I mean,

This man is in the music business for over 30 years, being one of the most important cross-over artists ever, he has influenced so many artists and producers coming after him has became a commercial superstar for a while during the Purple Rain 'hype'.
He has been a criticaly hailed artist during the rest of the eighties (especially in europe, i must say), being called the new 'Mozart' even, and produced a lot of delicious material during that years, some of us enjoy now while listening to bootlegs.
His albums in the nineties didnt reach the quality peak of his best albums in the eighties, but on most of them there were always some top notch songs to be found, material any beginning artist could dream off. In the nineties he tried to reinvent himselves also different times (both musically, and in ways of distributing his material), not always with great results, but at least he wasnt playing 'save' at least.
After he seemed to go 'all obscure' in the beginning of the 21th centrury with JWJR (Jehovah witness-inspired Jazz rock), he made up his mind (or maybe Mani inspired him to do that, who knows?) to come back into the spotlight again. The musicology tour and the appearances on shows and TV made it clear to the public that Prince wasnt (only) some strange eccentric, but in fact one of the best, most versatile artists of the last 30 years.

So, he made that point in 2004 and 2005, and after that, he decided to record an album, 3121, that not only looked back at his own musical past, in a retro way, but also at his followers. Maybe not a masterpiece, but certainly not a bad record, a logical step, after getting back into the spotlight again.

I can only guess of course, but i think Prince really had the intention to promote 3121 in a proper way. I think problems in his relationship with Mani, probably some difficulties with Motown over promotion (appearing at American Idol, for example) and, as is reported on housequake.com a few times, conflicts with the JW-movement over certain elements of his lyrics and image, have had a negative influence on the promotion of 3121.
I have the idea that Prince is at this moment changing as a person, reconsidering his position as a musician, and contemplating about how the JW-ideas suit him as a person at this time in his life. A lot of guessing of course, but Prince is only human, and i find it very logical that things seem to be 'low key' now, since its about a person 'making up his mind'.

But, to come back to my point, i understand the desire from fans here to get another 'Purple Rain' or 'Sign' from him, but its not very realistic. I mean, look at artists who have been in the music as long (or even longer) as Prince, people like Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison or Lou Reed. They all had certain periods when they were at a commercial and or creative peak, but they also had long periods of lesser and mediocre records, being out of the spotlight for a while.
I personally think that Prince is going to a same process, he is growing older as a person, and after trying out different things, he will most probably find his muse again. I doubt Prince will ever reach the commercial zenith again, like in the Purple Rain days, or the creative zenith (for me at least) that Sign of the Times was, but when i look at people like Van Morrison and Lou Reed, who bumped back creatively after years of mediocre material, i think its just a matter of time before Prince will release another great record.

Probably not anymore than he expects from himself.

He has always been extremely driven and competitive.

Prince is definitely one human being who expects a lot from himself and he expects a lot from fans...to keep buying his albums!

We push him for better and more and he does the same to himself.

He does more between the hours of 11:00 pm and 6:00 am than most people do all day.

i think addicted fans are expecting to much yes. .

at itmes i think he is out of the music loop a bit to long

the things i 'expect' r the easiest for him to do, if only he knew.

I EXPECT THOSE HIGH NOTES IN CONCERT THIS TIME AND NONE OF THAT LETTER THE CROWD DO THE DARN NOTES!!

YOU DO THEM ORINCE! THAT IS WHAT I PAY FOR

I never xpect 2 much from Prince-I'm always perfectly satisfied with whatever he does.

skywalker said:

U always seem to be the voice of reason on this site. I almost always agree with what u post. A lot of the fans on the site are very myopic and can't see past their own perspective. I'm just glad he is still making music. That's enough.

Prince expects you to expect things so he can do what you were not expecting. I expect he assumes he's still doing this.

skywalker said:

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. I am in no way a fanbot. However, what I don't understand is the constant bitching, whining, complaining, and hating on this site. One day it's 3121 is a flop, the next day it's the 80s Prince was the better, the next it's I want nasty Prince back, or Is this Prince thing over. Today, I saw a thread where folks are comparing him to OutKast and Timbaland... folks who were born nearly two decades after him and are heavily biting his style. WTF??

I just scratch my head sometimes at some of the posts on this site. I assume that some of these people must have really miserable lives. If I'm not particularly into what P's doing at a certain time, I bypass it because I know that at the end of the day Prince does not serve me or anyone else. He only has to be true to himself. Because of that, I am happy that he has chosen to share his gift with us for so many years.

He is my favorite artist of all time because he is exceptionally talented and his body of work is richly diverse and appeals to me on so many different levels. What I love I love, what I don't I don't. Prince cannot be anyone's personal elixir. If you dig what he's doing at the time, then dig on. If you can't get into it, then move on. The great thing about him is that he is an ever-evolving being/artist, so I am sure that at some point you'll dig something he's doing. If not, put a period at the end of the sentence and turn the page.

Just stop all the damn hating. It's ridiculous. Here is a man who is still creating GREAT music nearly 30 years into the game. We don't have to wait 4, 5, 6 years for a new Prince album. Decades later he's still sharing wonderful new music with us on the regular. Is everything he release great? No. However, it never was! There is always a hit or a miss based on your personal tastes - one man's trash is anonther's treasure. If some folks could step outside the suffocating confines of their own expectations, they would realize that and stop comparing everything to their favorite Prince song/era.

bellanoche said:

Hell yeah, fans expect too much from Prince. I remember seeing a thread one time that said "When is Prince going to do a country album?". I'm thinking to myself "Hopefully NEVER!".

Some people, yes. They expect Prince to fulfill their highest concept of him, something he's built in minds over more than 25 years.

He's just creating another record.

The biggest problem is that people not only have high expectations, but they have different ones than each other. Some want funk, some want rock, some want pop, some want experemental, some want horns, some want synths, some want sex, some want love.

I don't think any other artist could have fans with such diverse tastes.

I don't expect too much from Prince. My requests are very simple...synthesized funk/rock only. No orchestras, no accoustical, no hip hop, no horns, no classical, etc. Prince made his bed by being so diverse. Now all these people want all these different things and Prince has to lie in it.

Exactly. Everyone is not as diverse as Prince so someone is always going to bitch about each album.

Don't blame us. He's the one who set the bar so high.

bellanoche said:

I agree with you and Skywalker 100 percent. .

It's You.

i expect Great things from a Great musician.
i expect Holy things from a Preacher of God's Word.

Great Music is easy when ur Mind Body and Spirit r balanced.
Holiness is easy when ur Honest.

bellanoche said:[quote]

skywalker said:

tricky99 said:

I agree with everything you just said.

bellanoche said:

purplecam said:

" Every artist gets the audience they deserve " - Prince.

bellanoche said:

Very thoughtful, cogent on-point posts.

Hopefully, those that have ears will hear.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

sacredwarrior said:

[Edited 9/7/06 19:30pm]

wonder505 said:[quote]

sacredwarrior said:

Actually, I remember this quote from the Tavis Smiley show. They were discussing the use of raciness as a common marketing tool to sell records in the music industry today.

I'm not sure why you feel this fits into the topic but just wanted to add the context for which this quote came from.

wonder505 said:

u cyber-bash people who think they know what Prince means, you mock them and laugh at them and make a point of reminding them over and over that they dont know Prince, and ur askin THIS question?

r u suggesting he wasnt being CLEAR? or that he said one thing and meant another? that he lacks communication skills?

if u really wanna take a look at what he SAID and what he MEANT then sure...

" yeah see if u make music with swear words in it and about sex, then ur gunna get an audience that swears and has sex alot "..... thats not a direct quote but it was sumthin along those lines in which he was quite basically saying that...

the 'type' of audience u get will reflect the music u give them ...

and seein as the music an artist gives is a PROJECTION AND EXPRESSION OF THEIR OWN PSYCHE...(knowingly or otherwise)...

it means U'LL GET AN AUDIENCE THAT REFLECTS UR OWN PSYCHE...according to the original context in which he said it.

Every Artist gets the audience they Deserve = Every artist gets the audience which reflects the artists psyche.

Deserve = Attracts.

Every artists ATTRACTS an audience that Reflects their Own Psyche. Its called MAGNETISM. Like Attracts Like.

The contrasting opinions of Prince's Music and the contrasting Nature of his fans is deeply POLARIZED more often than not because they r a Reflection of his GEMINI internally conflicted self. ' I got two sides, they're both friends '.

so to shun the fans that reflect his self-critical side, his self-hating side, his dark-side, his negative-side, his egoic side, his obstinate side, his arrogant side, his perfectionist side, his rambling side, his pointless points side, his FROG side.....is the same as shunning a part of him that goes into making him who he is and contributes greatly to why his fans love him so much...hs ever-present nature of CONTRADICTION.

why the fuck would anyone wanna shun that unless what they're REALLY saying iz..

CANT WE FIND SOME MIDDLE GROUND HERE AND BALANCE THIS OUT?? which in turn, would b another reflection of his PSYCHE as an ARTIST and as a PERSON, that apparently, no one but him knows, which is in itself a false statement because despite popular belief, it is possible to know someone when u truly know your.self. when u know Truth, when u SEE, when u FEEL and are ACCURATELY SENSITIVE to PAYING ATTENTION.




now r u going to argue that he didnt mean what he said nor the psychological concept it represents? cuz i aint. x

bellanoche said:

sacredwarrior said:

Goodness! What is all that above? I have nooooo idea what you're talking about. But for those who are interesting , the quote sacredwarrior referred to, "" Every artist gets the audience they deserve " - Prince." came from this interview:


Tavis: One of the things I've been dying to ask you about is this notion of whether or not you think too many performers, too many artists have become too racy and become so willing to sell a record that they would do just about anything to make that record sell, and I want to ask you that question specifically because you are the King--OK, the Prince of raciness. 'Cause back in the day, you were, like--I mean, I can't even call it pushing the envelope. You were really pushing the envelope back in the day. So what's your sense now of artists who've gotten in trouble of late pushing the envelope and being extremely racy for much of the American audience?

Prince: Well, you know, everything's relative. First of all, racy, back when I was quote unquote "racy," as you say--I mean, it's pretty light now. I mean, if you take the words to "Darling Nikki," which I got into a little bit of hot water about back in '84, if you take those lyrics and read them now, it's a little different than say the president of the R.R.A.A.A. reading the lyrics to one of these current hip-hop songs at a congressional hearing.

Tavis: Yeah. Ha ha ha!

Prince: It's just--it's a lot different now. Any time you have to rely on just raciness alone, you know, you can only--put it this way. You're gonna get the audience you deserve. All right? So when we were wearing more risque outfits, we had a bunch of...

Tavis: Risque fans

sacredwarrior said:

By the way, who are these "people" that I cyber-bash? I know you and I had a few exchanges, which if you noticed lately I decided to let go because it wasn't worth it. Only today I asked you for evidence on something you stated as a fact, which is not cyber-bashing. But again, who are these "people" I cyber-bash?

Then again, you know what nevermind. I don't want to hi-jack this thread and a great topic. People can look at my posting history for evidence on who I supposedly cyber-bash.

Moving on...back to the topic...
[Edited 9/7/06 20:28pm]