Actually, except for "Batman" having three songs that seemed to be different versions of each other (Batdance, The Future, and Electric Chair), I thought "Batman" was a good album. It's the first one since "Purple Rain" that didn't have a retro 60s/70s sound. It wasn't the best album in the world but it looked like, at the time, he was getting back on the right track and getting away from getting away from the horns and retro sound.

When I first heard the album, I thought...OK, Prince is broke now from doing all this "weird" music after "Purple Rain" and now he's trying to get back to the "old Prince". Of course, I was wrong because the next album "Graffitti Bridge" was one THE worst and THE weirdest.

vainandy said:

'Weird' is your banter here, my good man.

As any fule no, Prince can favourably be compared and contrasted to Picasso working through the medium of sound. A true artist whose best works (PR, Parade, SOTT, Lovesexy, TRC) adhere strongly to what you bewilderingly describe as 'weird', while his most commerical releases (D&P, Rave) are undoubtedly his weakest efforts.

Prince is not James Brown or Jimi Hendrix. Fundamentally, he is not 'for real' in the sense those artists are commonly regarded as defining. Prince is an art statement - a new form every time and very much pre-meditated and fully-formed before he reveals yet another layer of his psyche to the world. It's contrived - always. Miles said even Prince's sponteneity was rehersed. He attempts to reveal another layer of his psyche to the world with every project, which are designed to appeal to the eyes almost as much as to the ears - every album could have been so different but it may not have fitted with the 'theme' he's trying to convey at the time. Once again, he's an art statement.

This is why many people just don't 'get it'. He's a painter of sound on a canvas of image, forever playing with preposterous pitch and giving good head to head-spinning harmonies. He actually is that over-prescribed term - a true genius. Of course, his greatness will not even be remotely acknowledged to the degree it's deserving until he isn't around anymore. But he knows this. He's making tablets for history - not us. Everything becomes clear in retro-perspective. It's not about now. Never was.

At best, Prince creates alien lil' arty ditties which make you think and smile and yearn and taste something I like to call 'candleland' - the sense of something 'other' to reality. We all know this feeling, but become desensitied to it as the mundanity of this life strethes out ad nauseum. He sounds almost like a 20th century Earth radio station on random, being picked up at a strange warped frequency on another planet. I marvel at his musical cleverness and strangeness. He's otherworldly. He doesn't do straight-forward. When he actually tries to fit in, the results are almost always cringe-worthy and instantly forgettable.

So, in the end, I have absolutely no comprehension as to why you're still aboard this ship, andy. As I said, you just don't get it.

I cant believe any 1 would mention graffitti bridge or emancipation...

I would have to say Parade and Nu Power Soul - Parade i can deal with but i think nu power soul should be perminantly deleted and never to be re-released... what a disaster!

Very true about "Diamonds and Pearls" and "Rave". They are two commercial releases and very weak compared to some of his other work where he wasn't trying to get a hit. They were also made at a time when commercial music as a whole was weak and dying. Naturally if Prince tried to fit in at this time, his music would be weak also.

As for me not "getting it", it is you that does not "get" me. I could care less about "Diamonds and Pearls" or "Rave" and was in no way comparing what I consider to be his "weird" work to them. I was comparing his "weird" work to his earlier, stronger work when he was known strictly in the R&B world from the beginning of his career through the height of his pop success with "Purple Rain". After he reached that pop superstar status, he began doing "weird" albums, completely turning his back on the majority of the original fan base that bought the earlier albums, got him to the "Little Red Corvette" introduction to the pop world, and continued with him on his ride to unbelieveable pop success with "Purple Rain". Unless your head is in the sand, you would know that the majority of these people are gone. Only the huge fans like myself, and some of the pop fans remained. The "weird" stuff even got rid of a lot of the pop fans also.




The reason I am still aboard this ship is because I am a huge fan. I like basically everything he has ever made, even after "Purple Rain". If we are comparing favorites, which is what we do here, of course I must admit that anything after "Purple Rain" is still good but it is extremely weak compared to anything before it. That's my opinion and I know many other people that share it. And the last time I checked, this was America and everyone is entitled to their opinion, including you.
[Edited 10/11/04 20:27pm]

Number23 said:

That's one of the best description's of P's art I have ever heard.

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[Edited 10/11/04 20:48pm]