Hitnrun and AOA are the Come TGE of the year. I am not a huge fan of either, but time will be a lot kinder to hitnrun, while AOA is just true cringe worthy embarrassment from beginning to end. The title track alone is more embarrassing than anything he's done since MPLSound. Nothing on that level of astonishing amateurism as Art Official Cage, Clouds, or Breakfast Can Wait on HitNrun.

Ok i take that back, fallinginlovetonite is as bad or worse than all three of those AOA tracks, but that's about as AOA-putrid as Hitnrun gets.

[Edited 12/4/15 6:58am]

BartVanHemelen said:

jjam said:

The Adele 25 thing is an anomaly. Album sales are shocking these days. You have to remember that she has extreme cross-demographic appeal and her album's been mainly bought by people who buy one CD a year.

.

Her YouTube views are also shattering records. Her digital sales are also mile-high.

.

I'm still waiting for anyone to explain to me why Prince insists on releasing crap that doesn't sell.

Wow Bart. I remember you from the alt.music Prince days. I was also a "naysayer" back then. One of my handles was "Q" but I think some other shnook also used that. I'm curious. Have you liked anything Prince has released since the Crystal Ball fiasco days? Non-rhetorical.

MIRvmn said:

I think the best thing for Prince is to focus on the fans he has left and release quality music. Releasing albums like Hitnrun are just embarrassing. AOA on the other hand is a very good album but Prince just can't be arsed to promote his own stuff

AOA embarrassing? Kinda harsh. There's some real gems on that album. Him incorporating modern flourishes is no more embarrassing than his adding rap to his gumbo for D&P.

V10LETBLUES said:

Hitnrun and AOA are the Come TGE of the year. I am not a huge fan of either, but time will be a lot kinder to hitnrun, while AOA is just true cringe worthy embarrassment from beginning to end. The title track alone is more embarrassing than anything he's done since MPLSound. Nothing on that level of astonishing amateurism as Art Official Cage, Clouds, or Breakfast Can Wait on HitNrun.

Ok i take that back, fallinginlovetonite is as bad or worse than all three of those AOA tracks, but that's about as AOA-putrid as Hitnrun gets.

[Edited 12/4/15 6:58am]

AOA-putrid lol...

If AOA wasn't a record but a person named Jerome, half of your friends would sit you down to ask you point blank if you're in love with the fella. Cuz like, it's always Jerome this Jerome that like why is Jerome/AOA so worthy of so much of your attention?

Aerogram said:

V10LETBLUES said:

Aerogram said:

AOA-putrid lol...

If AOA wasn't a record but a person named Jerome, half of your friends would sit you down to ask you point blank if you're in love with the fella. Cuz like, it's always Jerome this Jerome that like why is Jerome/AOA so worthy of so much of your attention?

It's the topic of the thread. You post on AOA much more than I. You like it fine. That's love!

Here on behalf of Aerogram and Violetblues...

AOA is not BAD... And it's not GOOD...

It's an AVERAGE album at best.

V10LETBLUES said:

Aerogram said:

AOA-putrid lol...

If AOA wasn't a record but a person named Jerome, half of your friends would sit you down to ask you point blank if you're in love with the fella. Cuz like, it's always Jerome this Jerome that like why is Jerome/AOA so worthy of so much of your attention?

It's the topic of the thread. You post on AOA much more than I. You like it fine. That's love!

I don't think I've posted on AOA more than you did, that's not humanely possible.

It's like you're a dominatrix to AOA/Jerome I swear.

[Edited 12/4/15 16:31pm]

Aerogram said:

Aerogram said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Oh please, dude is probably pissed as hell right now that Adele is selling millions of records and trying to call WBR execs to bitch about his records merely selling a few thousand copies and how that is their fault.

.

He bitched all Summer 2014 about WBR not releasing his AOA soon enough and about the 3EG record not gettign released. Then there's the announcement and suddenly zero promotion happens. It's clear as fuck that two things happened: his insistence of releasing two records at the same time caused some contractual adjustments which he didn't like; and the release announcement probably coincided with some contractual milestone that came down to something like "the cheque cleared".

You've been bitching for two decades with a chip on your shoulder you can see from space and now you're imagining Prince is terribly jealous of Adele?

It's called demonizing.

Bart is an annoying fellow, but he speaks the TRUTH, when it comes to Prince. Prince is jealous of Adele. Hell, look at his most recent stunt with Lady Gaga. Or I could bring up his old shit with David Bowie.

Aerogram said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Oh please, dude is probably pissed as hell right now that Adele is selling millions of records and trying to call WBR execs to bitch about his records merely selling a few thousand copies and how that is their fault.

.

He bitched all Summer 2014 about WBR not releasing his AOA soon enough and about the 3EG record not gettign released. Then there's the announcement and suddenly zero promotion happens. It's clear as fuck that two things happened: his insistence of releasing two records at the same time caused some contractual adjustments which he didn't like; and the release announcement probably coincided with some contractual milestone that came down to something like "the cheque cleared".

You've been bitching for two decades with a chip on your shoulder you can see from space and now you're imagining Prince is terribly jealous of Adele?

It's called demonizing.

This is a discussion about Prince. Not a place for you to look for your 'moment' - calm down with the personal attacks.

Scarfo said:

Aerogram said:

You've been bitching for two decades with a chip on your shoulder you can see from space and now you're imagining Prince is terribly jealous of Adele?

It's called demonizing.

Bart is an annoying fellow, but he speaks the TRUTH, when it comes to Prince. Prince is jealous of Adele. Hell, look at his most recent stunt with Lady Gaga. Or I could bring up his old shit with David Bowie.

Where's the evidence that Prince is jealous of Adele? The Gaga retweet is about labels and artists paying to receive awards, you immediately upgrade it to disliking her work as a whole and being jealous of Adele too.

DiscoBallz said:

Aerogram said:

You've been bitching for two decades with a chip on your shoulder you can see from space and now you're imagining Prince is terribly jealous of Adele?

It's called demonizing.

This is a discussion about Prince. Not a place for you to look for your 'moment' - calm down with the personal attacks.

First of all, unless you're a moderator, keep your orders for your dog.

Secondly, if you look at the post I was commenting on, which alleges that Prince is probably jealous of Adele and that he's been "bitching", my comment is perfectly appropriate. The person who made that comment is known for lecturing people on their typos, broken links and unsubstantiated speculations and has done nothing but attack and put down for years, he doesn't your help.

Aerogram said:

DiscoBallz said:

This is a discussion about Prince. Not a place for you to look for your 'moment' - calm down with the personal attacks.

First of all, unless you're a moderator, keep your orders for your dog.

Secondly, if you look at the post I was commenting on, which alleges that Prince is probably jealous of Adele and that he's been "bitching", my comment is perfectly appropriate. The person who made that comment is known for lecturing people on their typos, broken links and unsubstantiated speculations and has done nothing but attack and put down for years, he doesn't your help.

And Prince doesn't need yours. The way you get your hair up the second anyone criticizes Prince and your demagoguery of Bart are both so incredibly tired. And to think, back in the days of amp you used to understand nuance (or maybe I was too young to see otherwise). As always, you'll respond with an irritatingly outraged remark - it's all so boring.

BartVanHemelen said:

In Dutch we have an expression which roughly translates to: "he expects fried chickens to fly into his mouth" -- and that's what is happening here.

Why don't we (the U.S.) have that expression? I want it. It's brilliant.

I think you're probably mostly right about this, too. But mainly, I just wanted to say that's a great image.

BartVanHemelen said:

jjam said:

The Adele 25 thing is an anomaly. Album sales are shocking these days. You have to remember that she has extreme cross-demographic appeal and her album's been mainly bought by people who buy one CD a year.

.

Her YouTube views are also shattering records. Her digital sales are also mile-high.

.

I'm still waiting for anyone to explain to me why Prince insists on releasing crap that doesn't sell.

I teach preschool, so I'll give the explanation that I most often get when I ask why someone does something:

BECAUSE HE WANTS TO.

Now, why does he complain about whatever company he's working with not doing their share to sell said product?

BECAUSE HE DOESN"T WANT TO ACCEPT THE BLAME.

Why doesn't he consider the possibility that it might be his fault?

BECAUSE HE DOESN"T WANT TO.

Why doesn't he admit that he actually has considered the possibility that it might be his fault?

BECAUSE HE DOESN"T HAVE TO.

Prince has pretty much always released as he wanted to, promoted as he wanted to, taken responsibility for what happens because of that approach when it amounts to taking credit and not blame, and is able to continue doing it (unlike most people in the world) because when he's been successful with that approach it has given him enough of a cushion that he's still overall safely on the positive side.

Did Warner's promote Art Official Age? Obviously they did. Not as if they thought it would transform the pop culture landscape, but they promoted it. Did Prince promote it? Yes, but not las if he really cared about it. He wanted his masters, and the ability to say he also won on the issue of releasing new music--a double win in his battle with Warners. Not only did he reclaim his legacy, but he could point to the "fact" that the same company also wanted his new music (whether they did or not, they agreed to release and promote it). That it came out after his real interest in promoting it himself was over... oh well. That was nothing new. Don't you guys remember the Gold Experience? Whining for two years and then moving on as soon as he got an agreement to release it?

I totally 'get' what you're saying,

I know a few older people that purchased it just to have the latest thing that 'the young people' are raving about..

jjam said:

Ego101 said:

Imagine how many times Prince has been in meeting's with label executive's in the past 20 years telling him-

"People just aren't buying Albums like they used to Prince"..

The Adele 25 thing is an anomaly. Album sales are shocking these days. You have to remember that she has extreme cross-demographic appeal and her album's been mainly bought by people who buy one CD a year.

V10LETBLUES said:

I've seen Adele and Gwen Stefani performing/performing their newest track on almost every program I watch. I know Adele is SELLING record numbers of physical albums and downloads. I'm not sure how many Gwen is selling but both are working their asses off. As Ive said many times, I have seen articles and posts about princes newest releases everywhere. That's the record company handy work working it. Now Prince working it? Nada. And by the same token, his newest albums are not commercial albums. They are patronizing hack jobs, but not commercial. If Prince really believed in his new releases he would put the work into it. My guess is he either doesn't care about the albums, or he knows they have absolutely no commercial potential whatsoever.

Maybe he both puts work into the albums and cares about them... maybe because he's 60, he feels he has aged out of the "working his a@# off" level of stardom. The lion's share of people on the Org act like Prince should still be the workaholic "terminator" he was in his teens, twenty's, and thirty's.

EddieC said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Her YouTube views are also shattering records. Her digital sales are also mile-high.

.

I'm still waiting for anyone to explain to me why Prince insists on releasing crap that doesn't sell.

I teach preschool, so I'll give the explanation that I most often get when I ask why someone does something:

BECAUSE HE WANTS TO.

Now, why does he complain about whatever company he's working with not doing their share to sell said product?

BECAUSE HE DOESN"T WANT TO ACCEPT THE BLAME.

Why doesn't he consider the possibility that it might be his fault?

BECAUSE HE DOESN"T WANT TO.

Why doesn't he admit that he actually has considered the possibility that it might be his fault?

BECAUSE HE DOESN"T HAVE TO.

Prince has pretty much always released as he wanted to, promoted as he wanted to, taken responsibility for what happens because of that approach when it amounts to taking credit and not blame, and is able to continue doing it (unlike most people in the world) because when he's been successful with that approach it has given him enough of a cushion that he's still overall safely on the positive side.

Did Warner's promote Art Official Age? Obviously they did. Not as if they thought it would transform the pop culture landscape, but they promoted it. Did Prince promote it? Yes, but not las if he really cared about it. He wanted his masters, and the ability to say he also won on the issue of releasing new music--a double win in his battle with Warners. Not only did he reclaim his legacy, but he could point to the "fact" that the same company also wanted his new music (whether they did or not, they agreed to release and promote it). That it came out after his real interest in promoting it himself was over... oh well. That was nothing new. Don't you guys remember the Gold Experience? Whining for two years and then moving on as soon as he got an agreement to release it?

In my opinion, a great deal of the people that say Prince is jealous of some other star are actually jealous of Prince. Bottom line. Prince makes bad decisions, he makes mistakes, he certainly takes some questionable stands and makes some questionable statements, but he still has plenty of fans and seemingly has plenty of money. He still seems to get to live on his own terms, and I think that enrages many people (and Orgers) who question why he gets to live how he wants - without any regard to how they would do it better. And again... BECAUSE HE WANTS TO. Get over it.

theblueangel said:

Aerogram said:

First of all, unless you're a moderator, keep your orders for your dog.

Secondly, if you look at the post I was commenting on, which alleges that Prince is probably jealous of Adele and that he's been "bitching", my comment is perfectly appropriate. The person who made that comment is known for lecturing people on their typos, broken links and unsubstantiated speculations and has done nothing but attack and put down for years, he doesn't your help.

And Prince doesn't need yours. The way you get your hair up the second anyone criticizes Prince and your demagoguery of Bart are both so incredibly tired. And to think, back in the days of amp you used to understand nuance (or maybe I was too young to see otherwise). As always, you'll respond with an irritatingly outraged remark - it's all so boring.

Then again, if it weren't for folks like me, most threads would be like this:

Title: (Prince disappoints again!) (song, album, article, media appearance)

Did you all see/hear that (song, album, article, media appearance)? As expected, it's awful and it's all done with a wig and ridiculous glasses!

First reply: OMG yeah how awful. I got my copy (wink) but he's not getting my money until he puts out some remasters.

Second reply: Why is he even releasing those when all we want is old Revolution tracks?

Meganayser Reply: Because he's money hungry/lazy/thinks only about himself/don't want people to realize how good he used to be compared to how horrible he is now.

Minority Reply: I actually like this and I don't understand why he's lazy if he's making new music when he could actually not do anything and just release long sought-after tracks.

Naysaying chorus: It's pale imitation of what he used to do so well when Wendy and Lisa were around like Wonderful Ass, go have your ears checked, they're clogged from all the asskissing.

More replies: Agreed and remember it's actually Jessy that came up with (song), he was only good when he got help.

More replies: As a guitarist, Prince is way overrated. There I said it.

More: Plus most of the time, he plays piano with just one finger.

More: Furthermore, Prince isn't really a funk(or RnB/Rock) hero, he's huh... POP. He's just pop and his best pop was because other people got involved.

More: Yeah, remember how he stole (song)? What an asshole.

More: Agreed! The proof is that he hasn't written a single good song since (1988 or 1995).

More: But thank god for the live shows/rehearsals/occasional leaked old track.

More: Even his live shows suck now.

More: Wake up, they've been sucking for years. Prince is only interested in squeezing some more cash from his fans.

Minority reply: Doesn't Prince rehearse a lot? That takes some effort.

Chorus: Nah! He's got to do it so it doesn't look totally embarrassing - which it will be anyway.

Minority reply: But he's getting good reviews for...

Chorus: He BOUGHT those reviews OR these journos will just write up the obligatory good review because they think that's what they're supposed to write -- they, like Prince, are lazy. Just kissing ass really.

More replies: You know, I was thinking that Prince's impact on 80s music is actually over-exagerated. IMO, Lionel Ritchie was the real boss back then.

More: Now that you mention it... you could be right!

More: Hello is my jam!

More: You got a point here, look how Lionel influenced Adele.

SupaNay: Absolutely, and he's probably jealous because he too wrote a song called Hello that's just a footnote in music history.

Minority: I love Hello by Prince.

Chorus: It's a great little tune that (so and so) likely co-wrote. Lionel is real funk soldier, not Princey.

(HEY MAYBE YOU HAVE A POINT, IT'S REALLY ENTERTAINING, TURNS EVERY THREAD INTO A STAND UP ROUTINE)

pdiddy2011 said:

Aerogram said:

theblueangel said:

And Prince doesn't need yours. The way you get your hair up the second anyone criticizes Prince and your demagoguery of Bart are both so incredibly tired. And to think, back in the days of amp you used to understand nuance (or maybe I was too young to see otherwise). As always, you'll respond with an irritatingly outraged remark - it's all so boring.

Then again, if it weren't for folks like me, most threads would be like this:

Title: (Prince disappoints again!) (song, album, article, media appearance)

Did you all see/hear that (song, album, article, media appearance)? As expected, it's awful and it's all done with a wig and ridiculous glasses!

First reply: OMG yeah how awful. I got my copy (wink) but he's not getting my money until he puts out some remasters.

Second reply: Why is he even releasing those when all we want is old Revolution tracks?

Meganayser Reply: Because he's money hungry/lazy/thinks only about himself/don't want people to realize how good he used to be compared to how horrible he is now.

Minority Reply: I actually like this and I don't understand why he's lazy if he's making new music when he could actually not do anything and just release long sought-after tracks.

Naysaying chorus: It's pale imitation of what he used to do so well when Wendy and Lisa were around like Wonderful Ass, go have your ears checked, they're clogged from all the asskissing.

More replies: Agreed and remember it's actually Jessy that came up with (song), he was only good when he got help.

More replies: As a guitarist, Prince is way overrated. There I said it.

More: Plus most of the time, he plays piano with just one finger.

More: Furthermore, Prince isn't really a funk(or RnB/Rock) hero, he's huh... POP. He's just pop and his best pop was because other people got involved.

More: Yeah, remember how he stole (song)? What an asshole.

More: Agreed! The proof is that he hasn't written a single good song since (1988 or 1995).

More: But thank god for the live shows/rehearsals/occasional leaked old track.

More: Even his live shows suck now.

More: Wake up, they've been sucking for years. Prince is only interested in squeezing some more cash from his fans.

Minority reply: Doesn't Prince rehearse a lot? That takes some effort.

Chorus: Nah! He's got to do it so it doesn't look totally embarrassing - which it will be anyway.

Minority reply: But he's getting good reviews for...

Chorus: He BOUGHT those reviews OR these journos will just write up the obligatory good review because they think that's what they're supposed to write -- they, like Prince, are lazy. Just kissing ass really.

More replies: You know, I was thinking that Prince's impact on 80s music is actually over-exagerated. IMO, Lionel Ritchie was the real boss back then.

More: Now that you mention it... you could be right!

More: Hello is my jam!

More: You got a point here, look how Lionel influenced Adele.

SupaNay: Absolutely, and he's probably jealous because he too wrote a song called Hello that's just a footnote in music history.

Minority: I love Hello by Prince.

Chorus: It's a great little tune that (so and so) likely co-wrote. Lionel is real funk soldier, not Princey.

(HEY MAYBE YOU HAVE A POINT, IT'S REALLY ENTERTAINING, TURNS EVERY THREAD INTO A STAND UP ROUTINE)

This is spot on

ArtOfficialAge&PlectrumElectrum were both Number#1 albums on the chart. 90% of of artist don't sell MEGA units anyway even with promotion. Case Closed..

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

ArtOfficialAge&PlectrumElectrum were both Number#1 albums on the chart. 90% of of artist don't sell MEGA units anyway even with promotion. Case Closed..

On which album chart was Plectrumelectrum a Number 1?

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

ArtOfficialAge&PlectrumElectrum were both Number#1 albums on the chart. 90% of of artist don't sell MEGA units anyway even with promotion. Case Closed..

Plectrum Electrum fell off the Bill Board 200 chart in it's second week.

langebleu said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

ArtOfficialAge&PlectrumElectrum were both Number#1 albums on the chart. 90% of of artist don't sell MEGA units anyway even with promotion. Case Closed..

On which album chart was Plectrumelectrum a Number 1?

In answer to my own question - it peaked in one of its two weeks in the US Billboard Top Rock Album Charts at Number 1.

langebleu said:

langebleu said:

On which album chart was Plectrumelectrum a Number 1?

In answer to my own question - it peaked in one of its two weeks in the US Billboard Top Rock Album Charts at Number 1.

... and then fell off the Billboard 200 in the third week, my mistake for the above post...

Plectrum was a commercial flop selling under 40,000 total sales in the U.S.

feeluupp said:

langebleu said:

In answer to my own question - it peaked in one of its two weeks in the US Billboard Top Rock Album Charts at Number 1.

... and then fell off the Billboard 200 in the third week, my mistake for the above post...

No - in the Billboard 200 it peaked at 8 and fell out in the fourth week.

feeluupp said:

for all that it wasnt a big seller for him....art official age was still the best selling album in the world on its week of release...i dont think that is too shabby for a guy who has been releasing music for nearly 40 years...with no hit single and little promotion...