The Bass in Time..enough said.

In the same league with TBO's and Adore

It's about Time!!

Best song to me on the album 2me.(just Voted)

Waiting for the Vinyl...then i'm done.

He needs to release an album of Ballads/Love songs

NDRU said:

Breakdown is the only song on this album that feels underdone. I think it comes too early in the album, and I think it could have been a lot better had he not repeated so much or thrown in a key change somewhere. It feels like a nice first draft (in terms of songwriting, not production/arrangement).

Otherwise, everything seems fully realized. Even Time, which I don't particularly love, is highly original and well thought out. Breakfast can wait is not brilliant, but it's a cohesive pop idea with a clever punchline refrain.

And those are my least favorite of the bunch. The rest are a whole lot better. I have maintained that this material isn't head & shoulders above the rest of the past 10 years', but it's got just enough attention to detail to erase the album-ruining moments that we've had on every other album since god knows when. I'd say it's as consistent as Musicology, but it's so much more interesting.

My first thought when I heard Musicology was been there done that. That is why I like AOA too, it is more interesting. As if it's better than Musicology I don't know yet. I tend to lean toward Musicology as of yet.

tony23k said:

The Bass in Time..enough said.

In the same league with TBO's and Adore

It's about Time!!

Best song to me on the album 2me.(just Voted)

Waiting for the Vinyl...then i'm done.

He needs to release an album of Ballads/Love songs

Well, I'm not going that far, but "Time" is my favorite song of the moment; the most repeat-worthy song on the album.

I'm actually digging "What It Feels Like" more and more.

Waiting for my vinyl to ship as well.

namepeace said:

SanDiegoFunkDaddy said:

Clouds is good song. One of the better songs he's released in the last 10 years. the rest of the CD..meh

yeah, same here........I like Clouds but only until that lady starts singing and that ruins it for me

rest of the album for me ranks right down there with his worst ever

"Time" is the world's most boring song

If he was smart, he would have someone construct a charming video treatment for This Could Be Us featuring Appolonia and him, and release it prior to the Purple Rain remaster. I could see something like that going viral if it was done right.

I love AOA. Prince for me has returned. I'm 40-something.... been into Prince since I was 14 (had Dirty Mind and Controversy on a single cassette). Last album I listened to was Musicology... otherwise it was his older stuff. AOA is a return IMO. Gave me goosebumps, perhaps even a tear or two. (Time and affirmation).

Wonderful.

Purple rain records in the background with the Controvery album cover stance. Artificial Age. Love it.

I've found my way back home. To Prince.

[Edited 10/16/14 17:36pm]

[Edited 10/16/14 17:37pm]

JoeTyler said:

babynoz said:

I don't know how many times you think you have to keep saying it but you haven't won anybody over to your side,

never my intention

And this is exactly why you are being accused of trolling, because you are either being entirely disingenuous, just trying to wind people up or you really don't know what you are saying.

After countless, verging on pathological, statements of your dislike for AOA, you then (above) flat- out deny that you are trying to influence or convert people to your way of thinking. Yet, only a few posts later you say, "AOA is just crap, you need to finally face it, you need to accept it, deal with it".....in other words, you're full of shit

Mind you, the very fact you think that anything on 3121 is better than anything on AOA shows you really have a tin-ear for music!

Even though Plectrum Electrum is listed on Amazon to be available in vinyl on November 24th for $19, Art Official Age is still listed an an IMPORT for vinyl for $50!!!

PurpleJedi said:

Even though Plectrum Electrum is listed on Amazon to be available in vinyl on November 24th for $19, Art Official Age is still listed an an IMPORT for vinyl for $50!!!

At this price, it'd better be mastered from a 24 bits/192 kHz source...

bonatoc said:

PurpleJedi said:

Even though Plectrum Electrum is listed on Amazon to be available in vinyl on November 24th for $19, Art Official Age is still listed an an IMPORT for vinyl for $50!!!

At this price, it'd better be mastered from a 24 bits/192 kHz source...

Given that PlectrumElectrum was recorded in analogue and is being transferred to vinyl, your statement doesn't apply

there is no need to discuss this album - a while back when I wasn't drunk out of my skull I explained a dream that featured Prince rocking it in his sixties with a synthetic brass tone going "barp barp barp". This time is now and it is bloody brilliant.

I always hoped that in some needless conceptual mashup of editing opportunities our Prince would succumb to the deathless punctum of utterly ripping the piss like that bloke that sang about sexuality and pocket cameras.

And for hexadecimal numbers sake they don't even let me embed Julian Cope clips now.

How DARE they!

But yes, much like the 0(+> before it, it is a near perfect sequence of events, despite the utterly indecipherable alien sub plot.

There is no joy without slatherings of sarcastic moo fat. It would take all the bile in the world to say that I cannot listen to this album again. You're seriously wrenching my arm now, I just cannot go another second without turning my body into jelly and my mind into hopefully not quite as jelly.

That's a physical reference, not one of those monster jellies. With wheels.

Cx

yup, drunk and teary

Not to be a douche or anything but i'm wondering why my AOA thread was closed, despite some great ongoing conversation in it. I know discussion is meant to be in here but there are several other random AOA threads that haven't been closed like 'please stop saying AOA is funky' as well as some pretty pointelss threads. I've also lost two hour's worth of responses I was writing to everyone who contributed which the board has saved in autodraft but which I can't access. Could a Mod please briefly unlock the trhead for me so I can attempt to retrieve my post?

Art Official Cage
This fun and enjoyable track has a modern Lady Gaga-ish pop feel to it. At time it reminds me of the cute bubble gum dance pop of FALLINLOVE2NITE. However it's more playful, weirder, bigger, and sounds like a travel through different sounds and emotions you'll get to hear later through this album. Despite how much people hated on this track, and the fact that it had to grow on me a bit, I actually think it's a perfect opener for the album. It get's your energy pumped up and ready for whatever comes your way.

Clouds
This is a sweet RNB-track that I can vibe to, and sounds like it somehow is directly connected to the very similar Breakfast Can Wait. Both are smooth dancable rnb tunes, that IMO fits perfectly here, that doesn't nessesarily are huge classics when isolated from the album context.

Breakdown
First true Prince classic in a good while. Great lyrics, on point melodi, hook, heartfelt... I have some issues with the sound. But it doesn't make the song any less good. They were probably intentionally breaking the sound down adding "deeper" nuances to the lyrics, even though I don't agree with the production choices done here.

The Gold Standard
This song contains everything he learned by experimenting with his dancable hits in the veins of Jamie Starr, Camille and Bob George. Maybe not as much edge, rudeness and playfulness as back in his younger days. Intead Prince is perfecting what he mastered with unheard robotic yet human technical and precision. FUNKY

U Know
This one could have been co-produced by Timbaland according to the drum programming and breathing/beat boxing pattern. The vocals and arrangement is nothing like Prince has ever done before. The robot rap singing voice actually sounds very good here. This is without a doubt a playful song from Prince in 2014. No classic, but a great track.

Breakfast Can Wait
This song sounds so much better in the context of the album, than it did as a single. It shares a similar vibe and arrangement/production to Clouds, and therby gluing this album together nicely.

This Could Be Us
Second true Prince classic in a while. It's so good I personally thought it was an old classic that he locked down in his vault for a long while. His voice sounds a bith thinner than before, but his emotions makes up for it.

What It Feels Like
A good song that sounds a bit like a remix of the Superconductor album. Makes it a bit difficult for me to hear it as a song that stands on its own. This song as well as a few other moments on this album sounds a bit chopped and glued together messing up the groove. But I guess it's something to get used to, when we're used to hearing him with a band. It's just that personally if you want a chopped sounding production, then it's better to go all RZA on it, or Madlib, Flying Lotus etc. These are producers that creates some life out of the "artifical". Prince was probably going for the artificial 100%.

Way Back Home
This is the 3rd true classic in a while. Heartfelt delivery of personal and relatable but somewhat cryptic lyrics. "Most people in this world are born dead, but I was born a live. I was born with this dream, with a dream outside my head." Some people takes these lyrics personal, as if he thinks less of most people. But it's more of a personal song that describes his loneliness of being one of few that follows their own dream, and truly lives it. Love how the dynamic use of mostly only a kick drum is creating a feel of a pumping heart.

FUNKNROLL
A modern hip hop dancable party track. I actually like it better than the Plectrum version. It's no revolutionary track, however he is embracing new times unafraid, and is putting his own twist on it. I like it.

Time
Yet another sweet song that helps gluing together this album. It's as if Clouds and Breakfast Can Wait were connected, then What It Feels Like and Time has similarities that kinda ties them together.

These song choices helps this album sound like a whole without making the songs sound like they're unoriginal. It just fits. Personally even though some songs are weaker if isolated, they make the album sound right.

Would be even better with some more focused and less hasty production choices, as well as maybe shortening the album down to standard vinyl format of 8-9 tracks. How come the album is mastered so loud, while alot of the vocals and strings etc sounds so low in the mix. Could done a better job evening out the mix.

I'll give the album a 4/5

After taking some time to absorb and process these two new albums in various states of mind (straight, stoned, tripping and candy flipping), I’ve finally reached the glorious conclusion that they’re both brilliant beyond question. However, although I was initially drawn to Plectrum due to the lively rock energy, I now realize how extraordinary AOA really is. It fully demonstrates the true and total genius of Prince, and I haven’t thought that about a Prince album since NEWS (and before that since…well, never).

____

He’s returned to the seductive neo-soul R&B of Emancipation, Newpower Soul, Rave, and the NPGMC Trax, and launched it to the next futuristic, mind-bending level. The sound production is pristine and the song quality is flawless….there’s not a clunker to be found and each track is loaded to the rim with yummy, headphone-oriented ear candy. I’m absolutely stunned at how incredible AOA is and I’m truly excited to see what comes next (hopefully, further explorations in this futuristic R&B realm).

____

Oh yeah….and one more thing about AOA…..FUNKNROLL Fucking Rules!!!!

____

Get it turned up, get it out of control, ya’ll!!!!!!!

[Edited 10/19/14 8:15am]

Replica said:

Can't stop listening to this album...it's really caught me by surprise.

So Prince can still release new music that is genuinely compelling...I don't doubt it.

I was sceptical at first as I couldn't see why this would come out as a competitor to Plectrum Electrum, and also as a potential obstacle to the Purple Rain re-release!?

However am completely won over, it's a real grower...and I don't know if it's because expectation levels were low initially.

It matters not, I can't stop playing it.

Favourite tracks - most of them, but Time, Clouds, This Could Be Us and Way Back Home/Affirmation III stick in the mind.

Deceptively good...and even though it's conceptual, Prince sounds like a mere mortal on Way Back Home! He gets lonely, he worries about his place in the world and the time he has left!

"In this brand new age...how do we engage?" Indeed.

Thank you to langebleu for re-opning my AOA thread to allow me to respond:

http://prince.org/msg/7/411633

I'd like to respond to BobGeorge909 who said this:

I don't like the OP at all. Some of it was just flat out wrong. Maybe the op didn't see any mention of age and issues with it cuz they dismissed an entire song with the title time.

Much of it just seemed misinformed and a lot of projection misinterpreted as some kind of fact.

I said several times that I wasn't sure about all of the specifics so of course a lot of what I said was conjecture. But I think that overall i'm on the right lines and you haven't offered an alternative take on what the album is communicating.

Yes, I did dismiss the song Time entirely, just like I dismissed all of the songs which don't fit into the lyrical narrative I was discussing. There is not one single line in Time which points to Prince reflecting on his age or ageing in general. The lyrics are actually extremely banal:

Gonna lemme tell u one time

that I think its 'bout time
That I got time
Alone with u
Cuz ure so fine
When I get mine
Baby u can too

Oh oh I think I need u 2 b my girl
Travel with me around the world
Baby baby
So no paper
This works out fine
But not half as fine
As when I get time
With u

Sugar have u heard

I think its 'bout time
That I got time
Alone with u
Cuz ure so fine
When I get mine
Baby u can too

If there's a lyric on the album that i've missed that remotely refers to Prince discussing ageing than please show me.

-

In addition to my other comments on Art Official Cage, has anyone else noticed that it seems as if prince is being waterboarded near the end? After two sinister voices demand of him 'Tell us what you know!' you can hear water being poured onto something and then Prince making gurgling noises, exactly like someone being torture through water-boarding.

[Edited 10/21/14 16:25pm]

JordanRose said:

Babynoz

In continuation from what I said above to 1975topp I just don't quite feel that all of this is old news to Prince. I'm listening to One Song right now and yes, it's clear that he was more than aware back in 1999 that We Are All One, the universe is in me, we are all one energy etc. The whole songs is basically just a big statement of that. No doubt he's been reading all kinds of spiritual books for decades. But he's never been so specific about so many things in one place before, except for TRC. And TRC was an very literal reading of the New Testement. Yet I get the impression he's left a lot of that behind and, like you say, he was still weaving his core beliefs through it all anyway. Doesn't that suggest that some of the ideas on AOA have come to him since then in recent years?

But i'm completely open to the possibility that i'm viewing AOA through the prism of my own experience.

Like I said, Prince choses when and how he's going to make a given statement.

His core belief system, much like his musical expression is a blend of more than one doctrine....always has been. He hasn't left anything behind so much as refined his understanding. That's why I wouldn't say that any of this has come to him as something new in recent years.




Forgot to add...the standalone songs, as you call them, provide a nice balance that adds to the album's appeal IMO.

[Edited 10/21/14 19:04pm]

JordanRose said:

If there's a lyric on the album that i've missed that remotely refers to Prince discussing ageing than please show me.

The whole "suspended animation for 45 years" ? Isn't this directly related to ageing?

When it's not directly about ageing, everything song is about time passing, and never having enough of it. Even something as light-hearted as Breakfast Can Wait speaks of urgence.

Art Official Cage

My teachers taught from an early age

A place in heaven far off in the future

Louder than a bomb since the day of my birth

Got me second class when eye got here first

Time
Im sick and tired of playing hard to get
With an animal that's half my age

The Breakdown
The whole song is about ageing!

This Could Be Us
Ure the cage to my dove
(Direct reference to When Doves Cry)

Way Back Home
Never wanted a typical life

etc. ...

Art Official Cage: Funny song, with some nice Princey twists and turns. First listen, I was like, Prince has gone koo koo, in a wrong way, but after a few listens I started to "get it".

Clouds: Love this track. It has to grow on you, but it is sweet, without being cheezy.

The Breakdown: Musicaly it is a great ballad. But the first line of the song are ludicrous. It gets better later on. Prince even gets a bit into his famous aching screams at the end. Don't we all like Prince's screams?

The Gold Standard: To me a Superfunkycalifragisexy part 2, ofcourse it is different, but still it is not (which is not meant as a bad thing at all).

U Know: Didn't care about this song at all at first, but it has grown on me a bit. It has enough things going on to make it interesting to listen to it. But I still miss a bit of a punch in it.

Breakfast Can Wait: Too mellow for my taste, caught myself skipping it in my car as it was halfway through. It is boring.

This Could Be Us Second: This actually could be a small hit, it has radiofriendly trades. Mid-tempo pop.

What It Feels Like A: This could have been fitted right on "The Slaughterhouse" but it is too laidback and lacks anything that could be considered different or exiting. As it is, it doesn't make any lasting impression.

Way Back Home: Best song on this album. It has an emotional depth, which is much too often absent in Prince's creation.

FUNKNROLL: Funky, little track, with a great ending. I like the version on PE more, it seems more sweatier and forcefull, but this version here has every right to be on this album.

Time: Repetitive, without any lasting impression. Dull, and propably the weakest track of this album. It drags on and on. It has even a pause, when you think that the track is finaly done, but it pick up again. Enough allready. A real shame.

Affirmation III: Wish this would have been mixed in with Way Back Home...it is great as it is, but it would have been stellar if it had ended this album with a combination of the 2.

Conclusion. AOA is an album which has some great songs, but it also has 3 songs which completely destroy the flow and miss the high level of diversity Prince offers. It could have been his best since TGE. Now it falls a bit short of that. I rate TRC higher. But this album has every right to stand on its own and be considered a good, Prince album.

mordang said:

The Gold Standard: To me a Superfunkycalifragisexy part 2, ofcourse it is different, but still it is not (which is not meant as a bad thing at all).

Wow, wow, wow, now THIS is blasphemy.

You're only excused on the account of enthusiasm, which I share, believe me, but let's keep our feet on the ground, this is going too far.

♫ Breakdown ♫ pew! pew!

.

[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/j9oo6TC.jpg[/img:$uid]

^

Yeah, what he said. Always need more lasers.

.

In fact, go back and put some on Endorphinmachine while you're at it. I always knew something was missing from that song.

[Edited 10/22/14 17:50pm]

^ Lol

Lasers are the new cowbell.

First ablum in decades I don't want to skip tracks. Each song works and work together well as a whole album. The seques are good and cohesive, not annoying. I Love It!