elf9933 said:

Of course many opinions on albums depend on the fans struggles at the time that it is released thats why albums like Lovesexy and Rainbow children have such an extreme love hate relationship. But stop drinking the Koolaid people AoA is not a terrific album. It's decent at best. No classic tracks. Feels disjointed and the only track that will last is This could be us.This constant protest that it's his best work in years is not understandable by me. If he had released this a year after a previous album it would have been met with a lot less fanfare.

I strongly suggest that you have your hearing checked. AOA is an excellent album get used to it. The Rainbow Children should be put in that warehouse at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark"!

OTHER PEOPLE DISAGREE WITH YOU. I'M SURE ITS NOT THE FIRST TIME. GET OVER IT AND KEEP IT MOVING!

thedance said:

HELLO: you guys are either deaf of nuts.............

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection

After years of being a fan and coming to the org... it never ceases to amaze me how some people can continuously be so ignorant to the fact that thier view.... thier opinion... is subjective and truly relevant to no-one else but themselves.

I personally think AOA iis a very good allbum.. just a step down from the Prince albums I consider to be sheer greatness. And this is well after the 'newness' has died down with me. Many may share this view... many may not. But regardless of thier view.. its thier view.

elf9933 said:

Of course many opinions on albums depend on the fans struggles at the time that it is released thats why albums like Lovesexy and Rainbow children have such an extreme love hate relationship. But stop drinking the Koolaid people AoA is not a terrific album. It's decent at best. No classic tracks. Feels disjointed and the only track that will last is This could be us.This constant protest that it's his best work in years is not understandable by me. If he had released this a year after a previous album it would have been met with a lot less fanfare.

The credibility of any thread starting with a sentence such as "let's face it" or "enough of this blindness" is ZERO. U won't be forcing your opinion on people by using such cheap tricks. Just say what u think instead of trying to make us believe ur opinion is an universal truth

Sorry to disagree with you, but AOA is hot, probably hotter than radio airplay will ever reflect. There's no blindness, no delusions or Kool-Aide drinking here. The man simply makes great music. AOA is way better than 20Ten so, yes, it is his best album in years.

Only tracks I don't play much are Art Official Cage and The Gold Standard, though I love the messages. So, that takes away from the rest for me. But the rest is sooo strong that it is worth celebrating.

2funkE said:

blackwell1 said:

Sorry to disagree with you, but AOA is hot, probably hotter than radio airplay will ever reflect. There's no blindness, no delusions or Kool-Aide drinking here. The man simply makes great music. AOA is way better than 20Ten so, yes, it is his best album in years.

Only tracks I don't play much are Art Official Cage and The Gold Standard, though I love the messages. So, that takes away from the rest for me. But the rest is sooo strong that it is worth celebrating.

I'd have to agree with you here. I listen to the radio a lot, mostly modern rock & AOA has several songs on it that sounds leaps & bounds better than the bullk of what's on the radio.

.

I mean, if Fitz & the Tantrums, Coldplay, Young the Giant, Third Eye Blind, Blink 182 can get massive radio airplay I don't see why half of AOA couldn't. While AOA is not a rock album I think Clouds, UKnow, TGS, WBH would all hold up strong on the modern rock stations. It's all in taste I suppose...

.

Most people here can't stand AOC, but I love it. And while most here adore TCBU, it took awhile to grow on me, but that dayum song kept getting stuck in my head. Also, TIME was a grower for me as well. While I like the bass & the track itself I found it a bit redundant at first listen.

AOA is the first Prince album in years that I listened to over and over. I quite liked it. Plectrum Electrum on the other hand got 2 listens and I was done with it.

[Edited 12/5/14 9:06am]

Last week I went back and listened to Musicology, 2010 and 3121 to see if I really liked AOA as much as I thought or whether I just deep down wanted it to be great.

While those previous records have some top shelf songs there were several that I just don't enjoy listening to long term. They have all the Prince elements I love but overall just not strong enough to to make the playlist.

AOA feels cohesive, mature, and wacky without being cringe worthy. Not crazy about AOC, and I think GS suffers a little bit from a weak chorus, but I really like every other song. I think the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

djdaffy1227 said:

AOA is the first Prince album in years that I listened to over and over. I quite liked it. Plectrum Electrum on the other hand got 2 listens and I was done with it.

[Edited 12/5/14 9:06am]

+1

AOA is top ten in my book!

It's funny how wrong you are.

djdaffy1227 said:

865c0c0b4ab0e063e5caa3387c1a8741
54c84b40e9ff5a31472904a0cd2f0a17
2c5f64ab07ccb3e410aa97fc09687cc3
c74f86f208c466b66e5057a3c347cf78
7d637d275668ed6d41a9b97e6ad3a556
a2a551a6458a8de22446cc76d639a9e9
0cc175b9c0f1b6a831c399e269772661
ddfe7fc16d097dabb5f57cc0144ef9ba
a4b2d20f456833bcdac42e73edad64c0

NouveauDance said:

elf9933 said:

No classic tracks. Feels disjointed and the only track that will last is This could be us.

I think Clouds and The Breakdown are bonefide post-Warners (you know what I mean) classics up there with the usual acknowledged post-1996 tracks. Why Clouds wasn't promoted more widely as the lead single is a mystery to me, it's instantly catchy, and recognisable as Prince, sounds weird and odd but also modern and it's relaxed and confident not cloying or desperate. What more do you want?

Gold Standard, U Know, This Could Be Us are also top notch, with a couple of other tracks being decent too. But opinions and all that, one man's Last December is another man's Life O' The Party.

Wow! The first time Eye agree with U!!!!

Surely a sign that the Apocalypse is upon us!

ilo said:

2funkE said:

Last week I went back and listened to Musicology, 2010 and 3121 to see if I really liked AOA as much as I thought or whether I just deep down wanted it to be great.

While those previous records have some top shelf songs there were several that I just don't enjoy listening to long term. They have all the Prince elements I love but overall just not strong enough to to make the playlist.

AOA feels cohesive, mature, and wacky without being cringe worthy. Not crazy about AOC, and I think GS suffers a little bit from a weak chorus, but I really like every other song. I think the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Completely agree with this, though the GS chorus has grown on me a little bit.

Art Official Age is the kind of album I feared Prince would never make again : something that feels like a real album. On top of everything, he credibly channels his contemporaries, in a way paying hommage to the new generation while retaining his own unmistakable touch.

It's the first album I enjoy listening from beginning to end since Lovesexy.

2funkE said:

Your favourite colour sucks.

personally i'm still loving AOA. imo, it reflects a great range of emotion, and the amazing musicianship and songwriting don't hurt neither. great album, imo

XxAxX said:

NouveauDance said:

Surely a sign that the Apocalypse is upon us!

elf9933 said:

XxAxX said:

personally i'm still loving AOA. imo, it reflects a great range of emotion, and the amazing musicianship and songwriting don't hurt neither. great album, imo

The reason I started this thread is simply because AoA s tracks were being played on an Internet site next to tracks from albums of the past and I thought to myself this revelry for this album is not on point.Tracks like U know This is what it feels like Breakfast can wait and Time are weak and not on par with even stuff from 3121. So what are the tracks you can't wait to rush home and disrupt your neighbours with the blasting of your stereo. The Gold standard Clouds Funk and roll hardly. These are not songs you'd leave work early cause you couldn't wait to get lost in their wonder. Even Artificial cage sounds less and less appealing every times its played. Way back home might be heartwarming for its tenderness but vocally isn't even equal to Future soul song. As I said before the songs don't obsess your mind like true classic Prince.

Your opinion is not the problem, it's that you present it as definitive and debate ending period.

"As I said before the songs don't obsess your mind like true classic Prince."

Talking about "your mind" you referred to *your* mind, not ours, I guess.

"Time" is quite obsessing here for example.

elf9933 said:

XxAxX said:

personally i'm still loving AOA. imo, it reflects a great range of emotion, and the amazing musicianship and songwriting don't hurt neither. great album, imo

The reason I started this thread is simply because AoA s tracks were being played on an Internet site next to tracks from albums of the past and I thought to myself this revelry for this album is not on point.Tracks like U know This is what it feels like Breakfast can wait and Time are weak and not on par with even stuff from 3121. So what are the tracks you can't wait to rush home and disrupt your neighbours with the blasting of your stereo. The Gold standard Clouds Funk and roll hardly. These are not songs you'd leave work early cause you couldn't wait to get lost in their wonder. Even Artificial cage sounds less and less appealing every times its played. Way back home might be heartwarming for its tenderness but vocally isn't even equal to Future soul song. As I said before the songs don't obsess your mind like true classic Prince.

speak for yourself. and, by the way, i'm sorry you aren't enjoying the new album. too bad for you! for me, i find the songs from AOA stick in my mind like melty caramel on a spoon. just the other day BCW was blasting away in my head at work and i had to do a dance step in the kitchen while my tea brewed.

seriously?

as big a fan as i feel i am, there isn't a single song on any album from any era (from any musician), ever, that i've 'obsessed' over so hard that i needed to leave work early so that i could get lost in it's wonder...

if that's where you're coming from, i suspect your standards might be ridiculously elevated.

i think art official age is a great album. i can listen start to finish, or pick up anywhere in between and enjoy listening to it. maybe the songs aren't stand-out individually ('this is what it feels like' is the weakest, in my opinion), but the album as a whole flows nicely and will bear repeated listens for years to come (a la 'parade', 'lovesexy', rainbow children', 'lotusflower'). a nice addition to p's oeuvre.