I have to say, like most Prince abits, it's been in regular rotation since I bought it.

Even songs I did not like at all, like "Hot Summer" I'm now loving.

Standout is still the Soul Asylum cover. When Prinde says "take too many pills" you know it was speaking to him. That's why Prince can never be replaced, you felt his pain. Even when he tried to overcompensate for it.

So, after two weeks, I'm STILL DIGGING on it.

Was listening to it today, I really like it.

I havent listened to it since it leaked, no plans to in the future, plenty of better things to listen to than that, apart from not being very good, for me its just been ruined by all the commentary around it

I guage my response to a 'new' album by how long it remains in constant rotation as the only thing I listen to. For most later-era Prince albums, it's in the neighborhood of a month or two. W2A didn't even last a week.

[color=blue] Hate to say it, but I`m still waiting for the copy that I pre-ordered to arrive. Man, this Delta strain is slowing the postage !

This is a new album by Prince, who will never record another album. I'm glad that it has been released and that I'm able to listen to it, with all its faults and imperfections.

listened to it this morning and still think its a good album. And now that wont change. Biggest surprise for me is the Blue ray. Wasnt really looking forward to it after seeing the tracklist and knowing there are better shows. However I forgot just how good Prince was live and in this quality you can really see it! Even a so called average show for Prince is still better than most artists out there. So been loving watching it and being sad at the same time. What a miss Prince is!

olb99 said:

fredmagnus said:

W2A is great. We need more from the 2000's & 2010's years. Thanks to the Estate, they're doing a great job even though the releases are not perfect. We know it's been a hard task. It's so easy to talk and blame but so hard to handle such a huge legacy. [Edited 8/21/21 3:29am]

It's speaking to me in my life right now.

I think it's better than when I heard it the first time.

Listened to it a few times. Other than "Check The Record" I'm done with it. Too much better Prince music to listen to. W2A bores me.

DarkKnight1 said:

olb99 said:

This is a new album by Prince, who will never record another album. I'm glad that it has been released and that I'm able to listen to it, with all its faults and imperfections.

100% this.

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. But it's not one I'm going to be going back to very often.

.

"Check The Record" will be added to my personal "best of" playlist, though.

muleFunk said:

It's speaking to me in my life right now.

I think it's better than when I heard it the first time.

Yeah, it truly grows on you - like many of his best albums.

"Check The Record" made me wait for a face-melting gutar solo that never happened.

That said, this unfinished "new" record left me flaccid.

Not Prince's fault, he wasn't around to finish 'Welcome 2 America'.

It's more enjoyable than I thought it would be but still, I'd prefer to see the 80s SDE's come out first as they were the reason why most people are still interested in his music.

But it's OK. The audio issues when listening with headphones are an issue that should have been addressed or mentioned up front.

And those SDE's should be more like the 1999 and SOTT ones: more music and less fluff for the price that is being charged.

But all in all, I like this more than 3rd Eye Girl or HNR1.

The more I listen to it, the more I get why he didn't release it. A lot of it just kinda plods along. There are some nice moments along the way, but it's pretty forgettable (at least in the grand scheme of Prince's discography)

I love the brutal honesty of many on this board!!!

toejam said:

The more I listen to it, the more I get why he didn't release it. A lot of it just kinda plods along. There are some nice moments along the way, but it's pretty forgettable (at least in the grand scheme of Prince's discography)

.

That's true. We didn't need another Prince album. His discography is fine as it is. And, at the same time, I would be happy to see more obscure stuff released (rehearsals, soundchecks, jam sessions, etc.). I do feel unreleased albums fall in that category (i.e. things that weren't really meant to be released and that don't really add much to Prince's canon). For me, everything released after Prince's death has to be seen in a different light anyway.

I don't know what you all are smoking, but I don't want any...

This is a very fine album, that continues to get better.

It's very good indeed... Bottom of the top tier, I would hazard to guess.

Just weird that so many of you don't like it. Genuinely surprised that even out of all the crazy diehards that frequent this place, barely any of you like this.

Weird. There's so much going on on this record, some great musicianship, some great songs, a cohesiveness, that organic sound, like a great late soul album from the man.

You're just all really weird.

[Edited 8/22/21 7:17am]

[Edited 8/22/21 7:17am]

Rimshottbob said:

it's top stuff! real lyrics, real instruments, real vocals, real MUSIC.

Welcome 2 America / Running Game / Born 2 Die / 1000 Light Years From Here is a fantastic album opener and summarizes what the record is all about.

"Hot Summer" coming after that strong political opener is there to lighten up the mood just like "Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful" did after "Colonized Mind" on LOtUSFLOW3R.

and after that, very strong moments like "Stand Up And B Strong", "Same Page, Different Book" and "One Day We Will All B Free" mixed with weaker ones but nothing skipable (when the lyrics falter, the music makes up for it and vice-versa)

to summarize: a great late Prince album that actually made me warm more to that era in general (was having a ball dancing to Big City from Hit and Run 2 the other day)

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.