funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

fair point, but i mean, he hadnt been doing that in years.

he stopped being interested in unusual sounds quite a while before AOA.

and AOA was at least an attempt to work with some modern tech/setups, which is what he did in the 80s.

I quite liked AOA and was happy with it. The same with HR2. Not bad to go out with these two. The less said about HR1 the better IMO!

purplethunder3121 said:

lurker316 said:

laytonian said:

lurker316 said:

I'm an old guy (born in '71).

Stop right there. LOL LOL Catching my breath. LOL LOL

Yeah, born in 71... Try 61...

purplethunder3121 said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

fair point, but i mean, he hadnt been doing that in years.

he stopped being interested in unusual sounds quite a while before AOA.

and AOA was at least an attempt to work with some modern tech/setups, which is what he did in the 80s.

I quite liked AOA and was happy with it. The same with HR2. Not bad to go out with these two. The less said about HR1 the better IMO!

I don't mind the second half of HNR 1. I actually love the X's Face, Hardrocklover and June. And while I understand people not wanting album space being taken up by a remix, the new version of This Could Be Us, with itss crunchy guitar, is good.

purplethunder3121 said:

lurker316 said:

purplethunder3121 said:

I quite liked AOA and was happy with it. The same with HR2. Not bad to go out with these two. The less said about HR1 the better IMO!

I don't mind the second half of HNR 1. I actually love the X's Face, Hardrocklover and June. And while I understand people not wanting album space being taken up by a remix, the new version of This Could Be Us, with itss crunchy guitar, is good.

I really like the 2nd half but the first 30 seconds sound like Ross from Friends with his keyboard

dodger07 said:

lurker316 said:

I don't mind the second half of HNR 1. I actually love the X's Face, Hardrocklover and June. And while I understand people not wanting album space being taken up by a remix, the new version of This Could Be Us, with itss crunchy guitar, is good.

I really like the 2nd half but the first 30 seconds sound like Ross from Friends with his keyboard

I absolutely agree. I loathe the beginning with the skipping effect. It's the second half with the guitar solo that makes it great.

after listening to it again today, the reason for me that AOA to me is so easily the best album he made in the 2000s/2010s apart from TRC is because not just that it brings prince into the modern age, sound wise (lets be real, as much as the songs, the big appeal of prince was what he did with different/new technology/different gear, he sounded modern, he wasnt a traditionalist, even though he knew his history), its that it finds a way to respect the fact the man was no longer in his 20s or 30s, its more mellow, but its still funky. it references his classic trademarks like the funky guitar, the drum machines (gold standard is maybe too much like a time song though), the 80s (at times its like its influenced by other funk/rnb of the early 80s that WASNT prince), but its also mellow. who wants to hear him trying to be edgy at that point in his career? no one would buy it. also, it somehow sounds a bit more exposing/intimate than a lot of things he did in the last two decades on songs like breakdown or way back home. i cant explain that exactly, but it somehow sounds like someone with a few more regrets than before when he sings. the best thing it does though is that its got discipline. what made prince so good was that he almost always trimmed the fat. and he stopped doing that after a certain point. he did that again here, and you still get little glimpses of the little touches that only prince could do, even in spite of the modern production. its really an underrated album overall i think. its a great example of an artist making an album several decades in that sounds like them, is still in step with the times, and is also respectful of their history. i wonder if the fact it was a return to WB that made him work on it a bit more.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

I'm a 22 year old who became a fan at 13 (in 2013) when the 3RDEYEGIRL era had just begun, which ended up being such a special three years of my life. So much so I wrote a whole mega post about it, the songs released during that period and my memories of it: https://vickyxleigh.mediu...10ff60f2a. One of the earliest albums of Prince's I ever heard and fell in love with was LotusFlow3r/MPLsOUND and to this day, nine years later, it's still my all time favorite album of his

MusicFan20Ten said:

I'm a 22 year old who became a fan at 13 (in 2013) when the 3RDEYEGIRL era had just begun, which ended up being such a special three years of my life. So much so I wrote a whole mega post about it, the songs released during that period and my memories of it: https://vickyxleigh.mediu...10ff60f2a. One of the earliest albums of Prince's I ever heard and fell in love with was LotusFlow3r/MPLsOUND and to this day, nine years later, it's still my all time favorite album of his

Oh, my heart goes out to you! Keep playing Prince music and explore it ALL on your own and ignore the bitter old people on this board! I love that young people are still discovering Prince and Prince-related music! That's how his music will still live on! I took my son to ten Prince concerts and it was a wonderful musical journey for us. But people can still take that musical journey just like they can with other artists or bands that are "older." Welcome, new fans!

MusicFan20Ten said:

I'm a 22 year old who became a fan at 13 (in 2013) when the 3RDEYEGIRL era had just begun, which ended up being such a special three years of my life. So much so I wrote a whole mega post about it, the songs released during that period and my memories of it: https://vickyxleigh.mediu...10ff60f2a. One of the earliest albums of Prince's I ever heard and fell in love with was LotusFlow3r/MPLsOUND and to this day, nine years later, it's still my all time favorite album of his

enjoy what you enjoy.

theres nothing that says everyone must agree that SOTT is his best album.

i got into prince really in 1991 so D&P has a special place in my fan-dom.

idk if i think its his best, but its one of my faves for sure.

but thats great to know people can become fans at stages some of us might be surprised at!

MusicFan20Ten said:

I'm a 22 year old who became a fan at 13 (in 2013) when the 3RDEYEGIRL era had just begun, which ended up being such a special three years of my life. So much so I wrote a whole mega post about it, the songs released during that period and my memories of it: https://vickyxleigh.mediu...10ff60f2a. One of the earliest albums of Prince's I ever heard and fell in love with was LotusFlow3r/MPLsOUND and to this day, nine years later, it's still my all time favorite album of his

That's fantastic. Don't let the cynics on the Org ruin your experience of being a Prince fan or influence your preference for songs.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

MusicFan20Ten said:

I'm a 22 year old who became a fan at 13 (in 2013) when the 3RDEYEGIRL era had just begun, which ended up being such a special three years of my life. So much so I wrote a whole mega post about it, the songs released during that period and my memories of it: https://vickyxleigh.mediu...10ff60f2a. One of the earliest albums of Prince's I ever heard and fell in love with was LotusFlow3r/MPLsOUND and to this day, nine years later, it's still my all time favorite album of his

enjoy what you enjoy.

theres nothing that says everyone must agree that SOTT is his best album.

i got into prince really in 1991 so D&P has a special place in my fan-dom.

idk if i think its his best, but its one of my faves for sure.

but thats great to know people can become fans at stages some of us might be surprised at!

.

- True. I became a fan in 94, but the first albums I heard were Diamonds / Symbol because a friend made a cassette tape for me and they are special to me. The 90s are still my fave era, and that NPG, my fave band, although I acknowledge that the time between Dirty Mind and Lovesexy was considered Prince´s best stuff by most people, and indeed those were great albums with amazing songwriting and he was a trend-setter back then.

Unlike the 80s and 90s, there's no truly great Prince album from the 2000s or 2010s. This era is screaming out for a compilation that hits all the high points and skips all the low ones.

One thing that's interesting to consider is that there doesn't seem to be anywhere near the quantity of studio material produced in this era as there was in previous eras -- unless it was simply better protected from leaks.

One thing the SOTT box and Tudahl books have revealed is the sheer quantity of songs and outtakes being churned out back then, and throughout the 90s, which were then cherry-picked for albums.

My suspicion is that the newer releases relied on a much smaller pool of available material, the most obvious case in point being the albums towards the end where old material was being used a lot and previously released singles from several years before were tweaked and put on the discs as if they were new releases.

The quality of the albums Prince released in the 80s and 90s seemed, from my outside perspective, to rely on tons and tons of outtakes being produced to then select what was best. And with less of that happening in this 2000-10 era, there was less choice material to choose from.

Still, we have some real gems. On AOA, not my favorite album by any stretch of the imagination, I still think Breakfast Can Wait is a better song than Movie Star, and FunkNRoll is very nearly as exciting as EyeNo or Housequake. The overall production of the album is slultifying and generic, but there are pockets of inspiration. Almost every album from this era has one or two songs on it that escape overproduction, either because they are done more sparsely or they are so exciting they get away with the big digital sound.

One other thing: think the main problem with this era is that beacuse he wasn't generating as much material, his lyrics generally really suffered as a result. His best lyrics always seemed to happen when he was producing tons of stuff, living with millions of ideas. He got on a roll and gave a shit about what the lyrics meant, or wrote about sex and love in a way that could be incredibly simple and direct. But when he wasn't working at that furious pace, his lyrics got indulgent, pseudo-intellectual, ponderous, scriptural, and sometimes reactionary and offensive.

It's particulary sad because in the next decade or so I feel like he would've come out the other side of this time, sort of how Dylan came out of his religious era and found a way to be the old Dylan again, but in a new form. But still, what we have is more than we could ever ask for. And I'll be hunting for new gems in this era for years to come.

[Edited 12/26/22 13:45pm]

paraded said:

lurker316 said:

paraded said:

Unlike the 80s and 90s, there's no truly great Prince album from the 2000s or 2010s. This era is screaming out for a compilation that hits all the high points and skips all the low ones.

One thing that's interesting to consider is that there doesn't seem to be anywhere near the quantity of studio material produced in this era as there was in previous eras -- unless it was simply better protected from leaks.

One thing the SOTT box and Tudahl books have revealed is the sheer quantity of songs and outtakes being churned out back then, and throughout the 90s, which were then cherry-picked for albums.

My suspicion is that the newer releases relied on a much smaller pool of available material, the most obvious case in point being the albums towards the end where old material was being used a lot and previously released singles from several years before were tweaked and put on the discs as if they were new releases.

The quality of the albums Prince released in the 80s and 90s seemed, from my outside perspective, to rely on tons and tons of outtakes being produced to then select what was best. And with less of that happening in this 2000-10 era, there was less choice material to choose from.

Still, we have some real gems. On AOA, not my favorite album by any stretch of the imagination, I still think Breakfast Can Wait is a better song than Movie Star, and FunkNRoll is very nearly as exciting as EyeNo or Housequake. The overall production of the album is slultifying and generic, but there are pockets of inspiration. Almost every album from this era has one or two songs on it that escape overproduction, either because they are done more sparsely or they are so exciting they get away with the big digital sound.

One other thing: think the main problem with this era is that beacuse he wasn't generating as much material, his lyrics generally really suffered as a result. His best lyrics always seemed to happen when he was producing tons of stuff, living with millions of ideas. He got on a roll and gave a shit about what the lyrics meant, or wrote about sex and love in a way that could be incredibly simple and direct. But when he wasn't working at that furious pace, his lyrics got indulgent, pseudo-intellectual, ponderous, scriptural, and sometimes reactionary and offensive.

It's particulary sad because in the next decade or so I feel like he would've come out the other side of this time, sort of how Dylan came out of his religious era and found a way to be the old Dylan again, but in a new form. But still, what we have is more than we could ever ask for. And I'll be hunting for new gems in this era for years to come.

[Edited 12/26/22 13:45pm]

No truly great albums from the 2000s or 2020s??? You must be unfamiliar with Lotusflow3r. Also, you say of the 2000s/2010s era: “Almost every album from this era has one or two songs on it that escape overproduction, either because they are done more sparsely or they are so exciting they get away with the big digital sound.” That description is far, far more applicable to the ‘90s era. Nearly everything Prince did in the 90s was overproduced (take a listen to The Gold Experience) and/or generic, outdated digital sound (e.g. Emancipation). Granted, for MPLSound and 20Ten he used stale linn drum presets (along with a Casio keyboard to produce the synths on the latter) because he was intentionally trying to recreate an 80s sound, But AOA brought an updated production to his digital sound. [Edited 12/27/22 9:14am]

Well, I think the Gold Experience has incredible songwriting throughout, unbelievable playing and arranging, and great production. And by production, I'm talking about the quality of the musical choices on on the album. When I've heard complaints about the production on these 90s records (several of which I think are masterpieces), most of the time it's about the "improvements" in Prince's recording technology that make it bigger and fatter sounding than the 80s sound, and sure, we can quibble about the slamming 90's sound engineering -- maybe -- but the actual Gold album itself is so strong track-for-track musically and lyrically this doesn't matter much at all -- less than 5% to me. So no, in my book not overproduced in any way that materially harms the incredibly strong material that I've listened to 100s of times.

I bought Lotusflow3r the day it came out, gave it several spins, but then lost interest in it as a record. I've tried a few more times, but I end up losing interest in about half of what's on there. I do like Colonized Mind, $, and Wall of Berlin, and sure, they'd make a Compilation of the era, but many of the tracks feel half-baked and hazy; I got the impression he did these things better elsewhere. I'll try again though based on your very high praise. Maybe I'll like it more now.

I think as decades go, 2000 – 2009 was pretty solid for the most part. I’m really not a fan of ‘Planet Earth’ which I found bland and uninspiring, but the NPGMC stuff, 3121, Lotusflo3er. There was some genuinely great stuff here.

For me, 2010 – 2016 was the era I didn’t much care for. ‘Art Official Age’ was sensational, don’t get me wrong. That was the one album that proved that Prince could still knock them out of the park, but I really didn’t care at all for 20Ten, PlectrumElectrum, or the Hitnruns. I know there are many fans who like these albums and I’m pleased for them. It’s not as if I wished these album didn’t exist or anything like that. They’re just not for me.

As an old time prince fan since before Purple Rain, 2004-2016 was his redemption. It made me feel good seeing him everywhere blowing people away once again, me included. No. one could have asked for a better ending to a carreer. I would have felt awful if he left us continuing trudging along with the tired pedestrial and dumbed down musc and persona of the 90's.

VaultCurator said:

I think as decades go, 2000 – 2009 was pretty solid for the most part. I’m really not a fan of ‘Planet Earth’ which I found bland and uninspiring, but the NPGMC stuff, 3121, Lotusflo3er. There was some genuinely great stuff here.

For me, 2010 – 2016 was the era I didn’t much care for. ‘Art Official Age’ was sensational, don’t get me wrong. That was the one album that proved that Prince could still knock them out of the park, but I really didn’t care at all for 20Ten, PlectrumElectrum, or the Hitnruns. I know there are many fans who like these albums and I’m pleased for them. It’s not as if I wished these album didn’t exist or anything like that. They’re just not for me.

You didn't care for HNR 2? I understand a lot of people don't like HNR 1 (I actually happen to really like it), but I thought HNR 2 was pretty universally respected.

Is it that you prefer electronic music to organic style of HNR 2? I noticed in the other thread you said you loved Chocolate Invasion, and in both threads you've given some praise of AOA - -both of those are more electronic.

v10letblues said:

As an old time prince fan since before Purple Rain, 2004-2016 was his redemption. It made me feel good seeing him everywhere blowing people away once again, me included. No. one could have asked for a better ending to a carreer. I would have felt awful if he left us continuing trudging along with the tired pedestrial and dumbed down musc and persona of the 90's.

I feel the exactly the same.

I'm not sure where I'd draw the line for the start of his resurgence. I'm tempted to say 2001 with the issuance of The Rainbow Children. However, I didn't care for much the music that came in the following years (NEWS, CNote, Slaughterhouse, Chocolate Invasion) and wouldn't want to capture them in what I consider his glorious late career.

I'm also not sure about 2004. I appreciated that style of music on Musicology was more mature and a giant leap from the '90s albums, but none of its songs exicted me. It was an album I enjoyed more on principle than in practice.

Perhaps his resurgance (from my point of view) started in 2006 with the issuance of 3121. From that point on he had 9 albums, 5 of which I love (3121, Lotusflow3r, AOA, HNR1 and HNR2) and 2 of which I like (MPLSound and Plectrum). There are only two albums in that ear (2006 - 2016) that I don't like (Planet Earth and 20Ten).

wasnt his resurgence in this period (following TRC) more about him as a live performer? the albums werent really that important in the wider scheme of things, they were just there to have some thing new out to get him on TV shows, in media outlets etc, so people knew he was touring. i mean, theres some gems on the albums he did in this time, ofc, but as albums, was he putting that much effort into them? not really (except AOA). not that theyre bad albums, theyre not, but theyre generally not sterling works either. this late career return to glory was really about prince as a live act. it was him moving into what the stones do - an essential act you are meant to see at least once, no matter if you dont like all their songs.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

wasnt his resurgence in this period (following TRC) more about him as a live performer? the albums werent really that important in the wider scheme of things, they were just there to have some thing new out to get him on TV shows, in media outlets etc, so people knew he was touring. i mean, theres some gems on the albums he did in this time, ofc, but as albums, was he putting that much effort into them? not really (except AOA). not that theyre bad albums, theyre not, but theyre generally not sterling works either. this late career return to glory was really about prince as a live act. it was him moving into what the stones do - an essential act you are meant to see at least once, no matter if you dont like all their songs.

I think this is a very important aspect to note. Although I personally enjoy all of Prince's 2000's-2010's albums in various degrees, there was a much more mixed fan response to them. However, when it came to Prince as the Live performer in these years...there was mostly praise and positivity. I even recall seeing a share of Orgers saying they were more excited for the next Live Bootleg rather than his next album release. I do think AOA and HNR2 did shift fans into a more positive perspective though.

PurpleColossus said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

wasnt his resurgence in this period (following TRC) more about him as a live performer? the albums werent really that important in the wider scheme of things, they were just there to have some thing new out to get him on TV shows, in media outlets etc, so people knew he was touring. i mean, theres some gems on the albums he did in this time, ofc, but as albums, was he putting that much effort into them? not really (except AOA). not that theyre bad albums, theyre not, but theyre generally not sterling works either. this late career return to glory was really about prince as a live act. it was him moving into what the stones do - an essential act you are meant to see at least once, no matter if you dont like all their songs.

I think this is a very important aspect to note. Although I personally enjoy all of Prince's 2000's-2010's albums in various degrees, there was a much more mixed fan response to them. However, when it came to Prince as the Live performer in these years...there was mostly praise and positivity. I even recall seeing a share of Orgers saying they were more excited for the next Live Bootleg rather than his next album release. I do think AOA and HNR2 did shift fans into a more positive perspective though.

To me, his live shows in post 200o seemed less rehearsed, more imrpovisational. They seemed more focused on the musicianship than the spectacle or acting out some drama. They weren't hyper-coreographed like the SOTT and Lovesexy live shows.

I guess I'm saying he arean concerts started to feel a bit more like his aftershows. Not exactly (for one thing, he still concentrated on the hits in his arena shows), but in the sense that they felt more natural and organic. It was Prince just jamming, not trying to act out a rock opera.