So I broke down and listened to the album on the MSN feed.

I just want to say Thank You Prince, for giving me free music today.

The album is nice to listen to, and after the crappy day I had today it made me smile.

After I went about my daily scene the song that stuck in my head out of them all was All The Midnights In The World. That song is so simple and sweet.

in July

coolcat said:

IstenSzek said:

DreZone said:

Why thank-you Dre. At least one person read my argument!

BTW sassybritches, what did you mean by co-sign?

PurpleHouse said:


I totally agree. i dont mind sparking a debate here. I would like to start a new thread but for fear of being locked by the mods.. its here. And here I go:

I hate to say this guys but Bewdy doesnt just have a point, I think he's right. I think we should all accept Prince's output quality is nowhere near what it used to be.

However, I will attempt to justify in a lucid, coherent rational manner.. Here goes:

NPS, Emancipation, Musicology, 3121 and Planet earth, the list goes on.. most albums since the Gold Experience (with the exception of TRC - a masterpiece of non-commercial genius) are in my humble opinion average albums. A once or twice listen, perhaps a tweek of the eyebrow occasionally, and then never again.

The main problem for me, is the severe lack of a coherent album feel, since the disappearance of the original NPG band.

The album songs sound like they were recorded at different places, at different times, with different artists, and then - the no.1 flatliner for me - a song with all instruments performed completely by prince.

At this point, this is where the production really sucks. Take for example the song planet earth. Doing well up until the bridge. Horns come in.. played by (i assume) prince! Horns!! on a goddamn synth keyboard! they sound totally unrealistic, cheap and rushed - back of a bedroom, like he couldnt be bothered to wait to finish the mix and couldnt afford to hire/pay for ppl to play real horns.

Next up - track 3 Somewhere here on earth. How rediculous. The track actually opens with fake flutes. synth flutes! what a waste of time. Cheap, quick, crass production. He is a multimillionnaire and he cant be bothered to get a real band together for the album mix. Lots of albums have suffered from this. Before emancipation he never did that. He had a REAL band that played the music. A bassist playing bass.. not prince running his fingers over a keyboard.

Yes prince sometimes lets others contribute a little bit - but just Renato on a piano solo and fake everything else doesnt work for me.


No wonder some of you want to hear these songs live. Even I thought, wow, at least some of these songs might be good live. Because the studio mix is appaulling.

Couple that with really bad or basic and even childlike lyrics at times, and not very memorable or legendary melodies.. it all makes for wave after wave of rushed, mediocre tripe that only means something to prince, to satisfy his ego.

Future Baby mama... another prime example. Just listen to those drum and percussive sounds.. all fake. From a korg synth. And those sounds he used with wendy and lisa many times.. 20 years ago! its like he hasnt even upgraded his synth.

I dont like his new stuff. They are not albums. They are a malaise. A something for everyone approach. yuck.

Prince would do a lot better to severly cut back on his output, stop churning his every thought into a half baked song, and spend a lot more time working on a coherent album, classing up his lyrics, and classing up the production and throw away that rediculous, outdated korg synth he is using and get a real band to record and produce the album. Fake sounds trying to be real is just the worst.

until prince makes that decision.. we r going to be bombarded with mediocre/ rushed everything. Quality not quantity is the rule. The most basic rule you learn in first grade.

There you have it. My opinion.. in a not-so-small nutshell.


Sassybritches said:

co-sign.

its a shame that after being away from the org for so long, what lured my back was the politics forum. commenting on a new record/performance was just a side note.


Dre said:

amen.

'dre




Purplehouse said:


Why thank-you Dre. At least one person read my argument!

BTW sassybritches, what did you mean by co-sign?

Have to say it..... I totally agree with Purple House.

Prince seems to think that because it's his music it must be quality...

The album is half baked and just because he has lots of different styles on the album doesn't mean shit.... if the songs aren't any good.

He needs to upgrade those keyboards....

x

ps Mr Goodnight is truly awful..... so dated..... just awful.....

x

I finally listened to the entire CD.It's alright...maybe it will grow on me? A few songs are outstanding ("Future Baby Mama","Somewhere Here On Earth") but I find the pop/rock tracks to be kinda bland

I can't believe people are ripping on "Lion of Judah" or being dogmatic. Did they actually listen to the song and hear the lyrics?

DiscoMafia said:

DiscoMafia said:

Why thank-you too Discomafia. I didn't mean to sound harsh in my opinion up there, yes I'm grateful for free music. But lets face up to the very real fact that prince is long past his best, and all we are going to get half baked, rushed albums until prince decides to take time out, and work on an opus for at least A COUPLE OF YEARS, work properly on the lyrics and production, album direction, no cheap fake sounds and get a REAL band to play the tracks and the parts to create an album feel.

Prince is always in a hurry. Never sticks to anything long enough because he wants to release every thought in his mind. He pays the price for that because he doesnt put enough time and effort in, and to me, it shows, compared to the steady once a year albums he released when he was with warners.

The main point, is that he needs to get a consistent band. Not ppl playing in dribs and drabs. He worked with the revolution band and the NPG for years, and look what music he made. fantastic. And each time the band members were bringing in collective efforts and contributions - prince pinched a lot from Wendy and Lisa. Its true guys. All genius' take other ppls work and make them better (Mozart, Tarrentino etc) they need inspiration.


Now prince wants to do/control everything himself, I honestly think we are seeing very mediocre stuff but the P man keeps bigging it up, and doesnt accept any criticism.

A notable exception was 2002, the ONA tour and TRC album. he was at his best again that year. Since then.. its all been muddled, fuzzy, drappy, and a really sh*t website (3121.com) what on earth is the man doing.

He surrounds himself with yes men and ppl in awe of his everymove. Not healthy for a creative well. U need other ppl to channel that creativity or it all comes out wishy washy.

Planet earth? A theme? A message? no just one song. A message like that, and a cover like that.. and 9/10 songs are nothing to do with planet earth or tree huggin hippy songs.

Planet Earth the song should NOT be on that album. Its message and feel stands out like a sore thumb and is well out of place. A single perhaps would be better.

Anyways, just some more thoughts on this average, eclectic album with a mismash of messages and at times, not so good lyrics.

I've been listening to it quite a bit - mainly because I've been really enjoying it. No - it's nothing groundbreaking, but there are a good few cracking little tunes on their to make it, for my money, his most fun and enjoyable album since 'Lovesexy'.

I think it's interesting that much of the criticism - ie it's lack of coherancy, it's sprawling over different styles - is pretty much was what made SOTT so good. I've always thougtht that Prince has suffered from a lack of editorial control - 'Emancipation' being the most obvious example - but with PE, I think the album stands well enough to almost warrant a bit more room to breath.

But at the end of the day - it's horses for courses - given the sheer diversity of his work, it's bound to be that different people have different preferences - don't think there's anything right or wrong about that.

But I for one will be enjoying PE for what it is - a great fun, pop record, the likes of which I haven't heard from Prince for many a year.

I've listen to the album stream that's on MSN's website.

The only standout track so far is the song PE and that's mostly because of the screams.

Perhaps it's a grower. I hope so.

I'll give my review after I buy the album next week.

Accujack said:

TRC and ONA Live (on the strength of live performances of new tracks like TRC, Muse, Xenophobia, Family Name, Everlasting Now and rearrangements of old ones like When You Were Mine, Extraordinary) would be the projects that impressed me from start to finish. There were moments on ONA studio (particularly U're Gonna See Me) and C-Note. If you mean "this decade" to mean the last 10 years, not just the 00s, then I'd throw Wasted Kisses (even though it's stuck on a sub-par release overall) and some of the material on the Truth (e.g., Fascination) into that category.

Edit: I lost my copy of Xpectation a few years ago, but my recollection was that I was excited by the concept, a little underwhelmed with the result, but there was a track here and there that I thought were pretty good. Same with N.E.W.S. Not sure if either had "Hell Yeah!" moments, but they were a bit closer. While neither of those two projects lived up to what I was hoping, I appreciated the attempt, and would rather have Prince pushing himself to make creative projects like that as opposed to trying to recapture his ability to make Pop (or adult comtemporary) music like PE, 3121, Musicology, Rave, etc.
[Edited 7/18/07 8:14am]

PurpleHouse said:

Very well stated, and I agree 100%. I felt in 2002 like Prince had finally, after a 5-year period, surrounded himself with a great band that was as good as what he had with the mid-90s NPG and SOTT/Lovesexy band, and so I was excited about the future. But then it seems like he chose to do largely what he did in 1996, deciding he wanted to rid himself of other strong personalities in the studio and go back to making plastic-sounding, uninspired music.
[Edited 7/18/07 8:13am]

Shapeshifter said:

100% agree

After several listenings to the album "Planet Earth", as a longtime P fan, I am pretty disappointed.

Why?

Because once again, in the vein of "Musicology", Prince has released an uninspired rubber stamp Prince album. The songs aren't bad, but they're not too good either. As one reviewer wrote, "This is not what Prince was made for."

In other words, Prince was born to innovate, excite, thrill, and break new ground. But over and over again, he releases albums that pale in comparison to the thrilling musicianship and showmanship he displays in his live act.

I can't understand why, as a brilliant artist, he continues to release the same types of familiar pop & r&b songs he's already done over and over again. You would think he'd be tired of it, bored with himself!! You'd think he'd want to press himself into new territory, new arrangements.

There is no growth here. So rather than listen to "Planet Earth", I'd rather hear his more innovative, thrilling releases like "Lovesexy", "Purple Rain", "The Rainbow Children" or even "New Power Soul", which has weird & fresh sounding cuts like "Freaks on This Side" and "Mad Sex".

Aside from "Somewhere Here On Earth" and "Resolution", this album doesn't do much for me.

inconsistent ramblings
[Edited 7/18/07 9:17am]

switters said:

When u all will understand (this is sad..i know) that THE PRINCE from the eighties is DEAD 4 EVER and ever...PRINCE can't make an album like 1999 or SOTT again....his Best period was 1980-1988.....your only hopes (as for me) is to see the release of his Remastered WB back catalogue with unreleased stuff from this ERA....That's IT!

TheAStarr said:

Actually I was not so much interested in the lyrics (which have never bothered me otherwise I would not have loved Lovesexy and TRC so much) but the arrangements/instrumentation/feel of the songs. To my ears these sound like the kind of music that I associate with Christian Rock - ie pretty lame and music by numbers. In fact they sound like something a High School band would perform!

If the arrangement etc was changed but the lyrics remained the same these songs could probably have been pretty good. To me they just aren't!

I have nothing against Prince singing songs about anything that inspires him, including God. Some of his most amazing work has been generated through his faith. But these songs do not sound inspired and certainly do not sound like something anyone else couldn't have done (whereas nobody except Prince could have recorded/released albums like Lovesexy and TRC).

So back to my original point, for me this album has:

7 x excellent/very enjoyable songs
2 x weak/odd christian rock style songs
1 x awful unlistenable piece of rubbish that gets deleted from my playlist along with Graffiti Bridge (the song).
[Edited 7/18/07 9:38am]

The same as his last two or three or four cds. Seems to me like its a 3 cd set that he is just releasing one at a time. It's not a bad cd but its not a creative one either.

True to an earlier post that Prince is Dead. Prince Judah lives now

Funny, wasn't it 'Earth Song' that marked the end of Michael's career

love2thenines2003 said:

The poster that you're responding to mentioned 2 80s albums, a 90s album and a 00s album for examples of the types of creativity he or she was hoping for.

You do not need to be nostalgic for the Prince of the 80s to dislike the last 3 releases!

sassybritches said:

Yeah, it reminds me of the song Gloria....or is it I Will Follow, by U2.


M

RumAndRaisin said:

You rated the albums in that order: Planet Earth, 3121, Musicology

But below your email signature says Top 5 Albums?
1.NewPower Soul
2.Emancipation
3.Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
4.3121
5.Musicology

Some albums I can play them over and over again. PE is not one of them and I haven't even buy the album yet.

Mr Goddnight is my favorite.
Lion of Judah - ok

the others are ok too. I still play 3121, musicology, Emancipation and NPS once in a while.

I can tell you with PE, this is not the case.


I agree with PurpleHouse, Prince. (not that you care)


But we do. This would have been ok if this was a Triple-CD. 10 songs and that's it? Maybe Prince wants to release another 10 song CD by the end of the year.

I certainly don't want the next one toi be 8 songs...

Time for a Doulble or Triple CD for everyone to be satisfied.

Did I say "satisfied"?






Word of The Wizard

wizard said:

Interesting...for me PE is the first Prince CD in a long while that I
can play over and over again from start to finish!

I love it!

BanishedBrian said:

Wasn't the band he was touring with in 2002 ca. 80 % the same as for the Musicology tour in 2004 and also for recording the Musicology album?

EmancipationLover said:

Well, I suppose it was now that I think about. I think TRC had Najee on it, and I don't believe he participated on Musicology. I don't think Maceo or Candy did either. So there was an abandonment of live horns, which were a strength of the ONA band and some of the recordings made right before Musicology.

I guess my point is that prior to Musicology, I felt like he had a band capable of producing an album where the musicians challenged each other. On Musicology, though Renato and JB are playing, it doesn't feel much like a collaborative recording as much of them just playing simple parts dictated by Prince. Then again, take this with somewhat of a grain of salt, as Musicology bored me so much I really have thought about it less than almost any other album.

And the Musicology tour was fine btw...so perhaps the sluggishness of that album is just due to Prince wanting to go Pop again. Or maybe while he had the band members, he just focussed them more on touring than really collaborating with him in the studio.

Or maybe Larry G really is the key ingredient and the problem was Rhonda.
[Edited 7/18/07 13:04pm]

love2thenines2003 said:

But herein lies the problem. Post-WB, Prince's output was patchy, but it still had genius moments. He only got bland and predictable when he dealt with majors and returned to the mainstream. Rave had its moments, but it was, overall, his worst album since Chaos & Disorder (which, in the context of his Sony sponsored output, comes on like a work of genius, as opposed to the loud, bitter hissy-fit it was). Emancipation was a 50 minute masterpiece lost in three hours of overindulgence. NPG Soul had three outstanding songs on it. TRC was his strongest and most consistent - and, yes- his best album since Gold Experience.
And I consider Xpectation a masterpiece.

Unfortunately, since he's decided to re-enter the mainstream, he's released three unbelievably bland, boring albums which all clock in at attention-retaining times (45 minutes exactly!). Planet Earth is marginally better than 3121 or Musicology, but we're talking grades of manure here. I'd rather he retired from mainstream music altogether than to keep on serving up this bilge.
[Edited 7/18/07 15:01pm]

switters said:

2903dad said:

I'm sorry.