NouveauDance said:

Joe, I think a lot of people are genuinely excited for the album, especially US fans who never got a domestic release of 20Ten. There's also a lot of younger and newer fans here, so they might not really have experienced that rush of a new Prince release before. I've noticed a lot of younger fans on here recently which is cool. It's all "my popstar is better than your popstar" type of banter, which is what you'd expect from excited kids - so take it all with a pinch of salt. Plus you get the usual creepy fam stuff, but that's to be expected! AOA being a pop/R&B album will be more familiar to the younger newbies (no shade) so I can see why they would be all over that one especially.

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I think the albums are growers though. Give 'em a few more spins and see if anything comes out you didn't hear before, you never know

Personally albums don't grow on me any more, if they ever once did. I always get them first time, lucky me I guess.

AOA has grown on me a lot, whereas with 20Ten I liked it immediately but then got tired of it quickly.

fortuneandserendipity said:

NouveauDance said:

Joe, I think a lot of people are genuinely excited for the album, especially US fans who never got a domestic release of 20Ten. There's also a lot of younger and newer fans here, so they might not really have experienced that rush of a new Prince release before. I've noticed a lot of younger fans on here recently which is cool. It's all "my popstar is better than your popstar" type of banter, which is what you'd expect from excited kids - so take it all with a pinch of salt. Plus you get the usual creepy fam stuff, but that's to be expected! AOA being a pop/R&B album will be more familiar to the younger newbies (no shade) so I can see why they would be all over that one especially.

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I think the albums are growers though. Give 'em a few more spins and see if anything comes out you didn't hear before, you never know

Personally albums don't grow on me any more, if they ever once did. I always get them first time, lucky me I guess.

Yeah, that pretty much stops after you've listened to a lot of records. Who knows how many records I've heard in my life.

The reason why these albums are so much better than anything in recent memory bar 'lotus flower'(imho) is not necessarilly down to a shift in musical styles ....god knows prince has been throwing us a mixed bag of sweets every album pretty much since the mid nineties.

What marks these albums as a clear cut above the likes of musicology, 3121, et al is the seemingly renewed energy and vigour that comes with working with youth. I think the band are mid 20's, full of beans and exited to chip in ideas and kick the proverbial 'can' around the room...this seems to reflect in the output.

It might be hard/too early to say whether these songs will stand up against his classic period - up to 88 - Nevertheless, all things being relative maybe they shouldnt have too.

I think the reasons why we are all smiling and i must say slightly suprised is 1) down to the personal nature of the material which gives the album so much more depth and 2) the ideas, energy and detail flowing through the songs.

Not everything works but its the renewed ambition in creating a cohesive album which brings the joy in listening to these records.

Its basically the sound of Autopilot being turned off.....thank goodness for that......Im genuinly exited to see what comes next.

[Edited 10/4/14 6:57am]

skywalker said:

Don't get me wrong, I dig the new albums. However, I really liked albums like Musicology, 3121, MPLSound, and Lotusflower. - Example: people around here slagged off on songs like Chocolate Box, but somehow see the humor in Art Official Cage? What is up with that? - The conspiracist in me says that teaming with WB "magically" warm$ up critics and the press. - What do you all think? Am I just deaf, or are the new releases of a higher quality than albums of the last decade? [Edited 9/30/14 9:16am]

I don't find them especially better nor especially worse, there's a consistancy in quality IMHO. I'd be tempted to say AOA missed something somehow but considering how popular it seems to be among fans, I'll take it that it's more a personal feeling than an objective evaluation.

Iteresting thread.

I read most of this prior to buying the albums (and only hearing a handfull of songs), but now I have listened through both once and agree witht he general concensouse that they are better. AOA especially. I think the reason is a less pollished/perfected production style that has got a bit boring over the years (even if the songs are good) - ie Prince trying something different rather than just doing what he does.

PE is a bit of a disapointment, none of the power of the live shows with this new rocked out sound, more like "glam rock" as I saw mentioned in one review. Maybe he should have included a few of the old songs done in this new style and got a different producer/assistant producer in on that too.

Aditional thought - AOA - copied Janelle Monae concept from The Electric Lady? i.e. futuristic r&b.

loads hailed Lotus as the best thing ever when it came out, but after the novelty wore off, it sunk downwards. same with AOA.. just wait for the hype to be over.

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This album is really... really... really, weak. Tired of all the "But it's supposed to sound artificial!" crap, that just makes it sound worse. And what's up with the nonstop falsetto on this album? I love that particular vocal technique (esp when employed by Prince), but he's overdoing it on this album. It's either his relatively good falsetto, breathy and nasally duck voice, or manipulated vocals... the music is too busy and CRAP-sounding... This is one of his worst 21st century releases!

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Ill get hate for this, but Plectrum is a much better record... not a great one by any means, but somewhat good/enjoyable. AOA is the kind you just never wanna listen to again and forget P ever made it. Oh well. Hopefully he got the "electro-R&B/autotune" thing out of his system and'll go for a better approach for the 2015/2016 release

AOA has some great songs,but I wouldn't say that it's necessarily better than albums like Musicology and 3121.

Opinions are like buttholes... everyone has one.... especially when it comes to the music of Prince... and acting as one. I personally respect everyone's opinion on the album(s) but will never understand why many literally have hemorages over the thought that others like what they so emphaticaly dislike.

AOA has that immedate appeal to me, I hope to get in any album. I also felt that immediate appeal to other albums I really liked... 20ten, MPLSound, 3121 and Musicology. However, I knew shortly after getting over the initial zeal... where they placed in my over all rankings of Prince albums.... which in the case of these albums were all favorable with 3121 probably being the best and easily one of my top ten Prince albums of all time. AOA is the first album since which I feel may indeed be one of the top ten and at the very least... my favorite aside from 3121 since The Gold Experience.

I like PlectrumElectrum just not as much as the other albums I mentioned and maybe not as much as LotusFlow3r.. which agaiin, I did like.

On the opposite end of the scale... except for a few individual tracks... I considered Planet Earth to be one of the few Prince albums I truly disliked. Too many tracks I couldn't stomach.

OperatingThetan said:

'AOA' is infinitely better than anything Prince has done in the last 19 years.

^^this

MattyJam said:

way back home and time would make great filler on a truly great prince record .. so there is that .. it is better because of that .. than the last ten years .. which did not have even filler worthy tunes ... but overall if u look at the "hits" from aoa, like breakfast, or clouds .. those songs are no better than incense and candles ... at least we got a couple good deep cuts from aoa and one good cover tune on pe .. maaan crimson n clover was a weak ass cover

best in 10 years? yes .. but that is not saying that much after all