Okay so I'm a fan and I'm 20. If I have kids..they will hopefully experience some Prince music and dig it. Hopefully they would play it when I'm gone..and play it.

So I guess I'm curious..honestly..how timeless does everyone think Prince's music will be? Any thoughts?

jasonstar said:

IMO lot of the 80's stuff has aged real well and much of the 90's stuff allready seems dated.

lovemachine said:

I want to disagree with this, but i can't. So i guess i agree


Actually Rainbow Children will age well.

"IMO lot of the 80's stuff has aged real well and much of the 90's stuff allready seems dated."

I have a theory about this. In the 90's I remember thinking that Prince 80's stuff seemed really dated. The sounds he used, the synths, the drums, it all seemed hin and wasn't what people were doing in music anymore.

However,just like fashion, now many "musicians" and producers are going back to the sounds that were prevalent in the 80's, so now Prince's 80's output sounds more current and a lot of his material from the 90's sounds as dated as anything else from the 90's.

So to answers the question-I think Prince's music will be timeless. So much of his stuff is already classic.
[Edited 12/4/05 9:18am]

Ive often thought about this, I think P wont get all the respect he deserves until he dies, hopefully that wont be for a long long time

84 years

lovemachine said:

You've got it backwards. Real instruments will stand the test of time. The Linn-Drum and keyboards already sound very dated I'm afraid. The craftsmanship of the songs themselves will be timeless though.

whodknee said:

-----
Well lot's of groups are using Drum machines right now. Therefore, I think we can say P had a classic sound with them.

I can say in RnB some of his stuff gets played a lot today on the radio.

whodknee said:

A totally agree with you.

Songs with real instruments stand a better chance of NOT being 'dated' to a particular period / decade.

Much of the 80's stuff seems dated to me. It is the LINN-drum machine and keyboard sound that make it so.

I had a theory about this . . . I think the more we move toward digital/online music, the more we'll move away from "album" structure of the past . . .

Meaning, I really think that the GREAT and GOOD Prince songs will be in virtual circulation forever, while the duds (most of which would be from the 90's) would fall away and only those of us who have been along for the ride will have them.

The new generation will only know the good stuff, I.E. the timeless stuff.

skywalker said:

I agree with that. When I first heard the Purple Rain album in the late 90s, I thought it sounded really dated. Now it sounds really fresh again! Heaven forbid in ten years time Tony M's rapping will be the latest 'retro' craze
[Edited 12/5/05 4:59am]

toejam said:

I'm unsure how any 80s album with 80s synths can sound that fresh!

I don't like Tony M, but surely he was on only a handful of Prince tracks across two albums - maybe 10 tracks. You can't dismiss Prince in the 90s based on those few tracks.

I think the classic tracks will survive the test of time but will always sound dated.

The tracks i consider will survive [based purely on how I think his music will be perceived by others and not my favourites]:

Controversy
1999
Little red corvette
Purple rain
When doves cry
Let's go crazy
Raspberry beret
Kiss
Sign O' the times
Cream
Gett Off
7
TMBGITW
Dolphin
Gold


Not as many as I'd have hoped for.

I think the fued with WB put paid to a few more from the mid-nineties being classics - there are a few jems which will never see the light of day in terms of the general music-buying public hearing them. Which is after all the main criterea for being considered a classic.

Se7en said:

whodknee said:

- I showed ´Around the world in a day´ to a friend and he told me "ah, it sounds like an 80s movie soundtrack. Please lend me an acoustic album of his".

I love his 80s albums and for me they still sound ´vanguard´, but I have to admit that the synths and Linn drums already sound dated, specially for the non-fans.

And unfortunately real instruments usually give the song a most serious tone. I must admit I used to think that ´Strange Relationship´ was an album filler on SOTT. After I heard it with full band playing, I started paying more attention to the melody, and it´s indeed great.

KAB said:

This is the truth right here. Those synths that sounded so fresh and innovative at the time just scream "1983" now. That's why his horn section gets so much work in concert nowadays.

Songs featuring real instruments have fared much better.

GustavoRibas said:

I had that same reaction to Strange Relationship. On the ONA live album (and live in general) it's one of the better songs on that album, which is to say one of my favorite songs.

KAB said:

-----
You left off "Adore" a staple of RnB radio and concert pleaser. People love this damm song.

I dunno, but I'm 27 and my 2 1/2 year old can look at a picture of Prince, and say there's Pwince! He also sings along to the chorus of "Purple Grape" and for some reason, ALWAYS asks me when were in the careto "play the LOVE song" (lovesexy).

So start 'em out young, and I think they'll be lifelong fans!

Sounding dated is fine. The Beatles sound dated, Motown sounds dated, Bach sounds dated.

I think the quality and sheer quantity of Prince's music will keep it around long after contemporary hype has died around lesser artists. Madonna has some good music, but I think it'll be hard to see why she caused a sensation 100 years from now. But then I could be wrong.