' drum beat on it.

I love the sound of Art offical cage - it sounds funky as hell. and 'gold standard' sounds great too.

I love the chorus of 'what it feels like'

this may be an album of his (lately) im not 'embarrassed' to play.

Whoa!! AOA sounds very strong and the most cohesive and consistent album in years!!! It is almost as if the 'weaker' tracks sounds better between the better ones than alone, as if they were 'lifted/raised' rather then falling through. I am very chuffed about this and will attempt not to play the snippets before the release...

PE is also very solid and there are some really great songs; Wow and Anotherlove are both classics in the making.

Only a week to go, stoked as I am I hope I don't burst and explode of expectations and anticipation before the big day. The kids to bed, the wifey can watch her girl-stuff and I will get out my headphones and a glass of wine and just listen...

Can anyone offer simple steps for making an online download purchase based in Germany while residing in the U.S.? PM me.

jhon00 said:

Where do you go to hear these samples?

Now im playing Bart: Is is too hard for you to read this thread? I give you a clue: The answer to your question is in the initial post.

jhon00 said:

Where do you go to hear these samples?

The original poster posted a couple of links at the start of this topic

Aerogram said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

What "new" about following trends that are years old?

.

Have you ever listened to Chvrches? Damon Albarn? FKA Twigs? Godspeed You Black Emperor? Kate Tempest? Mogwai? Royal Blood? Shabazz Palaces? Sun Kil Moon? The War On Drugs? tUnE-yArDs?

Perhaps the person means new for him, and credibly?

.

That IS the point. Here's someone who probably hasn't listened to any new music in years, praising Prince's "exciting new music". When said "new music" is basically a pale imitation of years old trends. By your reasoning we should not object to someone claiming that Prince invented funk, just because that person has never heard of Sly or James Brown or George Clinton.

.

It's not about being pedantic, it's about opening your ears and exposing them to something beyond a steady diet of Prince and pop radio. Hell, judging from the reactions to AOA I'm wondering if people have heard Kanye's Yeezus, which isn't exactly an obscure record.

TheEnglishGent said:

We only have to look at any of the best single disc Emancipation threads to see that nobody agrees on the 12 best songs from that set to know that it's always better to have more to choose from.

.

That's because Emancipation is a big pile of rubbish. People are simply debating which tracks are slightly less shit than the others.

BartVanHemelen said:

TheEnglishGent said:

We only have to look at any of the best single disc Emancipation threads to see that nobody agrees on the 12 best songs from that set to know that it's always better to have more to choose from.

.

That's because Emancipation is a big pile of rubbish. People are simply debating which tracks are slightly less shit than the others.

In your ever so humble opinion of course.