Graycap23 said:

Zannaloaf said:

sorry i didnt answer earlier busy with work and holidays.
Where are the E. Street Bands hits? Where are the Family Stone hits? Where are the Rolling Stones without Jagger hits? Funk Brothers without Motown singers? EWF suffered as it lost some of it's key arrangers in the band. Not many have big hits - but individuals are part of what made the sound - and the whole band feel like it does becasue people contribute. They play off of each other. If you can't get that, you can't. What made Michael Jackson blow up? Qincy Jones as producer. Dd he WRITE the hits? Nope. Did he sinfg them? no again. But clearly his contribution moved Jackson in a direction that he had not previously. Tone of examples are had in pop music where the band, producers, writers, etc add to the best of what the lead singer does. In the case of Prince and the Revoluton I believe and hear that they brought somethong to the sound that Prince has never recaptured on his own. Which I'm ok with...people move on. But to pretend working wth other artists doesnt influence or affect on any level is ridiculous.

[Edited 12/10/14 23:03pm]

None of examples have anything 2 do with Prince. Prince was making great songs before and after the Revolution. I still don't see or hear your point.

Then we just hear things differenty. Was he making good music before the Revolution - yes. I was in awe at Soft and Wet.
I was pointing out with the Revolutuon they sounded like a true band rather than a frontman with a hired by the books group or a bunch of mini superstars behind him. If you cant hear the difference that's totally cool. I heard it then, and I hear it even more as I listen back. Again- no slight to Prince at all - just that I like him better when he is working with others (especailly those who who arent all "Oh my god it's Prince" sorts) rather than all his way. It's why I liked Eric Leeds with him, becasue it was Eric collaborating - not just Prince calling out the same horn lines over and over. Personal preference is all it is. I believe the Family Stone and E Street Band comaprison are valid. (Sorry for typing on my phone BTW- its hard to keep spelling on track )

Zannaloaf said:

Graycap23 said:

None of examples have anything 2 do with Prince. Prince was making great songs before and after the Revolution. I still don't see or hear your point.

Then we just hear things differenty. Was he making good music before the Revolution - yes. I was in awe at Soft and Wet.
I was pointing out with the Revolutuon they sounded like a true band rather than a frontman with a hired by the books

But that is exactly what they were. I understand that u dig them but it doesn't change the facts.

Graycap23 said:

Zannaloaf said:

Then we just hear things differenty. Was he making good music before the Revolution - yes. I was in awe at Soft and Wet.
I was pointing out with the Revolutuon they sounded like a true band rather than a frontman with a hired by the books

But that is exactly what they were. I understand that u dig them but it doesn't change the facts.

They were both... up to a point. He'd been playing with some of them since before he was anyone, and had been jamming and writing with them in mind as the band that would be putting things across on stage. Yes, he dropped in new members as old ones left, but there was a continuity from the earliest years, evolving into a real band, by even his own account at the time, a closeness and collaboration. (Springsteen writes the checks for the E Street Band, and created them too, and fired them before he rehired them--but it would be foolish to claim they aren't a true band). Yes, he chose and hired them, and he eventually fired them when he chose to--but that doesn't preclude they're affecting his work in significant ways.

.

Of course he was THE ARTIST, and remained so even when they started getting a credit. But they were part of what he was writing for--just as he was writing for The Time to put across that material. The strange thing is, people seem more willing to talk about the Time as a band with a distinct personality. I've never seen anyone actually claim that Prince isn't primarily responsible for the material even during the "and the Revolution"-credited years--of course he was. I don't get the idea that the fairly limited assertion that they impacted his work during a few big years means that they are somehow being claimed as his equals in that work (no one's saying that) or means that they should have a string of individual hits. Even if they were his best band, that has nothing to do with an ability to create a comparable body of work (none of the other bands have anything to point to, either, honestly). They are band members--not stars in their own right, and other than Wendy and Lisa (whose work I generally like--but who clearly aren't working at the levels Prince routinely attains) and I guess Andre, none of them has made sustained efforts at Artist careers. They're supporting cast members, not leads. But, for many of us, they were his best supporting cast.

.

He was always the star, of course.

EddieC said:

Graycap23 said:

But that is exactly what they were. I understand that u dig them but it doesn't change the facts.

They were both... up to a point. He'd been playing with some of them since before he was anyone, and had been jamming and writing with them in mind as the band that would be putting things across on stage. Yes, he dropped in new members as old ones left, but there was a continuity from the earliest years, evolving into a real band, by even his own account at the time, a closeness and collaboration. (Springsteen writes the checks for the E Street Band, and created them too, and fired them before he rehired them--but it would be foolish to claim they aren't a true band). Yes, he chose and hired them, and he eventually fired them when he chose to--but that doesn't preclude they're affecting his work in significant ways.

.

Of course he was THE ARTIST, and remained so even when they started getting a credit. But they were part of what he was writing for--just as he was writing for The Time to put across that material. The strange thing is, people seem more willing to talk about the Time as a band with a distinct personality. I've never seen anyone actually claim that Prince isn't primarily responsible for the material even during the "and the Revolution"-credited years--of course he was. I don't get the idea that the fairly limited assertion that they impacted his work during a few big years means that they are somehow being claimed as his equals in that work (no one's saying that) or means that they should have a string of individual hits. Even if they were his best band, that has nothing to do with an ability to create a comparable body of work (none of the other bands have anything to point to, either, honestly). They are band members--not stars in their own right, and other than Wendy and Lisa (whose work I generally like--but who clearly aren't working at the levels Prince routinely attains) and I guess Andre, none of them has made sustained efforts at Artist careers. They're supporting cast members, not leads. But, for many of us, they were his best supporting cast.

.

He was always the star, of course.

Now this, I can agree with.