I will buy both albums in ca. 1 hour.

One question: is AOA suffering from autotune abuse?

I think, autotune is the worst development in contemporary pop music.

It ruined " 3121s Incense and Candles" for me.

It's been a long time since a Prince album has taken it's listeners on a journey. It's hard to really pick anything apart on the album and say that I like one track better than the other because it's such a complete and cohesive package. This album stirs the imagination, and the listener can't help but to try and visualize the story that Prince is trying to tell and where it takes place. I want to see more of this Art Official World. It would be great if there was a long-form video to coincide with the album. I can just picture it: live performances, bright colors, futuristic worlds, and even some animation.

DaisyHall said:

TrevorAyer said:

None of them have what a beyonce or miley or kanye tune have that will get them over with the masses .. maybe a big debut on the charts but this guy doesn't here a single.

LMAO

Oh and the only thing that will be hitting the garbage can is your post ... 0/5

V10LETBLUES said:

novabrkr said:

Song starts

SWOOOOOSH

Prince sings something over a beat

SWOOOOOSH

Yeah, man. Prince really upped his game on this albu....

SWOOOOOSH

oh, shit here it comes again

SWOOOOOSH

The production on many of the songs is pure comedy.

I have to agree, the production is amateurish. I can't wait to read mainstream reviews, I can't be the only one that hears this. [Edited 9/26/14 7:12am]

There are already several mainstream reviews? I don't think any have commented on the production. Only a few people on the Org. But when pressed for info regarding why they think it sounds amateurish they find it hard to articulate what they mean.

Giovanni777 said:

BobGeorge909 said:

KingSausage said: Agree. Even the songs I'm not all 'bout it 'bout it with, like breakdown...I can still work with and not hit skip. All the songs have redeemable qualities, or purposes...like u, that hasn't happened for me in a while. [Edited 9/25/14 17:36pm]

.

I can dig that, but I think the only song on 'MPLsound' that I skipped was the first track... 'Never B Another Like Me'. On 'Lotusflow3r', I didn't skip any songs. On 'Planet Earth', I HAD to skip 'Mr. Goodnight'. On this album, I skip over 'Breakfast Can Wait'.

.

[Edited 9/25/14 17:39pm]

I skip Breakfast and The Breakdown, but I like both of them okay. I don't think it's a coincidence that I'd already heard them. Once my excitement of a new album wears down, they'll settle in, I hope, and I'll just listen straight through

Pretty surprised at how U Know is stuck in my head.

DaisyHall said:

It's been a long time since a Prince album has taken it's listeners on a journey. It's hard to really pick anything apart on the album and say that I like one track better than the other because it's such a complete and cohesive package. This album stirs the imagination, and the listener can't help but to try and visualize the story that Prince is trying to tell and where it takes place. I want to see more of this Art Official World. It would be great if there was a long-form video to coincide with the album. I can just picture it: live performances, bright colors, futuristic worlds, and even some animation.

Art Official Age - The Movie

[Edited 9/26/14 9:45am]

SquirrelMeat said:

Solid, but I think it will drop down peoples lists as the years go by. Standout for me is Affirmation III, followed by Way Back Home and This Could Be Us.

I imagine this is true. This is not 1999, but I do enjoy it so far.

It's not far from his recent work except for the fact that there seems to be a lot more attention to detail. It's as if he read the criticism and responded by being just a bit cooler and focusing on lyrics a bit more. Is it possible he listened to someone's opinions and actually...gasp...edited the songs?

For the first time in a while, this doesn't come across as a near miss, but it seems like a genuine Prince album, which means it's up there with classics--just not at the top of that list

F I V E S T A R R E V I E W

Link

[Edited 9/26/14 10:23am]

ARock said:

F I V E S T A R R E V I E W

Link

[Edited 9/26/14 10:23am]

In all, ART OFFICIAL AGE delivers on all fronts. We just can’t give this album any less than 5 out of 5 afros and not because it’s a funk classic bringing to the altar a wealth of funk music offerings, but because anything less would be a travesty for this fantastic album.

ART OFFICIAL AGE gets our illustrious 5 star afro award.

Another GREAT review:

http://www.amusementarcade.org/2014/09/26/review-prince-art-official-age/

I have AOA on constant repeat and my esteem for it just grows and grows with each play. After a dozen listens the songs are still opening up and revealing themselves, increasing my love for the album as a whole every time through. To me, this is the best, most complete album Prince has created since his run of 80s masterpieces.

OperatingThetan said:

Another GREAT review:

http://www.amusementarcade.org/2014/09/26/review-prince-art-official-age/

'Sure, it’s his greatest album since Lovesexy. But ART OFFICIAL AGE isn’t a comeback. Prince never left. This is Prince searching for a comeback of his own. Something personal that he’s letting us peek into. This album is about something inside him. It’s fascinating, beautiful and emotional. I hope he finds his way back home.

We’re all trying to find our way back home, right?'

Where do you live if I may ask?

udo said:

Just (!) received my pre-sale copies...

OperatingThetan said:

I'm enjoying the album much more than I thought I was giong to, but I'll wait for it to properly sink in before deciding where it fits in Prince's all time league.

Decent review her from the UK's Telegraph newspaper ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/cdreviews/11124601/Prince-Art-Official-Age-review.html

OperatingThetan said:

OperatingThetan said:

Another GREAT review:

http://www.amusementarcade.org/2014/09/26/review-prince-art-official-age/

'Sure, it’s his greatest album since Lovesexy. But ART OFFICIAL AGE isn’t a comeback. Prince never left. This is Prince searching for a comeback of his own. Something personal that he’s letting us peek into. This album is about something inside him. It’s fascinating, beautiful and emotional. I hope he finds his way back home.

We’re all trying to find our way back home, right?'

Great points. When looking back over his last few albums and their inconsistent quality (for lack of better word) I've often wondered if he's really trying, or was he searching for inspiration again. AOA sounds like inspired Prince to me. And what a treat to have this (and PE) the same year we're getting the Purple Rain remaster+. 2014 is turning out to be the best year to be a Prince fan in a long, long time. Thank you, Mr. Nelson.

By the way, it is a must to listen to AOA with headphones. Wowzers. Personally I'm using the best pair of $35 ones I've found (JVC).

[Edited 9/26/14 12:31pm]

Really fun and cool album, most cehesive he's had in 10-15 years.

Way Back Home wins the album, and his best track since The Gold Experience days.

This Could Be Us, Funknroll, Clouds, U Know, Breakdown/Breakfas Can Wait, Affirmation III are all really solid for him lyriclly and musically for having some rough patches for a few long years.

I'd trim down some of the girl vocals on this LP.

Overall, I'd say it's a B+.

Plectrum Electrum on the other hand is a C and could be tighter without the repetitive chorus', Hannah's vocal leads, etc.

myloveis4ever said:

I told u guys.. best Album since 3121And next week it´s gonna be numero 1 at the Charts.. !

Then the video for Funkandroll.

DreZone said:

If anyone knows about album continuity it is definitely the Princely one...
Even "U Know" which I was vehemently apprehensive about has grown on me and the fact that he takes virtually no breaks here, nails the journey point home!

'dre

I had plans for this weekend, but now they are not happening.

I'm going into the studio and I'm remixing all of the songs that I like from these 2 projects.

Most of these songs are way to short for my liking.

On AOA, a like of these songs need some of the nasty Prince lead guitar as well..................looking forward 2 this labor of Purple Love.

stesa said:

My little review of AOA...

First of all, like I wrote somewhere in the PLEC forum, being a rock fan, I was looking forward to PLEC most, and I was expecting PLEC to be the kind of album that can quench my thirst for rock Prince... much like LotusFlower, TRC and, yes, Planet Earth. And it surely delivers. I think PLEC will grow to become one of my favourite albums in the vein of his more recent rock output. I'm keeping these close to the chest, that's for sure.

That being said - and on to AOA ... Wow, this is the album I would never have expected Prince would (be able to) make again. AOA, to me, is truly the way forward, a new Prince, which promises to be the beginning of a new chapter in his career. Even if in some years from now, it only appeared to have been a one-shot... But I'm an optimist. I am so greatful towards Prince, WB and the youth for giving us, the fans, a concisive, scrupulously produced, fun, thematically focused album and a true return to form of someone I feel we parted with in the beginning of the 90s. At the same time, this Prince is trully 21st C.

I have been listening to it a couple of times - yeah, indeed, it's readily available in Belgian shops (or at least FNAC in Antwerp), and like many other people have said, it is even better when you listen to it from start to finish. All of a sudden, the laser beams in BREAKDOWN make sense, and a song I didn't particularly like one year ago, BREAKFAST CAN WAIT, fits like a glove.

my little Breakdown ...

ART OFFICIAL CAGE - indeed, maybe the least decent song, but, like others have said, could be considered as a long intro. It is really not that bad. It's fun, has many changes, it becomes great towards the end (with a rhythm that is almost like dubstep), accompanied by a roaring guitar. Prince is having fun here, kind of like I No. It also makes me think of Hot Chip's Out At The Pictures, a song which makes you think 'crazy mFs, what is this...' Certainly not the fart some people make of it.

COULDS - I've loved this song from day one. It like to compare it with DMSR, catchy chorus, a nice rhythm section, guitar licks, and the spoken part is so sexy and intriguing ... The song is nicely spun out; the spoken part actually is the first part of Affirmation.

BREAKDOWN - Like I said, all of a sudden, the lasers make sense, cause it fits within the concept of the album. Stomper of a ballad, the best on the collection. I used to have had enough of them, but sometimes they draw my attention, like e.g. Future Soul Song. This is more in the vein of Empty Room, and not related to Call My Name, thank god!

THE GOLD STANDARD - WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW! This is fun production (the voice loop in the beginning), fonky as hell, a stomping beat, and, as I read elsewhere, very reminiscent of The Black ALbum. This track is just so focused, groovy, fun, with guitar licks, horns, a Cindy C-esque beat, crazy voices. It has everything!

U KNOW - just a great song, production-wise. Fits the album perfectly. Quite repetitive, but so hypnothizing. And the combination of the sampled loop with the Linn Drum programming makes for such a stomping trip. Just love it.

BREAKFAST CAN WAIT - I didn't really like it, esp. compared to other tracks that were surfacing one year ago (De Bourgeoisie, Groovy Potential), but ok, it is a nice enough piece to bring some contemporary r&b in the mix. Nice bass line.

THIS COULD BE US - Someone wrote - and I concur - that the song doesn't really have a lot of variation, and initially this was one of the least favourite new songs on the album. But now, as I'm listening to the album from start to finish, I'm kind of surprised that it is growing on me. There is a nice guitar 'solo' near the end. The instrumentation is very 90-ish. Would have fitted on D&P. Nice melody, but not that many variations.

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE - This is a grower, but come on, it's a great song. The synths harken back to mid 80s outtakes, the groove is spun out, strangely intriguing, and Andy Allo's participation is fantastic. I've just started loving this lady's talent, thanks to the two tracks that she sings on. Along with TIME, this song is like an update of vintage Prince, especially the synths, the slow groove, the details.

WAY BACK HOME - Second Wow-moment! This track is just something I didn't know Prince had in him, it really brings me on the brink of tears. Such great production, such emotional, personal lyrics. The loop is haunting, the female vocals are heartbreaking, his voice is so in-your-face. LOOOOVEE it till the day I retire from listening to music

FUNKNROLL - Guess what, I'm actually starting to prefer this version over the original one on PLEC. Like I said in the introduction, the PLEC version is what I had expected, and I sure like it enough, but we already know that kind of stuff from Prince. This is a nice take on the song in the first part, but what really makes it worth is the final minute, when the beat picks up, the chorus is repeated accompanied by a roaring guitar. Just what the album needed at this stage. It persuades me into thinking that quite some time went into putting together the pieces to form a nice, concisive album and a nice concept. After FUNKNROLL, WAY BACK HOME is a distant memory, but it will come back, and harder than you can imagine, in Affirmation III.

TIME - Compared to Forever in My Life by fellow orgers. After a couple of listens, I agree. The way Prince and Andy Allo play this out together is perfect. the chorus is catchy, intriguing, and romantic. Somewhere halfway a bass starts forcing its way to the front, resulting in a relaxed bass solo. Again, Forever In My Life is not far away. Just when you think you are completely won over, Prince wraps up the telephone call abruptly, and then we get the groove again with a horns section. Fade out. Wow again.

Affirmation III - I love WAY BACK HOME so much, that I would think, picking up the same theme, with the same haunting loop and Andy's sexy, breaking voice, and added to that some strings and piano and that same British spoken voice, would be too sadistical and a definite KO on the part of the listener, that Prince and the bastards involved wouldn't dare to use that as an outro. But as we know, we don't have to expect any sympathy from creative artists in great shape, so this is what they did. So there you go. It is such a knock-out, that after it ends, the silence that drops is so silent that I feel like a very sad film has ended, the lights go back on, people are scrambling to get up from their sits, and there is a shared return to reality.

Yes, people, I think it's THAT good.

NB: After listening AOA, you can put on PLEC, and on the first notes of WOW you realize you're into a second treat of a Third Kind.

PS: I had the CDs pre-ordered as well, haven't received them yet, but they will go to a dear friend of mine, as a belated birthday present.

Your description of AOA just gave me the chills. I AM LOVING THIS ALBUM!!!!!!!!!!

Listening to AOA over and over you start to appreciate the detail and technical production aspects of each record. The vocals alone are layered with such depth throughout the record even the female vocal is superb. There are vocal tones that are reversed on some tracks and he even has vocals so low in the mix you may not hear it at first listen especially on tracks like Gold Standard and AOC and Way Back Home. There is a harmony when Prince says "I'm happiest when I can see" that you could almost miss because it's not panned but centered and low in the mix that is amazing. The edit screens on some these records must look like the best tutorials for protools anyone could ever study. I saw a couple comments about how this record was amateurish so being an engineer I decided to take a critical listen and I have to say that nothing is amateurish IMO. Perhaps there are some geniuses here that can accomplish some of the elements in these records in their sleep without much effort and that's cool. When you work with a musician like Prince you should give him a straightforward mix to record with because his playing is so clean and on time that you don't need to "spice" the parts up at all. If 808's and claps constitute amateurish sounds then that is your opinion. It's one thing to use 808's properly and another to just have them bumping loud in the mix for no purpose at all. The backbeat in Way Back Home is done to perfection, tap delayed, and swelled in specific spots for effect and its made up of multiple 808's and kicks, including what sounds like a live kick drum. The synths used for the bass lines are heavily doctored and definitely not the factory plug ins. They are definitely mixed with some analog because they have a warmth and bite quality that isn't easy to attain. I think that because we've heard some of the elements used on this record on popular radio, the listener starts believing that the creation of songs with these elements are child play. I could go into more details and chart each song elements bar for bar but that may come later because I am fascinated with this record but I just wanted to give my two cents.

Polo1026 said:

Listening to AOA over and over you start to appreciate the detail and technical production aspects of each record. The vocals alone are layered with such depth throughout the record even the female vocal is superb. There are vocal tones that are reversed on some tracks and he even has vocals so low in the mix you may not hear it at first listen especially on tracks like Gold Standard and AOC and Way Back Home. There is a harmony when Prince says "I'm happiest when I can see" that you could almost miss because it's not panned but centered and low in the mix that is amazing. The edit screens on some these records must look like the best tutorials for protools anyone could ever study. I saw a couple comments about how this record was amateurish so being an engineer I decided to take a critical listen and I have to say that nothing is amateurish IMO. Perhaps there are some geniuses here that can accomplish some of the elements in these records in their sleep without much effort and that's cool. When you work with a musician like Prince you should give him a straightforward mix to record with because his playing is so clean and on time that you don't need to "spice" the parts up at all. If 808's and claps constitute amateurish sounds then that is your opinion. It's one thing to use 808's properly and another to just have them bumping loud in the mix for no purpose at all. The backbeat in Way Back Home is done to perfection, tap delayed, and swelled in specific spots for effect and its made up of multiple 808's and kicks, including what sounds like a live kick drum. The synths used for the bass lines are heavily doctored and definitely not the factory plug ins. They are definitely mixed with some analog because they have a warmth and bite quality that isn't easy to attain. I think that because we've heard some of the elements used on this record on popular radio, the listener starts believing that the creation of songs with these elements are child play. I could go into more details and chart each song elements bar for bar but that may come later because I am fascinated with this record but I just wanted to give my two cents.