Since the previous thread -- http://prince.org/msg/7/454981 -- was auto-locked due to lack of activity, I'd thought I'd open a new one considering reviews are starting to appear.

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Updates:

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28 Aug: updated title with info WRT liner notes by Lisa Coleman (see my post at the end of page 2).

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29 Aug: Spotify might get the album a week earlier? (This is still unclear.)
October issue of German Rolling Stone has free 7" of "17 Days"! (see end of page 2)

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Early Sep: the issue of French music monthly Jazz Magazine featuring an interview with Lisa Coleman has been published. The German issue of Rolling Stone mentioned earlier will also have an interview with Lisa.

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4 Sep: Promo video posted on the official Prince Facebook page and elsewhere, offering plenty of details e.g. liner notes were also provided by Jill Jones (and engineer Don Batts), the artwork contains handwritten lyrics,...

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6 Sep: "17 Days" has been released as a preview, and there are at least two major articles about the song (NPR and Guardian).

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8 Sep: mention in Entertainment Weekly's annual "Fall Music Preview"

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9 Sep: review by Daily Mail

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13 Sep: review of "17 Days" by The Observer, "The student newspaper of Notre Dame and St. Mary's". ||
"Why The Butterflies" has been posted by several sites, some including a quote by Lisa Coleman, most likely taken from the liner notes (or from an EPK).

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15 Sep: new article on the BBC's site about the album: interviews with Lisa Coleman and Michael Howe.
UPDATE: The journalist has posted an extra, unpublished paragraph on Twitter where Michael Howe goes somewhat deeper into the reasoning on how these releases are decided upon.

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16 Sep: a review by French newspaper Libération.

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18 Sep: unboxing video of all three formats at the end of page 6. ||
Listening party @ Paisley Park, details on page 7 of this thread. ||
Review from Kleine Zeitung, the largest regional newspaper in Austria. ||

Article by The Associated Press with quotes from Troy Carter, Lisa Coleman and Michael Howe. ||
Review in Norwegian publication Nettavisen.

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19 Sep: Billboard review -- ah, scrap that, it's a reprint of the AP article/review ||
Télérama review ||
Humo review ||
Classic Rock review ||
New York Times review

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20 Sep: Billboard interview with Lisa Coleman ||

Vulture interview with Michael Howe ||
Jon Bream article in the Star Tribune (includes quotes from Jill Jones) ||
Billboard interview with Michael Howe ||

USA Today interview with Michael Howe ||

Loootsa reviews

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21 Sep: Toooons of reviews ||
Rolling Stone article

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22-25 Sep: loooots of reviews.

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26 Sep: Uncut published the article it did on the album as part of its August 2018 cover story on Prince online. (see page 16 of this thread)

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27 Sep: announcement that new issue of Classic Pop has cover story about the new album and more (see page 17 of this thread)

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29 Sep: CBC interview with Susan Rogers (page 17)

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12 Oct: Newsweek article (page 19)

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[Edited 10/12/18 5:09am]

Review in the October 2018 issue of UK music monthly Uncut:

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7/10

First posthumous release from the Prince vault

Barely a minute into the stripped-down version of “17 Days” that opens Piano & A Microphone 1983, Prince starts scat singing, then he beatboxes for a measure or two. It’s clear he doesn’t think anyone will ever hear these recordings, which he made at his home studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota, just a year before Purple Rain would make him one of the biggest stars on the planet. These nine demos are rough and raw: a form of note-taking complete with marginalia (“Can you turn the lights down?” he instructs engineer Don Batts). “Purple Rain” and his cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” are little more than doodles. But these demos reveal a side of Prince that he rarely showed the world. In two-and-a-half minutes he tries out a variety of approaches on “Strange Relationship”, and adopts a bluesy growl for “Cold Cofee And Cocaine”. Prince was a jazzy, spontaneous pianist and a precise, eccentric vocalist, soaring into that familiar falsetto but also diving into his lower register, especially on “Wednesday”. Notoriously guarded about his creative process, nothing quite like Piano & A Microphone 1983 exists in his catalogue.

Extras:None.

STEPHEN DEUSNER

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BartVanHemelen said:

Review in the October 2018 issue of UK music monthly Uncut:

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7/10

First posthumous release from the Prince vault

Barely a minute into the stripped-down version of “17 Days” that opens Piano & A Microphone 1983, Prince starts scat singing, then he beatboxes for a measure or two. It’s clear he doesn’t think anyone will ever hear these recordings, which he made at his home studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota, just a year before Purple Rain would make him one of the biggest stars on the planet. These nine demos are rough and raw: a form of note-taking complete with marginalia (“Can you turn the lights down?” he instructs engineer Don Batts). “Purple Rain” and his cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” are little more than doodles. But these demos reveal a side of Prince that he rarely showed the world. In two-and-a-half minutes he tries out a variety of approaches on “Strange Relationship”, and adopts a bluesy growl for “Cold Cofee And Cocaine”. Prince was a jazzy, spontaneous pianist and a precise, eccentric vocalist, soaring into that familiar falsetto but also diving into his lower register, especially on “Wednesday”. Notoriously guarded about his creative process, nothing quite like Piano & A Microphone 1983 exists in his catalogue.

Extras:None.

STEPHEN DEUSNER

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Fair review!

"nothing quite like Piano & A Microphone 1983 exists in his catalogue"

what about One Night Alone: Solo Piano and Voice"

alandail said:

"nothing quite like Piano & A Microphone 1983 exists in his catalogue"

what about One Night Alone: Solo Piano and Voice"

Aside from a focus on piano, they aren't really all that similiar (ONA is a proper studio recording; this new release is a single take, live in the studio performance), but I believe he's referring to the unvarnished quality, not the content.

EmmaMcG said:

I want more (and better!) releases in future, so yeah i pre-ordered day it was announced.

jaawwnn said:

TwiliteKid said:

alandail said:

"nothing quite like Piano & A Microphone 1983 exists in his catalogue"

what about One Night Alone: Solo Piano and Voice"

Aside from a focus on piano, they aren't really all that similiar (ONA is a proper studio recording; this new release is a single take, live in the studio performance), but I believe he's referring to the unvarnished quality, not the content.

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No, he's referring to the fact that this is a candid, not intended for release recording which sheds light on his creative process. Which is literally THE FIRST PART OF THAT SENTENCE.

When stickies auto lock, it tells you alot about the mish mash state of the stickies.

I most def will get this

BartVanHemelen said:

TwiliteKid said:

Aside from a focus on piano, they aren't really all that similiar (ONA is a proper studio recording; this new release is a single take, live in the studio performance), but I believe he's referring to the unvarnished quality, not the content.

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No, he's referring to the fact that this is a candid, not intended for release recording which sheds light on his creative process. Which is literally THE FIRST PART OF THAT SENTENCE.

It seems more likely the reviewer never heard One Nite Alone. He also talked about the cover of A Case of You without reference that Prince released a cover on ONA.

[Edited 8/17/18 19:46pm]

I will pass on this. I won't buy this release,

btw it was available on Purple Rush vol. 2, and its such a weak recording in bad quality, a cassette tape rocording, and a very bad one.

what a misjudgement to release this.. better luck with next release coming I guess in 2019, what a long wait for us for something interesting..

sorry for sounding sour, just.. it IS a bad release, damn..

SquirrelMeat said:

When stickies auto lock, it tells you alot about the mish mash state of the stickies.

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It also speaks volumes that a topic about an upcoming official release doesn't get enough posts to stay unlocked...

BartVanHemelen said:

thedance said:

I will pass on this. I won't buy this release,

btw it was available on Purple Rush vol. 2, and its such a weak recording in bad quality, a cassette tape rocording, and a very bad one.

what a misjudgement to release this.. better luck with next release coming I guess in 2019, what a long wait for us for something interesting..

sorry for sounding sour, just.. it IS a bad release, damn..

why are you assuming the quality of the release is the same as the quality of the bootleg? Mary Don't You Weep sounds great.

alandail said:

What I find interesting about this release. Must be 100's of recordings of Prince figuring out songs on the piano. They release one in circulation. Already preordered but more excited if they start to release more of this not in circulation. Is Tidal release still set for early 2019?

Thanks, Bart!

SuperFurryAnimal said:

What I find interesting about this release. Must be 100's of recordings of Prince figuring out songs on the piano. They release one in circulation.

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This is explained in the original thread.

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Is Tidal release still set for early 2019?

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There's a sticky for that.

I agree this release is not a good choice, but I'm happy to support it and hope for something better (i.e. unreleased and uncirculating studio tracks).

Thanks for starting a new thread, Bart.

nosajd said:

Need to save this date

nosajd said:

UK music monthly Mojo, no. 299, October 2018:

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4/5

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Acoustic solo session hinting at alternate futures for the protean purple pontiff.

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“Is that my echo?” asks the voice of Prince Rogers Nelson at the beginning of the first full release from the notorious Vault. He’s just checking on his monitoring with engineer Don Batts. Except that now it’s an echo from beyond the grave, and an echo of a past when Purple Rain and mega-success had yet to happen. The seeds of both are here, though, in this intimate, for-his-ears-only performance, as Prince segues between works-in-progress (Purple Rain as aching piano sketch) and grandstanding workouts (Mary Don’t You Weep is a full-on gospel exorcism). His piano-playing is a joy, his vocals a dramatis personae of lively characters: feminine and Broadway on Wednesday; comically gruff on Cold Coffee & Cocaine; like Kate Bush versus Randy Newman on Why The Butterflies. The whole thing feels – thrillingly, poignantly – like you’re in the room with him.

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Danny Eccleston

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[Edited 8/21/18 3:51am]

Silvertongue7 said:

nosajd said:

Well, I know everyone here seems to already have this release but I don’t, and I’m very much looking forward to it. I love Mary don’t you weep, and I’m sure the rest of the album won’t disappoint. I feel like those of you complaining of it’s release b/c you have already illegally downloaded it makes it an unjustifiable argument. Not to say I haven’t made hundreds or thousand of illegal download myself, just saying, it’s not a strong argument. Even if this isn’t what I expected/wanted them to release, I think it’s a really unique recording to add his discography. 2019 is not that far away either, we’ll have plenty of new music soon, however I fear that most of you will already have that release in your hard drives as well. [Edited 8/19/18 5:28am]

I think most people are complaining because it is a poor choice, not because we already have it. I’ve had it for years. I listened to it about twice. Not because of the sound quality (I listen to things that sound a lot worse), but because it is... well, it’s boring. And Prince should never be boring. This recording falls, for me, in the ‘cool thing to have’ category. If it was part of a big box set with another 25 rehearsals, it would be great. As the fifth disc in the PR deluxe set, fantastic. As THE FIRST proper release from the vault... a total misfire. Anyway, I might be wrong and it might be a huge success and bring to the Prince camp thousands of new fans. But for me, it just means I have to keep waiting for the good stuff (and don’t get me wrong, I assume that any release is going to include things I already have; I just hope it will be better stuff than this).

I think we have two different opinions on what "boring" is. I hope it is a success, but that's not how I measure how good music is good or not.