Parade was entirely a more original sound which eschewed popular music entirely with astoundingly successful results. And his stylist or style choices for that era were unimpeachable and have never been matched since.

ATWIAD was just my SNIP-OF4S doing a spectacular job aping another 60s sound.

Doozer said:

misiu said:

..could be...in 1991 prince was already "old news" and not really relevant anymore...sad.

If you think Prince was "not really relevant" in 1991, where do you put his status today?

He is a living Legend but, but very sad to say, rarely known by young people. He is not relevant since almost 20 years... (He could have been so huge still selling big amounts of CDs).

When i say that i am a fan of his music, people ask me..Who is he or is he still doing music? Oh i thought he was dead....

I wish he would be much more relevant, not just known for purple Rain or just the 80s star.

feeluupp said:

misiu said:

..could be...in 1991 prince was already "old news" and not really relevant anymore...sad.

Selling almost 7 million copies of Diamonds and Pearls isn't releveant?

...I loved that record, wow. That was the year i became a fan. And then came Symbol , Wow...I still think its the better one and should have sold much more than D&P...

Come on, you know that he wasnt that relevant anymore...new artist came and dominated the charts...but not prince anymore....

i have all of his record...and on every record there are at least 3-5 killer songs, that i love/like...But also songs that i could live without.

thedance said:

this is strange, and funny, imo...

Misiu:

"in the 80s Prince gave us tons of shit songs"

and also:

"Prince was not relevant anymore in 1991"...




May I ask Misiu, what do you like then, apart from SOTT & PR....???



Sorry Misiu, what you write comes off like nuts...

I mean no offense, its ok to have different opinions, but... if you don't like most of the 80's albums 1980-1988 and if you think he is done and not relevant post 1991 - what is there to enjoy??

[Edited 5/25/15 6:50am]

KingSausage said:

Charts = relevance. Neat.

ok, one question. When people dont buy your product and dont give a fu*k about u and your work. This make u relevant? I dont think so...

From what i remember, prince was at his peak in 1993 early 1994 at least here in germany...then he disappeared for the masses.

misiu said:

KingSausage said:

misiu said:

ok, one question. When people dont buy your product and dont give a fu*k about u and your work. This make u relevant? I dont think so...

From what i remember, prince was at his peak in 1993 early 1994 at least here in germany...then he disappeared for the masses.

There are other measures of cultural impact. Critical admiration. Inspiration to other artists. Live performances. I'm not saying Prince was dominant at those things in 1991. I'm just saying charts aren't the only story.

from what I can tell with Misiu his opinion = the only opinion, don't go worrying about anything else.

Strange once again..


Misiu:

"Prince was not relevant anymore in 1991"

And:

"Prince was at his peak in 1993 - 1994"


Sweet girl or boy, Misiu... what exactly do you mean..

You should really take another listen to the 1980s Prince albums once again - it's beautiful music.. then: do your homework please - and use your ears.

I really can't belive you don't like Prince material like 1999, Around The World In A Day & Parade... those are 3 Prince masterpieces, never mind what your german friends are telling you, judge for yourself..

KingSausage said:

thedance said:

Doozer said:

KingSausage said:

There are other measures of cultural impact. Critical admiration. Inspiration to other artists. Live performances. I'm not saying Prince was dominant at those things in 1991. I'm just saying charts aren't the only story.

Hell, even IF sales/charts equaled relevance, you still couldn't make a case that Prince wasn't relevant in 1991. Ludicrous. You could make a case that he was MOST RECENTLY relevant by that definition. Singles and album sales in 1991 are likely the highest peak of "relevance" in the last 25 years. Multiple top 10 singles and a multi-platinum album...this isn't about your opinion being relevant, Misiu. It's about you being wrong.

Only on prince.org will Diamonds and Pearls be a flop.

misiu said:

Well, i ve tried to like 1999 for the last 20 years, but its not my cup of tea. Its ok. The chosen singles are great (1999, red corvette + dmsr, something in the water, lady cab) ... I like most songs on around the world, parade is also ok with me (it has 4 classics, which i love). But thats not enough to be a masterpiece for me....as i said, i like sott much more. 1991 was a huge year for prince and he was dominating the charts, had one of his biggest tours..sold almost 7 millions. Great (what a year for a newbie). But after that his succsess faded away in the following years...after come in 94 he disappeared for the masses...and never really came back (musicology was also huge)... I'm not a hater, i love his music. But not everything is great. Thats a fact. And i wish he would be more respected than he is and get what he deserves.

Hmm I'm not sure about that. He may not have had mega POP-star status post-1994/95, but he had different successes throughout the years. Emancipation is like the fourth-best selling triple album of all time. Musicology and 3121 may not have been sales-monsters but Prince still got a lot of popularity post-2003, with the Super Bowl and several others. As far as I know, he hasn't "disappeared" from the masses. The masses as a whole know who he is and more than likely have heard at least 1 story or two about his recent activities in the past year (they're reported on Yahoo!, Buzzfeed, etc). I think what you mean is that he's disappeared from the radio. Hell, who cares, he had a long stint on it and it really doesn't matter if he ever gets on it again, he's past that stage.

But this was a waste-of-time post, because in a week there'll be a new "Why is Prince irrelevant?" thread.

For the record, I love these two albums. I remember after listening to Purple Rain and loving it more than life itself, I went to the follow-up, ATWIAD. And I hated it. It sounded so weird, unaccessible, boring, and just overall inferior. It sounded throwaway. But his choice of releasing ATWIAD instead of a standard follow-up later led me to appreciate it more. What a daring move. And it sounds so badass and different than Purple Rain (to me), that they're impossible to compare and I think Prince successfully avoided the "the original was better, the follow-up sucked" train. Parade is even better.

Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade, Parade

Personally, I've always found Around The World In A Day more musically similar to Parade than Purple Rain. He seemed to go in a more psychedelic direction at that point in time, admittedly influenced by The Beatles.

In my opinion, what Prince did between Purple Rain and ATWIAD it is analogous to what the Beatles did between Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. Their sound evolved and became more experimental. Magical Mystery Tour was an extension of Sgt. Pepper. So, too, is Parade to ATWIAD. They are companion pieces and best played in tandem. I am not saying that ATWIAD is Prince's Sgt. Pepper, but the analogy carries over as far as musical risk taking is concerned. I feel Sign O' The Times was the ultimate result (and probably the closest to a Prince Sgt. Pepper) of that round of his experimentation.

Of the two albums in question, I have to give the edge to ATWIAD. Although "Kiss" and "Anotherloverholenyohead" are obviously funky and amazing standouts of Parade, the true value in ATWIAD lies in its overall vibe which includes its kaleidoscopic B-sides such as "She's Always In My Hair," "Hello," and "Girl." I am also a huge fan of "Pop Life" and "Paisley Park." "She's Always In My Hair" should have been a single from the album and IMHO was too good to only be a B-side. (So was "17 Days" for Purple Rain, but that's another story).

[Edited 5/25/15 18:14pm]

[Edited 5/25/15 18:14pm]

I Parade

For Musicology to go multiplatinum 20 years after one of the biggest selling albums of all time (Purple Rain), and have the biggest tour of the year still 20 years after your highest commercial peak means there is still relevance in some way or form...

feeluupp said:

somethinginthewater said:

Personally, I've always found Around The World In A Day more musically similar to Parade than Purple Rain. He seemed to go in a more psychedelic direction at that point in time, admittedly influenced by The Beatles.

In my opinion, what Prince did between Purple Rain and ATWIAD it is analogous to what the Beatles did between Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. Their sound evolved and became more experimental. Magical Mystery Tour was an extension of Sgt. Pepper. So, too, is Parade to ATWIAD. They are companion pieces and best played in tandem. I am not saying that ATWIAD is Prince's Sgt. Pepper, but the analogy carries over as far as musical risk taking is concerned. I feel Sign O' The Times was the ultimate result (and probably the closest to a Prince Sgt. Pepper) of that round of his experimentation.

Of the two albums in question, I have to give the edge to ATWIAD. Although "Kiss" and "Anotherloverholenyohead" are obviously funky and amazing standouts of Parade, the true value in ATWIAD lies in its overall vibe which includes its kaleidoscopic B-sides such as "She's Always In My Hair," "Hello," and "Girl." I am also a huge fan of "Pop Life" and "Paisley Park." "She's Always In My Hair" should have been a single from the album and IMHO was too good to only be a B-side. (So was "17 Days" for Purple Rain, but that's another story).

Great post, thanks....


And I like the connection to The Beatles, also.. no doubt Prince's music was very psycadelic and "trippy" in this era 1985-1987.

feeluupp said:

For Musicology to go multiplatinum 20 years after one of the biggest selling albums of all time (Purple Rain), and have the biggest tour of the year still 20 years after your highest commercial peak means there is still relevance in some way or form...

OP, what R U addressing?

feeluupp said:

xpertluva said:

I'd defintely go with Parade. It's a brilliant album and could've been even better with the inclusion of Old Friends 4 Sale, the instrumental version of An Honest Man, Alexis de Paris and Love or $. As is, it's still one of my favorites.

I agree. Old Friends 4 Sale would've sealed the deal on this album, wouldve made it amazing.

Can u believe Love or $ won the razzie for worst song in a movie?

I think, like the impression in general, the music get's blamed for the movie

By the time that song came on the movie was really going downhill. And I like the movie.
Prince blamed in some respect the album/music for why the movie didn't do good.

But if that movie kept the real director and had band inclusion/performances it would have

been right up their with Purple Rain

.

case in point:Girls & Boys video vs Girls & Boys movie scene

ATWIAD. Parade is great but a lot of it just seems half baked, even though it pretty good.

Prince should've waited 2 years after Purple Rain and released a version with the best from these two albums combined into one . Throw in some of the better B -sides and you have a killer record. If he does this, Warners gives him the nod for the 3 disc Crystal Ball.

chrisslope9 said:

chrisslope9 said:

a version with the best from these two albums combined into one

No.. what a terrible idea...

Parade & Around The World In A Day are both so excellent,

To do what you say would be a crime..... at least imho.

(Still I can agree that the b-sides are excellent as well, and a shame they weren't included somehow.)

Parade - my favourite Prince album by some margin. As much as I love ATWIAD it isn't as consistent as Parade, and Parade is the Prince album I still listen to today more than any other, and it still surprises me.

chrisslope9 said:

Prince should've waited 2 years after Purple Rain and released a version with the best from these two albums combined into one . Throw in some of the better B -sides and you have a killer record. If he does this, Warners gives him the nod for the 3 disc Crystal Ball.

the albums are way too different to be combined like that,

the package of ATWIAD with Bsides long versions, the album art/fonts etc

and the same with Parade (except we should have gotten 1 or 2 more Bsides)

are perfect gifts