Following on from the lovesexy band thread.... Prince really hasnt had a band vibe going since 1998's "New Power Soul", thats seven years, the longest he has been band-less. Do u think we will see Prince team up with another group or will we just have Prince records from now on? Is he satisfied with calling up Candy/Maceo etc for the tours and working on his own.

To be honest i dont think the tour band members he has at the moment are good enough for inclusion as a real full band a la Prince and the Revolution/Prince and the New Power Generation. They dont add anything to his music imo in the way Sonny T/Michael B did or the Lovesexy Band did. No offence to Candy/Maceo/Greg and Renato by the way..but i think the only member he has at the moment who really gels with Prince is Rhonda Smith, she just oozes around his vibe. The rest are great musicians, great at the jazz thing he is trying to pull off but they arent really in tune with him i dont think.

Whatcha'll think??

it's different these days - his band is more about cred than flash, even though back in the flashy days, he had some really credible musicians, don't get me wrong. but it's less about funky getups and crazy nicknames these days, and more about finding people who can play the hell out of their instruments. personally, i'm at a point now where i can appreciate that. prince is always going to be all the spectacle any audience could ever need, just on his lonesome. the fact that he has a band with really good chops is just particularly tasty gravy. there might be less attention to the visual aspect of his band, but i don't really think it's made a huge difference in the long run, especially since the quality of musicians is just as high, if not even just a little higher.

Anxiety said:

Perfectly said.

I guess im just out of touch with the current set up since i loved the 94//95 NPG so much. Although i agree that the current band are incredibly talented, i think we can safely say that Prince wont return to the Band ideas he had pre 95.

yeah..anxiety is probably right..


however,

IF I HAVE TO SEE CANDY DULFER DO HER DEAD BIRD DANCE ONE MORE TIME ON STAGE IM GOING BIN LADEN ON HER ARSE!!!!

and personally..i think prince is now intimidated by individuality...

I never thought the NPG had much in the way of a "sound." They sound like session guys to me, just like the current lineup. It's because they're so versatile they have no style. The style is on Prince's shoulders.

The Revolution had style, but not the chops of the later bands.

The Lovesexy band was somewhere in the middle.

His band is like an orchestra. It was up to Beethoven to bring the style, not the orhestra, and I think the current NPG is capable of playing anything Prince wants them to.

Anxiety, You hit the nail on the head. I couldn't have said it better myself.

FunkyBrotha said:

You forgot to mention... HOW FINE RHONDA IS, GOOD GAWD!! Someone post a pic of Rhonda for me, just so that I get a Amen!

sosgemini said:

BWAAAAHAAAHAHAHA!




Explain, sosgemini...

onenitealone said:

well, i just wonder if prince is at a place in his career where he doesnt want to be shown up..just reading about his friendly competition (or not so friendly) with jessie and andre....and his songwriting credit issues with wendy and lisa and levi and sunny....and well, its safer for him to have technically skilled players with zero personality of their own versus somebody that might show him up...

who knows..im just thinking out loud...nobody take this too serious...i'd hate to see the revolution haters up in this place get their panties all up in a bunch..