I'm not alone in thinking this is the absolute worst Prince album. It's excruciatingly mediocre, hookless and boring. Not one song would make it even on a 6 cd box set of Prince's best. In some ways I actually feel bad about it. I'm from the classic Prince era 1979-1990 and the production choices he made for 20ten were a clear attempt to record an album with a very similar intentionally dated sound. I believe he was trying to relive HIS heyday just one time. This should be the album for me. But I can't even listen to any one song let alone the album all the way through. What went wrong? Obviously it's the songs themselves. They sound like polished demos. I mean stack any of these curs to say a 1999 outtake like "Purple Music". Thanks for trying though, Prince.

UPDATE: Well I forced myself to listen to 20ten three times...I'm glad I did. It grew on me.

[Edited 8/19/23 13:40pm]

sticky like glue

I don't really care for the sound of that album, but I'm not sure I'd say it was his worst (for me, Emancipation was his worst).

I think Compasion sounds like cheesy game show theme music. Same with Everybody Loves Me. They do have catchy hooks, but almost too catchy, like a jingle. Cringy.

It has a few songs I think are decent: Lavaux, Sticky Like Glue, Laydown.

I know a lot of people like Future Soul Song, but I don't get it at all.

He was supposed to release 2010 with full length songs and not truncated versions. Didn't happen.

I don't think anything went wrong with it. When I listen to Welcome 2 America, it feels slightly lesser than 20Ten, but they are definintely sister albums.

Why he didn't release it in the US is weird. I used to put "Cause and Effect" before "Compassion" and added "Hot Summer" a bit later in the album. But since the latter is now on Welcome 2 America, I suppose it fits there.

It feels like W2A should've come out and let 20Ten be a deluxe or bonus or whatever. Or hell, just be a two-disk set.

It feels more medicore than other albums (but not by much), but it's not horrible.

Over produced, too many yes-men & women around him, or limited input from others or too much, something went wrong. I always have it tied with "Planet Earth" as the worst albums, but Lavaux is fun and I would love to have the rumored 17 minute version. Future Soul Song is killer with the harmonies, absolutely beautiful. And if you chop off the first minute or two of Sticky Like Glue it is fantastic, and live it was always fun to hear.

lurker316 said:

I don't really care for the sound of that album, but I'm not sure I'd say it was his worst (for me, Emancipation was his worst).

I think Compasion sounds like cheesy game show theme music. Same with Everybody Loves Me. They do have catchy hooks, but almost too catchy, like a jingle. Cringy.

It has a few songs I think are decent: Lavaux, Sticky Like Glue, Laydown.

I know a lot of people like Future Soul Song, but I don't get it at all.

I can't imagine a world in which Emancipation was his worst album, although uneven and overlong for sure, with few, if any, all-time classics. But at least 12 songs on this record (more than enough for a full album) would be most artists from that era's best work. But fair play. I definetely think Rave, Slaughterhouse, 20Ten, MPLSound and even Planet Earth are weaker in terms of number of solid tracks. And even those albums have some great songs. If you take the best tracks from 20Ten and MPLSound (2009,2010 respectively) then you have a solid little album. My choice is as followed, should anyone want to try this out as a playlist and LMK what they think.

MPLSound/20Ten

1. Laydown

2. Compassion

3. Beginning Endlessly

4. Future Soul Song

5. Dance 4 Me

6. Lavaux

7. Here

8. U're Gonna See Me

9. Ol' School Company

If you take the best tracks from 20Ten and MPLSound (2009,2010 respectively) then you have a solid little album. My choice is as followed, should anyone want to try this out as a playlist and LMK what they think.

MPLSound/20Ten

1. Laydown

2. Compassion

3. Beginning Endlessly

4. Future Soul Song

5. Dance 4 Me

6. Lavaux

7. Here

8. U're Gonna See Me

9. Ol' School Company

TrivialPursuit said:

Why he didn't release it in the US is weird.

He didn't release it in the US because he tried to put it from release/shelve it in the UK a la The Black Album, but the owners of The Daily Mail told him it was already pressed, packaged and the deal was done.

This was in an interview with The Daily Mail reps who brokered the deal after he transitioned.

Boshie2000 said:

I can't imagine a world in which Emancipation was his worst album, although uneven and overlong for sure, with few, if any, all-time classics.

They whine about the "plastic" production in Emancipation but it don't get no more plastic than 20Ten.

The only difference is it's a plastic facsimile of the 80s prime era instead of the "plastic" style of then-modern 90s R&B.

MPLSound was similar in trying to recapture the 80s, well, the 80s MPLS style, but, it was less egregious because it was like a "bonus" disc on the Lotusflow3r 3CD set and chart-wise a bunch of Prince clones like your Justin Timberlake's, The-Dream's what have you were putting out material that was straight jacking the classic "Prince style" and having chart success doing so.

20Ten is worse because he's doing it again twice as phoned-in with worse material. Is this the first time in his career he put out a straight re-run? The same exact thing, but worse?

RJOrion said:

"Sticky Like Glue" and "Lavaux" are masterpieces.

I agree with you. I don't think 2010 is a bad record at all.

Still want the full length songs on the album.

WhisperingDandelions said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Still want the full length songs on the album.

I doubt there are many extremely extened cuts. The way I think of it is that it would have been
a bit like "Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic". A few alternate versions and some 'extended' ones that
run for like 30 seconds or 1 minute longer.

Same with the 'new' songs that might have been on 20Ten Deluxe. I Feel like "Rich Friends" is
probably the only one. Perhaps 1 more? "Cause and Effect" ? - although how that song should
fit with these other ones is kind of beyond me.

I don't mind the album itself at all, I kind of like all the songs but it does sort of fall apart by the
time the second half is underway. It feels like a very random couple of tracks.

"Sea of Everything" is so sparse it feels like a demo and "Everybody Loves Me" sounds like just
a joke song he recorded for a party at paisley park and decided to put on the album in some
moment of clouded judgement

Laydown is burried way beyond the end as a tag on. The second half of the album just feels too
disjointed.

FrankieCoco1 said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

He didn't release it in the US because he tried to put it from release/shelve it in the UK a la The Black Album, but the owners of The Daily Mail told him it was already pressed, packaged and the deal was done.

This was in an interview with The Daily Mail reps who brokered the deal after he transitioned.

20ten was released with The Daily Mirror in the UK. It was Planet Earth that the Daily Mail was released with.

Planet Earth was released with the Mail on Sunday, not the daily.
20Ten was released with several publications. In the UK it was with the Daily Mirror and The daily Record.

purplethunder3121 said:

He was supposed to release 2010 with full length songs and not truncated versions. Didn't happen.

20Ten.

chrisslope9 said:

RJOrion said:

"Sticky Like Glue" and "Lavaux" are masterpieces.

I agree with you. I don't think 2010 is a bad record at all.

20Ten.

in its defence, it has:

future soul song

walk in sand

the rest i can barely remember.

it was just another 00s cash in for prince.

musicology was just a clever ploy to sell it by counting it with concert tickets

this album was just a way to get a big pay out from a sensationalist right wing british tabloid newspaper.

Boshie2000 said:

I adore 20Ten, which surprised me at the time. The only song that I don't "love" (but still "like") is Everybody Loves Me.

homesquid said:

I'm not alone in thinking this is the absolute worst Prince album. It's excruciatingly mediocre, hookless and boring. Not one song would make it even on a 6 cd box set of Prince's best. In some ways I actually feel bad about it. I'm from the classic Prince era 1979-1990 and the production choices he made for 20ten were a clear attempt to record an album with a very similar intentionally dated sound. I believe he was trying to relive HIS heyday just one time. This should be the album for me. But I can't even listen to any one song let alone the album all the way through. What went wrong? Obviously it's the songs themselves. They sound like polished demos. I mean stack any of these curs to say a 1999 outtake like "Purple Music". Thanks for trying though, Prince.

I rank 20TEN the same as MPLSound, both kinda free albums: one with a newspaper and the other bundeled with the horrible Elixer and great Lotus Flower.
To think he charged people for his by far worst albums Art Official Age and Hit N Run Phase 1.

It might have done better if Prince had went around at least performing the songs live. Basically promoting it a whole lot more. Didn't seem like he cared too about these songs, so how could anyone else?

cfluid said:

It might have done better if Prince had went around at least performing the songs live. Basically promoting it a whole lot more. Didn't seem like he cared too about these songs, so how could anyone else?

that seems to have been the norm after the ONA tour.

DarkKnight1 said: