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Forums > Prince: Music and More > HitNRun - Post your reviews here! - PART I
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Reply #120 posted 09/07/15 5:32am

Noodled24

^ It's also experimental in the sense that Prince has never really experiemented with drum&Bass/dubstep before.

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Reply #121 posted 09/07/15 5:37am

feeluupp

My review... At least we got Indifference... lol

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Reply #122 posted 09/07/15 5:43am

donnyenglish

MattyJam said:

Million $ Show


Almost the entire song is sung by Judith Hill with only the middle-eight and a rap by Prince which was disappointing. The song itself is meh. The chorus sounds like something you would expect from Beyonce. Production-wise it sounds more Prince than Josh, with some nice horns and rhythm chops, but still it passes by, inoffensive enough but nothing to write home about.



Shut This Down


My Name Is Prince type vocal delivery, not a bad little song and no silly guest features which I suppose is something to be thankful for. The instrumentation sounds very electronic, very Josh, but there are some interesting slap bass flourishes throughout which liven things up a bit. One of the albums better tracks.



Ain't About To Stop


A slightly middle-eastern tinge to the verses before going into a talk-chant chorus. Rita features in the same way Gwen/Sheryl Crow featured on Rave, mainly backing up Prince's main vocal. Not a particularly melodic track, but not terrible.



Like A Mack


Things start to get a bit embarassing here. Prince sings the first verse only and then some chick does the second verse/chorus before heading into a pointless rap. Sounds like the kind of song you'd expect to hear in Topshop. Pretty awful and blatant trend-chasing.



This Could B Us


I'm quite fond of this remix, but it says something about the overall quality of HitNRun, that a remix of one of the lesser tracks on AOA is one of the standouts on this album.



Fallinlove2nite


Exactly like the version we've all heard, except Prince sings the chorus. Actually a relief to hear something melodic, even if it is a pretty turd track.



X's Face


Doesn't sound any different to the leaked version we heard a few months ago, but then I never paid it much attention back then as it didn't make much of an impression. Not terrible, not great, just is.



Hardrocklover


A standout track. I don't think it's a great track by any means, but at least it has a little something to it.



Mr Nelson


An instrumental remix, featuring Lianne La Havas just saying "Mr Nelson" on a loop with the odd "we don't need no clouds no". Musicallly it's pretty much dodgy electro dance crap, with a few surprising Santana-tinged guitar licks thrown in for good measure. So bad it's almost good. Almost.



1000 X's and O's


I don't remember the original so I can't compare the two. Quite a nice little song I guess, fairly pedestrial R&B ballad, but more likeable than dreck like Future Baby Mama. Quite a catchy little chorus and some nice harmonies. Nothing special but better than most of the rest of this album.



June


The least generic, pandering-to-trends track on the album. Kind of dreamy and moody, stream-of-consciousness lyrics. More of a mood track than anything else, no real discernable verse/chorus structure. Nothing special, but nice to hear something a bit different I guess.



Overall - it's a pretty lacklustre effort. Noway near as good as AOA. There are no killer tracks like Breakdown or FunkNRoll. No real funk gems like The Gold Standard, no quirky crazy moments like AOC, no glimspes of sincerity like Way Back Home.


One of his worst albums for sure. Quite possibly the very worst.

[Edited 9/7/15 5:28am]



Very accurate review. I don't like remixes so I disagree with you about Tnis Could Be Us being decent, but you are otherwise spot on.
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Reply #123 posted 09/07/15 5:44am

jasontate

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Well I'm liking it a bit better than I did first thing. Some of it is a 'tidal' wave of shit though.

But..... 1,000 hearts is an absolute killer tune. I love the dreamy keys. I'd like a whole bunch more of these please.

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Reply #124 posted 09/07/15 5:45am

EmmaMcG

Aerogram said:



EmmaMcG said:


Aerogram said:



It's completely unrealistic to hold Prince to that "trend-setter" standard after over 35 years in music though. Who else is living up/lived up to that kind of expectation?



It's like expecting him to be the oversexed person he was at 21 forever, or to do the splits like it was still 1983. These kinds of expectations are rooted in an idealized "shrine" image of Prince, I personally would feel a little immature still expecting Prince turn the pop world upside down with a brand new trend, like expecting my dad to lift heavy things with a finger like when I was growing up, except he's over much older now would wreck his back if he tried.



Well I am quite immature, razz I do see your point though. I don't expect him or anybody else to match the standards he set in the 80's. I don't think it's too much to ask that he at least write some decent songs. I know I said I'm immature but I'm 25. He's pushing 60 and some of the lyrics he's come out with on this album sound like they've been written by a child trying to sound "hip". The "music" sounds like every other pop song in the charts. I don't expect prince to reinvent the wheel but he's capable of better than this.


The only thing "experimental" about this album was Prince experimenting with letting Josh produce almost all of it, so it's not a "produced, performed, arranged... by Prince" album like most of the others that came before. This is how I'm listening to the album, it's Prince through the Josh prism, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.



With at least one other album, perhaps two, coming soon, those who want a more traditional Prince production will likely not have to wait for long. I treat this one as light first course of Prince music.




That's a good way of looking at it. I'm not liking this album, hardrocklover, X's Face and one or two others are growing on me but like you say, another album can't be far off.
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Reply #125 posted 09/07/15 5:45am

RaspBerryGirlF
riend

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TchoFessio said:

derrick31 said:

You know Bobby Womack did this the right way when he let Jamie X do his production on "The Bracest Man in the Universe" cd. If Prince wants to experiment, why choose a rookie producer like Josh ? Why not go with someone like Rick Rubin, Nike Godrich, Jamie X, Ferrel, etc.? [Edited 9/6/15 22:53pm]

I think you'll find its produced by Damon Albarn from the gorillaz/blur. https://en.wikipedia.org/...bby_Womack

it's a cracking album by Womack by the way (appart from Jubilee...)

Maybe you were thinking of Jamie xx's remix of Gil Scott-Heron's last album We're New Here?

Heavenly wine and roses seems to whisper to me when you smile...
Always cry for love, never cry for pain...
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Reply #126 posted 09/07/15 5:58am

Aerogram

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USA TODAY : 3/4

As far as the music goes, there's certainly no rulebook there, either. The Purple One and his newly knighted in-house producer Joshua Welton, jammed and noodled their way through HitNRun, coming up with a fun and funky collection of tracks that feels like a tour of the many facets of Prince.

(...)

Fortunately, this reach back into the Prince vault, as it were, comes off as exciting and fresh rather than as a lamely self-aware re-tread of past glory.

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Reply #127 posted 09/07/15 6:05am

Aerogram

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New York Times : not so positive, some good, some bad.

Skillfull and scattershot.

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Reply #128 posted 09/07/15 6:06am

appleseed

Back in the day Prince just dropped a dope killer jawdropping album w/o all the hype and it took days — if not weeks — for fans to properly listen and absorb each song.

But he — like everyone in the troubled flash-in-the-pan over cautious entertainment/news industry — has bought into the I need to hire some inexperienced bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed techie youngster to appeal to the millenials (and who ever cums after the millenials) and rebrand content with a lot of meaningless "awesomeness" hype. I'm talking about JayZ and Josh.

AOA/PE and LotusFlow3r have proven that he has a stock of incredible even marvelous music on the shelves. But we he needs to separate himself from some money grubbing leeches who simply think music is about making the benjamins and who care nothing about it's lyrican content, euphoniousness, or spritual affect on the fans or larger culture.

The days of paying in advance — trusting the corporatist media prereviews — are over.

Blixical said:

I wonder if he realizes when he releases crap stuff. I would say that I am glad I didn't subscribe to TIDAL, but in all honesty, there was no way I was going to pay money to subscribe to that rich artist spank-fest anyways. But, seriously, I wonder if Prince actually knows when he releases junk these days; or, is it that he actually believes what he releases is worthy of paying TIDAL premiums for or shelling out money for. Essentially, what old boy did was release a mix-tape, charged for it, and scrwe up every possible opportunity to promote it correctly..... in other words, he's just doing what he has been doing for years. sigh

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Reply #129 posted 09/07/15 6:08am

KingSausage

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I'm listening right now. This is really bad. Like a Mack is almost BOYTROUBLE terrible. Million Dollar Show...it's never a good idea to reference your classic material in the middle of terrible material. Shut This Down? Yikes. Ain't About to Stop? Yeah, Justin Timberlake called and he'd like his music from 10 years ago back.

Where are the songs? The melodies? The hooks? The "real music from real musicians"? It's hilarious that Prince thinks this is experimental.

Oh, my daughter just pooped. I need to pause for now.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #130 posted 09/07/15 6:15am

RJOrion

Joshua Welton trying to end Prince's career with these cookie cutter pop beats...after listening to this lp a few times, im almost embarrassed for P...seems like they tried too hard to make an lp that would fit todays radio formats...its like the sound of a someone trying to fit a round peg into a square hole...June is cool....shut this down is cool...1000 xs and os is cool...x's was good, but by now its becoming played out....the rest of the lp is sadly non-eventful...a bunch of katy perry/madonna beats..

i wish Big Chick was here, to physically escort Joshua Welton off the premises ....Prince deserves much better... sad
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Reply #131 posted 09/07/15 6:22am

KingSausage

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RJOrion said:

Joshua Welton trying to end Prince's career with these cookie cutter pop beats...after listening to this lp a few times, im almost embarrassed for P...seems like they tried too hard to make an lp that would fit todays radio formats...its like the sound of a someone trying to fit a round peg into a square hole...June is cool....shut this down is cool...1000 xs and os is cool...x's was good, but by now its becoming played out....the rest of the lp is sadly non-eventful...a bunch of katy perry/madonna beats..

i wish Big Chick was here, to physically escort Joshua Welton off the premises ....Prince deserves much better... sad



YES


This is so generic and lifeless.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #132 posted 09/07/15 6:26am

appleseed

Right. No need to release a physical album or on other sources (GooglePlay, iTunes). Just let it die.

funkymuc said:

fantasticjoy said:

Knowing Prince he'll hear about some of the negative comments about this album and decide to not release any physical copies.

Hopefully! This "album" needs to go away.... fast. No physical release means no one will remember it and this might be for good.

I´ve never been this irritated by a Prince release before. So, NEXT please.

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Reply #133 posted 09/07/15 6:27am

appleseed

exactly. call the law!

V10LETBLUES said:

So now we know why he called it hit and run. He not only runs his last holdout fans over over with a car, but backs up and hit us again and then just speeds away. It's a felony.

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Reply #134 posted 09/07/15 6:28am

MIRvmn

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Prince needs to release Free Urself fast and save what's left of his fan base smile
[Edited 9/7/15 6:28am]
Welcome 2 The Dawn
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Reply #135 posted 09/07/15 6:31am

Se7en

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KingSausage said:

I'm listening right now. This is really bad. Like a Mack is almost BOYTROUBLE terrible. Million Dollar Show...it's never a good idea to reference your classic material in the middle of terrible material. Shut This Down? Yikes. Ain't About to Stop? Yeah, Justin Timberlake called and he'd like his music from 10 years ago back. Where are the songs? The melodies? The hooks? The "real music from real musicians"? It's hilarious that Prince thinks this is experimental. Oh, my daughter just pooped. I need to pause for now.

"Oh, my daughter just pooped. I need to pause for now." Was that her reaction to hearing HitNRun?

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Reply #136 posted 09/07/15 6:35am

Rimshottbob

My disappointment in this record is so far minimised, because I think it's a mistake to consider it a new album in itself.

It clearly references Art Official Age in its artwork (something a Prince album cover has never done before - directly reference another, unless it's been a single/EP from that album)...and it's called Hit'N'Run.... much like the tour of the same name, it's a last-minute, here today/gone tomorrow type of thing.... that seems like an offshoot or accaompaniment to Art Official Age....

I think considering this as being a 'proper' new album is the same as if you considered the Beautiful Experience EP to be a new 'proper' album... of course it's disappointing, because it was never meant to be listened to that way. It's a side project.

Although, when anything you release sounds like Beyonce having an arm wrestle with Justin Timberlake - that escalates into a name-calling, faeces-throwing mudfight - it might be time to take a vacation for a while and have a lilttle rethink...

I've only hear it one and bit times, so more listens will reveal... something. Anyway, it's kind of fun, as long as you don't expect anything... well... much.

Course it might be that I'm just trying to deny the fact that Prince just farted, and one his priestege's caught it on record.

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Reply #137 posted 09/07/15 6:35am

iZsaZsa

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Bae! If you can say "U're a blood clot!", then you can say the f word. lol
What?
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Reply #138 posted 09/07/15 6:36am

KingSausage

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Se7en said:



KingSausage said:


I'm listening right now. This is really bad. Like a Mack is almost BOYTROUBLE terrible. Million Dollar Show...it's never a good idea to reference your classic material in the middle of terrible material. Shut This Down? Yikes. Ain't About to Stop? Yeah, Justin Timberlake called and he'd like his music from 10 years ago back. Where are the songs? The melodies? The hooks? The "real music from real musicians"? It's hilarious that Prince thinks this is experimental. Oh, my daughter just pooped. I need to pause for now.


"Oh, my daughter just pooped. I need to pause for now." Was that her reaction to hearing HitNRun?




Definitely.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #139 posted 09/07/15 6:37am

KingSausage

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1000 X's and O's is nice.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #140 posted 09/07/15 6:40am

SchlomoThaHomo

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Listened to the 30 sec samples, figuring they would compel me to sign up for a free Tidal trial. They didn't. I checked my "usual places" to see if anyone put it up yet. They didn't. I'm not really pressed tho. Might be the first time ever. Indifference, I guess.

I'm kind of more interested in getting an iced coffee down me.

"That's when stars collide. When there's space for what u want, and ur heart is open wide."
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Reply #141 posted 09/07/15 6:41am

KingSausage

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SchlomoThaHomo said:

Listened to the 30 sec samples, figuring they would compel me to sign up for a free Tidal trial. They didn't. I checked my "usual places" to see if anyone put it up yet. They didn't. I'm not really pressed tho. Might be the first time ever. Indifference, I guess.

I'm kind of more interested in getting an iced coffee down me.




Do the free trial. This album sucks so hard it must be heard. It's like watching bad horror movies.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #142 posted 09/07/15 6:41am

DFUNK

Wow!!! I am actually really disappointed in this. I've heard people say that Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic and Emancipation are the two biggest stinking piles of shit in the Prince catalogue. I personally thing this effort has just claimed that trophy.

With the exception of "Like A Mack" and Ain't About To Stop" and perhaps "HARDROCKLOVER" I find this album mostly unlistenable. As for why recycled moments like "This Could Be Us" and "FALLINLOVE2NITE" are on this album is anybody's guess. In the case of TCBU I think the Art Official Age version shits all over this.

"MR.NELSON" is also really straight out of the recycle bin, basically a poorly executed remix of "Clouds" from the AOA album.

The rest is a bitter disappointment and indicative that this album is probably merely the result of a quick tidy up of the vault.

Interestingly, the two recently released singles in "Baltimore" and "Stare" which both were great tracks, one for its socially concious lyrics and the other for just being a good classic Prince funk workout, are not here. Perhaps this album might have been salvagable if the pointless rehashes were removed and those two tracks slotted in to their place.

Unfortunately in my honest opinion, this album is a complete dud and will most likely be forgotten by this time next week. I long for the day where Prince gets back to sitting down, writing and recording a cohesive, considered and well produced album that has had some thought put into it and contains the classic Prince blend of pop, funk, soul and rock.

On a more positive note, I would like to pass on my sincere appreciation to Jay-Z for providing new subcribers to Tidal with a 30 Day Free Trial Period. Because at least I know I am not going to get stung in the hip pocket for daring to listen to this attrocious record.

It's a 2/10 from me.

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Reply #143 posted 09/07/15 6:43am

KingSausage

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That was easily the least impressed I've ever been with a Prince album on first listen. Wow.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #144 posted 09/07/15 6:44am

DFUNK

andykeen said:

Two questions. 1) is it as experimental as Josh and Prince stated? [snip - M] X

If the experiment was to overtly try and piss off his last remaining fans, then yes this experimental piece is highly successful. lol

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Reply #145 posted 09/07/15 6:45am

antonb

Yep, the usual nutters have taken over this place!

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Reply #146 posted 09/07/15 6:48am

ludwig

KingSausage said:

1000 X's and O's is nice.

Yes, because it's a twenty year old song. Back then he was much better than now. It's really sad that he now can only fill an album with remixes of recent songs plus some old material from past decades.

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Reply #147 posted 09/07/15 6:49am

KingSausage

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antonb said:

Yep, the usual nutters have taken over this place!




Oh noes! Peoples with different opinionses!
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #148 posted 09/07/15 6:49am

Marco81

antonb said:

Yep, the usual nutters have taken over this place!

Of course. And they're providing also great reasoning behind their not liking the album, stuff like "it's shit", "I can't believe I listened to this" and the likes. All great explanations that give way to constructive discussions.

[Edited 9/7/15 6:49am]

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Reply #149 posted 09/07/15 6:50am

KingSausage

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Marco81 said:



antonb said:


Yep, the usual nutters have taken over this place!



Of course. And they're providing also great reasoning behind their not liking the album, stuff like "it's shit", "I can't believe I listened to this" and the likes. ALl great explanations they give way to constructive discussions.




Generic, cliched beats. Weak or non-existent melodies. Unnecessary remixes. Uninspired vocals. Childish lyrics. Bad mastering. Poor sequencing. But also, yeah, it's shit.
"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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