mask said:

2elijah said:

I think the NPG is a very, tight band, and performs with their heart and soul as well, and have very talented, experienced musicians, where many of them, even the backup singers have performed with other well-known musicians/artists, so they all have a good resume under their belts and the long-time experience to go with it. Plus they have done some amazing shows with Prince, at the time they were with him, and his focus was more of a variety of various sounds like funk/r&b/pop/some rock/blues/jazz, latin-flavored tracks, etc. A little bit of something for everyone.

With this current band, it seems the focus is on 'rock' moreso for the moment. I think all the hoopla with this current band is because many fans aren't used to him having 3 females as a backup band, and his focus seems to be primarily on pushing his rock guitar skills for this tour. I haven't seen this current band perform live yet, so can't really give a fair opinion of them. So with the current band, it's something new, a change at the moment for many fans, especially those who are more into his rock guitar playing. Who knows what he will have up his sleeve a year or two from now and what direction he'll go with his music next. We shall see.

[Edited 5/11/13 17:51pm]

Your preference is obviously for the stale,lame-assed,stinky smooth jazz Prince has been churning out since the year 2000 or so.

Of course you don't like 3rdeyegirl because you don't like rock.You enjoy banal, stinky drum loops

and bald chicks admonishing us all to CLAP YO HANDS STOMP YO FEET every 8 seconds or so.

That's your preference and thats fine but don't shit on my parade whilst clapping yo hands and stomping yo feet,ok?

thanks.

Oh yes, I love some funk, r&b, blues, reggae, rock, salsa, blues-rock, blues, jazz and then some. Oh and by the way, that rock you love so much, is the birth child of r&b. You know that soul clapping music you just put down? Well, that's where rock was born out of. Oh, by the way, you do know that Donna studied jazz, and has performed with, and backed quite a few, blues, r&b/soul and jazz musicians and is skilled in those forms of music right? So much for your usual, assinine, sterotypical assumptions. I'm sure Donna has 'clapped her hands' to some of that music, you degraded...you know, the kind you referred to as 'banal, stinky drum loops?'

See what happens when you just blurt out 'ignorant sh*t' without doing research? You always end up getting your ass handed to you, with it slapping you silly, and dead in your face. A little research doesn't hurt, make the effort. Oh and by the way, which bald chick are your referring to? Donna or Shelby? Seeing how they both share that in common, and both are skilled in r&b/blues/soul music. So what was that you were saying now? Have a nice evening.

2elijah said:

mask said:

Your preference is obviously for the stale,lame-assed,stinky smooth jazz Prince has been churning out since the year 2000 or so.

Of course you don't like 3rdeyegirl because you don't like rock.You enjoy banal, stinky drum loops

and bald chicks admonishing us all to CLAP YO HANDS STOMP YO FEET every 8 seconds or so.

That's your preference and thats fine but don't shit on my parade whilst clapping yo hands and stomping yo feet,ok?

thanks.

Oh yes, I love some funk, r&b, blues, reggae, rock, salsa, blues-rock, blues, jazz and then some. Oh and by the way, that rock you love so much, is the birth child of r&b. You know that soul clapping music you just put down? Well, that's where rock was born out of. Oh, by the way, you do know that Donna studied jazz, and has performed with, and backed quite a few, blues, r&b/soul and jazz musicians and is skilled in those forms of music right? So much for your usual, assinine, sterotypical assumptions. I'm sure Donna has 'clapped her hands' to some of that music, you degraded...you know, the kind you referred to as 'banal, stinky drum loops?'

See what happens when you just blurt out 'ignorant sh*t' without doing research? You always end up getting your ass handed to you, with it slapping you silly, and dead in your face. A little research doesn't hurt, make the effort. Oh and by the way, which bald chick are your referring to? Donna or Shelby? Seeing how they both share that in common, and both are skilled in r&b/blues/soul music. So what was that you were saying now? Have a nice evening.

Let me explain this one more time for you and then i'm done with you (for now anyways)-

you ENJOY stinky,slick,lame-assed,vegaslite,drum loops.

everything else that just fell out of your butthole is irrelevant.

mask said:

2elijah said:

Oh yes, I love some funk, r&b, blues, reggae, rock, salsa, blues-rock, blues, jazz and then some. Oh and by the way, that rock you love so much, is the birth child of r&b. You know that soul clapping music you just put down? Well, that's where rock was born out of. Oh, by the way, you do know that Donna studied jazz, and has performed with, and backed quite a few, blues, r&b/soul and jazz musicians and is skilled in those forms of music right? So much for your usual, assinine, sterotypical assumptions. I'm sure Donna has 'clapped her hands' to some of that music, you degraded...you know, the kind you referred to as 'banal, stinky drum loops?'

See what happens when you just blurt out 'ignorant sh*t' without doing research? You always end up getting your ass handed to you, with it slapping you silly, and dead in your face. A little research doesn't hurt, make the effort. Oh and by the way, which bald chick are your referring to? Donna or Shelby? Seeing how they both share that in common, and both are skilled in r&b/blues/soul music. So what was that you were saying now? Have a nice evening.

Let me explain this one more time for you and then i'm done with you (for now anyways)-

you ENJOY stinky,slick,lame-assed,vegaslite,drum loops.

everything else that just fell out of your butthole is irrelevant.

Why thank you. For now, I'll give you time to get over having your ass handed to you.....again.

thebanishedone said:

And Mask and 2Eliah don't you find it crazy arguing over music

I think it's Prince's fault. I think he sets things in motion to cause certain fans to argue and debate. He creates the controversy and it's promotion for him.

I find it funny a member in another thread compared 3rd Eye Girl to Vanity 6. I wouldn't bother debating this comparison. I think I know why they try so hard to defend Prince and make points for him but I still think it's mean and negative when certain members try to put down former Prince band members or associates as they try to put Prince and his latest band members up on a pedestal.

Ok that fun, now please go back to the funk.

thebanishedone said:

And Mask and 2Eliah don't you find it crazy arguing over music :-

Actually there was no argument. He ignorantly assumed I only like a specific form of music, and I clarified his assumptions. That's just about it. Nothing crazy about clarifying that, so no worries.

Anyway, getting to the topic at hand, as I stated in my earlier post, I don't really have an honest opinion on the 3rdeye Girl band's performance, because I haven't seen them perform live, in order to judge or compare their live performance(s), to the most recent NPG band's live performance(s), in a fair way. Furthermore, 3rdeye Girl has been advertised as a rock band, while the NPG was based more on a variety of different sounds, i.e., soul/r&b/jazz/blues, pop, blues-rock, some rock, etc. So in a sense, it probably wouldn't be a fair comparison of the two bands, anyway, especially since Prince's music focus for both bands appears to have been a different path. However, I have seen the NPG band members perform live quite a few times, so I could give a fair opinion of them.

On another note though, obviously Prince's intentions for the 3rdeye Girl band, was to be a backing rock band, for the 'rock' direction he apparently decided to take. In comparison to the NPG, where the focus was more or less funk/r&b/jazz/soul. I've always enjoyed the most recent NPG band members that he's had since 2006, even with the changes/additions of band members during the time they were with him performing.

As far as the 3rdeye Girl band members, it is good to know though, that Donna and Ida's music skills go beyond playing rock, and both are skilled in jazz/r&b/blues/soul as well, (including Ida's experience with funk music). I don't know much about Hannah's music skills yet, as I haven't had a chance to research it. It's also anyone's guess, if Prince will change direction musically, down the road, and use the 3rdeye Girl band members or the most recent NPG band members, if he decides to take the direction of funk/r&b/soul/blues/jazz again. It will be interesting to see what his plans are next, regardless of which band he decides/or continues to work with.

[Edited 6/9/13 16:26pm]

My vote goes to the The Diamonds And Pearls era New Power Generation.

.

Now who's with me?!?

TonyVanDam said:

thebanishedone said:

TonyVanDam said:

My vote goes to the The Diamonds And Pearls era New Power Generation.

.

Now who's with me?!?

without Tony M and THE Game boys

Tony M can stay only for the rap vocals of Gett Off and then he can GTFO of Paisley Park Studio and stay gone.

.

Agree?!?

EDIT

[Edited 6/2/13 18:13pm]

There is an overlap. I believe Donna has it listed on her website that she plays guitar in NPG. And Ida does play bass for NPG too, if I'm not mistaken?

TonyVanDam said:

thebanishedone said:

TonyVanDam said:

My vote goes to the The Diamonds And Pearls era New Power Generation.

.

Now who's with me?!?

without Tony M and THE Game boys

Tony M can stay only for the rap vocals of Gett Off and then he can GTFO of Paisley Park Studio and stay gone.

.

Agree?!?

Agree

I think that the The NPG plays more funky dance music but 3rdeyegirl certainly rocks

thebanishedone said:

take a pick. I choose the band with the girls.Npg features better musicians but Prince sounds amazing with 3rd eye girl band .There is a whole lot more heart and soul.Npg sounds like a proffesional band.The girls band sounds like they do it from the heart.

I know you said pick, but I've seen both bands in concert and actually, when it comes down to it, as long as *Prince* is the band leader and out front, it really doesn't matter to me. I like that he switches it up. *Prince* does it for me!

Lame answer...I know.

[Edited 6/9/13 8:42am]

cbarnes3121 said:

thebanishedone said:

take a pick. I choose the band with the girls.Npg features better musicians but Prince sounds amazing with 3rd eye girl band .There is a whole lot more heart and soul.Npg sounds like a proffesional band.The girls band sounds like they do it from the heart.

hmm, 3rd eye girl is a fresher look for Prince, its great to see him working with and developing fresh new talent

I have no preference so long as Prince performs but there is definitely something a bit more intriguing with the 3rd eye girl collabo, i can see him getting much more Billboard pick up and press with this band.

[Edited 6/30/13 8:27am]

3rd Eye by a long shot! I'm down for anything new and for about a decade it seemed like we were getting the same Prince show (horns, too many backup singers, Steve Harvey suits) over and over. 3rd Eye isn't quite as tight as the original power trio or the Lovesexy band but at least its something fresh.

imago said:

3rdEyeGirl is the most soulful, funky, multi-talented, experienced, and diverse band Prince has ever had.

Like I said before, your posts almost never disappoint me.

At the moment, I'm going with 3rd Eye Girl.

I haven't seen them live--but I've never seen any of his bands live (in person), and the videos for shows the last few years drove me up the wall. Part of that was the whole symbol stage set in most of them, the way the band was down in a hole while Prince and the singers (and occasional featured horns) stalked around trying to cover every inch of that insane glyph-stage. I didn't feel a sense of interaction with the band, though there might have been some with the other people up on the symbol-track they ran around. That might have been a feature of the videos, but I doubt that explains all of it.

Montreux seems to have been a bit of an exception--maybe because he didn't have that stage that isolated parts of the band.

I suspect that the smaller size (and the fact that they've been playing smaller venues) probably makes that less of a problem with 3rd Eye Girl. It sounds like there's more interaction from reviews, and I like the way recordings from the shows sound.

Yes, the shows seem to be heavy on rock--maybe a little more genre-specific than I'd like ideally. But I had missed it in the recent NPG shows--and who seriously wants to see that "Kiss" dance again? One time--cool. But is it really worth that much time? Didn't he seem to spend a lot of time not playing--and not really dancing, either? And I never really got the "jazz" sections. I like the funk, I like the R&B, I love the pop--but I don't know anything about jazz, so I can't even argue (like some people here do) that Prince doesn't really know what he's doing--I don't have a clue, I just don't usually like it. (I like Madhouse and much of the studio instrumental work--I've just never gotten the way jazz seems to show in the live shows--and I hated even hearing Prince call out Renato Neto's name when he was around, because I knew some dull solo was coming. I know I'm just not getting something here--but it's honestly the way I felt.)

So, I'd go with 3rd Eye Girl--now, if you were talking about the mid-90's stripped down NPG (after Rosie and Tony were out of there), Prince seemed inspired by that group--he seemed free to push himself, at least. And I think, at least live with 3rd Eye Girl, he's doing that too. Maybe just because it's different than what he's had recently--the expanded horns might have a similar effect on him, too, so we'll see how that pans out. But at least as the shows were going the last few years (and as I "experienced" them), I'd rather see 3rd Eye Girl.

This whole discussion is redundant now that Prince did a show on the weekend with a combined 3rdeyegirl NPG horns big band. Sounded great to me even on the live stream.

It is a useless comparison anyway. Prince can do what he wants and have in his band/s whoever he wants.

Superconductor said:

This whole discussion is redundant now that Prince did a show on the weekend with a combined 3rdeyegirl NPG horns big band. Sounded great to me even on the live stream.

It is a useless comparison anyway. Prince can do what he wants and have in his band/s whoever he wants.

What they streamed did sound good--but that doesn't mean that they might not play in various other arrangements. Even with the early NPG there were smaller arrangements for aftershows and many recordings--a sort of band within the band.

I'm still going with Third Eye Girl.

love them both but 3RDEYEGIRL!!!! i love that they reach out to the fans. they are playful, spontaneous and fun fun fun. it's great to see them with prince just having a good time with a project

EddieC said:

EddieC said:

At the moment, I'm going with 3rd Eye Girl.

I haven't seen them live--but I've never seen any of his bands live (in person), and the videos for shows the last few years drove me up the wall. Part of that was the whole symbol stage set in most of them, the way the band was down in a hole while Prince and the singers (and occasional featured horns) stalked around trying to cover every inch of that insane glyph-stage. I didn't feel a sense of interaction with the band, though there might have been some with the other people up on the symbol-track they ran around. That might have been a feature of the videos, but I doubt that explains all of it.

Montreux seems to have been a bit of an exception--maybe because he didn't have that stage that isolated parts of the band.

I suspect that the smaller size (and the fact that they've been playing smaller venues) probably makes that less of a problem with 3rd Eye Girl. It sounds like there's more interaction from reviews, and I like the way recordings from the shows sound.

Yes, the shows seem to be heavy on rock--maybe a little more genre-specific than I'd like ideally. But I had missed it in the recent NPG shows--and who seriously wants to see that "Kiss" dance again? One time--cool. But is it really worth that much time? Didn't he seem to spend a lot of time not playing--and not really dancing, either? And I never really got the "jazz" sections. I like the funk, I like the R&B, I love the pop--but I don't know anything about jazz, so I can't even argue (like some people here do) that Prince doesn't really know what he's doing--I don't have a clue, I just don't usually like it. (I like Madhouse and much of the studio instrumental work--I've just never gotten the way jazz seems to show in the live shows--and I hated even hearing Prince call out Renato Neto's name when he was around, because I knew some dull solo was coming. I know I'm just not getting something here--but it's honestly the way I felt.)

So, I'd go with 3rd Eye Girl--now, if you were talking about the mid-90's stripped down NPG (after Rosie and Tony were out of there), Prince seemed inspired by that group--he seemed free to push himself, at least. And I think, at least live with 3rd Eye Girl, he's doing that too. Maybe just because it's different than what he's had recently--the expanded horns might have a similar effect on him, too, so we'll see how that pans out. But at least as the shows were going the last few years (and as I "experienced" them), I'd rather see 3rd Eye Girl.

As far as music, I like music that moves me. I love blues, jazz, funk, r&b, blues-funk, funk-rock, blues-rock, soul, various forms of reggae, salsa, etc. I do like rock, but more like rock with blues mixed in. Not the noisy kind of rock that gives you a headache. Since I'm older, I see hard rock for more of a younger generation. I like the rock from my generation, when there was so many flavors of it, i.e., blues rock/funk rock. The sound of groups like 'Rare Earth', and latin-flavored soul rock like Santana shredding the guitar, kind of like how Prince does that. The screaming, guitar blues sound like Prince does in his song 'Dreamer', as though he's making the guitar howl. I guess I also love when the npg horn section in thrown in the mix, because of the energy and soul of the horns. Like Fela said, "Something is missing......Horns!!"

I could take the 3rdeyegirl band when the horn section and Prince is included, but other than that, not too sure I could get the same type of energy and soul from the music, without Prince and the horn section in it. I would have to check it out live to have a fair opinion. Horns add so much flavor and personality to a band, and a song as well. Not saying every song I hear has to have horns though. I did see a clip from the Chicago Winery, and enjoyed it, but probably because that fantastic horn section was included in the band.

[Edited 7/2/13 12:21pm]

2elijah said:

I could take the 3rdeyegirl band when the horn section and Prince is included, but other than that, not too sure I could get the same type of energy and soul from the music, without Prince and the horn section in it. I would have to check it out live to have a fair opinion. Horns add so much flavor and personality to a band, and a song as well. Not saying every song I hear has to have horns though. I did see a clip from the Chicago Winery, and enjoyed it, but probably because that fantastic horn section was included in the band.

[Edited 7/2/13 12:21pm]

First, I can't imagine that there really is (or will be) a 3rd Eye Girl without Prince--just like (though I know they billed themselves as such) there isn't a Revolution without him, or (though I know they've billed themselves during a few shows) a New Power Generation. As to horns--for me, they're not that big a deal. In fact, I don't like them sometimes when they are on songs that were originally recorded with synths instead, at least if they mainly just reproduce the same lines. I loved the Lovesexy tour use--small section, often as a sort of glue to hold things together. Fairly short but cool featured solos. I can't see the point in having that many horns, though. On the Winery stage, the sheer size of the horns was overwhelming--but not with much purpose that I saw in some of the songs performed (actually, I just didn't care for the sequence of covers). Obviously, that won't be the same on a fuller stage (like the festivals they have scheduled) or in a more fully planned show--they could just leave the stage instead of just hanging out looking bored, for example.

Again, a smaller band feels more like a band to me--I can see the interaction among the players. I think it's harder to get that in a larger group.

I'm not really a rock fan, exactly--I'm not sure what you mean by noisy rock, but I'm gonna assume I probably wouldn't like it either. And like I said, I don't really want "all rock" shows--but I think it's an aspect of Prince that's been missing (live) and I'm glad it's back. Prince will probably work things out to give decent emphasis to the different sides of his music--but having the extra guitarist (or maybe guitarists, since Ida did guitar at the Winery) will help with that.

I like both bands. And I think it's cool that prince has this new project and doesn't stick to the npg all the time.

3rd eye girl. it's easier to memorize who plays what and the name of the members since it's only 3 of them...well 4 if you count Prince...

all kidding aside i STILL pick 3rd Eye Girl.

as some of you all know I'm a DJ for a college radio station and the music that we play is Alternative Rock. also as some of you all know the ex manager of the station was having some issues with me since some of the older stuff from Prince is New Wave (Controversy, Dirty Mind, 1999) but the manager classified Prince as Funk, R & B, so needless to say I only had the song "Controversy" in the main playlist but that was after he left. The new manager is thinking of getting rid of the New Wave artists and some of the 90s Alt Rock bands as well.

So with this new band I can totally see the radio station playing 3rd Eye Girl and I would still have Prince in the playlist since he's in the band as well.

thebanishedone said:

Ok go and listen to any live boot of Prince in the last 4 years or more and listen to 3rd Eye Concerts and tell me what you think.and it's not because of rock sound.i dig funk more ,but these girls really turned some sparkle in Prince. i dare to say that Prince sounds better with 3rd Eye band then any NpG formation since Musicology band.with one exception.a last years concert from Holland with Chocolate and Bambi [Edited 5/12/13 15:53pm]

What are the names of the top 2 or 3 shows to listen to? I have not heard their show either. I will give it a shot. I have to admit though the stuff I have heard studiowise and thatBillboard awards performance to me are low marks in his career. So let us know what is a goood 1 or 2 shows listen to and I will give it a spin