BobGeorge909 said:

Graycap23 said:

My fav track by Prince in YEARS.

Very good. The lyrics finally sunk in while in the process of typing them out. Not seeing how one could shit on them.

I wonder if people will tap into what Prince is really talking about on this track.

2020 said:

AOA is light years from lackluster Rave and uneven 3121 AOA is a classic Prince album and will go down as one of his very best [Edited 9/27/14 7:37am]

It's DEFINITELY better than Rave - it's not trying so hard to be a collection of pop hits. But I'm not sure it's better than 3121 - I think the low points on AOA (the title track, the lasers, the second half of FnR, the poor mastering) may keep it a notch lower. But its highs are also higher.

Aerogram said:

eelco said:

I think Bart has finally realised that his trolling isn't up to the standard it used to be for the last fifteen years and is now doing some evaluation on whether he really should say something positive about Way Back Home

To save you both the agony of anticipation, he'll say it's slightly less embarrassing than the last one and call PLEL a steaming pile of horse manure, declaring Way Back Home "the least nauseating excuse for a song on AOA". Then he'll quote half his cool nephew's record collection and say Prince has not heard anything current in years.

You guys obviously don't know the meaning of the saying: let sleeping dogs lie. It's like you all want him to come on here and say sometihng negative. I don't get it.

my cd starts with the breakdown. i really don't like the first two. should have started with groovy potential.

the rest of the cd is VERY good, so i'm a happy fellow.

The more I think about it - it's good, not great. And while it's not the worst track on there, I don't get the fuss about The Gold Standard.

Had all the songs been like the affirmations, Way Back Home, and Time, (with the same, seemingly, honest emotion) scribbled over with the sort of gorgeous melodic guitar at the end of Clouds and This Could Be Us, I'd probably be ready to call it a masterpiece. It'd be like an ambient, psychadelic sci-fi r&b tinged Parade.

But maybe next time. This is a step in the right direction. Not because I like the modern sound exactly, but because of its creativity. It's Prince exploring again. I hope it continues.

Stymie said:

Aerogram said:

To save you both the agony of anticipation, he'll say it's slightly less embarrassing than the last one and call PLEL a steaming pile of horse manure, declaring Way Back Home "the least nauseating excuse for a song on AOA". Then he'll quote half his cool nephew's record collection and say Prince has not heard anything current in years.

You guys obviously don't know the meaning of the saying: let sleeping dogs lie. It's like you all want him to come on here and say sometihng negative. I don't get it.

SAR-CASM. Look it up

tomds said:

my cd starts with the breakdown. i really don't like the first two. should have started with groovy potential.

the rest of the cd is VERY good, so i'm a happy fellow.

Everyone's so different! I think he should have went straight from Clouds into The Gold Standard. The ballads like Te Amo Coarazon are okay, but I feel like they kill the momentum early on some albums.

But I agree Groovy Potential might have been a good addition. Maybe even Extralovable

just goes to show how different people can be! The more i listen to the album the more i like the opening song artificial cage. I think it sets up the album well, in that its like, This is a Prince album! It can be wacky at times, but stick with me and you will get it eventually!

antonb said:

just goes to show how different people can be! The more i listen to the album the more i like the opening song artificial cage. I think it sets up the album well, in that its like, This is a Prince album! It can be wacky at times, but stick with me and you will get it eventually!

yes, even if I have some criticisms of this album, at least it is interesting, fun, and doesn't make me cringe. It's worthy of Prince's name.

It's actually not far off of his more recent work, but there is just enough attention to detail that have eliminated the rough spots that you get in, say, MPLSound & 20Ten.

Can't say the same of Plectrum. That album is enjoyable enough, but the lyrics bug me in a bunch of places and the music is kind of tacky in others

eelco said:

Stymie said:

You guys obviously don't know the meaning of the saying: let sleeping dogs lie. It's like you all want him to come on here and say sometihng negative. I don't get it.

SAR-CASM. Look it up

Yeah I was making fun of people anticipating Bart's review.

Im a big Prince fan, like most on here, and it has taken me a few listens to actually get into this album. Now i really love it! I didnt like Iknow, felt indifferent to Brakedown . Even wasn't that fussed about Time when i first heard it at the first listen. The great thing for me is it has grown on me the more I have played it. There are lots of little nuances to the tracks that i keep picking up on the more i listen to it.

antonb said:

just goes to show how different people can be! The more i listen to the album the more i like the opening song artificial cage. I think it sets up the album well, in that its like, This is a Prince album! It can be wacky at times, but stick with me and you will get it eventually!

You have taken the words out my mouth

I was just going to post the same thing about the opening track

cheers, great minds think alike! (joke). The more i listen to it, the more i like it!

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.

Bro, good read, I wouldn't mind reading your thoughts on the other songs - start with Time, This Could Be Us & Art Official Age if u will

[Edited 9/27/14 14:20pm]

NouveauDance said:

Romeoblu said:

I've still not heard the album. Would you say it's better than Rave and 3121. I think they're awesome albums.

If you like Rave and 3121, this will be right up your street.

Gotta disagree with u on that, homie....

Rave was Prince getting brazenly desperate for a hit and features some of his worst recorded moments of his career...There is some cringe-worthy shit on Rave that sounds stale and out of date...

And 3121, while one of his better recent albums and an album that had some true stand-out moments, doesn't get as left-field and kooky as AOA beyond the opening track....And when it comes to lyrics it doesn't reach some of AOA's deeply reflective heights, especially towards the second part of the album ...

When Prince uses contemporary sounds on AOA it sounds a lot more natural than on any of his previous '00 efforts...It's been said by most critics and fans early on...But this is easily the most "Prince" sounding album since well over a decade....

[Edited 9/27/14 14:20pm]

MendesCity said:

2020 said:

AOA is light years from lackluster Rave and uneven 3121 AOA is a classic Prince album and will go down as one of his very best [Edited 9/27/14 7:37am]

It's DEFINITELY better than Rave - it's not trying so hard to be a collection of pop hits. But I'm not sure it's better than 3121 - I think the low points on AOA (the title track, the lasers, the second half of FnR, the poor mastering) may keep it a notch lower. But its highs are also higher.

in what world is 3121 seeing this

murph said:

NouveauDance said:

If you like Rave and 3121, this will be right up your street.

Gotta disagree with u on that, homie....

Rave was Prince getting brazenly desperate for a hit and features some of his worst recorded moments of his career...There is some cringe-worthy shit on Rave that sounds stale and out of date...

And 3121, while one of his better recent albums and an album that had some true stand-out moments, doesn't get as left-field and kooky as AOA beyond the opening track....And when it comes to lyrics it doesn't reach some of AOA's deeply reflective heights, especially towards the second part of the album ...

When Prince uses contemporary sounds on AOA it sounds a lot more natural than on any of his previous '00 efforts...It's been said by most critics and fans early on...But this is easily the most "Prince" sounding album since well over a decade....

[Edited 9/27/14 14:20pm]

wow - totally agree with all that. The sound of AOA is far more open and vivid.

Always want to say, best full album since "The Gold Experience"...but will take a few more weeks to settle a focused, honest opinion! It's definitely the best thing Prince has done in a REALLY long time! I hope tocome in the next 24 months to back this up!

Nelson is BACK!

Graycap23 said:

thisisreece said:

Prince been dusting off and reimaging vault material again in my opinion:

AOC = Hmm.. Ludacris My Chick Bad meets Pharrell/Nile Rodgers/Dat Punk's Get Lucky. 'least he changed the key though! This one is earshit fot sure. But at least it's not straight up boring.

Clouds: Oh man, even Prince can't write lyrics that mess up this beat.. can he? So far it's a keeper. Is this the first time Prince has referred to his last name within a song? "Mr Nelson?" Oh yeah! Guitar sounds good. Holy crap! Is the real Prince still alive and kicking?

Breakdown: More earshit, but it's fairly tolerable. Vocals mixed sooo good. 90's Prince wrote a lot of stuff like this. Prince's voice still sounds too fragile. He couldn't complete the big screams.

The Gold Standard = Samples/Interpolates Head? Err why? This is a hot classic Prince beat, but the lyrics and vocal lines are straight garbage. The thick live horns mixed with the brass synthesizer patches are off-putting. What am I supposed to feel? Is this whole album just a big remix of a remix?

That's as far as I've listened so far.

funksterr said:

Prince been dusting off and reimaging vault material again in my opinion:

AOC = Hmm.. Ludacris My Chick Bad meets Pharrell/Nile Rodgers/Dat Punk's Get Lucky. 'least he changed the key though! This one is earshit fot sure. But at least it's not straight up boring.

Clouds: Oh man, even Prince can't write lyrics that mess up this beat.. can he? So far it's a keeper. Is this the first time Prince has referred to his last name within a song? "Mr Nelson?" Oh yeah! Guitar sounds good. Holy crap! Is the real Prince still alive and kicking?

Breakdown: More earshit, but it's fairly tolerable. Vocals mixed sooo good. 90's Prince wrote a lot of stuff like this. Prince's voice still sounds too fragile. He couldn't complete the big screams.

The Gold Standard = Samples/Interpolates Head? Err why? This is a hot classic Prince beat, but the lyrics and vocal lines are straight garbage. The thick live horns mixed with the brass synthesizer patches are off-putting. What am I supposed to feel? Is this whole album just a big remix of a remix?

That's as far as I've listened so far.

funksterr? from princefams??

I got AOA and Plectrum today in the mail. I was pretty surprised.

I won't go into any long discussions or do a track by track summary. Let me just say that this is the first album I've bought from Prince in 16 years! Listened to as a whole, it's pretty good. I'm thoroughly impressed.

Some of the tracks have a '1999 album' feel, with musical extended versions. Others feel completely new and fresh. I like everything. I really do! I can see him performing quite a bit of these tracks, if not the whole album in concert.

One thing nobody's mentioned is how Prince added some additonal bass and slightly changed the ending to Breakfast Can Wait. I didn't care for this track, originally but I like it, now. Also, there's no woman in heels walking or door closing on This Could Be Us.

Viva Prince Rogers Nelson!

Now, bring on Purple Rain Deluxe!

Oops. First I have to listen to PlectrumElectrum. See you all in that topic room shortly.

Graycap23 said:

BobGeorge909 said:

Graycap23 said: Very good. The lyrics finally sunk in while in the process of typing them out. Not seeing how one could shit on them.

I wonder if people will tap into what Prince is really talking about on this track.

Affirmation III*

*should give them a clue

[Edited 9/27/14 19:17pm]

Christ, I haven't been here in so long it took me seven attempts to get my log in details right lol.

On my 3rd listen of this record and, well I absoultely love it. It's sexy, inventive and above all - memerobale. I'm actually stunned. He's actually thought about writing hooks again. I thought he was done.

Favourites so far are Clouds, Breakdown, The Gold Standard, and Way Back Home, which has absolutely floored me. I'm doubling that one up with AffirmationIII.

I haven't got the other one yet. From what I've heard it's a bit garage rock. Fix your fucking life up etc.

Bollocks too it. I'll have a listen. Just a final word. Mr Tervor Ayer. You're fucked.

Got my copy in mail this afternoon. Just listened to it all the way through--I definitely enjoyed it.

U Know works better in context. (uh-huh-huh) There a few things I'm not loving off the bat, but I am loving all the little quirks in the mix and the vocal layers. Gold Standard is pulsing. Way Back Home sounds fresh and raw, and I love how Prince sounds on it. I could totally hear Affirmation III in the next Divergent movie (forgive me! ); the soundscape is so cinematic that I actually didn't even process the spoken words in the foreground...

I am left feeling that unlike with other albums where I can listen to songs individually, the AOA songs need to be listened together for me to appreciate them the most, which might mean that I won't listen to them as often in the long run. I don't know if it's because I'm having a hard time distinguishing some of the songs from each other unless they're back to back (at least for now), or if it's intentional, like adding to the whole hypnotic vibe of the album...

Bottom line: I'm a happy camper. I wish Prince all the success that he hoped to achieve when he made this project.

I loved it!!!! It reminded me of what I enjoyed from Emancipation, NPS, Rave, and the NPGMC Trax, but with a heavy dose of futuristic flavor (sort of like Laydown from 20Ten, but much better). It doesn't sound like Warner Brothers material to me. This is probably the exact album he would have released whether WB was involved or not.

As much as I'm loving AOA, I'm enjoying PLECTRUMELECTRUM even more. There's so much energy emanating from it. Total uplift!