I don't think my feelings about a Prince album have ever changed very much after my first listen upon release.

I continue to enjoy a fair bit of the musical content on 'Art Official Age'; the 'Mr Nelson' story line remains unnecessary pseudoscientific dross.

Apart from a couple of highlights, Plectrumelectrum, fails to deliver.

Hitnrun Phase One was a huge disappointment on first play, and remains one of his weakest releases in my view, despite repeaed listens.

Hitnrun Phase Two thankfully followed within around 3 months and delivered much to commend it.

Prince's death has not changed my feelings about the musical content, but his death provides an additional context in which to consider his catalogue of releases.

There is evidence that Prince cared about response to his album releases in the context of his life and I have wondered whether the relatively short space of time between the release of Hitnrun Phase One and Hitnrun Phase Two was prompted by reaction to the first release.

Not really. I listened to "Way Back Home" and "Affirmation III" with a different appreciation. I still love "Clouds",TCBU,WIFL and "Time" the most. Plectrum and Phase I were hit and miss to me and I really just listen to "Anotherlove","Whitecaps","Tictactoe", "1000 X's & O's" and "June" from them. I think that Phase II is actually a pretty strong album and I felt that Prince seemed to be excited about it going by his tweets about the project. He seemed to be very proud of some of the songs,particularly "Baltimore","Look At Me,Look At U","Revelation", "Black Muse" and "Big City"

Overall I feel they are pretty lackluster albums, in a period of lackluster albums Planet Earth, 20TEN, etc...

AOA is so average I can't even call it good or bad, but nothing stands out on that album... There are a few standout songs I really enjoyed, including Hardrocklover, Another Love, 1000 X's & O's, but honestly these albums really don't do much for me as a fan...

I like them all

My opinions are the same. Plectrum is a terrific rock album infused with some new energy that I hadn't heard in his music for a while. AOA is incredible and probably his last great masterwork. Phase One is fantastic as well and its futuristic vibe makes it sound like a sister album to AOA. I usually combine AOA and Phase One to make a kick ass double album.

Phase Two is one of his weakest albums. Coming after the energized one-two punch of AOA and Phase One and rudely interrupting their futuristic trajectory, it sounds like out-dated, old man music by comparison. Serving as his swan song album it depresses me that he went out with a whimper and not with a bang.

not a whole lot, i thought most of his albums were very good to great to begin with, I thought PE was lesser and I still think that. I liked the HNR and the AOA's there are moments where I can swear that he was recapturing everything he ever was and more in my mind and I just shake my head and think "he still had so much to give".

Still not a huge fan of "HNR Phase 1", possibly his weakest album ever to be honest. "Plectrum Electrum" has grown on me to about half good. "AOA" was always strong. While "HNR Phase 2" is his best album since the 90's i'd say.

Nope! With the exception of one or two songs, I didn't care much for the albums and still don't. His passing hasn't affected my hearing.

"Way Back Home" is harder to listen to but, no, my critical opinions on these records remain about the same and don't see why his passing would effect that anyway. I like a few songs on H&R1 (Hardrocklover, Shut This Down, 1000 x's and O's, X's Face, June), several on PE (though I'd like more Prince vocals) and LOVE AoA minus the title track.

I listened to AoA all the way through the other day and it's still really solid. It flows really well and has a lot of the catchy tricks and layers that albums like 1999 and SoTT had. It's trippy and ethereal. A headphone album. I'd have removed "Art Offical Cage", opened with "Clouds" and stuck another funk/banger in there somehwere but I thought it was his most INTERESTING album since The Rainbow Children.

I swear, listening to the music, the things Prince said, the things he was doing and the way he looked that he knew he was ill and there was more going on than the drug addiction. The "power 2 the ones who can raise a child like me" line is haunting (and strange given what happened to Amir) in the way it alludes to what could have been rather than what was. The whole track reads like a coda as do the Affirmation tracks. Feels like he's saying goodbye.

i loved AOA..PE has it's moments. HNR2 is excellent as is too. HN1 grew on me. the problem with listening to new music; especially from somebody with a body of work such as Prince, it's hard. most people can't listen without comparing it to his previous work or wanting him to sound like 1986. the first half of HN1 isn't for me. but the second half on there's some solid music on it

I've liked AOA more over time, still don't think the concept hangs together very well when it more or less disappears in the middle but it's a bit of a late period masterpiece.

Plectrum has stayed about the same, decent but not what it could or should have been. I rarely play it start to finish.

HNR the same, like 'em both, some songs very much. I liked that he was trying new stuff in HNR1 even if he wasn't always successful at it; HNR2 was him in his comfort zone, a good listen but would be dull if he had always stayed there.

herb4 said:

"Way Back Home" is harder to listen to but, no, my critical opinions on these records remain about the same and don't see why his passing would effect that anyway. I like a few songs on H&R1 (Hardrocklover, Shut This Down, 1000 x's and O's, X's Face, June), several on PE (though I'd like more Prince vocals) and LOVE AoA minus the title track.

I listened to AoA all the way through the other day and it's still really solid. It flows really well and has a lot of the catchy tricks and layers that albums like 1999 and SoTT had. It's trippy and ethereal. A headphone album. I'd have removed "Art Offical Cage", opened with "Clouds" and stuck another funk/banger in there somehwere but I thought it was his most INTERESTING album since The Rainbow Children.

I swear, listening to the music, the things Prince said, the things he was doing and the way he looked that he knew he was ill and there was more going on than the drug addiction. The "power 2 the ones who can raise a child like me" line is haunting (and strange given what happened to Amir) in the way it alludes to what could have been rather than what was. The whole track reads like a coda as do the Affirmation tracks. Feels like he's saying goodbye.

i like AOA and HNR1 fine on their own, but i've enjoyed the shit out of this playlist for a while now:


01. SHUT THIS DOWN
02. CLOUDS
03. MR NELSON
04. THE GOLD STANDARD
05. U KNOW
06. BREAKFAST CAN WAIT
07. BREAKDOWN
08. AIN'T GONNA MISS U
09. THIS COULD B US
10. X'S FACE
11. HARDROCKLOVER
12. FUNKNROLL
13. AFFIRMATION I & II
14. WAY BACK HOME
15. TIME
16. AFFIRMATION III
-

-

-

17. JUNE


everything flows nicely into the next track and it's a nice mix of more standard prince and josh's
production tracks.

i've used the single edit of hardrocklover as that one ends more well rounded and isn't mixed into
the next track like on the HNR1 album.

also, as much as i like the original AOA album (including the opening track) it always bugs me
that the movement from way back home into funknroll is so incredibly harsh and jarring. when
you flip them around the affirmation segue serves as a nice smooth transition.

also, june sounds kinda scary and very different if you play it after the 3rd affirmation with a
little pause. (you'll have to edit the first few seconds, which are the last remnants of 1000 Xs
and Os, off it because that's very distracting otherwise).

IstenSzek said:

herb4 said:

"Way Back Home" is harder to listen to but, no, my critical opinions on these records remain about the same and don't see why his passing would effect that anyway. I like a few songs on H&R1 (Hardrocklover, Shut This Down, 1000 x's and O's, X's Face, June), several on PE (though I'd like more Prince vocals) and LOVE AoA minus the title track.

I listened to AoA all the way through the other day and it's still really solid. It flows really well and has a lot of the catchy tricks and layers that albums like 1999 and SoTT had. It's trippy and ethereal. A headphone album. I'd have removed "Art Offical Cage", opened with "Clouds" and stuck another funk/banger in there somehwere but I thought it was his most INTERESTING album since The Rainbow Children.

I swear, listening to the music, the things Prince said, the things he was doing and the way he looked that he knew he was ill and there was more going on than the drug addiction. The "power 2 the ones who can raise a child like me" line is haunting (and strange given what happened to Amir) in the way it alludes to what could have been rather than what was. The whole track reads like a coda as do the Affirmation tracks. Feels like he's saying goodbye.

i like AOA and HNR1 fine on their own, but i've enjoyed the shit out of this playlist for a while now:


01. SHUT THIS DOWN
02. CLOUDS
03. MR NELSON
04. THE GOLD STANDARD
05. U KNOW
06. BREAKFAST CAN WAIT
07. BREAKDOWN
08. AIN'T GONNA MISS U
09. THIS COULD B US
10. X'S FACE
11. HARDROCKLOVER
12. FUNKNROLL
13. AFFIRMATION I & II
14. WAY BACK HOME
15. TIME
16. AFFIRMATION III
-

-

-

17. JUNE


everything flows nicely into the next track and it's a nice mix of more standard prince and josh's
production tracks.

i've used the single edit of hardrocklover as that one ends more well rounded and isn't mixed into
the next track like on the HNR1 album.

also, as much as i like the original AOA album (including the opening track) it always bugs me
that the movement from way back home into funknroll is so incredibly harsh and jarring. when
you flip them around the affirmation segue serves as a nice smooth transition.

also, june sounds kinda scary and very different if you play it after the 3rd affirmation with a
little pause. (you'll have to edit the first few seconds, which are the last remnants of 1000 Xs
and Os, off it because that's very distracting otherwise).

Yeah, that's a pretty good playlist but I'd shove This is What it Feels Like in tehre somewherel.

Also, which version of Funk N Roll did u use? I might open it with the AoA version and close with the PE one

I am a fan of all 4 albums. With AOA take off breakfast can wait and the whole album is pretty moody. Even the gold standard.

Plectrum Electrum take off boy trouble and you have a really good rock album.

HnR phase 1 is really really good if you take in the context that it is catered to the younger crowd. I think us older fans expect more of the same and this one was completely from left field.

Hnr phase 2 is good but a bit sounds more thrown together than the others. But still some solid tracks on there.

I listen to these more than his older stuff.

herb4 said:

IstenSzek said:

i like AOA and HNR1 fine on their own, but i've enjoyed the shit out of this playlist for a while now:


01. SHUT THIS DOWN
02. CLOUDS
03. MR NELSON
04. THE GOLD STANDARD
05. U KNOW
06. BREAKFAST CAN WAIT
07. BREAKDOWN
08. AIN'T GONNA MISS U
09. THIS COULD B US
10. X'S FACE
11. HARDROCKLOVER
12. FUNKNROLL
13. AFFIRMATION I & II
14. WAY BACK HOME
15. TIME
16. AFFIRMATION III
-

-

-

17. JUNE


everything flows nicely into the next track and it's a nice mix of more standard prince and josh's
production tracks.

i've used the single edit of hardrocklover as that one ends more well rounded and isn't mixed into
the next track like on the HNR1 album.

also, as much as i like the original AOA album (including the opening track) it always bugs me
that the movement from way back home into funknroll is so incredibly harsh and jarring. when
you flip them around the affirmation segue serves as a nice smooth transition.

also, june sounds kinda scary and very different if you play it after the 3rd affirmation with a
little pause. (you'll have to edit the first few seconds, which are the last remnants of 1000 Xs
and Os, off it because that's very distracting otherwise).

Yeah, that's a pretty good playlist but I'd shove This is What it Feels Like in tehre somewherel.

Also, which version of Funk N Roll did u use? I might open it with the AoA version and close with the PE one

i used to include 'what it feels like', since it's a nice song, but i felt the tracklist was a bit too long
that way.

though i might swap it out for 'funknroll', of which i've used the aoa version. the plectrum version
doesn't really fit this album in overall sound and vibe.

i'd love to hear more song in the vein of AOA and HNR1 and i'm hoping we will in the future

i sort of get why people don't like HNR2 as much, but it still surprises me, the amount of hate
it gets on the org.

it's back to more basic prince stuff after the slightly more experimantal albums AOA + HNR1,
but it's still a good collection of songs.

it feels pretty cohesive to me, although i do tend to leave Baltimore off, which is a good song,
just not that good as an album opener. i get the statement prince was making with it, but as
a way to kick of the album, RNR Love Affair works a lot better.

there's not a song on there i don't like, all of them are solid to good to excellent.

the only song that feels like an odd duck is 'screwdriver', which i still feel would have fit very
well on plectrum electrum instead. so if you swap that one out for baltimore, it's a nice rnb,
soul funk album.

the thing i've thought about though is, if HNR1 is sort of a collection of left overs from and a
few ideas that didn't really fit into AOA, than what is HNR2 a collection of left overs from?

eh?


.

[Edited 12/9/18 13:22pm]

plectrum electrum, i still don't like. it's like, i try once in a while but i just can't.

the jams that were released before the album were so much more enjoyable to
me. stuff like 'midnight blues' and 'hidden colors' are really good pieces.

the prince lead vocal tracks are all good tho. if everything had him on lead it'd
be a better album for it. tho 'fixurlifeup', 'pretzel' and 'boytrouble' are still just
silly.

anyway, plectrum, i listen to like this:


01. WOW
02. PRETZELBODYLOGIC
03. SCREWDRIVER
04. PLECTRUMELECTRUM
05. FIXURLIFEUP
06. ANOTHERLOVE
07. TICTACTOE
08. MARZ
09. FUNKNROLL


it pretty much feels like a short little off the cuff rock n funk album. a bit like
chaos n disorder but more raw. clocking in at 34 mins it's a nice listen.

..

[Edited 12/9/18 13:38pm]

IstenSzek said:

too much, as usual

[Edited 12/9/18 13:22pm]

IstenSzek said:

i sort of get why people don't like HNR2 as much, but it still surprises me, the amount of hate
it gets on the org.

it's back to more basic prince stuff after the slightly more experimantal albums AOA + HNR1,
but it's still a good collection of songs.

it feels pretty cohesive to me, although i do tend to leave Baltimore off, which is a good song,
just not that good as an album opener. i get the statement prince was making with it, but as
a way to kick of the album, RNR Love Affair works a lot better.

there's not a song on there i don't like, all of them are solid to good to excellent.

the thing i've thought about though is, if HNR1 is sort of a collection of left overs from and a
few ideas that didn't really fit into AOA, than what is HNR2 a collection of left overs from?

eh?

Morris Hayes said that "When She Comes" was originally meant for the W2A album but the original version was very different from the one on HNR2. It seems "Black Muse/1000 Light Years" were for W2A as well. I recall Prince saying in the last Ebony interview that it was the oldest song on HNR2 but he loved it so he just kept it. 2Y2D was previewed in 2013 so that one had been held back for a while,same with "Big City" and "Xtraloveable" I was glad to finally hear them on an official release.

pinkcashmere23 said:

IstenSzek said:

i sort of get why people don't like HNR2 as much, but it still surprises me, the amount of hate
it gets on the org.

it's back to more basic prince stuff after the slightly more experimantal albums AOA + HNR1,
but it's still a good collection of songs.

it feels pretty cohesive to me, although i do tend to leave Baltimore off, which is a good song,
just not that good as an album opener. i get the statement prince was making with it, but as
a way to kick of the album, RNR Love Affair works a lot better.

there's not a song on there i don't like, all of them are solid to good to excellent.

the thing i've thought about though is, if HNR1 is sort of a collection of left overs from and a
few ideas that didn't really fit into AOA, than what is HNR2 a collection of left overs from?

eh?

Morris Hayes said that "When She Comes" was originally meant for the W2A album but the original version was very different from the one on HNR2. It seems "Black Muse/1000 Light Years" were for W2A as well. I recall Prince saying in the last Ebony interview that it was the oldest song on HNR2 but he loved it so he just kept it. 2Y2D was previewed in 2013 so that one had been held back for a while,same with "Big City" and "Xtraloveable" I was glad to finally hear them on an official release.

the live rock version of this song, with 3rd eye girl, in san fransisco, is just amazing. it rocks so hard




i like the mellow popfunk version of it on HNR2, too. but that rock version is something else

and yes, i was also glad to have a lot of those songs rounded up together on one album.

i'm still hoping that tidal will actually release an album of his very last studio tracks next year but
we haven't heard anything about it anymore and who knows what tracks they might pick and from
what period so we'll just have to wait and see.

IstenSzek said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

Morris Hayes said that "When She Comes" was originally meant for the W2A album but the original version was very different from the one on HNR2. It seems "Black Muse/1000 Light Years" were for W2A as well. I recall Prince saying in the last Ebony interview that it was the oldest song on HNR2 but he loved it so he just kept it. 2Y2D was previewed in 2013 so that one had been held back for a while,same with "Big City" and "Xtraloveable" I was glad to finally hear them on an official release.

the live rock version of this song, with 3rd eye girl, in san fransisco, is just amazing. it rocks so hard

I want so badly to hear the 3RDEYEGIRL studio versions of 2Y2D and Breakdown.

HNR Phase 2 is A GREAT album. Never change my opinion about it before or after his passing.

I'm not a big fan of PE, but I do like the other's very much and listen to them regularly.

IstenSzek said:

pinkcashmere23 said:

Morris Hayes said that "When She Comes" was originally meant for the W2A album but the original version was very different from the one on HNR2. It seems "Black Muse/1000 Light Years" were for W2A as well. I recall Prince saying in the last Ebony interview that it was the oldest song on HNR2 but he loved it so he just kept it. 2Y2D was previewed in 2013 so that one had been held back for a while,same with "Big City" and "Xtraloveable" I was glad to finally hear them on an official release.

the live rock version of this song, with 3rd eye girl, in san fransisco, is just amazing. it rocks so hard




i like the mellow popfunk version of it on HNR2, too. but that rock version is something else

and yes, i was also glad to have a lot of those songs rounded up together on one album.

i'm still hoping that tidal will actually release an album of his very last studio tracks next year but
we haven't heard anything about it anymore and who knows what tracks they might pick and from
what period so we'll just have to wait and see.

Yeah I loved 3rd Eye Girl's version! I am hoping that Tidal will release some of the last tracks too. Someone in a group I'm a member of said back in the summer, they heard they may release the original W2A album that Morris has talked about, but I haven't heard any more about it. I think that would be a great choice along with 'Black Is The New Black.'