independent and unofficial
Prince fan community
Welcome! Sign up or enter username and password to remember me
Forum jump
Forums > Prince: Music and More > Which genre of music do you think was prince's strongest
« Previous topic  Next topic »
  New topic   Printable     (Log in to 'subscribe' to this topic)
Author

Tweet     Share

Message
Thread started 03/13/18 10:46am

lonelyalien

Which genre of music do you think was prince's strongest

He pretty much covered every style but which would you say he was best at? Was his best work in rock, pop, funk, soul ballads etc or is it even possible to pick one out.

I'm just like everybody else I need love.....and water.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #1 posted 03/13/18 11:00am

NorthC

All... and none.
Translation: George Clinton may have funked harder, Led Zeppelin may have rocked harder, Marvin Gaye may have made sweeter soul music, but no one mixed genres the way Prince did.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #2 posted 03/13/18 11:01am

Genesia

avatar

Not an answer to your question (exactly), but my favorite musical moments were when he defied hard-and-fast genre definitions and just did his own thing.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #3 posted 03/13/18 12:05pm

TrivialPursuit

avatar

I think it depends on the era.

Early on, while he was great on the few rock songs he put out, pop-oriented R&B/soul seemed to be his forte. When you have orgies of soul and R&B like everything from Prince through 1999, and dips back to it in the later 80s, it was genius. Whether it was "Automatic", "Private Joy" or "if I Was Your Girlfriend", the soul genre was always strong.

But by 1984 and beyond I feel like he was finding himself more and more as a guitarist. Not that he couldn't play before of course, but he really took his guitar out and put it front and center. When you eventually pair an otherwise amazing band down to a five-piece and you are the only guitar - you have to be on point w/ it in a whole new way. The NPG of The Gold Experience, COME, The Undertaker, and Chaos and Disorder is hard proof of that. So those years were definitely him mastering, over and over again, the art of a rock song (the funk and soul infusions notwithstanding). I think he exorcised a lot of demons in the mid-90s on that prince shaped guitar the way he just shredded the fuck out of it, tossed it around, and fucked everyone up the asshole with it. It was some of his strongest and most-inspired material.

By the aughts and beyond I felt like he was more just doing whatever. There was a focus but no-focus. He was focused on just doing whatever instead of trying to prove himself and kick someone's ass. He wasn't necessarily resting on his laurels but his accomplishments had allowed him some elbow room and freedom just kind of be like "yeah, let's do that because why not?".

And while I'm 50/50 with his post-The Rainbow Children releases, it was always interesting to see what he would come up with next left to no record contract, no conflict (ie: his best inspiration) and no one breathing down his throat for a record.

But ol' boy could always write a pop song that was uncompromising to himself and radio friendly at the same time. "Diamonds and Pearls", "Cream", "Alphabet St.", "U Got The Look", etc.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #4 posted 03/13/18 1:25pm

42Kristen

The dark and gothic type of music. I am thinking of a song. When Doves Cry. back in the '80's majority of Prince's attire was dark colors mixed in w/ purple wildsign

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #5 posted 03/14/18 6:57am

jdcxc

Genesia said:

Not an answer to your question (exactly), but my favorite musical moments were when he defied hard-and-fast genre definitions and just did his own thing.



Yes!
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #6 posted 03/15/18 11:02am

OldFriends4Sal
e

When they were all mixed up and making his own style Purple Music, strongest in the 1981-1987 period

But I love his folkish ballads throught his career

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
  New topic   Printable     (Log in to 'subscribe' to this topic)
« Previous topic  Next topic »
Forums > Prince: Music and More > Which genre of music do you think was prince's strongest