For those who have read Alex Hahn's book - which concluded prior to his rebirth in the charts with 2 straight Top 3 albums, acclaimed TV performances, and uber-successful tours - what do you think his reaction would be to this success, and how does it fit with his concept that Prince has "fallen."

I would argue that despite the commercial success, he still hasn't recaptured the spark of creativity of his best 80's work.

Is the "Fallen" part referring to his commercial success, or artistic success?

NorthernLad said:

Everything in that book has been confirmed correct by mr leeds BUT as for sucess; that is subject.

Sucess to me is making something great; commercial sales are irrelevant and alex is ignorant to that

icke4presidant said:

As a fan since '81, I can honestly say Prince hasn't made anything great since the 80s. I wish that were not the case but it just is. And if you look at virtually any other artist or group (Neil Young and U2 are big exceptions) there is about a 10 year span where they make their great art then there is a distinct downward slide. It happpened to Prince too. Prince may have had 2 top 3 albums but those albums don't hold a candle to his Dirty Mind through Sign O' The Times work. Hell, its not even as good as Lovesexy or The Black Album.
[Edited 6/10/07 9:33am]

Hahn had an ax to grind because of the Uptown situation.

He used to lurk around here all the time .I wonder where he is ???

As for the correctness or lack thereof, Hahn read a post of mine on this site and then sent an ORG note to me thinking that I was a source for info.Most of his info was 2nd or 3rd hand stuff.

muleFunk said:

it proved to be accurate and verified by alan leeds

icke4presidant said:

But there are obvious mistakes in that book that any average fan could spot.

Plus, there is no way Alan Leeds could verify some of the very personal details and tabloid-style allegations because he would not have been there.

In addition, some of the book covers time periods where Leeds never even worked for Prince. How can Leeds verify that?

He can't.

OperatingThetan said:

What parts of the book are false?

It has been so long since I read the book I can't go back and quote book,chapter ,and verse on the truth and false of the subject.

IMO , it's a good read if you haven't read A Pop Life,Purple Reign, or any of Nelsen's books but if you have read those books Rise will not offer anything new.

Hahn just had an ax to grind with Prince ie. personal information that has not been verified by anyone other than others who had axes to grind. So Leeds could not have known about the late 90s/early 00's stuff.

NorthernLad said:

Whats with the scary look?

LinnLM1 said:

I think you have a point here, When P started out he had something to prove and he did that With SOTT and loversexy. Since Lovesexy he seems to have lost some of the artistic flow, this could be becouse he had nothing to prove since then. Now that we are in 2007 and its a long way from Lovesexy P has had some ups and downs in his personal life that we dont get to see, he could be at a point in his life where the juices are flowing again.

But I think hes been on the 'up' since Musicolgy was released and then 3121 both which where commercials successes. I think the new cd will be another comeercial succes, but many people here will put in down no doubt.

As good as the book is, it was written about 12months before Musicology and it does unfortunately represent the time. Hes right, he has had nothing ground breaking since 1987, but if you read closer he does praise some of the later stuff. He likes Emancipation for instance and only insults his 98 output as being funk lite rather than anything else.
As for rise, I would say ebb, his albums were Top3 but both only sold a million worldwide which is pretty poor and they fell quickly, the music is shorn of its indulgence, but it sounds dated in this age. Hes still got some personal problems and hasn't changed his attitude regarding women and proteges. Prince is just existing rather than thriving. Hahn could easily add another chapter and reissue the book.
Hahn to me sounds like a disgruntled fan who loved Prince's golden era and lost interest when he satrted following trends rather than setting them. Tony M is butchered in that book (rightfully so). I agree with him wholeheartedly, Prince sacrificed his artistic credibility for an excuse to put out album after album of filler. I have finished listening to the new albums already and didn't ge tmuch out of guitar.

OperatingThetan said:

Thank u.

I'm looking at that book right now,. Alex Hahn would end it the same way,with these little words: "PRINCE IS IN CONTROL"!

Hahn's book is an ok read, but I much prefer all the books from Uptown's Per Nielson. He seemed to do more real, deep and meaningful research. In my opinion, the last great Prince/o(+> as a whole was Come. Everything from there has had a glimmer here and there. Musicology cracked the surface of the old form and 3121 broke through. Now it's up to Planet Earth to see if that 80's Prince we all love is back. Guitar is a good start and I hope it does go #1 especially for all the haters out there and here. We have to remember that Prince was a young,wild rebel in the 80's and now he's a mature, smooth master.
He has nothing to prove but I guess we are spoiled here. I always have faith that Prince will put up something good and it always comes in three's so Planet Earth is the third album were the previous two were improvements on each other.