many of you repeatedly mention that you only like prince's music before 1996, what made the change? i don't see any change, just asking why everyone else seems to think that. i could go on and on about most prince albums and a few songs from after 1996 that make me happy. i come across this all the time so i tried to figure this out all by myself, maybe it has to do with his sex appeal or warner bro. or his commercial success... but like i said, i don't see the change.
[Edited 8/17/06 23:18pm]

sacredwarrior said:

both

i feel better when i'm hooked

this is the story of illusion, coma, pimp and circumstance.

who's more honest?

amateur said:

The Objective Observer.

People who are 'hooked' are commenting from an innately biased perspective, due to reliance/dependance on the 'drug'.

When the 'drug' is altered slightly, they dont get the same 'hit' they are used to.

So anything they say is laced with hidden desperation.

R U a Fanatic? or a Musically Objective Appreciative Observer?

keeping in mind, they cant both exist at the same time within you...
see dictionary meaning for the word 'fanatic' which indicates 'extremes'.

anything 'extreme' cant be objective, let alone 'honest'....

amateur said:

There are a lot of people here who refuse to believe that the majority think that.

there was a lot of great great music coming out well after 1996

The Truth (1997) which is one of his best albums ever and ranks amongst his
finest work imo.

The Rainbow Children which is wether you like it or not, one of the most
vibrant, cohesive and creative albums he released since lovesexy.

Xpectation/Cnote/NEWS while boring to many, they are different and somehow
very pleasing to me. I love them dearly and applaud prince for his daring
approach in releasing NEWS to retail outlets.

One Nite Alone (piano album), which is kind of a sister disc to "The Truth"
and almost just as fine, featuring some of his best compositions in a long
long time in "Avalanche" and "Pearls Before The Swine" and the title song.


So there is quite enough brilliant prince material from post 1996, it's the
commercial things he releases that don't satisfy me anymore. album like
Musicology and 3121, which sound great on first listen but lose their luster
very soon. Same thing goes for Rave and Slaughterhouse/Chocolate Invasion.
While they all have excellent tracks the sum of their parts just does not
add up to a great magical Prince album anymore.

IstenSzek said:

For me the turning point was 98. The Truth had 4 or 5 great songs on it and Emancipation was nowhere near as bad as some folks would have you believe. NPS was the first album with almost no redeeming features. Even The One got a bit boring after a few listens. I've heard all the mainstream releases since then and none have impressed me, but I've never heard One Nite Alone(piano album) . If what you say is true then I may be busting open the piggy bank soon (bare in mind Prince hasn't got a penny from my pocket now in 8 years).

whoknows said:

i don't think you can get that album in the stores anymore. it was
on the npgmc online store for a while, and i think it still is.

but why open up your piggy bank. perhaps an orgnote to me would ehm
suffice

An interview he did in 01 he said he could release 5-7 cds a year and be happy with their quality.

I still think hes got loads of more interesting music he hasnt released over the last 10 years.

The most has been 3 cds a year. Last 3 years--2 CDs.

amateur said:

Based on the response of orgers who contributed to the forum "Why orgers dislike P's music the past 10 years" this is the top 10 reasons given:

(see reply #147 of that forum for more detail)

1. P's lost creative enery

2. Songs aren't as good

3.Fans have gotten older

4.Musical landscape has changed

5.His ego is too big (I toned this response down to polite)

6. Too many "yes" people around him

7. P lacks outside musical influences

8. His attempt to rap

9. P sanitized music..no sex

10. P has gotten older

I want to emphasize this is based on OPINION, no one states facts. Pure conjecture.

1997

I think everyone got upset cuase he stopped saying Nigga, Fuck, motherfucker, Pussy, and Shit.




Some of the albums released after 1996 were technically brilliant (great craftsmanship, musicianship, etc.), but all of them lack the same emotional resonance for his earlier work.

1+1+1=3 may be funky, but it you feel more emotional "umph" than funk on "Erotic City" or "Let's Work".

"She Loves Me 4 me" and "I love U but I don't Trust You" may be romantic and somewhat sad, but completely lacking the fire of "The Beautiful Ones" or "The Morning Papers"

sacredwarrior said:

you're twisting this around and asking me about my feelings for him which i would like to think are extreme and fanatic.. and the worst of the worst. i'm not being honest and objetive, that would defeat the purpose.

amateur said:

the production values were severely lacking from 1996-2000.

actually the values weren't lacking, they were just bland. slick, boring, predictable production brought down all of those albums and marred many otherwise good songs from that period.