KingSausage said:

Others are easily impressed by piano, guitar, drums, etc. it's all preference and opinion.

Oh snap!

i won't write a review, everyone has pretty much said anything there is

to say about the album by now.

.

all i can say is that i love it and if it were up to me i would change only

one thing: add "Ain't Gonna Miss U When Ur Gone" to it. the wav file we

got is terrific sound quality and fits pretty much seamlessly on here.

.

i've tried putting it after "This Could B Us" and it works perfectly for me.

after the whole "you don't want me no more..." ending of TCBU, this is

the perfect song, thematically as well. and with all the weird vocal effects

it just sounds right amongst all those other vocoder/pitch shifts etc.

.

what's more, it lifts the album up a bit and breaks up the slow middle

part of the album. no idea why he didn't include it. it's a strong track.

perhaps to keep the album from becoming too long?

.

01. Art Official Cage

02. Clouds

03. Breakdown

04. The Gold Standard

05. U Know

06. Breakfast Can Wait

07. This Could B Us

08. Ain't Gonna Miss U (When Ur Gone)

09. What It Feels Like

10. Affirmation I & II
11. Way Back Home

12. Funk N Roll

13. Time

14. Affirmation III

littlebandit said:

IstenSzek said:

i won't write a review, everyone has pretty much said anything there is

to say about the album by now.

.

all i can say is that i love it and if it were up to me i would change only

one thing: add "Ain't Gonna Miss U When Ur Gone" to it. the wav file we

got is terrific sound quality and fits pretty much seamlessly on here.

.

i've tried putting it after "This Could B Us" and it works perfectly for me.

after the whole "you don't want me no more..." ending of TCBU, this is

the perfect song, thematically as well. and with all the weird vocal effects

it just sounds right amongst all those other vocoder/pitch shifts etc.

.

what's more, it lifts the album up a bit and breaks up the slow middle

part of the album. no idea why he didn't include it. it's a strong track.

perhaps to keep the album from becoming too long?

.

01. Art Official Cage

02. Clouds

03. Breakdown

04. The Gold Standard

05. U Know

06. Breakfast Can Wait

07. This Could B Us

08. Ain't Gonna Miss U (When Ur Gone)

09. What It Feels Like

10. Affirmation I & II
11. Way Back Home

12. Funk N Roll

13. Time

14. Affirmation III

he done messed up that song by extending it with the stupid voice, just like Breakfast can wait..

which is exactly why it fits so well, since 'stupid' voices run all through the album.

except, i think they're freakin' amazing.

My quick off the cuff thougts

http://youtu.be/ACRULoMQY9Y

It is official. Prince is weird again. Prince is trying something new. He is exploring. I did not expect that at all. I was expecting some uptempo commercial club bangers and I end up with a beautiful downtempo cohesive piece of art. There is so much crazyness and melancoly in AOA. So much to digest listen after listen. It is the work of a real artist. Someone who has his own vision of life. Sounds and visions.

God knows you have pissed me off a few times Mr Nelson but listening to AOA it appears clearly why I have been a fan for 31 years. It is a blessing to live at the same time as you in the same world.

oh, and you just need to sit down and listen to this thing on headphones. just wow.

ohYeeeeeah said:

listening to AOA it appears clearly why I have been a fan for 31 years. It is a blessing to live at the same time as you in the same world.

This.

jasontate said:

I'm kinda pissed off with the production on the breakdown. What the feck happened? I thought it was just a bad quality audio until now. Its bloody distorted all over the show. Real pity.

yes, seriuosly baffled by this

IstenSzek said:

oh, and you just need to sit down and listen to this thing on headphones. just wow.

Doing exactly that right now.

I did not expect something like this! What a GREAT Album! His best since The Rainbow Children.

MendesCity said:

jasontate said:

I'm kinda pissed off with the production on the breakdown. What the feck happened? I thought it was just a bad quality audio until now. Its bloody distorted all over the show. Real pity.

yes, seriuosly baffled by this

Mmh, tis rather disappointing isn't it? I mean, there probably wasn't much chance of it being fixed for the album version, but it kinda sucks all the same that such a lovely ballad sounds so horrible.

Militant said:

ohYeeeeeah said:

listening to AOA it appears clearly why I have been a fan for 31 years. It is a blessing to live at the same time as you in the same world.

This.

Yes indeed.

Funk N' Roll reminds me of the old intro music for Childrens BBC - circa 1991: (I do hope this gives Brits of a certain age a pleasant frisson of nostalgia, if nothing else):

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

I love how loads of people were expecting these albums to suck, and team positive kept their hopes up. It payed off and now they're on the org all like

to team negative

OK this is my take on Art Official Age

.

FAVOURITES IN ORDER

The Gold Standard (stand out track, love the NPG horns)

Time

U Know

Clouds

Affirmation III

Breakfast Can Wait

.

DONT LIKE IN ORDER

The Breakdown

Funk N Roll

This Could Be Us

Art Official Cage

Way Back Home

.

So that is 6 I like and 5 I dont like

That probably sums up the album as hit and miss

Nikeze said:

First off, I'm not a negative poster. To be honest I rarely post at all.

But I must ask, are all the gushing positives not a bit to early? You know, you hear that song and after a couple of listens it sounds great, peaks, and then rapidly turns into a so-so.

I want to believe, and a comment someone put saying...'his most cohesive since TRC' feels me with much hope.

Make me believe...is it true, or wil it becomeanother so-so?!?!?

I haven't listened yet (I've got it, I just haven't listened)--but after all the times people have posted negatives after a single listen, I'm pretty stoked to see that things seem to be going the other way so far (but I've only read up to your post, so maybe it won't hold).

.

I want to believe.

I'm 43 years old and have been a long time Prince fan. Like many of you, for the last decade, maybe two, I've been buying Prince CD's just to add to the collection and they don't have much rotation after I receive them.

But so far, most of the released tracks (still don't care for, "Breakfast Can Wait," but I think it will fit in the context of the whole album) and the 30 second snippets from both AOA and PE, I can't stop playing. Even songs I thought were weird initially have grown on me.

I now regret that I didn't request expedited shipping and will have to wait even longer to get my CD's than the 30th. (I love Prince but I'm too cheap to purchase multiple copies and too cheap to upgrade my shipping!)

Who says I was only talking about the posts in THIS thread?

Mixed feelings on first listen to the whole thing, it started off actually better some people not feeling the opening track i kinda liked that, Im not really a fan of "Breakfast Can Wait" and "u know" and those back to back and then the "This Could be us" which also i have mixed feelings on, that to me is where the album gets a little too slow, and sorry but I said it then and will say it now, Prince has terrible people mixing his work, "Breakdown" still sounds awful in the mix, almost like a track that was pulled off a cassette tape and put on this cd. All in all after ONE listen i can say maybe a 6 from 1-10 maybe 7, some tracks need to grow its rare an album blows me away first listen.

lastdecember said:

Mixed feelings on first listen to the whole thing, it started off actually better some people not feeling the opening track i kinda liked that, Im not really a fan of "Breakfast Can Wait" and "u know" and those back to back and then the "This Could be us" which also i have mixed feelings on, that to me is where the album gets a little too slow, and sorry but I said it then and will say it now, Prince has terrible people mixing his work, "Breakdown" still sounds awful in the mix, almost like a track that was pulled off a cassette tape and put on this cd. All in all after ONE listen i can say maybe a 6 from 1-10 maybe 7, some tracks need to grow its rare an album blows me away first listen.

i have to agree with that. it's a shame since i really like the song. it's not bothering me

too much, but it's hard not to notice it, especially when listening to it on headphones.

it really does sound like it's from a completely different source/sessions and mastered

quite badly. i guess it was all he had to work with apart from re-recording it completely.

I'm taking militant's wise advice and ignoring the obvious troll.

Back on track and AOA...

I remember many years ago when I was at school, the day SOTT came out. I sneaked out at lunchtime and bought the cassette (?!?). I had a shitty Walkman and listened to brief segments of the album. It was by no means a comprehensive analysis, but it felt like a great album. Later, when I got home, I shut the curtains and turned the lights out and listened to the whole album; in sequence, in its entirety. It was genius - unpredicable, esoteric and eclectic. And I still believe it's my favorite album of all time.

Many years later. Today I was at work and AOA happened to land in my possession. Being at work, I sneaked out at lunchtime and during the day I caught brief segments of the album. It was by no means a comprehensive analysis, but it felt like a great album. Later, when I got home, when my wife and son were fast asleep I turned down the lights and put my earphoneson and listened again to the whole album; in sequence, in its entirety. It's not SOTT but it shows why Prince is a genius - unpredicatable, esoteric and eclectic. And I still believe he's my favourite artist of all time.

[Edited 9/25/14 16:41pm]

littlebandit said:

BobGeorge909 said:

littlebandit said: Im not butthurt...just amused by your better than sliced bread attitude in a world that's over sliced bread. I was 19 once ...I 'member...

I only offered my opinion, y'all butthurt.

your hero has fallen.

boo-boo, it's probably hard to notice, up there on your pedestal

but your mic was turned off half an hour ago. so be a good girl

and close the door on your way out.

Can EVERYONE (troll/troll-feeder/whatever) please stop this nonsense and talk about the album? Like intelligent adults? All the threads were merged here so this is the only place to discuss AOA, and wading through multiple pages of childish name-calling is incredibly irritating.

...

I enjoy it, it's catchy at first listen but also beyond that I feel like there are more rewards to be had after spending some time with it and absorbing it. Which is Prince's best mix; not catchy but disposable and forgettable, and not obtuse and challenging just for the sake of it.

Militant said:

Prince.... I love you.

Seriously.

You just gave the "serial hater club" the biggest middle finger ever.

This album is, excuse my language, f**cking sick. Disturbed. Mental. Mad. Amazing. Genius. Dope.

Whenever anyone thinks you are out for the count, you come back with a heavyweight right hook that would make Tyson proud.

I agree with u Militant, this album -Art Official Age- is f*cking great!

Listened a few times now and loving it. Really don't like Breakfast Can Wait at all, so have bumped that from the play list and slotted Fallinlove2nite in there. I've always liked that so for me it works really well.

Something is puzzling me though. What is the story being told here and why is Lara Croft telling it?