Yee Haw!

You're right. I'd have to buy it strictly for bitching purposes. You have to have the product and listen to it so you know what you're talking about when you throw up in people's faces....."This time Prince has really lost his damn mind!". It gives us something to do when we're not listening to the new Prince album and waiting for the next one.
.
.
[Edited 11/24/05 9:01am]

vainandy said:

that happened to me when I put the record on

great thread.
[Edited 11/24/05 9:17am]

Yeah me too.

Well, here is Billboard's pop, not R&B, top ten singles for the year 1985.....

1 CARELESS WHISPER, Wham! Featuring George Michael (Columbia) (#1, Feb)
2 LIKE A VIRGIN, Madonna (Sire) (#1, Dec 1984)
3 WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO-GO, Wham! (Columbia) (#1, Nov 1984)
4 I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS, Foreigner (Atlantic) (#1, Feb)
5 I FEEL FOR YOU, Chaka Khan (Warner Brothers) (#3, Nov 1984)
6 OUT OF TOUCH, Daryl Hall and John Oates (RCA) (#1, Dec 1984)
7 EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD, Tears For Fears (Mercury) (#1, June)
8 MONEY FOR NOTHING, Dire Straits (Warner Brothers) (#1, Sept)
9 CRAZY FOR YOU, Madonna (Sire) (#1, May)
10 TAKE ON ME, A-Ha (Warner Brothers) (#1, Oct)

Wow! you are so right. I wish Prince was thought of as being more like such greats as Foreigner, Wham! and A-HA. What a collection of genius and artistry this top 10 holds. Listen, this list only further illustrates why I am glad that Prince DID release "Around the World in a day". This further illustrates why I am glad Prince , more often than not, chooses to be and artist rather than a pop star. Who the hell wants to be more "Successful" if it means being more like Foreigner?
[Edited 11/24/05 9:41am]

vainandy said:

I don't want to hear Prince rootin' and a tootin' on the bass.

Just because the doctor has forced you on a strict diet, does not mean you give up eating altogether. You just settle for fruits and berries instead of chocolate and sweets.

I've been a Prince fan so long I'm starting to talk like him.
.
.
[Edited 11/24/05 16:03pm]

Yeah, Foreigner was great. I like Hall and Oates better though.

Can't you just picture him sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch playing on a banjo and Candy blowing into a big ole jug.

You guys are forgetting some things. Prince could have done himself favors by not saturating the market. He could have done like the other mega stars and released an album 4 or 5 years after purple rain, then it would have been appreciated no matter what. The man was/is like clockwork, you can't count on many things in this world but a Prince effort around once a year is one of them.He makes Springsteen, Madonna and Michael look like partimers.

Most artists put out an album every year in those days. Every now and then, they might skip a year but they mainly stuck to putting out one every year unless they kind of retired and made a comeback. Michael Jackson was one of the only ones that waited forever to put out a new album.

In those days, radio was much better than it is today. If a song was popular at the beginning of a school year, by Christmas, it was out of style. Most artists didn't milk an album to the very last drop and make people sick of hearing it like they do these days. By the time you grew tired of listening to a particular album, here came a new one.

vainandy said:

I can't think of any artists that were worth me listening to that put out annual albums. Madonna came close if I remember, Michael took off 4or5 years before Bad, Springston took off about 3 years. George Michael put out Faith and put out another album in the 90's. Nobody could match prince for workrate. Everybody else was a slougher in comparison.

vainandy said:

Those were the late 1980s. Everything was starting to change then. When Michael Jackson made his "biggest album ever", I guess a lot of people wanted to follow his lead. Also, CDs were starting to come in the picture and they held more music than vinyl.

no if he kept making records like SOTT or Dream Factory/Crystal Ball era he would have had better success.

brothaluv said:[quote]vainandy said:[quote]

That's true. I don't know though, if he ever does a country album, I may drop his ass like a hotcake.
.
Hahaha! Man you'd be the first one wearin' Cowboy boots, lunging lassos and hollering YEEEEHAAWWWWW!!! hahahahaha!

[quote]gam19566 said:[quote]

brothaluv said:

The day I put on some cowboy boots will be the same day that Rick James hugs and kisses Prince.....
.
.
[Edited 11/25/05 11:40am]

I dunno if this has already been said, I guess it will have - But if Prince had continued on and on with one style, I don't think his legacy would be as revered as it is, and will be in the future.

Now Controversy and 1999 are my favourite P. records, but, if he'd have continued doing album after album of the 'Minneapolis Sound' - would he be any better than Jesse Johnson or Rick James who just continued for too long with the same sound? (As much as I like those guys too).

I do think it would have done wonders for Prince's bank balance and success at the time to ride the commercial explosion of Purple Rain just a bit longer. He could've easily toured PR outside of the USA, for a year or so, and then come back with something in a similar vein to Purple Rain (like those the tracklists in those 'What if Prince had done a PRII' threads we've done on the org).

Rick James followed 'Street Songs' with 'Throwin' Down' - I love both records, but every damn track on Throwin' Down that isn't a ballad is a straight carbon copy of Super Freak. Now I think Prince was a bit cleverer than to just straight out rip off his own style completely, like Prince has said in the past 'Do you know how easy it would've been to make a PRII'?


It didn't happen because Prince isn't that type of artist. Prince has always been the one to change it up, all along the road right from the start, after Prince he came with Dirty Mind - he changed his sound every couple of years or so - Even now, you can't say he isn't still changing because even though Musicology was a logical progression of the late 90s Prince sound (Emancipation, Rave, NPS, High) - we had TRC, Xpectation, NEWS and ONA in between all those - so he's still trying to do something different to what he last did - and that's Prince.
[Edited 11/25/05 12:01pm]

coolcat said:

No you aren't the only one. ATWIAD was more of a breather for Prince. It didn't have any of the ferocity of 1999 and PR. I think of it as an interesting little detour. He knew (instinctively) there wasn't much more he could do in the vein of the previous two albums so he was looking for new directions; and with his recent success (which means both artistic and sales) he could afford to take baby steps. It's not until Parade and ultimately SOTT that he started coming back with really strong material.

Nonetheless, ATWIAD is still a solid album. I think it was a good move, intentional or not, to put out ATWIAD when he did. It kind of took some pressure off of himself. Look what's happened to MJ in his efforts to outdo himself every time out.

There are nine songs on "Throwin' Down" and only two are ballads....well, three if you count the very short "My Love" at the end of the album.

The only thing on that album that even resembles the song "Super Freak" is the song "Hard To Get" which was made more funky like the extended part of the 12 Inch version of "Super Freak" rather than the pop sounding original album version of the song. If you were meaning to say that "Throwin' Down" was kind of a carbon copy of the album "Street Songs", you are correct. I see nothing wrong with that. "Street Songs" wasn't broke, so Rick saw no need to fix it.

Rick had changed his style a little before with the previous album, "Garden Of Love". It was an album of mostly ballads and one uptempo jam, "Big Time". Other than the song, "Big Time", the rest of the album was a flop and I'm glad it was because Rick had the good sense to come back strong on the next album.

After "Street Songs", Rick came back strong, full force with "Throwin' Down" for his longtime funk fans and supporters. He knew who his real audience was and he wasn't about to let them down or turn his back on them. He had two more successful albums in the R&B world after pop success with "Super Freak"...."Throwin' Down" and "Cold Blooded". He also had R&B success and a little pop success with his side project The Mary Jane Girls. Was Rick himself successful again in the pop world? No he wasn't. (Thank you Rick for not going there).

When Rick changed his style in 1985 with the album "Glow" that's when he also starting going downhill. He and Prince must have been comparing notes that year and swapping ideas. Rick starting picking up more modern instruments and losing his traditional ones and Prince started picking up more traditional instruments and losing his modern ones. Many fans of both artists didn't like the change and showed it with their sales. Prince had ridden much higher though so he had a longer fall.

VelvetJ said:

Compare with The Beatles they change artistically at the perfect time with the perfect rythm. There is something a true artist can help no matter the alienation of fans or decresing of sales. And there is a lot of examples. Not Michael Jackson, of course.

skywalker said:

Since Purple Rain it's been a mixed bag but enough killer music 2 keep me coming back. I was disappointed with Around The World In A Day. I did leave after I heard Parade in '86. I didn't dig that album at all or his new look. Sign O' The Times in '87 however was a return 2 rude and raw rock and funk and the film was killer. The film versions of the songs were much more powerful then the album versions tho (and the film was not a hit because many people didn't even go see it after that lame piece of shit known as Under The Cherry Moon). I was disappointed that the Black Album was not released and instead in '88 we got Prince preaching about God on Lovesexy that sounded 2 me like it was made in a rush 2 replace the Black Album. I felt the music took a back seat for his spiritual message. And that nude cover that was suppose 2 be spiritual but most people thought was just gay. Batman in '89 however was a refreshing return 2 a solo Prince album, no Cat rap or Sheila or Boni Boyer singing gospel. And I loved the Tim Burton Batman movie. The 90's: Griffiti Bridge in 1990 was a big disappointment. I buy a Prince album I want 2 hear Prince not Tevin Campbell and the rest of the Graffiti Bridge cast. And like Lovesexy, it was way 2 spiritual and preachy. Diamonds And Pearls however was a great comeback. Rude and raw with Gett Off. Cream was hot. Tony M was annoying but he was not overshadowing Prince. The album was a good follow up 2 Diamonds And Pearls and was a better album in my opinion in places, but that's when his troubles with Warner Brothers were starting and the music and fashion trends were changing with grung rock replacing glam rock and gangsta hip hop replacing party hip hop. 70's retro replacing 80's style. As Vainandy said, early 90's, 92-93, would have been the right time 2 release something like Around The World In A Day.
[Edited 11/25/05 21:53pm]

then again define success

vainandy said:

Not to split hairs, but every song on 'Thrownin' Down' (barr the ballads) starts off with that same sound clum! - dum, tish, dum, tish! - For want of a better description, that he honed on Street Songs (even there it gets predictble, with Call Me Up, Ghetto Life, Pass The Joint and Super Freak all barely deviating from the formula).

Rick had his thing down, and that was great -- you can look at that either as treading water, more of the same, or you can look at it as 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' - just depending on your point of view.

Seems that yourself and rudeboynpg are the people who Prince was trying to win back when he put together The Black Album, the people who thought after Purple Rain he went way leftfield of their expectations with ATWIAD and Parade.

Again it comes down to your point of view -- was Prince stretching himself and his sound, or forgetting his roots? It's the same thing, depending on which angle you look at it from.

I think for Prince, as a Black artist, to deviate so much from his expected confines is a testament of his talent and hunger at the time to try and break outside the box. Again, no doubt you can look at that from a different angle and say it was something else, just depends on your POV.

I remember all the hype surrounding "The Black Album" around the time it was supposed to be released. All the DJs were saying "Prince is coming back on this one. He's doing this one for the R&B fans.". With a title like "The Black Album", there was definately cause for excitement.

When I finally did hear it, the album was just more of the same. I think Prince was concerned with losing his R&B fans but he never really understood what drove so many of them away. It wasn't the rock. They were used to that from the very first album. It was Prince leaving the 1980s and going back in time to the 1960s and 1970s. When I heard "The Black Album", I started calling it "The Black 70s Album". Actually, I thought "Lovesexy" was much better.
.
.
[Edited 11/26/05 8:33am]

The formula for sucess is just like a recipe for a good pie.....if it works dont change a thing! He should have stayed with what was working.

vainandy said:

Again Andy I find myself in lock step with your assessment of things. We must be around the same age because I can hear experiencial knowledge coming from you. The kind that only being there and being a part of that time and space can allow. Your're right, anyone who wasn't a fly by night (get on the purple rain train) Prince fan was already well accustomed to rock offerings from nearly all of his previous albums. I don't consider anything from 1999 as being actual rock. Man, the thing is with the Black Album is for all its mystery and hype prior to its actual release, it just isn't a good album. I'm speaking sonically, songwriting, stylisticly, and so forth. Its just not a good LP. Lovesexy was I much more earnest and better produced release. I think that it is superior in everyway that really matters. All that being said, the trip thing about Lovesexy is that I by far more loved the concert tour than the album itself.
[Edited 11/26/05 16:25pm]

Yeshua4all said:

That album could have been titled "Controversy," mainly because most seem 2 be unable to agree on whether or not it is a good disc. The Black Album was nicknamed Prince's "funk bible", and, as such, is more cohesive, much more of a piece within itself in my opinion. It is also much more focused and enjoyable than Lovesexy 2 me. Whereas on Lovesexy, Prince obscures his funk with religious philosophizing, on the Black Album he stays true to one vision: getting it on 2 the groove. Prince's The Black Album is a funk fest. Dead On It is of course a parody of rappers with an addictive yet simple beat. 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton is powerful. Rock Hard In A Funky Place is a killer song 2, with Prince ripping the guitar. Prince is in rare form on Bob George. Bob George is among the most unique Prince tracks ever in my opinion. That voice over that drum beat with that raw guitar. True there are 70's style horns on some tracks so it was not a total return 2 his Minneapolis sound with synth's replacing horns but it's much closer then Around The World In a Day and Parade was because it's simply focused on funk and rock.
[Edited 11/26/05 20:38pm]