In the middle of all that AOA/Plec hype I just listened to 20ten again, something I hadn't done in months, maybe even a year. I'm really more impressed by the album than ever today, maybe I'm just in the mood IDK, I mean I always liked it and I always worshipped Lavaux, but I also always considered it a "minor" album. Tonite I found all the funk tracks to be real killers!

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I know the album ain't too popular here, it's OK, different folks different strokes, but i just felt like saying this album quite made my day today

IF 20ten had been limited to a 5 or 6 track EP (containing Compassion, FSS, SLG, Lavaux and perhaps BE and Laydown) it would have been hailed easily as Prince's best release since SOTT/LS.

Tragic he didnt think more of his own creation instead selling it out so a tabloid to sell some paper.

I can't get into this album at all. Those dead sounding synths are all the way though it and many of the songs sound like things he did when he was bored. Lavaux and Sticky like Glue are ok... but by ok I mean the best of a bad bunch.

Dirty fat banker sold a house today
Sold in auction wants the family out the way
Kick them on the street, cause he couldn't pay the tax
Call it an act of God

I Get a million dollars people hear me sing
Gotta give the banker half of everythang
Didn’t the founding fathers holler about the same thang

Those to verses don't belong in the same song. A song from a millionare in which he moans about having to pay his tax. Really?

[Edited 10/6/14 12:24pm]

It's been a while since I listened, but I've thought about this album quite a lot, and the main problem I have with it isn't the songs, it's the production and mixing. It sounds like the songs were recorded, and then very little time or thought was put into the production.

Some of the songs are incredibly good, but let down by lack of vision on the production side.

It's still an above average album, though.

You should consult Planet Earth. That really is a good album.

other than Everybody Loves Me (which is counciously dull-bad, but catchy) the rest of the album was stellar

I'm not mad about the retro-cheap-barebones electro production, but most of the songs were very good: Beginning Endlessly, Future Soul Song, Sticky Like Glue, Lavaux, Walk in Sand, Act of God, ...all great...Compassion, Sea of Everything and Laydown were more than decent/adequate as well...

overall, way better than MLPSound, Planet Earth, Rave and the 02-04 albums, slighty better than Musicology, but not as good as Lotus/3121

[Edited 10/6/14 13:32pm]

This album utterly bored me. I do like Sticky Like Glue. I think better production and a few more uptempo songs thrown in would made all the songs stand out better.

Boring album...

Future Soul Song was GOOD.

Sticky Like Glue is an underrated song, probably one Prince's best funk song since The Gold Experience era...

feeluupp said:

Boring album...

Future Soul Song was GOOD.

Sticky Like Glue is an underrated song, probably one Prince's best funk song since The Gold Experience era...

Those are the only two songs from that album I listen to. Maybe Lavaux if I'm in the mood

databank said:

20ten is definitely a great album.

It's not a great album by any means, it's not a good album at all... But it's not bad either.

I never really view it as an album, just an extra release, kind of reminds me of his NPG internet releases.

Something is seriously lacking for the feel of a complete album. Has a couple good songs, Sticky Like Glue is really underated and even hauntingly sounds like an 1986 era track... But other than that and Future Soul Song, all of the other songs are either average or below average.

I do prefer this album over Planet Earth though.

aiden said:

20ten beats most his output since 2001 in my opinion.. Great songs, quirky production

Yes. To be honest, for me it digs back and overtakes most of the 90s too. I think 20ten and my other favorite, New Power Soul, are the truly creative Prince essence. I also love My Computer from Emancipation.

Is it just me or did many people sleep on the song Sticky Like Glue... I never felt like it got the props it deserved.

This has to be one of his funkiest songs in the last 10 years... It just sounds like old school Prince Parade/Dream Factory/Crystal Ball era sound to it, don't know why but I really dig that track.

feeluupp said:

Is it just me or did many people sleep on the song Sticky Like Glue... I never felt like it got the props it deserved.

This has to be one of his funkiest songs in the last 10 years... It just sounds like old school Prince Parade/Dream Factory/Crystal Ball era sound to it, don't know why but I really dig that track.

I agree. It's a hidden gem. I think Prince hid it 4 the Purple People 2 find.

KingSausage said:

It's totally inappropriate to compare Sticky Like Glue to Parade or Love Sex. It's way better than anything on those albums.

Of course I can't compare it to those albums, because those albums already stand a place in the golden era of Prince history.

It just reminds me of that time period, the sound that's all.

Sticky Like Glue is an underated Prince song and I honestly believe if this song was released in the 80s vs. 2010 it would've gotten more acclaim among the fans.

feeluupp said:

JoeTyler said:

other than Everybody Loves Me (which is counciously dull-bad, but catchy) the rest of the album was stellar

I'm not mad about the retro-cheap-barebones electro production, but most of the songs were very good: Beginning Endlessly, Future Soul Song, Sticky Like Glue, Lavaux, Walk in Sand, Act of God, ...all great...Compassion, Sea of Everything and Laydown were more than decent/adequate as well...

overall, way better than MLPSound, Planet Earth, Rave and the 02-04 albums, slighty better than Musicology, but not as good as Lotus/3121

[Edited 10/6/14 13:32pm]

I like Laydown, SLG, FSS and a handful of others but I wasn't really into Lavaux the way that many others here are.

KingSausage said:

feeluupp said:

Of course I can't compare it to those albums, because those albums already stand a place in the golden era of Prince history.

It just reminds me of that time period, the sound that's all.

Sticky Like Glue is an underated Prince song and I honestly believe if this song was released in the 80s vs. 2010 it would've gotten more acclaim among the fans.

I know. I was just fucking with you. I actually love Sticky Like Glue, much to my wife's chagrin.

Sticky Like Glue should'v been a bonus hidden track on AOA

20TEN could have really been good, if it wasn't for the mixing & mastering of it. It sounds so deadpan that I've always had an issue with it. No dynamics whatsoever [even hear some ground-loop in certain areas, for some reason ]. I just really hate that aspect the most about it. It also sounds hastily put together....so maybe all of my issues coincide for that reason.

4 good songs tops. Pretty bad production overall and the song writing is lazy.

I like it overall. There are at least three really good songs (Sticky Like Glue, Lavaux and Beginnning Endlessly) with Future Soul Song being a classic.

Beginning Endlessly is an EPIC masterpiece. And I like most of the other tracks as well.

I feel you databank. The more I listen to it, the more I realize the whole album is really strong. It seems to have been recorded and mixed really quickly, and I get why it would sound that much better if it were mixed better. But even as-is, it's a really great album.
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Here's one reason I think it's so good: In about 2009, Prince was just killing it again on rhythm guitar, specifically the kind he played in the studio on 1999 (the song). When I saw him perform on Le Grand Journal in 2009, I was blown away at just how funky he was getting on that rhythm guitar and how much it sounded like the style he perfected on 1999 and songs from around that time. If you don't believe me, go back and listen to 1999 / I Feel For You / Controversy / All Day, All Night from that show. KILLER rhythm guitar.
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I think 20Ten was recorded right around that time where Prince's rhythm guitar was just in a really special place. Obviously he can turn that funk to 11 whenever he wants, but he loves to explore other styles and new creative directions, so I think that time was just a very, very funky time for him for that specific kind of rhythm guitar playing.
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Because he was so in the zone at the time and inspired to bring back that kind of playing, 20Ten just has incredible guitar playing on it. The grooves are incredibly funky and the classic Prince drum sound came back in a much more powerful way than on Mplsound. I was shocked at first that the drum sounds were dry and maybe for the first time ever not EQ'd heavily. But the drum grooves and sounds are so funky that they're tight even with the simpler, more basic sound. There's some tasty bass playing and the synths are a digital version of his classic synth sounds. The live drums and everything else is just tight.
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What people might be forgetting is that this is a PRINCE album - he had guest vocals and horns, but he went in and did those instruments by himself the way he used to and it shows. The FEEL of the playing is really strong. I remember hearing about 10 years ago or so that Prince was locked in inside Paisley Park for a while with nothing more than his classic drum machine, guitar, bass, clavinet and maybe a synth. I never found out what those sessions turned out to be, but 20Ten is the closest thing I've heard to what I wished for from those sessions.
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People seem to rip on the lyrics of 20Ten here too, but I really like them because they are especially vulnerable and personal on the one hand and bold and funky on the other hand.
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At first, I started loving the core sequence of the album - Sticky Like Glue into Act of God into Lavaux. Those three songs just brought it back like no other album had in years. Especially Lavaux. That song is in a league of its own. From the time I first heard it, I was like that is the baddest song Prince has done in I don't know how long.
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Then I started realizing how great Future Soul Song was and much later, I started really loving Walk In Sand (I know that is one people love to hate here, but Prince on live drums is a nice change and very obviously him, the falsetto lead vocal is one of Prince's stronger falsetto songs, the vocals and harmonies are strong, and the lyrics paint a great picture).
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I always loved Everybody Loves Me - super catchy and really nice 1980/1981/1982 -style Prince guitar playing. Also a new way of processing one of his classic drum sounds that was unheard before this album.
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So there was Sea of Everything before that. First off, I really like the segue from Walk in Sand - the back-to-back sequences on this album are cool. I think what warmed me up to the song more and more (since it wasn't one of my immediate favorites) was the vulnerability of the lyrics and Prince's vocal delivery. I was also intrigued by who the person was Prince was singing to and hearing some small details about their relationship from the lyrics. The background vocals are nice and they go well with Prince's falsetto vocals.
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Going the other direction, Beginning Endlessly is one of the songs on the album that has the least amount of classic Prince sound. But it is creative and different and even harmonically different. The percussion, drum rolls and timpani are strong and hard, and Prince's vocal is strong, energetic and not vulnerable like the other songs. But what really got me was the breakdown with the stacked rhythm guitars playing slightly different chords - that is the heart of Prince's funk guitar sound. So by the time that song ends, it wins me over too.
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Before that is Compassion, which is really similar to Let's Go Crazy in tempo. This song also has the new processing of one Prince's classic drum sounds that we hear on Everybody Loves Me. What won me over was the bridge - "Whatever skin we're in, we all need to be friends..." This has a really cool Sly Stone feel to it and the lyrics are great (so great that Prince put them on t-shirts he was selling at the time). There are some horns that totally sound like Sly Stone later on and the lyrics are really strong & interesting. The song ends really upbeat, happy and catchy and the rhythm guitar is tight.
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So at this point, we have a really strong album from tracks 1-9 - the only thing left is the bonus track.
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The thing I heard most about Laydown on here is that people who already don't know and love Prince's music like this track the best. I totally can see that. It is the most current and contemporary sounding track on the album, and it's one Prince wasn't afraid to try to be different musically and lyrically on. I don't love all the lyrics, but the purple Yoda is hilarious and fun. And there's still funky, layered Minneapolis rhythm guitar. He even cops a Marcus Miller sound on the bass-guitar riff kind of near the end. This track is totally different and it's strong in its own way - definitely great for a hidden track and a strong way to finish the album.
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All of that is why I think 20Ten is a strong album from start to finish (and still blazing hot in the middle).

I have always believed that 20Ten is a bonafide Prince album, one of his best since the 90's.

I agree with the comments about the rhythm guitar, it was very nice to have that type of playing featuring again in a lot of the songs. I think the songwriting (the music) was pretty good for most of the songs, excellent in some cases. The lyrics could have been better though, as well as the overall production. It sounds a bit flat and dull, and the drums are not processed enough really. This -and too many ballads at the end- kept the album from being truly great IMO.

Still I think it was his best album in ages, although there weren't many new sounds on the album that he hadn't explored before. But at least it sounded like Prince making "Prince" music instead of following trends without succeeding.