The last two records released during Prince’s lifetime came out in September and December of 2015. After his brief reunion with Warner Bros., Prince decided that these albums would first be exclusively available on Tidal.1 Hitnrun Phase One and Hitnrun Phase Two got their titles not from some quick and dirty approach to recording, since they seemed to have been cobbled together from many sessions over many months, but to the fondness he’d developed for scheduling concerts with very little notice at all.2
Let’s get the bad news out of the way, and quickly: Hitnrun Phase One is awful. It opens with some backward vocals, callbacks to “1999” and “Let’s Go Crazy,” and a female voice singing a decent melody. Then “Million $ Show” gets drowned in a series of frantic vocal effects and computerized noises, never actually settling into any sort of groove. By the time the album is finished, though, you’ll think to those first three chaotic minutes and wonder, “Wait, was that actually the best thing on this album?”
Maybe? “This Could Be Us” a weak into entry the Falsetto Ballad category, might be better, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. At least it’s not as embarrassing as “Shut This Down” or “Fall in Love2nite,” which sound like Prince trying to ride a more current wave. The album is saturated in weak computer effects and a desperate, Let’s Go Current! vibe. It’s his worst record since Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, and it’s not a coincidence that both albums were ill-fated attempts to try and sound more current.
You’re Prince, dude. The times catch up to you, not the other way around.
Luckily, this was not the last album released before he passed. Hitnrun Phase Two came out a few months later, and it’s not only better, it’s actually a good record. No, really! I listened for the first time since it came out, and I was surprised at how well it holds up.3
The record opens with “Baltimore,” written in response to the deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. It’s a protest song, but with a steady, slinky groove, more soothing than defiant. This led some to accuse of it sounding lazy and dashed off, but I agree with the reviewer who admitted wanting something angrier, but then decided the song worked as “a vote of confidence from one of the greatest songwriters of all time reassuring young people that their voices are being heard and that their time is now.”4
Versions of the slinky, Sly Stone-vibe found in “Baltimore” appear throughout the album, much to my delight. “Rocknroll Love Affair” is centered on a driving, nothing-fancy, rhythm section. Lots of eighth notes on the bass and steady quarter notes on the kick—in fact, the whole album is a case study in how much can be done, sometimes, with just well-played quarter notes on the kick.5 And yeah, there may be hints of the “Take Me With U” melody in there, but why not take one of your great moments and repurpose it? Hell, there’s even a cool musical bridge, with lots of great work from a very real—actually played humans, not computers—horn section.
Two songs in, and it’s more enjoyable than anything he’s done since 3121.
Those 70s-era grooves and callbacks keep coming. “2 Y. 2 D.” brings “Proud Mary” to mind when it kicks off, but the horns and the groove quickly make the song something new (or, well, new enough). “Look At Me, Look At U” sounds like a lost track from Sly’s Fresh, but that’s high praise, considering that was Sly’s last great album. “Stare” starts with Prince playing a bass lick that shows how well he has studied Larry Graham, this time adding just the slightest skitter-step to the groove. At one point he sings, “Can I get a kiss?” and then slips in that infamous opening guitar strum. To me, this hit as a quick and knowing wink that I enjoyed, a welcome bit of proof that the man still had a sense of humor, though others heard it and yawned, only hearing proof that the man was out of ideas.6
It is true that he is drinking from rivers he has visited before, but Prince dug and filled these rivers, so I have no problem with it. Maybe I love the album as much as I do because, as the last stretch of entries in The Project have shown, in the twenty-two years between Emancipationand Phase Two, there have been a handful of good songs but only one album I would still listen to. For me, this is the first time the songs and performances sound comfortable in his older persona. He is not trying to keep up with the newest trends, or following people thirty years younger—people who probably grew up listening to him. He’s written some good melodies, put together a great band, and let the horn players and rhythm section carry the day. Even a weaker song, like “Groovy Potential,” is raised several notices by those horns, and, in that case, a cool outro.7
The album is too long, and the songs on the second half are not as focused and tight. Don’t skip the second half, though, because “Black Muse” works beautifully. Slinky groove, layers of backing vocals used to good effect, and a chorus with a great ending, breaking down for just a few seconds, then kicking back in with unison band hits that would make James Brown happy.8 Halfway through the song the gears shift, and we get a nice appearance from Jazz Prince, with busier drum and bass rhythms than we’ve had all album, super tight horns, and a nice keyboard solo from the man himself.
The last song on the album, and thus the last song released before he transitioned, is “Big City.” It’s not the best thing on the album but it’s fine—oh, look, another slinky groove! The melody is solid, and the twist in the chorus is more sweet than sultry: “I’m in the big city/When I’m in your arms.” Aside from some questionable scatting in the middle, the track works as a sort of “let’s close this place” party song.
And the last words our man says, as the track ends? “That’s it.” A final stab by the band, and it’s done.
1 For a nice look at how optimistic everyone was about this: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/aug/07/prince-release-hitnrun-album-exclusively-via-tidal
2 Once again Prince Vault has the basics covered: https://princevault.com/index.php?title=Album:_Hitnrun_Phase_One
3 I may not be quite as excited as this reviewer was, but they do pick out a lot of the highlights: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/prince-hitnrun-phase-two-album-review-this-is-like-the-blind-date-from-heaven-a6773056.html
4 The review also has a good summary of the release of the song: https://www.vulture.com/2015/05/baltimore-is-not-your-typical-protest-song.html
5 Loyal readers may be longed tired of my rants on how much better Prince sounds with a good drummer, but this record is more evidence. John Blackwell plays on all but on, and his work is key to the album’s success.
6 Man, Consequence of Sound hated this song, this album, and “Baltimore”: https://consequence.net/2015/12/album-review-prince-hitnrun-phase-two/
7 OK, I saw you roll your eyes at the title “Groovy Potential,: and I concede that lyrics are not always the best part of these songs.
8 Around 1:29, for example, if you need to go listen right now.
