Prince gets "experimental" with Joshua Welton, releases album on Tidal
September 9, 2015 7:34 PM Subscribe
Time indeed does not exist on Prince albums. Perhaps that’s why he’s kept releasing one or two every few years even long after his hit-making days ended. At age 24, on “1999,” he established a dichotomy—“I don't wanna die / I’d rather dance”—and at age 57, he seems to be taking that idea of dance-or-die more literally than ever. Who cares if fewer and fewer people are listening? Who cares if releasing exclusively to Tidal will limit his audience further? What matters is that Prince is working, and that the holy devoted will follow him.Spencer Kornhaber reviews HITNRUN Phase One on The Atlantic, warning that both Prince and "the gnarly funk-rock and R&B that made Prince famous" are in short supply on the album, which is produced by Joshua Welton, who said the album is "an experimental Prince record for fans who just don’t care about him sounding like a certain thing."
In his New York Times review of HITNRUN Phase One, Jon Pareles recalled both Prince's statement from five years ago that "the internet's completely over" for his music distribution, and that Joshua A. M. Welton produced Prince's album from last year, Art Official Age, and is part of Prince's band 3rdeyegirl, who also released the album, Plectrumelectrum, at the same time as Prince's solo album.
There are a ton of reviews for the album, and they span the spectrum. Abigail Covington on A.V. Club - "Prince crashes and burns on HITNRUN Phase One" (community grade: C); versus Alex Pappademas on Grantland - "Paisley Overground: Prince’s Best Pop Record in a Decade Is Hiding on Tidal" (though some of those qualifiers may sound like damning with faint praise).
posted by filthy light thief at 7:46 PM on September 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by filthy light thief at 7:46 PM on September 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Prince's talent will be properly recognized by future generations.
posted by davebush at 7:53 PM on September 9, 2015
posted by davebush at 7:53 PM on September 9, 2015
Boy is that ever a style that doesn't work with 30 second samples!
posted by aubilenon at 8:24 PM on September 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 8:24 PM on September 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
I adore artists who continue to grow and change throughout their careers, the reason it's called creative art is that we make it up as we go along, with often mixed results. Prince's output all but guarantees it will be a while before we gain a thorough perspective, and separate the wheat from the chaff.
posted by LooseFilter at 8:59 PM on September 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by LooseFilter at 8:59 PM on September 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
(also, with this album, I'll have to leave that work to others since I don't use Tidal.)
posted by LooseFilter at 9:00 PM on September 9, 2015
posted by LooseFilter at 9:00 PM on September 9, 2015
I really love his first first dozen or so albums. Kind of lost me at the New Power Generation phase, but I've never doubted his ability as a musician. But from the samples this new album sounds like it's been dreadfully produced.
posted by Catblack at 9:02 PM on September 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Catblack at 9:02 PM on September 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Prince's Best Pop Record in a Decade" is setting a pretty low bar. Sadly, even his "Best Pop Record in 20 Years" is setting a pretty low bar.
posted by blucevalo at 9:14 PM on September 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by blucevalo at 9:14 PM on September 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Time indeed does not exist on Prince albums.
And yet The Time played on Prince albums.
How do you explain that?! It is these kind of paradoxes that bewilder the mind and only can be resolved with L♥VE.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 9:40 PM on September 9, 2015 [9 favorites]
And yet The Time played on Prince albums.
How do you explain that?! It is these kind of paradoxes that bewilder the mind and only can be resolved with L♥VE.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 9:40 PM on September 9, 2015 [9 favorites]
Under the Cherry Moon is super underrated as a film and soundtrack but I was unable to finish watching Graffiti Bridge. Because it was bad. Seriously.
I'm waiting for 1920s-throwback Prince to return, if only in my dreams.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:14 PM on September 9, 2015
I'm waiting for 1920s-throwback Prince to return, if only in my dreams.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:14 PM on September 9, 2015
Prince's talent will be properly recognized by future generations.
he hasn't exactly been ignored thus far
posted by philip-random at 11:19 PM on September 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
he hasn't exactly been ignored thus far
posted by philip-random at 11:19 PM on September 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Time indeed does not exist on Prince albums.
And yet The Time played on Prince albums.
Wait wait wait... The Time, like as in when they were working with Prince, was actually in the studio Prince playing all the instruments and Morris Day doing the vocals mimicking a track laid down by Prince for him to sing with. Pandemonium is the first album that The Time actually played their own instruments to record.
Did any members of what was originally Flyte Time actually ever play on any Prince records? As far as I know, Prince was very busy with his own band at the time, when he wasn't just laying down all the tracks himself in his studio.
posted by hippybear at 12:42 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
And yet The Time played on Prince albums.
Wait wait wait... The Time, like as in when they were working with Prince, was actually in the studio Prince playing all the instruments and Morris Day doing the vocals mimicking a track laid down by Prince for him to sing with. Pandemonium is the first album that The Time actually played their own instruments to record.
Did any members of what was originally Flyte Time actually ever play on any Prince records? As far as I know, Prince was very busy with his own band at the time, when he wasn't just laying down all the tracks himself in his studio.
posted by hippybear at 12:42 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I find it sad that Prince considered it a good option for him to choose vendor lock in for his new album on a streaming music service that I don't use because I already use and pay for a different service.
The only way that I could enjoy his new work is to be a running hamster on the monthly money wheel for Tidal. Is this really the future we want?
posted by oceanjesse at 2:23 AM on September 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
The only way that I could enjoy his new work is to be a running hamster on the monthly money wheel for Tidal. Is this really the future we want?
posted by oceanjesse at 2:23 AM on September 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well now you don't have to feel so bad about pirating it, I guess.
posted by ryanrs at 2:46 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ryanrs at 2:46 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
There are a ton of reviews for the album, and they span the spectrum. Abigail Covington on A.V. Club - "Prince crashes and burns on HITNRUN Phase One" (community grade: C); versus Alex Pappademas on Grantland - "Paisley Overground: Prince’s Best Pop Record in a Decade Is Hiding on Tidal" (though some of those qualifiers may sound like damning with faint praise).
Any time an old legend releases a new album, there are always some reviews that say things like:
"a stunning return to form!"
or
"his best album since [beloved album from 20 years ago]"
that are usually from blue jeans boomer mags like Q or Rolling Stone and can safely be ignored. Not saying this is the case here as I haven't heard anything from it yet, but "old guy releases comeback" is one genre where the reviews should be taken with a pinch of salt.
posted by kersplunk at 3:55 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Any time an old legend releases a new album, there are always some reviews that say things like:
"a stunning return to form!"
or
"his best album since [beloved album from 20 years ago]"
that are usually from blue jeans boomer mags like Q or Rolling Stone and can safely be ignored. Not saying this is the case here as I haven't heard anything from it yet, but "old guy releases comeback" is one genre where the reviews should be taken with a pinch of salt.
posted by kersplunk at 3:55 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I was going to mention that there are alternatives to normal distribution systems for those interested in hearing this, however ryanrs seems to have beaten me to the punch. I shall now try listening to this. Keep in mind, that I've never been a fan.
posted by evilDoug at 5:58 AM on September 10, 2015
posted by evilDoug at 5:58 AM on September 10, 2015
Speaking as a die-hard obsessed megafan of 27 years/grumpy old man, it's a fucking depressing record - most of the songs sound like Prince having a nice wee sing over random snippets form Now That's What I Call Shit American EDM Clichés Vol. 8752.
I honestly think Joshua Welton is the worst thing to happen to Prince since Larry Graham.
Such a wasted opportunity, too - imagine if Prince had handed over production duties to someone, you know, good, with a proven track record, rather than roping in the drummer's husband and his 'Ableton tutorial on YouTube' sound.
posted by jack_mo at 6:19 AM on September 10, 2015
I honestly think Joshua Welton is the worst thing to happen to Prince since Larry Graham.
Such a wasted opportunity, too - imagine if Prince had handed over production duties to someone, you know, good, with a proven track record, rather than roping in the drummer's husband and his 'Ableton tutorial on YouTube' sound.
posted by jack_mo at 6:19 AM on September 10, 2015
Oh, and the Tidal thing - it's out on CD in a couple of days, so I'm not that fussed.
It's certainly not as bad as the the time I had to buy the fucking Mail on Sunday to get a copy of Planet Earth. Nor as bad as the time I paid for the NPG Music Club for four years in return for a half-arsed remix compilation and a seemingly endless parade of Ani DiFranco 'hits' and Larry Graham bass solos.
posted by jack_mo at 6:31 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's certainly not as bad as the the time I had to buy the fucking Mail on Sunday to get a copy of Planet Earth. Nor as bad as the time I paid for the NPG Music Club for four years in return for a half-arsed remix compilation and a seemingly endless parade of Ani DiFranco 'hits' and Larry Graham bass solos.
posted by jack_mo at 6:31 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
oceanjesse: The only way that I could enjoy his new work is to be a running hamster on the monthly money wheel for Tidal. Is this really the future we want?
ryanrs: Well now you don't have to feel so bad about pirating it, I guess.
That's the funny thing about opting to go with a subscription-only streaming service that offers lossless audio - someone's going to find a way to save those files that they streamed, then they'll share those lossless files with people who didn't (or couldn't) access the streaming service. So it's not really funny, but more sad that Prince still doesn't understand the internet. Funky grandpa, just let it go. Streaming media accounts for 45.2% of album sales, but Tidal isn't going to get you there (it was doing terribly back in April, but this effort plus removing his back catalog from other services and uploading it to Tidal might make some change in that, but I doubt he has enough heft to carry that off, if Beyonce and Nicki couldn't change things). Because the userbase on Tidal is so low and you're putting all your digital eggs in one basket, you're doing more to encourage piracy of your music than embrace the digital culture. Just join Bandcamp or something already. And stop pulling everything from YouTube, you're just creating a void where people can't hear you, not increasing demand for your music.
kersplunk: Not saying this is the case here as I haven't heard anything from it yet, but "old guy releases comeback" is one genre where the reviews should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years, though probably not rocking his peers. Prince's album discography doesn't show any real lulls in his past, though the 2010-2014 period was quiet.
I think the disagreement in reviews comes from the perspective of the reviewers - are you looking for a classic funky Prince album, or fun dance music? If the former, you're not impressed, but if the latter, it's a solid album (IMO).
posted by filthy light thief at 7:48 AM on September 10, 2015
ryanrs: Well now you don't have to feel so bad about pirating it, I guess.
That's the funny thing about opting to go with a subscription-only streaming service that offers lossless audio - someone's going to find a way to save those files that they streamed, then they'll share those lossless files with people who didn't (or couldn't) access the streaming service. So it's not really funny, but more sad that Prince still doesn't understand the internet. Funky grandpa, just let it go. Streaming media accounts for 45.2% of album sales, but Tidal isn't going to get you there (it was doing terribly back in April, but this effort plus removing his back catalog from other services and uploading it to Tidal might make some change in that, but I doubt he has enough heft to carry that off, if Beyonce and Nicki couldn't change things). Because the userbase on Tidal is so low and you're putting all your digital eggs in one basket, you're doing more to encourage piracy of your music than embrace the digital culture. Just join Bandcamp or something already. And stop pulling everything from YouTube, you're just creating a void where people can't hear you, not increasing demand for your music.
kersplunk: Not saying this is the case here as I haven't heard anything from it yet, but "old guy releases comeback" is one genre where the reviews should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years, though probably not rocking his peers. Prince's album discography doesn't show any real lulls in his past, though the 2010-2014 period was quiet.
I think the disagreement in reviews comes from the perspective of the reviewers - are you looking for a classic funky Prince album, or fun dance music? If the former, you're not impressed, but if the latter, it's a solid album (IMO).
posted by filthy light thief at 7:48 AM on September 10, 2015
I love Prince, I've seen him perform live 13 times. I will listen to this and find something to love.
Also - "Metafilter: Funky grandpa, just let it go"...
posted by ersatzkat at 12:16 PM on September 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
Also - "Metafilter: Funky grandpa, just let it go"...
posted by ersatzkat at 12:16 PM on September 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
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And Stereogum has Prince's announcement about his choice to work with Tidal.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:37 PM on September 9, 2015