Peculiar

Refined

Innovative

Neophile

Cultured

Eccentric

I guess you just like who you like, and I liked him and his music....can't explain why, I just did.

[Edited 12/13/18 8:38am]

Too me he stood out from the rest, his music was the first to move me. So many of his songs send shivers down the spine live and studio.

This gets me everytime.

Never boring! E.g. his music (on record; live is something else) has oftentimes the same effect on me like Argentinian Tango: He seems to be holding back a little, just a little bit behind the beat. That creates a lot of suspense and tension that aches to be relieved. That way I can listen to his songs over and over without ever getting enough of it.

This is hard to put into words, but I will try. First of all, he has real talent! He isn't like anyone else and did things his way. I love his nastiness, his style and the way he wrote songs that were risque. Sometimes, his lyrics would make me blush. I love the diversity with his bands members over the years, his sense of humor, his gorgeous looks and of course, his clothes. He is a master guitarist and has a great voice, especially his falsetto. He was generous, caring and helped so many artists along the way. There will NEVER be another like him!

Because he took insane chances that might have killed anyone else's career at the time -- chances that made the WB execs wonder what the hell he was thinking.

.
From the fall of '79 (when The Prince Tour started) to January 1987 (about the time he finished recording Sign o the Times), he went against the grain and took risks. Everything from the clothes he wore, to his lyrics, to his persona, his attitude -- he was a true punk in the sense of the genre. Dirty Mind was one of the greatest pivots of his career.

.

Once he second-guessed himself and released Lovesexy instead of the Black Album, his sense of danger subsided and he coasted on safe layups within his self-imposed echo chamber.

.

You could say that calling himself O+> was a risk, but that was really just a business move that backfired, it wasn't organic. Nothing was organtic after 1987 and you could feel that he was chasing his recent past.

.

That said, for those 7+ years, he was the most unique artists of our time. I was lucky to enjoy most of them in real time.

[Edited 12/13/18 9:37am]

eugenius said:

Because he took insane chances that might have killed anyone else's career at the time -- chances that made the WB execs wonder what the hell he was thinking.

.
From the fall of '79 (when The Prince Tour started) to January 1987 (about the time he finished recording Sign o the Times), he went against the grain and took risks. Everything from the clothes he wore, to his lyrics, to his persona, his attitude -- he was a true punk in the sense of the genre. Dirty Mind was one of the greatest pivots of his career.

.

Once he second-guessed himself and released Lovesexy instead of the Black Album, his sense of danger subsided and he coasted on safe layups within his self-imposed echo chamber.

.

You could say that calling himself O+> was a risk, but that was really just a business move that backfired, it wasn't organic. Nothing was organtic after 1987 and you could feel that he was chasing his recent past.

.

That said, for those 7+ years, he was the most unique artists of our time. I was lucky to enjoy most of them in real time.

[Edited 12/13/18 9:37am]

100% agree with you.

0uterageous said:

Peculiar

Refined

Innovative

Neophile

Cultured

Eccentric

eugenius said:

Because he took insane chances that might have killed anyone else's career at the time -- chances that made the WB execs wonder what the hell he was thinking.

.
From the fall of '79 (when The Prince Tour started) to January 1987 (about the time he finished recording Sign o the Times), he went against the grain and took risks. Everything from the clothes he wore, to his lyrics, to his persona, his attitude -- he was a true punk in the sense of the genre. Dirty Mind was one of the greatest pivots of his career.

.

Once he second-guessed himself and released Lovesexy instead of the Black Album, his sense of danger subsided and he coasted on safe layups within his self-imposed echo chamber.

.

You could say that calling himself O+> was a risk, but that was really just a business move that backfired, it wasn't organic. Nothing was organtic after 1987 and you could feel that he was chasing his recent past.

.

That said, for those 7+ years, he was the most unique artists of our time. I was lucky to enjoy most of them in real time.

[Edited 12/13/18 9:37am]

And still, Prince released [Maybe] his best ballads during that post 1987 catalogue. Scandalous (Crime, Passion, Rapture is pure art) And his Magnus Opus Ballad Diamonds & Pearls. No ordinary artist can put out that material during their "weak" period. Wasn't it someone like Erykah Badu that said "The Music Monster ate him up and never spit him out" . I don't think one artist alone does have a top 30 song list where songs are still missing on that same list according to fans. His catalogue is mindblowingly enormous not counting associated artists, which could extend the list to top 50 songs. And if we are counting in unreleased material on that list

i enjoyed looking at his women also

all that was said ... I would just add "its magic"

Wolfie87 said:

Empress said:

This is hard to put into words, but I will try. First of all, he has real talent! He isn't like anyone else and did things his way. I love his nastiness, his style and the way he wrote songs that were risque. Sometimes, his lyrics would make me blush. I love the diversity with his bands members over the years, his sense of humor, his gorgeous looks and of course, his clothes. He is a master guitarist and has a great voice, especially his falsetto. He was generous, caring and helped so many artists along the way. There will NEVER be another like him!

Everything

sro100 said:

Because he is THE ARTIST.

Hay-yel yeah!

Goddess4Real said:

Empress said:

This is hard to put into words, but I will try. First of all, he has real talent! He isn't like anyone else and did things his way. I love his nastiness, his style and the way he wrote songs that were risque. Sometimes, his lyrics would make me blush. I love the diversity with his bands members over the years, his sense of humor, his gorgeous looks and of course, his clothes. He is a master guitarist and has a great voice, especially his falsetto. He was generous, caring and helped so many artists along the way. There will NEVER be another like him!

Everything

Wolfie87 said:

eugenius said:

Because he took insane chances that might have killed anyone else's career at the time -- chances that made the WB execs wonder what the hell he was thinking.

.
From the fall of '79 (when The Prince Tour started) to January 1987 (about the time he finished recording Sign o the Times), he went against the grain and took risks. Everything from the clothes he wore, to his lyrics, to his persona, his attitude -- he was a true punk in the sense of the genre. Dirty Mind was one of the greatest pivots of his career.

.

Once he second-guessed himself and released Lovesexy instead of the Black Album, his sense of danger subsided and he coasted on safe layups within his self-imposed echo chamber.

.

You could say that calling himself O+> was a risk, but that was really just a business move that backfired, it wasn't organic. Nothing was organtic after 1987 and you could feel that he was chasing his recent past.

.

That said, for those 7+ years, he was the most unique artists of our time. I was lucky to enjoy most of them in real time.

[Edited 12/13/18 9:37am]

And still, Prince released [Maybe] his best ballads during that post 1987 catalogue. Scandalous (Crime, Passion, Rapture is pure art) And his Magnus Opus Ballad Diamonds & Pearls. No ordinary artist can put out that material during their "weak" period. Wasn't it someone like Erykah Badu that said "The Music Monster ate him up and never spit him out" . I don't think one artist alone does have a top 30 song list where songs are still missing on that same list according to fans. His catalogue is mindblowingly enormous not counting associated artists, which could extend the list to top 50 songs. And if we are counting in unreleased material on that list

Batman had a couple of bona fide sizzlers, but Scandalous was derivative of Do Me, Baby and unnecessarily overproduced like most music that came out of Paisley Park Studios. It certainly didn't warrant the overbaked Sex Suite, and my guess is that the whole maxi-single idea was an excuse to fuck Bassinger on tape. (There's a definite correlation between the caliber of music he made there as opposed to the other studios -- Sunset, The Warehouse, Kiowa Trail -- he recorded in and his levels of creativity.)
.
Diamonds & Pearls the single was OK (again, the LP had a quite few flashes of brillance even though Jughead is fucking inexcusable), but it's certainly not his magnum opus in terms of ballads -- I think we can all give that label to Purple Rain. But again, the entire LP, but especially the single, was a casualty of over production.

.

Again, his "weak" period was weak because most of his work from 1987 and beyond was ordinary and safe. There were signs of inventiveness and genius here and there (Black Sweat, Cream, Thieves in the Temple), but nothing that made him different from other artists which is what the OP inquired.

He was a seeker. Had tremendous emotional and spiritual depth.

I loved the way he could play a solo; he would emboider around the melody, never losing sight

of the core.

I loved watching him play with CeeLo at the Garden. He gave him the spotlight and wove a beautiful, funky back-up melody around him. The song was "Crazy".

He was mesmerizing.

Goddess4Real said:

Empress said:

This is hard to put into words, but I will try. First of all, he has real talent! He isn't like anyone else and did things his way. I love his nastiness, his style and the way he wrote songs that were risque. Sometimes, his lyrics would make me blush. I love the diversity with his bands members over the years, his sense of humor, his gorgeous looks and of course, his clothes. He is a master guitarist and has a great voice, especially his falsetto. He was generous, caring and helped so many artists along the way. There will NEVER be another like him!

Everything

steakfinger said:

eugenius said:

paulludvig said:

eugenius said:

Because he took insane chances that might have killed anyone else's career at the time -- chances that made the WB execs wonder what the hell he was thinking.

.
From the fall of '79 (when The Prince Tour started) to January 1987 (about the time he finished recording Sign o the Times), he went against the grain and took risks. Everything from the clothes he wore, to his lyrics, to his persona, his attitude -- he was a true punk in the sense of the genre. Dirty Mind was one of the greatest pivots of his career.

.

Once he second-guessed himself and released Lovesexy instead of the Black Album, his sense of danger subsided and he coasted on safe layups within his self-imposed echo chamber.

.

You could say that calling himself O+> was a risk, but that was really just a business move that backfired, it wasn't organic. Nothing was organtic after 1987 and you could feel that he was chasing his recent past.

.

That said, for those 7+ years, he was the most unique artists of our time. I was lucky to enjoy most of them in real time.

[Edited 12/13/18 9:37am]

Calling himself a symbol wasn't just a business move. It was a great, multilayered srtistic statement on the same artistic level as some of his best musical statements. And a huge risk. He basically threw everything over board to start afresh.

Nope. He never would've done it if WB caved to his contractual demands.

"Warner Bros took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing took to promote all of the music I wrote," Prince once said in a press release. "The company owns the name Prince and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros."

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/...e-36107590

eugenius said:

For me, mostly it's that he's a one-man shop. Writer, singer, musician, producer.

For the masses, I would say it's his looks and appearance. If the same exact music was coming from someone ugly, he would not have had the same success.

Se7en said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

For me, coming of age during those early 80s years were big. Whether it was fun, heartbreak, or sex, Prince was there holding my hand through it all. As a fan of other artists that are certainly great, it was Prince who touched my heart in a way that others never tapped into. Then, well, dude never stopped making great music. His being so prolific as a musician and songwriter was a big draw, too. His being so god damn sexy was a big draw, too. P being a great frontman was a big draw, too. Some of that stuff came after the initial older brother I never had mentoring me via speaker sounds, like shoveling coal on a fire that's already burning down a city. I mean, I couldn't escape! And I didn't want to...when he told me that he strangled valentino and from now on I belonged to P - I was like: OK.

And I never really questioned it. Ya know, P, my submission to you was a gift, but a well earned one. You kept bringing home the best treats.