babynoz said:

nursev said:

conhawa said:

I've been listening to it too. I really like "Time". I've been listening to it over and over....great song. The more I listen to Gold Standard....the more it reminds me of something from the 1999 Era.

Ive been playing it in the car all week and you're right GS does feel kinda 1999ish

Surely The Gold Standard is more reminscent of something from the Black Album??

Genesia said:

nursev said:

Who is the lady talking on all the damn songs U know I had to tune her out But yeah it sounds like he put everything he had into it...thats why I love it

Sorry to hear U didn't like her. Her name is Lianne La Havas.

[Edited 6/12/16 3:12am]

vladimir said:

nursev said:

Who is the lady talking on all the damn songs U know I had to tune her out But yeah it sounds like he put everything he had into it...thats why I love it

Sorry to hear U didn't like her. Her name is Lianne La Havas.

[Edited 6/12/16 3:12am]

And she is extremely talented.

jazzz said:

When this album just came out, I did not listen to it so much. But lately, I've been listening to it a lot. For me, it feels like Prince's farewell album. I made a version without the opening track and without Funknroll, and that version has such a deep feel. Very personal lyrics... I also like the production. It is refreshing, but not as 'modern' as hnr1. [Edited 6/12/16 2:40am]

I wasn't fan of the album at all when it first came out, I like it more now but I still don't think it's a good Prince album. But it nearly is. It's like Prince took half a great album and senelessly mashed it with a terrible one. Clouds, the Affirmations, Way Back Home, and Time are all hugely atmospheric, personal sounding tracks, and I also really like U Know - a whole album in this vein would have perhaps been a latter day Prince classic. But then there's the rest of the album.

However, doing what Jazzz said makes the album a million times better and does change the tone considerably.

I think it would have been great to see Prince's vision of this album in video, it sure would make a great short film.

AOA is one of my top five favorite albums. I was listening to it all the time since I got it in 2014 and I still listen to it all the time now. Absolutely fell in love with it. "Home" in particular has special meaning to me. I listened to it frequently when I was in a deep depression towards the end of 2014 after having a miscarriage. I was in a dark place, but as usual, Prince's music provided me with comfort and meaning. It sure is hard knowing he's not with us on Earth anymore

Jon1967 said:

nursev said:

Who is the lady talking on all the damn songs U know I had to tune her out But yeah it sounds like he put everything he had into it...thats why I love it

Clouds, the Affirmations, and Home are my favorite parts of this album. At the time of release I'd said it made me think he had been watching Vanilla Sky... and now I can find comfort in this, being his last "major" release.

I agree nursev, AOA is just an incredible album...I think it's one the most personal albums he's ever done. I find the album now has a real 'sadness' quality to it.

Aerogram said:

Love it

thisisreece said:

jazzz said:

When this album just came out, I did not listen to it so much. But lately, I've been listening to it a lot. For me, it feels like Prince's farewell album. I made a version without the opening track and without Funknroll, and that version has such a deep feel. Very personal lyrics... I also like the production. It is refreshing, but not as 'modern' as hnr1. [Edited 6/12/16 2:40am]

I wasn't fan of the album at all when it first came out, I like it more now but I still don't think it's a good Prince album. But it nearly is. It's like Prince took half a great album and senelessly mashed it with a terrible one. Clouds, the Affirmations, Way Back Home, and Time are all hugely atmospheric, personal sounding tracks, and I also really like U Know - a whole album in this vein would have perhaps been a latter day Prince classic. But then there's the rest of the album.

However, doing what Jazzz said makes the album a million times better and does change the tone considerably.

Nice (-;

leecaldon said:

vladimir said:

Sorry to hear U didn't like her. Her name is Lianne La Havas.

[Edited 6/12/16 3:12am]

And she is extremely talented.

I find her voice pretty soothing! "Which makes things move... so much fahhhhstah here" - I like!

Over the last few weeks, this is the album I keep coming back to. I listened to my fav tracks on it last night too. Love the hopeful vibe of "Clouds" and Breakfast Can Wait", and the sweet version of "This Could Be Us". It's Prince updated and a deeply personal album. "Breakdown" and "Way Back Home", very candid IMO. I miss him but he did leave alot of himself in this music so I'm thankful for that. He's still with us at heart.

Love this album. All of it. It is so personal. Did you know he worked with MIT to develop new types of instruments? https://www.ted.com/talks...n#t-466000

" And we started by making instruments for some of the world's greatest performers -- we call these hyperinstruments -- for Yo-Yo Ma, Peter Gabriel, Prince, orchestras, rock bands. Instruments where they're all kinds of sensors built right into the instrument, so the instrument knows how it's being played. And just by changing the interpretation and the feeling, I can turn my cello into a voice, or into a whole orchestra, or into something that nobody has ever heard before."

MIT Media Labs put together an opera--

"The third idea I want to share with you is that music, paradoxically, I think even more than words, is one of the very best ways we have of showing who we really are. I love giving talks, although strangely I feel more nervous giving talks than playing music. If I were here playing cello, or playing on a synth, or sharing my music with you, I'd be able to show things about myself that I can't tell you in words, more personal things, perhaps deeper things.

I think that's true for many of us, and I want to give you two examples of how music is one of the most powerful interfaces we have, from ourselves to the outside world. The first is a really crazy project that we're building right now, called Death and the Powers. And it's a big opera, one of the larger opera projects going on in the world right now. And it's about a man, rich, successful, powerful, who wants to live forever. So, he figures out a way to download himself into his environment, actually into a series of books. So this guy wants to live forever, he downloads himself into his environment. The main singer disappears at the beginning of the opera and the entire stage becomes the main character. It becomes his legacy. And the opera is about what we can share, what we can pass on to others, to the people we love, and what we can't."

What do you think? A little haunting? You think about it while I listen to that rich voice in my ear singing just to me from the eternal matrix.

This is the one that made me excited about his music again. My interest in his music was waning for a few years before this, but AOA made me sit up and notice he still has it. Very creative and original, but it still has that Prince sound throughout. Way Back Home, Time, & affirmation III are haunting, and I still have a hard time listening to them since his passing without getting a lump in my thoat.

I am still shocked it didn't do better than it did. I have said this many times, but it deserves to be heard!

jtfolden said:

nursev said:

Who is the lady talking on all the damn songs U know I had to tune her out But yeah it sounds like he put everything he had into it...thats why I love it

Clouds, the Affirmations, and Home are my favorite parts of this album. At the time of release I'd said it made me think he had been watching Vanilla Sky... and now I can find comfort in this, being his last "major" release.

Vanilla Sky was my thought as well. "Way Back Home" makes me ugly cry.

Getting used 2 pressing 'skip' on that 1.

"All I ever wanted, 2 be left alone. So many reasons why I don't belong here.

I've heard about those happy endings but still a mystery".

Such pain and isolation it seems. Until of course, he finds his way back home.

Dear God, here comes the tears. Going 2 go put on "Kiss Me Quick" and "dance my life away".

Having come back to Prince's music after the sad news of his passing, I bought HnR II on cd and AOA on Vinyl within a few days of each other. I love them both so much and they are so different. AOA seems very cohesive and three of the tracks were what drew me back, FunknRoll, This Could be Us and Way Back Home. Though I like HnR, I can't say it has impacted me as much as AOA. It is so unique and Prince at his best imo.

i've been listening to crystal ball, but now i think i'll switch to AOA. that album is banging

Aerogram said:

That's so cool.

deerpath said:

Genesia said:

In a way, I almost wish it had been his final album.

It is his final album.

The two HNR releases are nothing more than some kind of archival collections like the 1998 "Crystal Ball", not a proper concepted album.

AOA is P's final album.

kristy said: