His music during Rave...High...TRC...even NPS to some degree...sounded so much more personal than crap like Planet Earth. Now that he has some success again, he sounds like he has nothing to prove. Even when he was dropping turds like Undisputed, he at least sounded HUNGRY for it, you know? Now that he's a big star again, would he dare to put out anything as nutty and experimental as TRC? Or noodle around pointlessly like on NEWS (while somehow being arrogant enough to think that crap was a new direction, and not just "down")?

not in the slightest. All that posturing came across a bit shrill and immature. I much prefer todays quite confidence and relative contentment to the angry old prince.

NPG 1994-1996 great yrs, why? GREAT BAND. Late 90's not so good. TRC until today I've enjoyed. I miss some of the crazy crap from the WB fued yrs.
I hear a little bit of a revolution sound on the new one so things could get interesting.

realm said:

What was it about today that caused you to stop enjoying TRC?

Stop living in the past, if you want that just play the cds.

wlcm2thdwn said:

Same old .Org...

eyewishuheaven said:

Me Yoda!

realm said:

Humorous, your sarcasm is!

Not so much the late 90's period you're describing, but I do think the quality of Prince's music is much, much better when he lets himself be angry, or depressed, or bored, or bitchy, or horny, or even hungry than his output when he's content and happy and satisfied with life. Why? I have no idea. I'd have to be his personal psychoanalyst to even hazard a guess at why there's such a difference.

Obviously as a fellow human being I want him to be at peace, but as a greedy music fan I'd be more thrilled with his art if he was unsettled. I feel like such a bitch even typing that.

wlcm2thdwn said:

KingSausage said:

The REAL question is "What does he have left to prove?"

I have this unexplainable lust for the Rave era Prince. Something about him during then was so.... I don't know but he was the bomb! I don't know what it is but...ummm yeah even in his music like you said you could just tell he really cared about that record!

Krystal666 said:

I enjoy this era quite a bit as well! I like the last three albums he's done, but not near as much as the 90s and early 2000s, especially Rave era.

Whatever pro-Musicology3121planetearth fans say, Prince was kinda on an edge b4. B it with minimalist electrofunk such as Rave/TheChocolateInvasion/TheShaughterhouse or jazz-funk albums (weither they can b dubbed "new" direction or not), he was always challenging both himself & his listeners.

4 the last 3 years he's been experimenting nor challenging nothing & releasing easy-to-chart music without taking any risk.

That's a moment, though. I trust Prince: he'll get bored with that crap within 2 years & will do more extraordinary, innovative music, as he always did.

Wait, guys, wait...we're all living in the past for comparing Prince's new stuff to his old stuff. Never mind that I actually enjoyed much of 3121 and Musicology. Never mind that every Purple Nutlicker does the same thing when they say "This is the best since Lovesexy!" Nope, we "naysayers" are living in the past.

The people may change, but the nuttiness of the .Org remains.

KingSausage said:

This is the way i have explained it over and over to people. No matter which artist it is, if they have a large catalog of work U ARE ALWAYS GONNA BE let down if you compare something to something, period, case closed!! Take each album from anyone as if its a new day and go from there, U are never gonna satisfy ureself any other way, lets face it, people get older and guess what SO DO WE!

Oh boy, I've really heard it all now.

People wishing that the new Prince sounded like the old Prince. The old Prince of the NPS/Rave era.

This is ridiculous. During the mid to late nineties Prince was overwhelmingly criticized for making cold, plastic, generic music with no real feeling. Now "we" are longing for the good old late nineties again.

If this isn't proof that some people are never going to embrace the "current" Prince, then nothing will.

I can't wait to hear King Sausage ten years from now complaining that the latest Prince CD just doesn't have the edge of the old Planet Earth era.

You won't ever hear that, buddy. Because his newest stuff (and, AGAIN, I liked much of Musicology and 3121...just not Planet Earth...in case you can't fucking read) is so cold and distant. Even shitty songs on Rave had more personal lyrics. And seeing him play at Paisley many, many times back during the Rave era, I can say that he looked like had fire in his system. He wanted to get back on top. Yeah, he took bad steps. Most of the time. But he was at least moving. Now, he's just coasting...playing it safe with his new success. Perhaps it's more a reflection of his lyrics and generala attitude than it is solely the music. Or perhaps I just liked him best when he was an underdog. Trust me, I don't spend a lot of time listening to Rave. But at least he HAD a flavor...even if it was a bad one. Now, he's like a glass of lukewarm water. One minute after you drink it, you'll forget you ever had it.

Look, I'm not going to get in a argument about your opinion.

Let me just leave it at this; If you really think that Rave is superior in any way to Planet Earth, then you really have poor taste in music.

KingSausage said:

Look im not going to debate, because everyone is going have an opinion and favorite this or that. Now i have seen the man 73 times in concert and with the Exception of the Jones Beach show on the Emancipation Tour the man has never "coasted". Its funny that you mention RAVE since this to me was when I lost a little interest in Prince, not sure if it was shit going on in my own life or just the fact that i didnt really dig the vibe that was coming from him at that point, sure there were moments that i liked but i really felt like Prince at that point needed new direction, some dig his new jazz vibe some dont. I didnt dislike RAVE i just dont find myself going back to it and playing it very much , but like i said take each cd as if its a new artist then you dont have to worry about, best CD since this or that kinda talk.

Accujack said:

Rave is by far more musically complicated and diverse, hence, "experimental" as sausage weiner dude said.

TheMatrix said:

Likeable is a different catagory.

ITs 4:35am im just in from a superbly drunken night, just goin 2 bed 2 listne to planet earth mothint eles that says it all, afterh being pissed im seeking out P's new music

Accujack said:

You got into an argument by posting on this thread. Why can't we disagree without slamming each other's music tastes? I would certainly agree that PE is a better album than Rave, but I do think that the Rave era was "more personal" for Prince...as seen in his lyrics, and his general attitude.

rave un2 the joy fantastic was a crock of shit but certainly in terms of attitude, i preferred the angry underdog of that era to the shameless "let me be a star again" prince of the current era

I don't miss it at all. All of those religious and political songs turned into rants against the record industry by the 3rd verse. I never understood what he was bitching about. Race and religion haven't really held him back at any point in his career. And he got exactly what he wanted when he walked away from long term record contracts in the industry. So what's he so pissed off about in all of those High/Peace era songs? I just don't buy any of it.

lastdecember said:

Problem is, I'm not a goldfish. My memory stretches from one day to the next, one year to the next, and one CD to the next. An artist's back catalog isn't something to be ignored. It provides the tapestry and context for what they're doing. I feel that my appreciation for Lovesexy is heightened by listening to The Black Album, and understanding how those two works of art relate to each other. If I treated every album as a new CD by a new artist, I wouldn't understand fully the creative rush that brought Prince from The Black Album to Lovesexy in such short time. That's just one of many examples in which an understanding of Prince's musical legacy enhances an analysis of any new album, whether you like or dislike the new stuff. To pretend like this music is coming from a new artist every time shortchanges his artistic development, and is -- in my belief -- quite an artifical and contrived way to look at it. But to each their own.

Raze said:

Maybe he was pissed that The Fonky Baldheadz were his opening act...

gcu1 said:

Me too! I love Rave, Rainbow Children, Chocolate Invasion, ect... . Look at my dream man up there! I don't know why that era has such a hold on me...too bad there isn't a time machine to go back and really experience this time. Prince was awesome when he had long hair, unique clothes, went on long pro black rants and Jehovah talk. He was so different from the eighties Prince I grew up with it's like "Huh? What is up with Prince? Who is this guy????" But he was way different and cool.

"angry loser" COLD!