Maybe Prince has finally figured it out.

Whilst chomping at the bit waiting for new product, I was thinking about the fact that Prince hasn't really done before what he is doing now. By that I mean, following a hit with silence. The prolific one has always been bam, bam, bam, probably to the detriment of his own career. The man has pretty much released an album a year for the duration of his career, maybe missing a year or two at the most. It's great for us but I think that the mainstream couldn't keep up got glutted and many stepped off the train because of it. Prince has never been big on anticipation, so desperate to get the next big thing out of his head that he doesn't really work what's prior to it's full potential. And that has spoiled us, ladies and gentlemen.

Let's start with "Purple Rain". Prince could have bled that mother dry. Obvious singles like "Baby I'm a Star" and "The Beautiful Ones" died on the vine because Prince had this wacky idea to go psychedelic on our asses. So instead of letting the album take its full course and then taking a much needed and much deserved break, we get "Around the World in a Day", an album the masses weren't really ready for. Prince should have waited a minimum two years between PR and the next thing, make the masses hunger for it, and then drop something on the public. Would it have been "Around the World" or would that muse have flown. Would it have been better received if the public had time to catch their breath and see P in a new light? Who knows. Prince didn't give anybody time to adjust. It was like submerging from the depths too quickly...most of the PR fans got cramps. They moved on and the album sold a fifth of what PR did. Still great and, I know, who cares about sales, but anticipation could have made the project much more successful and brought more clarity.

Fast forward past "Parade" and "Cherry Moon" (another sound, another hairstyle) and here we have "Sign O The Times". This album should have been a two year commitment for Prince at least. A double album, filled to the brim with potential singles. The critics fall all over themselves about it. But no, P rushed through this one too. The album goes double platinum, has three top 10 singles, should have had more and then, instead of riding it for a long time or taking some time off, he rushes into not one but two projects. Having created a brilliant pop pastiche he decides to explore his dark naughty side with the Black Album. Then a dream or a bad hit of E (kidding ) or something causes him to shelve that and...tah dah..."Lovesexy". Great album but people weren't ready for a semi-gospel album after SOT. It was such a diversion that most of the 2-4 million that hopped on board for Sign hopped back off again. Perhaps a year or two's distance would have given P a chance to re-think the naked cover. Or the single tracking. Or the complete lack of singles.

Alright then Batman (which got some of the fickle masses back) then Grafitti (which lost them again) and then Diamonds and Pearls, which was definitely not his greatest album overall but might be his most non-P fan user friendly (read sell-out into this if you want) CD. Prince markets this like a freaking genius. "Gett Off" creates buzz, "Cream" just cascades off the radio, the soppy, gloppy "Diamonds and Pearls" goes huge. P is back in the mainstream again as a radio artist. P pretty much exhausts this one but, instead of sitting back and taking time off, BAM, we get "Symbol". "Symbol" came way too soon and even though it followed a similar marketing strategy, it was not as successful.

I could go on through the contractual obligations of the 90's but by then most people didn't or wouldn't care if the man released an album every year or every week. When P was at his peak, commercially and artistically, was when he should have played the "anticpation card". That is what virtually every other successful peer (Madonna, U2, MJ, Bruce, etc.) has done and their careers have prospered from it, at least to a point.

But, as I said, maybe Prince has learned something. Based on the past, P would have released an album by now. He had a huge year last year so his natural inclination and our natural expectation would have been for new product right away. But P is laying back. Hanging out with Selma Hayek. Hosting some parties. Throwing out numbers like "3121" that mean everything and nothing. And we're chomping at the bit, wondering what he's going to do. I hate it but I kind of like it to. And maybe some of the people who jumped on board last year...maybe they like the space between and will follow P on his next journey now that they have been allowed to decompress. Maybe, and here is a shocking thought, we don't need a Prince album every year. And maybe Prince doesn't need it anymore either. Maybe the muse is giving him some space, letting him organize the inspirations and get it in a form ready for mass consumption.

Just a thought (or a number of thoughts)...

Prince is, 1st and foremost, an artist.

He is not so much a businessman, nor a record company exec, nor is he Michael Jackson. He, judging from his pattern, obviously isn't as concerned with stringing together hits, or bleeding his records dry, as he is with getting his current art to your ears asap. Maybe that has changed, but I doubt it.

The general public couldnt give a flying fuck about Prince. If he was never to release another record ever again then i doubt the public would miss it let alone notice it. Regardless of how successful the musicology tour was in the USA, nobody but the fans are waiting for, anticipating and speculating about a new record. 2004 was pretty much isolated to america alone.

That may dissapoint some but the only way that people will take notice is if Prince does something Great that the masses lap up i.e. Purple Rain.

Will it happen? again, i guess thats one for the fans to ponder over until and if it becomes a reality (then the public will jump on-board too).

skywalker said:

I know, I know. P is different than MJ and Madonna and other other hitmakers who are a little more market saavy. I refuse to believe the argument that Prince has not had commercial prospects in his mind at several points in his career. He was the one who suggested "When Doves Cry" as the first single because he believed in it's potential. He was the one who released the "Batman" soundtrack in a summer he knew everyone would be talking about the Caped Crusader. He was the one who released "Diamonds and Pearls" which contains virtually little art (but some great songs). I have always believed that the man,being the true Gemini that he is, has had a constant battle in his head between the commercial and artistic. Up until the mid-90's, every time he hit a lull career-wise he released an album that would pull the masses back.

And last year had nothing to do with art. It was brilliant marketing. And instead of rushing some statement album or soul-bearer, I think he has developed the taste for adulation again and wants his next project to be a commercial hit too.

All of this of course just pure speculation...

GottaLetitgo said:

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Prince can't be a shrewd boy when marketing his stuff-he definitely wants people to hear it. The point being is that when Prince is bored with something artistically, he'll offten shut it down even if it stands to make $$$$. Conversely, if one of his projects stands to make no $$$ or be not-as-popular, he'll still push it like it's his baby.

maybe he's figured it out that he's not writing as good as he used to, so it's taking him longer to assemble a good album?

just kidding, y'all


but seriously tho