20Ten by Prince
20Ten is the thirty-fifth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on July 10, 2010 by NPG Records as a free covermount with the Daily Mirror and Daily Record in the UK and Ireland, and Het Nieuwsblad and De Gentenaar in Belgium. It was also released on July 22, 2010, with Rolling Stone magazine in Germany, and Courrier International in France. The album was produced, arranged, composed, and performed by Prince at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota. It is his thirty-third studio album released in the UK. 20Ten contains musical elements of funk, pop, rock, and soul music. Some names of the tracks from the album were revealed as clues in Prince's song "Cause and Effect" which was released to radio earlier in 2010
This Denver-based quartet used a grassroots campaign of their local radio station and newspaper to land a major label recording contract. Their demo of “Over My Head (Cable Car)” was named one of KTCL’s top 30 most played songs of 2004 and Westword Magazine awarded them “Best New Band.” It helps that the band’s piano-based pop rock easily slots in next to adult-contemporary favourites like Five For Fighting and David Gray without missing a beat. Singer Isaac Slade and guitarist Jon King write polite, catchy songs that are earnest and upbeat in their general veneer, recalling both the heartland Americana of Counting Crows and the heart-on-sleeve emotional overkill of Dashboard Confessional. What their debut album lacks in originality or edge is made up for with sincerity and unpretentious presentation. That said, many of the songs here sound similar. “Over My Head”, “How to Save A Life” and “All At Once” are all moderately paced pop songs that sound as if they were written to accompany a network teen drama – filled with pathos and nicely scrubbed.
