jjam said:

Beck is anything but average and he can definitely sing.

Jon said:

and Prince has never sounded pretentious, has he.

it's not your fault you can't find meaning in mixed metaphors.



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[Edited 3/30/05 15:09pm]

mrdespues said:

Co-sign. And BTW Prince is not a really great singer either, other singers have far better voices.

BlaqueKnight said:

man, I used to think your posts revealed someone who knew their shit, but you obviously haven't heard enough of Beck's work to realise that you're missing out.

BlaqueKnight said:

But the comparison's between Prince and Beck transcend the music and especially a falsetto voice - that's merely an incidental characteristic they both employ now and again.

People you mentioned above, like Maxwell and D'Angelo, are complete disciples of Prince, and will always live in his shadow, for they illustrate little individuality and at best routinely average soul/pop, rarely exhibiting an ounce of P's wit, flair or execution.

To compare Beck to these two is completely futile as he has next to no similarities at all. Beck has, and always will, plough his own furrow - one which has little bearing on Prince's endeavours.

Anyways, this post is getting ridiculous as people are interpreting me saying Prince is just like Beck purely on a music plain, which of course is widely inaccurate - how does Dirty Mind resemble One Foot in the Grave (they're from completely different stratospheres).

Quite the opposite - I was suggesting that they are similar because they are artistically driven to create and shift and operate in completely unique ways ( to some extent like Bowie); this inevitablly leads to their music crossing at certain junctions - most notably on Midnite Vultures.

Anyways, here's two other non-musical similarities: Religious quirks - both of them have shifted all over the shop to find their muse/faith. I think Beck's now on a scientology trip. Also both artists are regularly referred to as androgynous verging on 'asexual'. In some ways Beck is even more effeminate than Prince.

A tedious morsel from an interview with Beck in the April '05 issue of Elle:

Elle: Romantically, have you identified with movies or characters?

Beck: When I was younger, The Breakfast Club, Rebel Without a Cause. All those alienated-adolescent movies.

Elle: Did you see yourself as more a Judd Nelson or Anthony Michael Hall type?
Beck: I had pieces of both of them, I guess. Me and my friends really liked Anthony Michael Hall, though.

Elle: He disappeared for a while, then came back all muscular and bulky in Edward Scissorhands.

Beck: For us skinny guys that was a real disappointment. Aside from Prince, the '80s wasn't exactly the era of the skinny guy. Anthony Michael Hall was one of the few representing us.

Funkster said:

The fact that you had the bold audacity to actually type what you just did tells me two things:
1. You probably don't know soul music nearly as well as you THINK you do
2. You definately don't know the works of the artists mentioned well enough to make an acurate assesment. You sir, are talking out of your ass. I guess you haven't read the article wit D'Angelo and beck. Beck is just as much of a so-called "disciple" of Prince D'Angelo...actually moreso. He's just less talented than D. The mere reason for me even mentioning Maxwell is because anyone who TRULY knows R&B and soul knows that the similarities between Maxwell & Prince are minimal at best and Max sounds NOTHING like Prince. You can hear a lot of influences in Maxwell. If Prince is the first one to come to mind, then you don't really know soul music that well. But I'll digress. The same things you claim make similarities between Beck and Prince could also be said for Sananda (TTD). Religious change, musical experimentation, name change, etc. But I guess if Sananda's doing it, he's copying Prince but if Beck is doing it he's just doing a "homage", right?
Here's one BIG difference between Beck and Prince: BECK CAN'T SING.

BlaqueKnight said:

1) I've never professed to be an kind of oracle on soul music - but I've heard enough D'Angelo and Maxwell to know that they're a) distinctly more like Prince musically, than Beck b) that they're not in the same league as Prince, c) and to compare Beck to those two is like comparing a sunday roast to a can of Spam; D'Angelo and Maxwell are MoR watered down pap adding pollutant to the most saturated musical form on this planet - bland RnB - you must be in heaven evryday when you turn on MTV/VH1...

BlaqueKnight said:

2) No I aint - enlighten me oh BlaqueKnight, truth giver of all things Soul.

BlaqueKnight said:

Yep, another own goal from the Blackster.

BlaqueKnight said:

3) Beck doing a 'homage' of Prince - do me a favour, what's you putting up your nose? Dishwasher tablets???

BlaqueKnight said:

4) Here's another big difference between Prince and Beck - ONE IS A SKINNY WHITE GUY THE OTHER IS A SKINNY BLACK GUY - what's your point??? If we're going to judge people on their ability to reach the top notes - I guess Celine Dion is the all-conquering Queen of Rock N Roll.

Hats off to you Sir, the most inconsequential post of today.

Do you like the Mars Volta?

BlaqueKnight said:

gvnblkr said:

Gav mate; we've already established you know jackshit, take your fancy emoticons and run along.

Anyways; has anyone heard Guero yet. I'm pretty chuffed with it; Black Tamborine is tremendous and Hell Yes' robo-funk is the shizzle.

Funkster said:

Hell Yes is one of my favourites....hence the sig.

There's no question that Beck is something of a novelty act. He admitted to D'Angelo that D was the real thing while he was striking a humorous pose--dorky white guy playing sexy soul singer. Lines like "I cold stepped to you with a fresh pack of gum" make that clear.

That doesn't make him worse than D'Angelo, that's just Beck's style. It's like comparing Woody Allen to Marlon Brando. They're both great at what they do. Beck's not really a soul love god. And D couldn't what Beck does. There have been some great goofy musicians--Beck, Beasties, Zappa...and oh, yeah, Prince.

andyman91 said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Co-sign on the first part of this post.

I will say that "Loser" was catchy, but the lyrics were straight up stupid. And not in an entertaining funny way stupid. Everytime I hear that song I think he thought of an interesting musical arragement and then threw any words that popped in his head to it.

"Peaches and Cream" ... not sure what the big deal is about this or anything on the album this was on. Dude has a less than average voice.

andyman91 said:

Mmm, there's certainly comparisons between Zappa, Beck and Prince - although I think its incredibly harsh to label any of them as 'novelty' acts. All three are just incredibly prolific (especially Zappa & Prince) while showing great diversity. Each of them show a playful/comedic side, but again, I don't think this makes them a novelty act. Divine Comedy are very much a comedy meets musical act but just cos Neil Hannon is funny doesn't make him a novelty act.

I'd say William Shatner or Rolf Harris are more appropriately named 'novelty' acts.