automatic said:

It's grown on me slightly, but the first half still doesn't grab me. A lot of those songs are just too similar. While it makes the album more cohesive I wish they were more memorable. Now the second half is where it really takes off. Check the Record, Stand Up And B Strong and Same Page Different Book are the stand outs. I still don't get the hate for Hot Summer. It's a fun little pop tune. [Edited 8/22/21 11:45am]

It's just...cheesy...I guess and not in a loveable good way. Agree with you about the rest and the stronger tracks on the record.

For me, 'Welcome 2 America' has a lot of commendable qualities. Sound wise, I think the album was a good fit for Prince, especially at that time in his life. It's a very mature record. As much as I enjoyed his retro revival on MPLSound, it was great to hear him return to live drums. I find it's 70s soul vibe to be very relaxing to listen to. It's very mellow and chill, yet there is still elements of funk to it.

It's not a bad album by any stretch, I'm just struggling to muster any excitement for it. I'm really keen to see more completed albums released that Prince sequenced in his lifetime, unfortunately I don't see me playing this one a lot in the future. Maybe it'll grow on me? It's still early days.

herb4 said:

After an intial negative reaction, it grew on me quite a bit and is a solid addition to his late career output.

Sony did a great job with the promotion and packaging.

Between this and SOTT SD, we've hit peak posthumous releases. I dont think there will be much better coming down the pike.

master said:

herb4 said:

It's just another Prince record post 2001 or so. Some good, some bad. Occasional flashes of greatness. I threw it on the pile and mixed up my favorite tracks with stuff from other albums, like I've done for some time, going back to Emancipation, Come and C&D.

TBH, as much as he said "albums still matter" on stage that one time, I don't think he cared all that much about the ones he made. Or at least not to the degree he use to. Precisely because the revenue stream(s) from selling them were dried up, inconsequential, moot and had been for some time - probably since the advent of Napster.

I think he might have been able to monetize "albums" a BIT more had he been more internet saavy and continued the NPGMC model but, to my eyes, he paid less attention to proper "albums" as he aged primarily because the money making model was dead. And still is. He was tossing CD's into magazines, folding them into newspapers, giving them away at shows, cobbling stuff together and shelving releases exclusively at Target, knowing the game (and the business) had changed. There's a reason his physical releases dried up over the last decade of his career and he resorted to things like residencies/live shows that minimized his overhead but let him earn. Part of that was not having to tour to push a new "album", like the old days, adn putting himself in one place where he could just play and charge ticket prices.

The biggest part was money plain and simple. And I'm not faulting him for it but it is what it is. He probably shelved this thing figuring "why bother?", knowing the profit margines were limited, and not because he didn't think it was decent. If ticket sales for his next tour were directly dependant on album sales, he may have pushed harder, but that hadn't been the case for him for a LONG TIME. He could announce a show 48 hours in advance and pack a house, fill the show with crowd pleasers regardless of what new shit he'd dropped. Nobody at the shows I went to post 1988 was buzzing about his new release. Most musicans simply don't make the bulk of their money from selling "albums".

It's what he meant when he said "the internet is dead", which people made fun of.

His statement that "albums still matter" struck me more as something he wished to be true than what really was. Philosophically, I agree with him (Shit, I miss COVER ART and reading the lyric sheets as I listened with headphones) but realistically, "albums" have - for close to two decades now - consisted of people ripping singles from them and throwing them on playlists.

There are no more "Songs in the Key of Life", "Dark Side of the Moon" or "Fear of a Black Planet" anymore. No "Purple Rain" or "Thriller"...no "Nevermind" or "Ten"...no "Back to Black".... full releases that make your hairs stand up on end and that force the world to stand up and take notice, let alone get us to stand in line to actually buy the fucker on release day or make us fans trade it amongst ourselves anymore. At least not much. To me anyways. Maybe these albums are out there and I'm just too old to know what they are, which is certainly possible, but the game has changed regardless and it changed a long time ago. Last "hype" around an "album" I've heard is whatever the hell Kanye West is supposed to be doing so...I'll pass. IF there's a "drop the needle on the album anywhere on the record" release out there, I'm all ears.

And there may be. There may be. But the "albums" don't set the world on fire and pay the artists, by and large. They just don't.

Prince was wise and knew this a LONG time ago. He didn't need this CD to sell W2A Tour tickets to his shows and, by then, the people showing up probably mostly didn't care to hear any of it anyway. He knew this so he mixed in the hits and, more so, the covers. Probably so he could have some fun. Also, like or not, HE was getting old.

And I doubt that excited him.

All them classics cd u mention. I prefer welcome 2 America deluxe with Blu-ray. Best release from vault so far in my opinion. Anyway purple rain sott, gold experience, five star silk & steel brothers in arms , introducing Hardline ,rocky IV, guns n roses use ur illusion 2, bad & now 1-20, has been by William shatner r best albums of all time, new albums r pretty bad as pretty much everything is becoming computer generated including stunts in movies [Edited 8/23/21 7:20am]

I was referring more to the way that albums aren't events for the most part anymore, aren't a primary source of revenue for artists and also using Prince's statements from that Grammy Awards presentation as a framing device. I wasn't primarily arguing about quality beyond the terms of artists not really NEEDING to create something special (like the examples I posted) to generate revenue streams. Perhaps to a degree, I was referencing quality. But it had more to with musicians (like Prince) not really giving a huge fuck one way or the other because the business model has changed so much.

Albums used to define entire tours and musicians' idenities in the Zeitgiest. Ziggy Stardust, The Wall, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Are You Experienced, What's Goin On, and so forth. Even the fucking COVERS were iconic. Now every song is just a little file and MAYBE a single strikes lightening somewhere but, even so, the artist gets SO MUCH LESS MONEY from it unless they make an ad out of it or license it to a movie.

herb4 said:

There are no more "Songs in the Key of Life", "Dark Side of the Moon" or "Fear of a Black Planet" anymore. No "Purple Rain" or "Thriller"...no "Nevermind" or "Ten"...no "Back to Black".... full releases that make your hairs stand up on end and that force the world to stand up and take notice, let alone get us to stand in line to actually buy the fucker on release day or make us fans trade it amongst ourselves anymore. At least not much. To me anyways. Maybe these albums are out there and I'm just too old to know what they are, which is certainly possible, but the game has changed regardless and it changed a long time ago.

Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp A Butterfly" has reached that status it seems. A few others.

For me, music and lyrics go together and both have to appeal to me. While the music is good on Welcome 2 America, the lyrics don't really speak to me that much.

Some of the best songs have been heard before: 1000 Light Years From Here, Hot Summer and Same Page, Different book. Those songs have okay lyrics too.

Stand Up And Be Strong is a good song but I don't understand why there has to be CD-R scratches on it. Don't they have the original tape in the vault?

Check The Record is alright, biut I find When She Comes VERY boring.

The highlight for me is One Day We Will All Be Free. I enjoy that song.

But there's not really anything that would go on a Best Of... from this album. I guess once the newness has worn off, it'll probably end up gathering dust on my CD shelf.

But I'm happy it got released. It's a part of Prince's journey of personal and spiritual growth. I think he was done with Jehova's Witnesses when he made this album.

[Edited 8/23/21 12:49pm]

I was referring more to the way that albums aren't events for the most part anymore, aren't a primary source of revenue for artists and also using Prince's statements from that Grammy Awards presentation as a framing device. I wasn't primarily arguing about quality beyond the terms of artists not really NEEDING to create something special (like the examples I posted) to generate revenue streams. Perhaps to a degree, I was referencing quality. But it had more to with musicians (like Prince) not really giving a huge fuck one way or the other because the business model has changed so much.

Albums used to define entire tours and musicians' idenities in the Zeitgiest. Ziggy Stardust, The Wall, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Are You Experienced, What's Goin On, and so forth. Even the fucking COVERS were iconic. Now every song is just a little file and MAYBE a single strikes lightening somewhere but, even so, the artist gets SO MUCH LESS MONEY from it unless they make an ad out of it or license it to a movie.

It is a very average Prince album. "Hot Summer" is horrid.

I haven't heard it.

Still listen to it almost everyday.
A cohesive album with great production and nice lyrics. It flows really well. It´s a nice album to show to a non-fan.

[Edited 8/24/21 9:11am]

fragglerock said:

lovitzj said:

I like the bluray

[Edited 9/1/21 7:50am]

According to my "scrobbles", I've listened to the album 10 times and some tracks, more often. I like it.

.

I'm pretty sure I'll still listen to that album from time to time in the years to come.

.

I'm also quite certain I'm ready for more releases each year.

I think it's possibly in my top 10 of his albums...which says a lot. I haven't ever spent to much time listening to the lyrics. I'm sure this is why I enjoy the album so much. I played it quite a bit up to a week ago....i am taking a little break and delving back into the SOTT vault stuff.

He's awesome..to call this a so-so album boggles my mind. As usual, a lot of care went into putting this one together...

I've been listening to it in the car for a few weeks (on and off), and I gotta say it's growing on me with each listen. I can slowly pick up the lyrics (how I like to do it - I never read lyrics), and the messages start to reveal themselves - I'm sure it's been mentioned but 1010 is basically binary code! other songs are revealing themsleves to me with each listen. Stand Strong is becoming a fav! as is 1000 Light Years... damn it all of 'em!!! Great album - First album in a long time I can listen to all the way through multiple times (I even like Hot Summer!).

[Edited 9/1/21 11:39am]

Dandroppedadime said:

I've been listening to it in the car for a few weeks (on and off), and I gotta say it's growing on me with each listen. I can slowly pick up the lyrics (how I like to do it - I never read lyrics), and the messages start to reveal themselves - I'm sure it's been mentioned but 1010 is basically binary code! other songs are revealing themsleves to me with each listen. Stand Strong is becoming a fav! as is 1000 Light Years... damn it all of 'em!!! Great album - First album in a long time I can listen to all the way through multiple times (I even like Hot Summer!).

[Edited 9/1/21 11:39am]

I'll agree that it's at least consitent. If Hot Summer is the biggest clunker than that's a fair enough bar to clear. Usually it's Wedding Feast, Everybody Loves Me or some shit. So, yeah. I get you.

I dig it and can't wait 4 future releases.........I want it ALL!

I've only got through it 3 times. I just can't enjoy it. Maybe it if were actually a Prince album.

herb4 said:

He could announce a show 48 hours in advance and pack a house

.

Plenty of tours and concerts where they had to drastically slash ticket prices. Even true for the club tour he did in 2013.

.

RODSERLING said:

I've not listened to it much since the first two weeks after release, but I've just been more in a mood for other albums/eras lately (like Come and SOTT). When individual songs crop up while scrobbling, it's still a durable listen and I'd still consider it an at least three-stars-out-of-five standard album.

billymeade said:

I'm not trying to be negative, but I haven't listened to it since release day. It hasn't clicked with me yet.

How is it ever goign to click if you don't listen to it?