I almost wonder if this is a piece of art that Prince didn't want to make but had to so it would get out of his head.

Kind of like The Grand Progression living in the vault.

____

One Day We Will All B Free lyrics:

You go to bed, just to learn

It was all a dream
Day after day, just a yearning

For something in between
Kneeling down beside your bed
Praying for a sign
And everything your momma said
Is just a waste of time

But one day, one day, we'll all b free

Go to church, just to be sold on
Why you deserve to die
It's just like having your fortune told

But never asking why

More like having one of God's creation

Tied up on a leash

Makes you wonder who controls the nations
If we never had peace

One day, one day, we'll all b free

You go to school, just to learn
About what never existed
If your history only burns
It's better to resist it

[?], Benjamin Banneker
Was never born a slave
And if George Washington never told no lies

Maybe we'd all be saved

One day, one day, we'll all b free

(talking about you, talking about me, we will all be)

The cynic in me is bummed out that regardless of the quality of the album, reviewers are gonna heap of ton of praise only because it's a posthumous release when, in all likelihood, it probably slots with a lot of stuff he released past 2000 that those same people would kind of ignore.

It happens all the time where suddenly it's "cool" to like something now that the artist has passed and the next release gets an extra star because of it.

My interest is piqued though because, from the sound of it, the best tracks on it are the ones I haven't heard so now I have some hope. The material I've listened to so far doesn't rattle my cage much.

Number23 said:

Romeoblu said:

You would think they would have the masters for this. I wonder if Number 23 can confirm if his version has the noise on Stand Up B Strong

Same noise I’m afraid. Actually thought it was my headphones at first.

If this was an issue with the CDR's they supposedly 'found' and they haven't bothered to locate the master tapes to correct it, I wouldn't be surprised in the least

Romeoblu said:

Overall I hear the inspiration of Sly And The Family Stone on this album more than any other. In particular on Hot Summer, Check The Record, Yes and One Day we'll all be free.

I immediately thought of Sly on those songs too (except Hot Summer, which made me think of suicide).

There's no immediately catchy bangers like 20TEN had (Lavaux, Beginning Endlessly, etc), but CTR, Yes, ODWABF, and 1000 Light Years are really cool.

Romeoblu said:

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Well, shit. It looks like we have another Warblegate on our hands. Bummer.

You would think they would have the masters for this. I wonder if Number 23 can confirm if his version has the noise on Stand Up B Strong

What's strange is that the noises aren't uncommon with old low-quality CDRs. If the noises are present on the official release, it was without question sourced from one of the old CDRs they found. Fingers crossed I'm wrong. On a positive note, this record is kicking my ass!

I'm hearing the clicks in the bass fill after the first chorus as well. Dag nabbit!

SchlomoThaHomo said:

fragglerock said:

VaultCurator said:

SchlomoThaHomo said:

What's strange is that the noises aren't uncommon with old low-quality CDRs. If the noises are present on the official release, it was without question sourced from one of the old CDRs they found. Fingers crossed I'm wrong. On a positive note, this record is kicking my ass!

Obviously, I can't tell for certain that this album is a straight CD-R rip, although the clicks and distortion on a couple of the tracks do heavily imply it. If it is indeed CD-R sourced, how comes Sony are selling 24bit, 96khz audio on sites like Qobuz and HD Tracks? Do you think they've ripped the CD then applied some mastering effects to inflate the bit rate?

Well if it's sourced from an old CDR, I would never expect transparancy from Howe and the Estate, and if they're releasing hi-res versions of a CDR, it would certainly just be to save face. On a related note, aside from the noises, it sounds pretty great to me otherwise. The "space" used on When She Comes is absolutely breathtaking, and so effective.

The album is really starting to bed in now.

Running Game is really growing on me and I'm now getting Gold Experience era vibes from Check The Record, made think of Interactive.

One Day we'll all b Free is fantastic. I Love the playfullness of it, sounds full of hope and joy.

There is not one song I don't like and Yes that includes Hot Summer.

My top 5 as it stands.

1000 light Years From Here

One Day We'll All B Free

Yes

Check The Record

Stand Up And B Strong

Yet another great album to add to his amazing catalogue.

I'm digging it.

Hot Summer is the only track I can live without.

1010 is the 1.

Marco81 said:

I wonder what the content of the 3rd CDR was. In Mint magazine they said 2 had the same tracklist, which I assume it's the ine we're getting. Hopefully there's info on thos on the Deluxe book. [Edited 7/23/21 23:04pm]

Maybe it was high resolutions files of the album spread across 3 CDs.

Listened to it a number of times now. A fine addition to his Discography. Sitting close to Lotus Flower now in my personal preference. Still slightly below Art Official age for me but it could change through time. Already like it more than Hit N Run 2 because that album was strung together abit and you can tell. This album all fits together nicely. I even dont skip Hot Summer even though it is the weakest track. I would give it a 7 out of 10 if forced to give a rating! Its A good album and im very happy that the estate has released it. I can even see it picking up some Grammy nods if the estate and the media get behind it. It seems that kind of an album. ( ok I might be getting carried away!) Loving Rin Tin Tin, Check The Record, Stand up and one day we will all be free. Really not any song i dont like. Happy.

herb4 said:

The cynic in me is bummed out that regardless of the quality of the album, reviewers are gonna heap of ton of praise only because it's a posthumous release when, in all likelihood, it probably slots with a lot of stuff he released past 2000 that those same people would kind of ignore.

It happens all the time where suddenly it's "cool" to like something now that the artist has passed and the next release gets an extra star because of it.

My interest is piqued though because, from the sound of it, the best tracks on it are the ones I haven't heard so now I have some hope. The material I've listened to so far doesn't rattle my cage much.

You're right, the reviews are already shaping this narrative.

Yep but we have all been listening to prince songs for many years on here. This is a good addition to them. Despite some of the themes of the songs , its a entertaining and satisfying album from start to finish. Thats my take anyhow. Yes if a little safe sounding in places. Theres not much funk on the album except maybe Rin Tin Tin.

antonb said:

Im not an expert, just giving my opinion. Love the organic feel to the album.

thisisreece said:

'Stand Up And B Strong' is an absolute classic...and hearing that guitar sing again...

dodger said:

thisisreece said:

On first list 1010 (Rin Tin Tin) is the absolute standout. A brilliant slab of staccato funk. Pleasantly surprised that it is a lot weirder than a lot of late era Prince.

Yes, I’m also loving it. Bits of it musically remind me of Da Bourgeoisie

It made me think of the man opera tracks from the Deliverance EP.

SquirrelMeat said:

dodger said:

dodger said:

SquirrelMeat said:

'Stand Up And B Strong' is an absolute classic...and hearing that guitar sing again...

Agree. I know most would prefer P on all vocals but I love the shared vocals here. Been a while since a song gave me goosebumps like this

INSTANT goosebumps the moment he started singing on this one.

I had low expectations for this but it is a solid work. It is about as good as "Hitnrun Phase Two"

This release is getting a lot of Curtis Mayfield comparisons and I certainly hear that but some of the other tracks I'm I'm starting to feel a little of Sly's "There's A Riot Goin On" as well. People are describing the songs I haven't heard so far as the real gems so I still hold out some hope. Hot Summer doesn't do it for me, the title track is OK but more of a spoken word/intro and I've always liked Same Page so maybe this will actually be something special.

But I still doubt it. This is the critics' turn to talk about how much they always loved Prince and now we've discovered this Forgotten Buried Masterpiece - and maybe it is. Maybe it is.

Maybe it IS. But 4 songs in, to me, it sounds like another Prince record.

Bowie's Blackstar opus is a damned fine record, but let's not kid ourselves and pretend that anyone would have called it a masterpiece if it weren't timed with his death. He was putting out similar quality stuff for a good bit.

I suspect we're looking at the Musicology, 3121, H&R Phase 2, AoA, 20Ten and LotusFlower levels of consistency again here that defined most of his studio releases since the turn of the century. No reason to expect anything else really given what Prince actually DID release. Which, honestly, for $15 on CD is perfectly fine with me but critics rushing to call it a buried masterpiece still gives me pause because, again, it happens with every artist who dies and suddenly gets lauded or has prasie heaped upon them. I just hope there's no real turds on it because almost all of his CD's for decades have that ONE on it that make it hard to just put the album on and let it play. If Hot Summer is the worst of the bunch, then that's pretty good for the Low Bar though since it's not terrible.

I'd put my expecation level around H&R 2/AoA levels as a high point and 20Ten/Planet Earth on the low end, but we'll see.

I like some of the descriptions I've read for the tracks I'm not familiar with and this is just me shooting off my dumb mouth on a message board so whatever. Guess I'll find out in a week and I'll shoot off my mouth again with a review.