feeluupp said:

Germanegro said:

PeteSilas--Soon, in some of your rare down time you should check Youtube. Just today I've found that much more of his music from the latest triple-album Prometheus and Pandora is available to listen there, much more than the songs with videos.

Purplegarden--An .org-type establishment sounds like it could be fun--it would depend on the crowd it would draw! I couldn't get into another love/hate-the-artist deal as you might find in this place. I like Sananda's very own website. There's no forum there, but plenty of info otherwise, the essentials--all the music, merchandise, news, and views straight from the source. The only B.S.ing he's got going on are the creations in his own head--he admits!

PeteSilas said:

hell ya, i should catch up on his stuff though, for whatever reason, i keep telling myself to get the later stuff, some of it that i've heard is just fine, others sound like unfinished songs. I still hold out hope that he tours the us. in fact, i asked him last night on facebook for just that.

A few years ago (early 2000s) there was a forum on his website and there was also a yahoo group about him where some discussion was going on.

Germanegro said:

PeteSilas said:

he had plenty of off key moments that stick out way more than that. doesn't matter a bit to me, he more than makes up for it with his astounding voice, the only male singer who can do vocal runs like whitney houston or some of the great female soul singers. why he sings off key so much? I have no idea, it doesn't seem to stop him from having produced fine music.

I read somewhere, either in his writings on his website, or an interview that he has a form of tinnitus where there is a constant tone (in C--IIRC) sounding in his ears. If so, I guess he has natural tone guide in his head that I guess could help him center his notes, but I don't know if that would be the case. Maybe the tinnitus causes interference in his perception of sung notes, at times? I don't have tinnitus. I wish I could say that I had more music knowledge. Vocalist experts can chime in, here! I can't remember what he's said about his own off-key singing.

tinnitus is just a ringing in your ears, it's common, i would think everyone has it sometimes. Unless he has tinnitus when he's singing i couldn't see that being the problem. It's odd, but it doesn't stop me from loving his singing, I never really even thought about it until I read an interview of alannah myles who called him her favorite singer but said "i only wish he would sing on key sometimes" it's not a big deal and what he brought, I could see MJ being scared shitless, not Prince though, Prince had already done the megastar thing and sales only meant so much at that point to him. So I can't see prince being afraid of anyone at that point except maybe a time reformation with everyone united. The minneapolis sound was dwindling by that time in any circumstance.

Germanegro said:

PeteSilas--Soon, in some of your rare down time you should check Youtube. Just today I've found that much more of his music from the latest triple-album Prometheus and Pandora is available to listen there, much more than the songs with videos.

Purplegarden--An .org-type establishment sounds like it could be fun--it would depend on the crowd it would draw! I couldn't get into another love/hate-the-artist deal as you might find in this place. I like Sananda's very own website. There's no forum there, but plenty of info otherwise, the essentials--all the music, merchandise, news, and views straight from the source. The only B.S.ing he's got going on are the creations in his own head--he admits!

PeteSilas said:

hell ya, i should catch up on his stuff though, for whatever reason, i keep telling myself to get the later stuff, some of it that i've heard is just fine, others sound like unfinished songs. I still hold out hope that he tours the us. in fact, i asked him last night on facebook for just that.

i'm always going back and checking for old vids or live shows, every so often i'll watch the 87 grammy performance, it was the first time i got to hear him. this was after all the fuss i read about him. His biggest gift to me is his influence as a singer and songwriter. one of the highest compliments anyone ever paid me was when I worked in a dueling piano's bar, I was showing the owner some of his music and he closed his eyes, listened, then said "that's you". It's not true, my range is different but I knew what he meant, the runs and bends, all of that started with him, he was endlessly inventive with those articulations and I picked up on that.

Genesia said:

Just when I think we've achieved peak dumb on the org...

This fact hit me as I was reading your post..... DUMB

Honestly, I have no idea what TTD has been doing. I'll check the vid out.

Has anyone ACTUALLY seen him live in concert besides me?

jjam said:

Wildcard's the best and most consistent album he ever did.

.

He has finally released almost all the songs that were rumoured to make up "The Solar Return of TTD". Out of the tracks he recorded for it, the three Wildcard versions (and quite a bit after it) was compiled. The only known configuration of Solar I could find lists the songs simply alphabetically. When I compiled Solar in that configuration though, it made for a truly compelling album. To me, it's better, and flows better, than Wildcard. I made a cover for it to put it in my iTunes and it's one of his most played albums for me now.

rdhull said:

Has anyone ACTUALLY seen him live in concert besides me?

.

Yeah, in his Symphony or Damn time (show at Vredenburg, Utrecht). Was a great show. Not Prince or Fishbone great, but definitely marvelous. My memory is failing me though, I think I went to see him later as well, I just can't recall when and where anymore. I assisted later in making a few bootlegs even (never made any money on it, not why I did it), which helped fill in the blanks in my collection. I am not sure, but it may have helped getting some of the really obscure tracks on the variously titled 2002 greatest hits. (which was a very amateurishly compiled collection, apart from the tracks, have you looked at the booklet?) Could have been a fan looking to publish some deep tracks though too.

rdhull said:

Has anyone ACTUALLY seen him live in concert besides me?

Yes I have - about 20 times I guess.

Serious said:

rdhull said:

Has anyone ACTUALLY seen him live in concert besides me?

Yes I have - about 20 times I guess.

i have only once and it was vocally second to only Stevie who didn't do all the jumping around that TTD did, a great, great show, he did an elvis song, told Springsteen stories and rocked the fuck out of the place.

SanDiegoFunkDaddy said:

Terrence Trent who? One hit wonder. He actually said Hardline was better than Sgt. Pepper. I wonder what drug was he smoking. End of story

Sadly, you're missing a great deal.

If you take the Sergeant Pepper quote seriously,

TTDA is the only dude worth of Prince's legacy, amongst the Maxwell, D'Angelo's and whatever.
He's utterly sincere in his Motown/Stax reverences, as Prince was towards James, Sly and George.
Of all these fine black artists and Prince admirers, he's the only one who got the balls to really go after Prince, he built his own sonic idiosyncracies (steel drums, flutes, — the screams! Who screamed like a maniac in pop, except for Prince and TTDA?), paid homage to his heroes, and made little gems when everyone was looking the other way. That's the way it goes.
He's a true pop song craftsman, and he would be more inventive with an audience's feedback. But it was already too late, the Britney Spears and the Justin Biebers of the world were in ambush for the kids.

I hope someday you'll spend some time with Neither Fish Nor Flesh, Symphony or Damn and Vibrator
(picture if you will Prince on the axe on the latter).
For all their flaws, you'll discover an artist, like Meshell Ndegeocello,
that is sincere to the core and too often brilliant in his work to be qualified as a "one hit wonder".
TTDA spawned a genre by himself — All the fake crooning the FM is infected since decades
was stolen from Francesco when piloting on International Lover Airllines: respect the fighter.

[Edited 9/13/18 4:04am]

I don't know, I wouldn't be afraid, but I certainly couldn't go there in 1986 if I were to be Prince.
I'll be impressed, I guess, to hear the best gospel vocal multi-trackings since "For You".
I'll be stunned to see "The Beautiful Ones" spirit finally spreading. The unabashedness of it.

TTDA could get more female in his voice, and Prince falsetto has another quality.
Argh, I'll be a bit jealous. Great "When Doves Cry" follow-up.
That Piano bass, man. That voodoo Fender Twin's twang. Prince could never be Bayou.

Not the same background, obviously.

And still it's Terence paying homage to Prince, understanding where the bar of the live performer has been set.
Terence has an astounding voice, he can bend it at will.

As I said, they all stole from Terence, and whole gentrified bozos try to replicate true soul.
Plus, Terence was a beautiful mulatto, two serious handicaps (it was already enough for the industry reps seeing George Michael going black AND gay) when it comes to artistic freedom.

jjam said:

Did I mention artistic freedom?

This is way before Prince's "The Word".
And it's as potent, if not more.

This sounds like Prince in latter Big Band years, right?

Again, picture Prince doing the wah-wahs...

Purplegarden said:

I saw Terence live real close, and that's where I get the respect from.
Singing like this for an hour and a half is a tour de force.
He doesn't sing out of thin air, that's an understatement.

And he can groove and soothe, in sensual ways few singers dare to approach.
Just like Prince. And there's always this slackness, this slopiness,
Sananda doesn't go after the pose anymore. But it's still this incredible instrument of a voice he has.





Even Michael could be afraid. This a more clever, sexier and smarter "Who Is It" dark slow jam.
TTDA's got humour, and that makes him closer to Prince.
Alas, no one allowed for a third man to stand.

And what about this fucking ballad?
Worth of Elton John, Macca, and Joni combined
in an alternative universe number one in several countries.

At the time, it sounded like Terence trying to dissuade Prince from Mayte.

Please notice the held note at the end.

[Edited 9/13/18 5:35am]

mediumdry said:

jjam said:

Wildcard's the best and most consistent album he ever did.

.

He has finally released almost all the songs that were rumoured to make up "The Solar Return of TTD". Out of the tracks he recorded for it, the three Wildcard versions (and quite a bit after it) was compiled. The only known configuration of Solar I could find lists the songs simply alphabetically. When I compiled Solar in that configuration though, it made for a truly compelling album. To me, it's better, and flows better, than Wildcard. I made a cover for it to put it in my iTunes and it's one of his most played albums for me now.

rdhull said:

Has anyone ACTUALLY seen him live in concert besides me?

.

Yeah, in his Symphony or Damn time (show at Vredenburg, Utrecht).

Thats the tour I saw him on. Ventura theater in California. He was great.

PeteSilas said:

Serious said:

Yes I have - about 20 times I guess.

i have only once and it was vocally second to only Stevie who didn't do all the jumping around that TTD did, a great, great show, he did an elvis song, told Springsteen stories and rocked the fuck out of the place.

Saw him too, once, the Vibrator Tour.
He tried to alternate commercial and experimental albums.
He's the real deal.

I sm a big fan of TTD, especially Symphony or Damn which is positively brilliant. But what a silly question. Prince wasn't "afraid" of him. TTD imo isn't near as a talented musician and I am sure Prince was aware. But what a great voice and I like that he experiements. But at the same time I wish Fish/Flesh wasn't as experimental or self-indulgent (though I loved it). It was his 2nd album and he lost most that by the time Symphmony or Damn came out everyone was gone. The dude never recovered commercially after that...

Poplife88 said:

I sm a big fan of TTD, especially Symphony or Damn which is positively brilliant. But what a silly question. Prince wasn't "afraid" of him. TTD imo isn't near as a talented musician and I am sure Prince was aware. But what a great voice and I like that he experiements. But at the same time I wish Fish/Flesh wasn't as experimental or self-indulgent (though I loved it). It was his 2nd album and he lost most that by the time Symphmony or Damn came out everyone was gone. The dude never recovered commercially after that...

His voice is actually grating. So nails on chalkboardish. Like greasy fried chicken..in a bad way not an Aretha way.

It's amazing to me after listening to Sananda Maitreya, after years of enjoying TTD, that more people aren't appreciating his Post-Millenium Rock output. I could only wish that Prince could have produced a warm, rocking tune like this, below. But he really didn't. I love that P. was able to give us songs like "Call My Name" or "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed." He did the best that he could with a rocker, like "Dreamer."

>

Sananda, while being an admirer of Prince, inhabits his own sphere with a broad diameter, that I think Prince would only be able to reflect off of. A bold statement, I guess, but I believe it.

>

Siamo Qui

>

Plus, he's taken the Funk overseas and shipped it back to us, with It's Been a Long Time. It's a thing that would make George Clinton or Angelo Moore chuckle in joyful recognition.

>

Poplife88 said:

I sm a big fan of TTD, especially Symphony or Damn which is positively brilliant. But what a silly question. Prince wasn't "afraid" of him. TTD imo isn't near as a talented musician and I am sure Prince was aware. But what a great voice and I like that he experiements. But at the same time I wish Fish/Flesh wasn't as experimental or self-indulgent (though I loved it). It was his 2nd album and he lost most that by the time Symphmony or Damn came out everyone was gone. The dude never recovered commercially after that...

no argument with the musician statement but does it matter? pop music rarely has the best musicians anyway. TTD put together the last great concept album, it was him who envisioned it and that's what puts him rightfully in that class even though he couldn't play brilliantly. His ideas, his words, his songs, probably better than anything out at the time really.

rdhull said:

Poplife88 said:

I sm a big fan of TTD, especially Symphony or Damn which is positively brilliant. But what a silly question. Prince wasn't "afraid" of him. TTD imo isn't near as a talented musician and I am sure Prince was aware. But what a great voice and I like that he experiements. But at the same time I wish Fish/Flesh wasn't as experimental or self-indulgent (though I loved it). It was his 2nd album and he lost most that by the time Symphmony or Damn came out everyone was gone. The dude never recovered commercially after that...

His voice is actually grating. So nails on chalkboardish. Like greasy fried chicken..in a bad way not an Aretha way.

i thought you just said he was great live.

PeteSilas said:

rdhull said:

His voice is actually grating. So nails on chalkboardish. Like greasy fried chicken..in a bad way not an Aretha way.

i thought you just said he was great live.

He was. His voice isnt the whole package though. And it fits some aspects of is tunes and he can do monotoni=e etc like in She Kissed me verses etc...

TTD is definitely a great singer which im sure Prince acknowledged, but Fear??...i doubt it...

besides, as much as i respect TTD's talents, i can only listen to him for short periods of time, and infrequently...his voice does start to get too extra at times...i always wished he would have picked more soulful and funkier beats instead of straddling and switching genres and aesthetics...it was hard to keep up with his work with all the changes this guy goes through