Since overly discussed topics like "Prince vs. MJ" and "Is Prince gay?" had gotten regenerated recently, I figured it was time to strike up this one again.

Personally, I feel Prince's creative musical arc ended with "Sign O' The Times", and he's been generally lost eversince. I'm definitely not saying he hasn't produced some gems since then, but the way I see it (remember, this is only personal opinion):

1. "Lovesexy" is often greatly praised for its spiritual themes and accompanying tour, but the music itself is nothing special.
2. "Batman" is fine, but commercial and redundant.
3. "Graffiti Bridge" is an uneven collection of dated vault jams, lackluster guest spots (sometimes two in one), and the occasional jewel.
4. "Diamonds And Pearls" and "Symbol" are disposable pop records that sound very much of their time.
5. "The Gold Experience" is glossy, overproduced pop/rock that's saved only by the power, melodicism, and humor of tunes such as "Shhh" and " Hate U"
6. "Chaos and Disorder" is dull, rock-laden contract filler.
7. "New Power Soul" is... self-explanatory.
8. "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic" is shameless mainstream pandering (flavor-of-the-month guest stars.. who'da thunk?).
9. "The Rainbow Children" is musically invigorating but thematically questionable, arguably irritating, especially with the voice-over.
10. "Musicology" is safe and bland.

I can't comment on "The Black Album" and "Come" since I have yet to hear material from those releases, but keep in mind I said generally lost eversince "SOTT", not completely lost.


Add your own two cents here.

when you decided that he did.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

It's a subjective query.

And hey, if others can ask over and over again if Prince has had a nose job or if MJ is the superior 'artist', then I see no problem with this thread.

When his high heel broke while being chased by Levi and Tony over writing credits.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

LOL, and the Hahn dude!

Prince fell down a hill!?!?... is he ok??

I read the title and got really scared for a minute that Prince had
literally fallin down a hill!

whew!! glad this was just another
"Prince's post 80's music is all crap yet I continue to buy it so I can complain" thread instead Thank God!

thekidsgirl said:

Downloading is actually simple.

thekidsgirl said:

Me too! hense my last post

squiddyren said:

at any rate:



...damn. where's psykosoul when ya need 'im...

squiddyren said:

one of "those" threads nonetheless

Better question:


Is 1987 really the last time you were satified?

skywalker said:

Musicology is actually one of my favorite albums of all time, as i only became a MEGA Prince fan in 2004.

GoldenGlove said:

not you, squiddyren

Well what happened to Emancipation and Crystal Ball? Did he get his spark back with that one since you didn't mention it?
[Edited 9/26/05 12:42pm]

thekidsgirl said:

No, his 1987 period is not the last time I was satisfied. As I said in my original post, he has produced some gems song-wise since "Sign O' The Times", but his catalogue album-wise has been overall disappointing ("Why do you keep listening, then?".. because his '80s prime was so dumbfounding and beaming with raw brilliance, I know he could probably recapture that same spark someday), and I wanted to gather others' opinions on the much-discussed subject. It's no big deal, really.

GoldenGlove said:

the question wasn't directed at you GG
I think he was asking squiddyren
"Is 1987 really the last time you were satified?"

thekidsgirl said:

oh right, thanks

Ever since he changed The Cross into The Christ. Jesus tripped, and zapped the little creep.

Oh, and "Emancipation" and "Crystal Ball" both contain good cuts ("In This Bed Scream" and "CB"'s title track ), but the former is overall too plastic and dragged-out and the latter is too uneven, IMO.

squiddyren said:

*cl-chlick, cl-cl-cl-ching!"*

I disagree with you about Lovesexy. I think the music is incredible.

I disagree with you about The Gold Experience. It's chocked full of greatness.

I disagree with you about the so-called "flavor of the month" guest appearances on Rave. Chuck D. and Sheryl Crow, at the time, were far far FAR from being considered "flavor of the month." If anything, he could have made better, more appropriate "flavor of the month" choices to truly cement the idea that he had sold out.

And, finally, I disagree with you about TRC. This was actually the album that woke me up and made me realize that Prince was back.

I don't think Prince ever lost his creativity. I just think that, as an artist, you reach a certain point where you are no longer searching. His job isn't to make you happy. His job, if you even want to call it that, is to make music that he feels good about. If we, in turn, dig the music he makes, then that's just a bonus.

I think that legacy he's left up to now is unbelievably brilliant. I've said before that I don't think he has anything left to prove. He's done it all.

I think most fans would argue that Prince never went downhill, but I would say that when Prince stopped releasing killer singles is when the general public lost touch.

You can have a mostly crap album but if you have one or 2 heavily promoted top 10 hits with videos on constant rotation, then you still seem at the top of your game - something Madonna has never forgotten. When Prince stopped really promoting his singles, he kind of disappeared to a lot of people. His last big single remains The Most Beautiful Girl In The World and that's a long time ago now (1994). Since then he's fluffed single release after single release - for instance, in the UK, the Musicology video was shown on TV, and then the single never came out as promised.

Nothing promotes an album like a top 10, catchy single.

Well, the last album that I enjoyed from one end to another was in 1992.

Before then, it was Lovesexy. After that I had practically given up on Prince doing a good album and tour again, following Batman, Graffiti Bridge and D&P, but then came and Act II and rejuvenated my interest.

Following , I have learned to appreciate that a CD player allows you to program a CD so that it only plays the tracks you like.

Conclusion: I think that Prince lost it after Lovesexy but that he had a temporary return to form with . Then it went downhill again, in that he hasn't made an album that I liked from one end to the other since, but he has made individual songs that I like and occassionally he still does so.
[Edited 9/26/05 14:43pm]

squiddy.

Lovesexy is a classic Prince album. It's consistent, it's creative and it set the table for him thematically ever since. You can still hear echoes of Lovesexy in his most recent work.

Otherwise, Prince remains the greatest rock musician on the planet, in terms of sheer musical and performance talent. Others may be better at one thing or another but you can't find a more complete rock musician around today ("rock" being defined loosely as popular music).

You make some good points about his post-Lovesexy output but everyone, including me, tends to romanticize the 80's period for Prince at the expense of some of his better work since then.

Thanks for you guys' input.

If he did have a down fall. I'd say when he changed his name 2 the . Prince just wasn't the same musically after that.

Rinluv said:

I remember a journalist reviewing a concert saying, 'It's not that I dislike , it's just that I liked Prince better'.

On the other hand, a rose by any name smells as sweet.

I don't think the name change was directly responsible for a musical change. I think if he hadn't changed his name, he would still have released the same material.

metalorange said:

I dont know about that. was very differnt from Prince musically, wanted 2 distent himself from the image of Prince completely. If Prince would not have changed his name his music would've stayed the Raw Prince.

squiddyren said:

-----
He fell down hill when he made all that damm money last year and put on the best concert of the year. (LOL).

"shameless mainstream pandering " What do you think PR was. A shamless attempt to sell millions of cd's and crossover. He is a pop star. Pop stars pander.