I've read this in many reviews both by fans and critics to the fact that blank album is enjoyable but "breaks no new ground". This usually appears to be a criticism of the album. My question is what exactly would "breaking new ground" consist of with Prince? If this is a legitimate criticism how come no one ever says what this new ground is?

Wasn't TRC and N.E.W.S new ground? And weren't they dismissed by a lot of the same people who say he is not innovative anymore? When Prince does something like "black sweat" he is accused of either copying his old self or trying to out do the Neptunes. But weren't the neptunes and Timberland being held up as being cutting edge?

What other songs in Prince's catalog do "3121", "The dance" and "te amo Corazon" sound like? Aren't they pretty unique in his catalog? What kind of song could Prince do now that would be so unlike anything he has ever done that people would call it "breaking new ground" and not reference what came before? Even if he did do such a thing wouldn't alot of critics call it "self-indulgent" what ever that means.

It seems impossible for Prince to win.

i agree with you. the songs u mentioned are pretty unique in their own right and yet he didn't credit for "breaking new ground" with them, so he can't win. they won't TRULY appreciate the man until he's no longer here

tricky99 said:

I hate the term "BREAK NEW GROUND" what is this new ground everyone is talking about? shit there are only about 4 chords in Rock N Roll so u cant go much further than that. This term is usually used by fans and mostly reviewers right after Purple Rain and SOTT is mentioned. The Rainbow Childen was new ground, but of course many dismissed it because it was too different??? Well what do you want at this point? New Ground or the just repeating himself? I mean look at Michael Jackson, talented guy obviously but he was wearing that damn white glove a decade after Thriller came out, is that what we want from Prince? To still be dressed in that Purple Rain coat, with the same hairdo, is that really what most fans want?? im beginning to think so

Don't worry !!

He's allready groundbraking only for the number of genres he stuffs on a 10 track album !

The thing is that people only want to here a new sound, with whitch they overlook how incredible original and with much care prince's songs are crafted ! !

Pitty (for them )

many people have read this post but very few have offered an opinion and none so far refute my thoughts. So maybe just maybe I'm on to something. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg when concerning how new prince much is viewed.

I feel there is a incoherence in regards to what prince creates and how it is perceived. IMO I don't think generally people are attuned to the repitition of greatness. A sorta of fatigue sets in especially in regards to someone as varied and prolific as prince.

There been a few very cool threads on the ORG lately including this one:

http://www.prince.org/msg/7/235940

tricky99 has started another spot on thread. The truth is that unless Prince starts hanging out around the campfire singing with Bedouins then there is very little musical styles left for him to try. Sure he could do an out and out folk album (although arguably isn't that The Truth).

Prince has ventured into and adopted so many musical styles for his repertoire and been doing it for so long that now people forget how many styles he covers and say "this just sounds like Prince!"

Prince may never release another truly GREAT album but for my money Musicology, 3121 and Planet Earth are all good albums that I listen to aplenty and give me pleasure. There is no other artist that I like who has released anywhere close to the volume of music Prince has AND has kept me listening!
[Edited 7/24/07 11:42am]

but prince is breaking new ground
can't you hear it???
since 2004 rock'n roll hall of fame prince started to listen to the beatles.
and planet earth have some beatles like ideas.
also the way he produced girls vocals on planet earth album is much diffrent then his usual aprouch

tricky99 said:

Exactly, i have been saying things like this in numerous threads and yet people fight it. There seems to be this sickness at times to just live in the past, and always compare something new to something he did already. I pointed this out before, if you are always gonna compare Album A to Album B you are gonna be constantly let down. And its not really even about peoples opinion anymore, as soon as i read someone posting about why this dislike something they immediately start to try and give their opinion some light by comparing work now with work then, and thats why any review of any artists work that does that, i just turn the page, because you cant dispute people like that, they are stuck in a web (to quote Prince). So when someone doesnt like something, i want to hear a constructive reason behind, not the same old, "wheres the new ground" "wheres wendy and Lisa", "why cant he have that Fire he did on Purple Rain", why cant Prince fans "break new ground" in their opinions?

lastdecember said:

Maybe I differ then most in that I rarely listen to the old albums. I think I listened to them enough when they were current. So I only occasionally listen to them as a refresher. Maybe if I listened to the old albums on a constant basis I might have a harder time moving with prince.

I think this new album is breaking ground within his catelog, he has never had mixes or tones that sounded like these retro noisy warm mixes. He has never had so many simple mass appeal musical structures in sequence.

tricky99 said:

Yeah i think its more that people are trying to live that again, and trust me you cant re-create memories no matter what. Which was another thing i explained in a post recently about how u cant go back and re-create a feeling you had, or get back a relationship, or re-creat how you felt your senior year in high school, etc... I think alot of Prince fans have issues, with him getting old while not realizing that they too have gotten older and things change, what makes your mind work changes, things that mattered when you were 18 dont matter when you are 35 etc..

tricky99 said:

You can either say it's breaking new ground for Prince (doing something he's never done before) - expanding his horizons. Or you can take it as 'breaking new ground' in popular music.

Either way, it would difficult to say what that ground was, until it was actually broken.

Actually despite what I said above I think there is evidence of Prince trying new things in his music. Whether you like it or not (and I do) The Dance is definitely breaking new ground. Tango for God's sake! Who else do you know of that is incorporating tango into a pop song? It is both surprising and engaging (to me) and works very well. Would I like a whole album of tango based songs? HELL NO!

Ok, I'll give it a try. I get where Tricky and TRC are coming from, but ND has a point too.
I think the "nostalgic" crew sometimes seem to be stuck in a self-deluding time warp - I mentioned years ago that SOTT would have been slaughtered by the org if Internet had been around then and I doubt now any1 disputes that.
OTOH, I think that sometimes what people miss is not a specific sound, look or feeling, but rather that sense in the 80s that Prince was leading the pack. There was this eerie feeling then that P had his finger on the button of popular music and was constantly one step ahead. That is clearly no longer the case, and has a lot to do with both where P is now, and that the entire culture of popular music has changed (and there's a question as to whether there even still IS such a thing).
ND is right - there's no way to say what the "new ground" is until someone does it. OTOH Tricky is also right, P is doing lots of things new for him and sometimes for anybody. The problem is that they don't seem to produce a feeling of "wow, this is the next big thing" the way they once did. The question is whether the fault is his or not...

Prince's limit now mostly is world music & european electronica. he's obvioulsy mostly aware of what's happenin' in the USA. I'd b happy 2 c him work with Indian or arab musicians, or make some kind of serious ambiant but that won't happen.

I wish Prince listens 2 what Bill Laswell does (not his P-Funk collaborations, the many other things he's recorded.)

I think he's broken enough ground than most artists even hope to do. Critics are never satisfied- and they aren't always Prince fans. They're just given music to listen to once to do a report on. I read reviews but never take them into consideration.