You can preview both albums here:

AOA:

https://www.highresaudio.com/artist.php?abid=276308

Plectrum:

https://www.highresaudio.com/artist.php?abid=276349

1st feeling!

PE>>From the snippets> Prince & 3reyeGirls are rocking in this one...a lot of vocals from the Girls remind me W&Lisa!!

AOA>Very Mellow album with 2/3 complex/experimental trax ...HOMOGENIC Album....the 1st one since a long time nice one but not outstanding at all...very far away from his Purple Era standart!!

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...

That's kind of it! From the snippets I've heard, it sounds like Prince is trying to bring himself into the now while sneaking some of the old with him. Sounds organiz and fresh, and I'll predict right now that it'll be hailed and celebrated as one of the best in his brialliant career!

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...

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...

It really is growing on you, isn't it? First time you posted it was the best in five years, then since Musicology, and now since The Gold Experience... All I can say is that I am seriously jealous man!

Listening to the previews for both albums, I think I am going to enjoy the whole a lot more than the sum of their parts, especially Plectrumelectrum, which I had lost a bit of faith in, but the songs we didn't know sound good! Also, is it me or does Hannah sound like Alanis Morisette in some of the songs???

ThirdStrike said:

That's kind of it! From the snippets I've heard, it sounds like Prince is trying to bring himself into the now while sneaking some of the old with him. Sounds organiz and fresh, and I'll predict right now that it'll be hailed and celebrated as one of the best in his brialliant career!

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...

Organic and fresh indeed! This is a FRESH NEW SOUND of Prince. That's why I love it.

This album is his best album out of the 2000s for sure.

I suspect this will leak in the next day or two, Australia release date is 26th, Already pre-ordered cd & vinyl, is it still morally wrong to search it out?

[Edited 9/23/14 15:17pm]

Based on the 30 sec clips on both albums The Gold Standard stands out, kinda old school MPLS guitar licks etc & groove. Overall..i'm quite excited!

tatocorcu said:

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...

It really is growing on you, isn't it? First time you posted it was the best in five years, then since Musicology, and now since The Gold Experience... All I can say is that I am seriously jealous man!

Listening to the previews for both albums, I think I am going to enjoy the whole a lot more than the sum of their parts, especially Plectrumelectrum, which I had lost a bit of faith in, but the songs we didn't know sound good! Also, is it me or does Hannah sound like Alanis Morisette in some of the songs???

It really has. AOA is a Prince album only the fans that accept change and the time we're in we will like.

If the Prince fans who are still stuck in the past hoping it's another Purple Rain or Sign, they will be dissapointed. But they have to realize, everything evolves, especially with Prince's music. There is no generic one sound of Prince. AOA is a great album. Believe it or not it has a Black Album, Camille and Crystal Ball sound remixed for 2014. It's a very strong album.

Calling it now. TIME sounds awesome.

feeluupp said:

tatocorcu said:

It really is growing on you, isn't it? First time you posted it was the best in five years, then since Musicology, and now since The Gold Experience... All I can say is that I am seriously jealous man!

Listening to the previews for both albums, I think I am going to enjoy the whole a lot more than the sum of their parts, especially Plectrumelectrum, which I had lost a bit of faith in, but the songs we didn't know sound good! Also, is it me or does Hannah sound like Alanis Morisette in some of the songs???

It really has. AOA is a Prince album only the fans that accept change and the time we're in we will like.

If the Prince fans who are still stuck in the past hoping it's another Purple Rain or Sign, they will be dissapointed. But they have to realize, everything evolves, especially with Prince's music. There is no generic one sound of Prince. AOA is a great album. Believe it or not it has a Black Album, Camille and Crystal Ball sound remixed for 2014. It's a very strong album.

1999* + 2014 = A0A

*And other Studio Prince later standards.

feeluupp said:

Aerogram said:

feeluupp said:

It really has. AOA is a Prince album only the fans that accept change and the time we're in we will like.

If the Prince fans who are still stuck in the past hoping it's another Purple Rain or Sign, they will be dissapointed. But they have to realize, everything evolves, especially with Prince's music. There is no generic one sound of Prince. AOA is a great album. Believe it or not it has a Black Album, Camille and Crystal Ball sound remixed for 2014. It's a very strong album.

1999* + 2014 = A0A

*And other Studio Prince later standards.

Couldn't have said it better.

AOA is the 2014 version of 1999.

AOA will be one of the top Prince albums of his career...

OMG ANOTHERLOVE SOUNDS EPIC!

Also diggin STOPTHISTRAIN

seesm like the 2nd half of PE will be great.

pe Has too many "slow" tracks it seems

luvsexy4all said:

pe Has too many "slow" tracks it seems

PE is an average album in my opinion. Kind of reminds me of Graffiti Bridge. Having a couple stand out tracks ex: (We Can Funk, Thieves in the Temple, Joy N Reptition, Question of U... But the rest are just over excess average songs.

Not to say anything bad but 3rd Eye Girl won't last much longer, there's something missing, very bland.

Except for a couple strond stand out songs on the PE album, the rest are just meh...

feeluupp said:

thanks, but I won't listen to this preview,

That would spoil most of the fun listening to the cd 1 week from now.....

both albums are seemingly solid. i won't say anymore til i hear both in full.

im sure jester means well but im going to stop taking his word from his videos he hyped up the gold standard and weainturninaround and its terrible

thedance said:

thanks, but I won't listen to this preview,

That would spoil most of the fun listening to the cd 1 week from now.....

r u buying them on CD day of release? u'll have THAT joy if so

Aerogram said:

feeluupp said:

It really has. AOA is a Prince album only the fans that accept change and the time we're in we will like.

If the Prince fans who are still stuck in the past hoping it's another Purple Rain or Sign, they will be dissapointed. But they have to realize, everything evolves, especially with Prince's music. There is no generic one sound of Prince. AOA is a great album. Believe it or not it has a Black Album, Camille and Crystal Ball sound remixed for 2014. It's a very strong album.

1999* + 2014 = A0A

*And other Studio Prince later standards.

Agree! I'm really liking this!

AOA sounds so HORRIBLE that I won't buy it. The first prince album that I will not buy, but I really hate it with a passion.

PE sounds good to my ears, I'll definitely buy it on vinyl and CD.

[Edited 9/23/14 19:30pm]

Plectrum Electrum is a pretty solid album. It's not very heavy rock from the clips, having said that some songs seem to shift direction so it'll be cool to hear it all. It's not what I was hoping for. I really wanted something along the lines of the rehersal tracks from youtube. I'm still VERY keen to hear it in full.

Art Official Age This has taken me off guard. I really like the new sound. The concept seems to be a kind of purple yoda in spaaaaace thing. It's unclear but the narration by Lianne seems to poke fun at "Prince". As someone else said earlier. I think it's one of the most coherant sounding albums since TGE. WAY BACK HOME and Affirmation 3 sound like they could be epic. Wasn't massively keen on Gold Standard "crazyamazing" is a lame lyric. But at 5 minutes long it could be a grower.

[Edited 9/23/14 16:22pm]

i have both of the albums

i'm not as enthusiastic as feeeluupp is

ART OFFICIAL CAGE- one of the most stupidest tracks he has ever done. Definetly it has Joshua written all over it - it's cheesy eurodance (maybe you call it EDM in states), a genre i've hated all of my life

It has football horns (!!!), it turns operatic at the end for a moment, really outdated dance music sounds, some woman at the start hypes it up in a language i cant recognize (Danish?), laughable "come on, let's go, bring the people"-hook (bhhh...), Prince sings from a artificial phone, and guitar drives all over the place above that ridiculous beat.

And I'm not sure anymore it's a guest MC rapping at the last half, it might be Prince himself, manipul

it made me laugh at first, but it makes me really sad now... There's this guy I've loved all of my life, now he is old and tries to sound up to date, but some Joshua leads him to... oh well...

THE GOLD STANDARD - at first two listen it had a Black Album feel, not anymore... Guitar lick reminds the one from U Got The Look extended versions beginning. Well, there's many many 80s tracks it reminds, cuz it has so many different elements which turn up just for once... Slowed down voice sings "New power!", and here's that MC again who might be Prince. Maybe like "Purple Medley" but all the citations are musical and cleverly hidden.

THIS COULD BE US - in falsetto, as you've already heard i believe. Standard ballad i really dont care about, i lazily compare it to "The Sun, The Moon and The Stars".

And if I hear right, there's a line - "sex with me aint enough, that's why we have to do it better physically"... hahahaa

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE- duet, (with Andy Allo, right?). Mid-tempo R'n'B, unimaginative chorus, best part is the womans voice - she sounds a bit sad

AFFIRMATION I & II - new age synths, and i guess Leanne Levas speaking something on it - "Before you have any interaction with members of the opposite sex, we goint to have to... " (Is he leaving JW now? For new age? I'd surely like that).. It segues to "Way Back Home"

WAY BACK HOME - Joshua sounds through, yep. It seems like a epic stadium track (like "Gold" for example), but its arranged produced as a tiny pop track which won't fly anywhere. Drums are like some kind of march, but not really military. (Greatly arranged female back vox, maybe like FKA twigs)

TIME - duet again. or maybe there's more than one woman singing on it, can't say. Prince sings through phone-box again. Hypnotic and (new age-)prayer-like. Think "Love Song" with a mellow groove; i like the background synths (I can hear ghosts of "Girl" and "God" in them). And it citates the other album tracks at the second half

Can't compare AOA to last ten years output, i just can't rank those albums. And this doesnt seem to stand out.

Some really nice elements, nice tracks - but i wanna be euphoric like I used to be

Dilan said:

im sure jester means well but im going to stop taking his word from his videos he hyped up the gold standard and weainturninaround and its terrible

i DON'T LISTEN 2 NOTHING JESTER SAYS...

PE:
Really let down by this.....what a potential this album had. It could of been some spacey, musically out there, creative statement with that feminine power i also want to see more of....but instead it sounds like Highschool cheerleaders chanting a cheesy chant on every song. Only FNR, WOW and Tictactoe have me slightly intrigued.

AOA:
Hmm....What a pleasent surprise after being distraught after hearing the attrocious U Know and FNR Remix. Art Official Cage sounds like it could also be potentially bad, but it needs a full listen before i can write it off.
The Gold Standard....YES!! A thousand times, YES!!! Great sounding stuff!
This Could Be Us sounds like a nice little ballad, nothing more.
Way Back Home.....hmm.....needs a full listen.
What It Feels Like is his most convincing take on futuristic RnB yet.
Time sounds really nice. I just hope he is on vox a lot more than in the snippet. Don't like that voice effect he's using, the Phone effect thing.
Affirmation III sounds like the quirky Prince i always wanted back.

Overall i am slightly hyped again, but only a bit as i am let down by PE sounding mediocre, the fact Josh Welton is making Prince look corny, desperate and not give us a mature artistic statement....and the fact i have heard most tracks from AOA.....it looks like i have paid £26 for POTENTIALLY 7 tracks........

[Edited 9/23/14 17:21pm]

[Edited 9/23/14 17:23pm]

booklet says ANOTHERLOVE is adapted from original song by alice smith, rebecca jordan, reginald "syience" perry

BOYTROUBLE features Lizzo and Sophia Eris.
Strangely this song hasnt it lyrics printed on booklet

It could be Madhouse track, if the chorus would be played by sax or synth instead those girls.
And yeah, they rap exotically on it.