It's like he adds a horn section to almost every song played live , lately , which i think changes the whole feel to a song .
He should stop doing this !!
Anybody agree with me on this ?
[Edited 9/30/04 20:51pm]

Dewrede said:

Totlly agree, especially "Let's Work" way too many horns and couldnt hear the bass line because of them.. The worst is "Baby I'm a Star" and the "199" intro with real horns.. I've said it before, but it just made me think of a Vegas Prince cover band and not the real deal who was actually onstage. Next tour I would love to see a "Dirty Mind" band with 2 guitars, bass keys and drums, sorry Maceo, take that tour off. Prince can jam all night with that set up, we dont need a sax to spoil it.

He even has them on "Let's go crazy"
[Edited 9/30/04 21:04pm]

DMSR said:

i just cant stand this shit anymore... horns

I totally agree! Stuff from the "Sign O The Times" era sounds fine with horns but anything from the "Old Prince" such as "1999", "Let's Work", "Let's Go Crazy", "D.M.S.R." etc., should NEVER have horns in them. They totally ruin the whole feel of the song.

You guys couldn't be MORE wrong.

Horns can never be overused in Prince's style of music. I don't care if they are in every song.

Horns support the funk. Whoever disagrees needs to learn bout the funk and Prince's roots.

To complain about horns in his music is like complaining about strings in a symphony.

I say GIVE ME MORE HORNS and some more and some more funk guitar.., and some more crazy ass beats with some distorted licks on top.

Rockability said:

I'm going to have to disagree with everyone here. I think the current lineup have been a great addition to the band. The NPG hornheadz were tight but individually they weren't that amazing. Maceo, Greg and Candy are all amazing soloists as well as supporting players. OK, I agree with Let's Go Crazy - that song sounds a bit "Sesame Street-ish" with horns, but as for everything else I think they work great. Prince has been heading in a more Jazz-Vegas sound for a couple of years now anyway.

Id never suggest ever taking maceo et al out of the line up, that scares me. theyve added so much to his live performance it would be awful to lose that. I do however think he uses them way to much. I mean thhose horns in purple rain and lets go crazy.....absolutely AWFUL, ruining perfectly good songs. I actually like the horns in DMSR and stuff, but only when they go and play solos over the funk, not as a replacement for the synth riffs that are signature for many songs in his early career.

I disagree with what was said about horns being fundamental to where prince comes from. OK they are to the kind of funk he grew up on, but not to the kind he pioneered. He's almost turning his back on his legacy by smothering his work with too many horns. Horns for solos and the songs that require them. NO horns for songs that dont need them in the first place.

Dewrede said:

Why does the song have to sound like it is on record?!

Prince has always toyed with changing arrangements on songs in concert. That is one of the reasons he is such a great performer. If the songs sounded like the albums, you may as well save your $, stay at home, and just listen to the CD.

Are there some horn arrangements/song changes that sound a bit awkward? Sure. But, in totality, the horn additions add more bulk and a different jazz/funk edge to many of the older songs.

Great music by great musicians.

Rockability said:

Stop that.

jsb23nc said:

Yeah, maybe next time he should have cow bell in every song too.

prince and a horn section: in full effect since 1984.

don't get it twisted, as if he just started to use 'em now.

I thought I was the only one to think this. I wish Prince would go back to the sound he had long before Eric Leeds had to come in and literally blow it away. But I'm sure you "hornies" out there will beg to differ. If I wanna go to a jazz concert with a bunch of honking saxes , I'll do just that.

CrozzaUK said:

I I have to agree most with this post and it is the most accurate.

If you're going to use horns, then it makes sense to have Maceo in your band. They definitely use them too much though! Prince grew up with the sounds that all of us did, yes. But, I don't think that people realize what they were attracted to or were hearing when they first heard 'the Minni sound'. One of the biggest differences in their funk sound was the absence of horns and their replacement with 'synths' where the horns traditionally would have been. That's a part of what we fell in love with, and that's the way he should perform the songs!

Don't get me wrong! I love horns just as much as the next man! But, Prince songs that didn't have them originally, shouldn't! EVER! I mean, imagine "Tower Of Power" replaceing some of their horns with 'synths', or all of them!!
[Edited 10/1/04 7:30am]

The horns dont make that much of a difference to me?
They added extra energy to the show but I would have been just as
happy without them

but P really does seem to be lovin the horns
..."Maceo! Can you blow? Hey!"

First, I think there is a happy medium..... namely the Parade-Era where he had Eric and Matt Blistan doing live horns mixed with the synth horns provided by Lisa or Matt Fink.

That was a nice sound.....sometimes they played in unison.... sometimes Eric would solo over the funk.

The problem is today, it's overkill with the live horns, both in quantity (how big a horn section do we need?) and how they're used. They drown out the classic Prince synth sound rather than supplement or synthesize with it. That's why songs like Let's GO Crazy or 1999 start to sound Vegas-y now.

I also find it ironic that back when he didn't have any horns, he used to always say "gimme some horns" and Matt & Lisa would "hit him" with stuff..... now he has real horns and that whole sound/experience is gone.

BRING BACK ERIC!!!!

GaryMF said:

Why? So that Prince can just tell him to "shut up"?

.

Dewrede said:

I think horns REALLY add to his music, especially since it gives it more of a LIVE feeling to it, instead of electronic. I think he overdoes it with some songs, though. Some songs DO NOT NEED HORNS like Let's Go Crazy, 1999, When Doves Cry, Automatic.

Dewrede said:

I agree....the horns suck!

Don't even get me started on the horns, let alone the sax solos.

Rockability said:

giotto said:

eric, shut the fuck up

i really like the large horn section and their use in the current line up. This is one of my favorite all time line-ups that prince has put together. i can understand that some may not care for it, and that it changes "the sound" of certain songs. i had a discussion with one of my friends who went to one of the atlanta musicology shows, he felt that kiss was ruined by the elaborate instrumantation, he felt that kiss's genius was its stripped down minimalist original arrangement. i, however, appreciate the current arrangement with horn section a lot. one of the things i like about seeing him live is the evolution of things. the next band may not be horn heavy, he may go in a different direction.

dooooode! u don't like the horns? i lovvee!!! me some horns....God...with horns...beautiful! and so is everything else.

The original sound he became known for was having extra keyboard (analog synth) parts where others would have horns... i.e. the "Mpls Sound."
Lately (since D&P) the horn sections he's been using have been a grandiose ego-trip issue getting in the way..., IMHO.

The only horn sextion he's ever needed was Eric Leeds/Matt Blistan circa 1986/8.

Horn players look silly with all those metallic tubes stuck to their mouths. Mang.

Dewrede said:

Totally don't agree. Ain't nothin' like them horny hornz.

EvilWhiteMale said:

I got me a fever for more cowbell

I've always been more partial toward the triangle myself
[Edited 10/2/04 9:13am]