Ok, it is a pretty well documented fact that the tracks 'Kiss' and 'when Doves Cry' have no bass part/line. However, before visting this site and learning more about these compositions, i was never aware of this fact. Did it always register with u that these songs were completely stripped of any bass or was u told?

3121 said:

It never registered with me. But I'm not a musician so I guess I wouldn't recognize something like that in the first place. But I just knew they sounded different.

I don't need traditional instruments to enjoy a song.
If it sounds good I don't care if they're real or fake or the sound of the atom splitting.

I really didn't notice

I noticed but when a song is good it's good, no matter what instruments are there or not.

I never noticed

i knew.

I knew there was something different about those songs but I couldn't pinpoint it. Like what y'all said, if the song is hot, it's hot and they are still hot after 20 years, give and take.

Yes I noticed, but not straight away.

Another one is Partyman. It does have a 'bass line' but it's not played on a
bass! It's actually Prince singing it (bom, ba-bom, bom, bom... etc) then
resampled!

I Knew

i was surprised ppl made a big deal over it
i didn't know music had to follow a formula to be a hit
at least "When Doves Cry" proved 'em wrong, eh

Kiss was obvious. WDC, didn't catch it till I read about it not long after it came out.

I have to be high when I listen to Prince, so I hear all sorts of shit that isn't supposed to be there.

I think "When Doves Cry" was hyped as a "bass-less" song, so I don't really understand the significance of that notion. It is a badass song with or without!!!
"Kiss" is a basic 12 bar blues progression, so what else are you going to do with it? Leave the bass out and fill the void with a lotta high-hat trickery. The (extended version) goes off on a wonderful tangent, though, with a locked-in, bounce-on-the-riff bassline. Part two is a perfect compliment to the album version.

Bring back the "(EXTENDED VERSION)"

please?

sorry. When I hear a song I judge it by the sound effect. No clue to any instruments used or thought about individual instruments. Nice song tho.

I don't notice things like that.

3121 said:

did not bother me

I knew because i started playing bass about the same time i was gettting into Prince, so I was paying attention to every bass line i heard. or not as the case may be....

According to one of his many biographies, he was in the studio recording it one night with Mark, Bobby and Matt, and he stayed up all night after they went home, taking the bass out and generally doctoring it for the better. He played it to the guys the next morning who were shocked but in agreement- it worked. I think Brown Mark forgave him...

I was talking about Doves btw!

kiss doesn't have a bass?!?!!!

damn..i'm slow

i agree with what many of u say - a song doesnt have to follow formula to be good. however, that was nevr the issue raised by me. i was just asking if u noticed it upon hearing it or were u made aware by being told/reading it. thanks for the replies