i have been reading the various reviews of a dodgy version of the 3121 album that has leaked onto the internet and i am amazed at the differing viewpoints of the people who are interested in his music.
i am very happy with the not great sound quality version of the album that i have heard....it has some good strong songs on there and his usual couple of dodgy tracks but then prince has always done that. its a solid pop album from someone who has been releasing music close on 30 years now!...it seems that because he has covered such a wide range of musicial styles over the years that his fans look for so many different things in his music that he has made a rod for his own back.....as the old saying goes....you cant keep everybody happy all of the time!!!!
i have always saw prince as someone who was on a magicial musicial journey in his life and i have always went along with him and i always wonder what he is going to do next and prince is always interesting if nothing else....
i think the time to make real judgements on his music is when it is all over then we can look back and judge him properly....
[Edited 3/8/06 2:39am]
[Edited 3/8/06 2:39am]

I agree totally with u. I decided long ago just to let Prince "breathe" and not burden him or me with the weight of my own expectations. I'm always surprised by what he produces becuse there is no set musical format i need to hear to appreciate his abilities. It helps as a fan to have a real wide appreciation for the range of music there is. If you have a limited palette u can't help but really miss the genuis that he is.

As far as "bad" songs on prince albums. There really aren't any. They are just the ones that particular individual doesn't like. For every song someone derides as "bad" there are thousands who love it. There are no perfect Prince albums and people have over romantised his peak period of fame and success. How fresh can a song be from Prince when u have a 1000 others from him to compare it to?

tricky99 said:

I totally agree,a good song is in the ear of the beholder-its all a matter of personal taste.Even P's so-called weaker tracks are in the main far superior to other bands/artists and with a back catalogue like P's comparisons are bound to be made.

blackbob said:

What's dodgy about it?

NouveauDance said:

the one i heard was perfect. but I DO NOT HAVE IT. I just happend to be in a room where it was played. it sounded great. i think some buy into the myth that there is a big diffrence between MP3s and the orginal Wav formats. where MP3 is a bit lossy it is not something that is really all that noticable under normal listing conditions.

I usually don't raised my expectations of Prince so high. He is the type of artist who is going to make a song that one person going to like while another person going to hate. Because each album, particularly the ones he made after 1984, there always going to be a song on it that I am going to like and dislike.

I just go with the flow and if I like the song that he do then I am going to like it and if I don't, then I don't. But I do give him more chances than any other artist I liked because when it comes to a Prince song it is going to take some more listenings before concluded a yay or a nay.

SlamGlam said:

Jestyr said:

co-sign

butterfli25 said:

maybe i am going deaf? but it sounded geat to me. and they were wavs that had been mp3s...? maybe if i heard them side by side?

Exactly. My favorite era is also the beginning through 1984 because the music was far less diverse. An album was basically R&B/funk with a rock or new wave edge.

Beginning in 1985 as his albums became far more diverse, he lost a lot of his old fans and he gained a lot of new fans who liked and even preferred the more diverse albums. By the time the 1990s rolled around, some of the younger kids were older and they were into hip hop so Prince incorporated a little hip hop in his sound to appeal to them.

Next thing you know, Prince starts rationing out the different genres on each album...."here's one for the funk crowd, here's one for the rock crowd, here's one for the hip hop crowd, here's one for the accoustical crowd", etc. This means everyone gets a little something they like on an album instead of a full album of stuff they like. I'm greedy, I like full albums of funk/rock and wouldn't care if all these other groups didn't like it. Hell, I had him first, they came later.

SlamGlam said:

You'd know if you heard them both on headphones one after the other.

Jestyr said:

ahhhhh. i am not much of an 'audiophile" so i am like meh sounds good to me. what i listend for was if i could hear left and right and there are a few places where sounds / vocals come from one side only.

SlamGlam said:

I suggest you give headphones a try sometime. You will open up your ears to a brand new sonic landscape. When it comes to hiding things in the mix, Prince is the master and headphones can be the master key!

Jestyr said:

yeah... i know. i guess i never gave it much though. and i only heard this once. well not even all of it. and not on head phones

Jestyr said:

yep, headphones will unlock songs like "Automatic" for you
you'll be hearing things in a whole new way

Snap said:

yeah i used to listed to the older stuff on head phones back in the day. i guess i am getting OLD.

Forgive me for this generalisation, but i always thought this:

- For You and Prince: black teens
- Dirty Mind - 1999: black funkfans / white new-wavers
- Purple Rain - Americans
- Around the world in a day - music criticists
- Parade - Music criticists and europeans
- Sign of the Times and Lovesexy - music criticists and europeans
- Batman - Fashion followers
- Graffiti Bridge - the ones who seemed to care
- Diamond and Pearls - the 'masses'
- Love-symbol - the remaining 'masses', the ones who seemed to care
- 1993 - 2004 - the fam-years (not the fan-years, real fans tend to be critical)
- Musicology - the nostalgics
- 3121 - i havent got the slightest idea

Riverpoet31 said:

all of the above!

tricky99 said:

I decided the exact same thing. I guess that's why I'm still having so much fun with Prince.

vainandy said:

Andy, have I told you lately how adorable you are?

You always lay it right on the line and make it amusing without putting down other people's preferences.

That's why I love you.