Is it just me, or are some of the songs from the album complete oddballs?

"Lady Cab Driver" and "All the Critics", it seems like he's never done anything like them b4 and hasn't done anything like them since.

All the Critics, actually, is similar to the outtake "Purple Music" (or was it the other way around?)

But "Lady Cab Driver" is unlike anything he's done b4 and hasn't done anything since.
When I listened 2 it today, I actually liked it a lot more than I typically do. It was more than just OK... that's saying something.

Anyone else agree?

ah the good ol rape song!!!

jonylawson said:

if u say so
I don't jump 2 conclusions right away quite like that.

Although in that particular scene, when he starts with the "sweet talk"... he nearly made me melt into a puddle with everything he said after "this is 4 the women so beautifully complex"...

that never happened b4.
But like I said, the sound is unique and he's done nothing like it since.

true-briliant song

jill jones and P banging in the back of a cab!

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

So you usually think his songs are just "ok"?

VenusBlingBling said:

So you usually think his songs are just "ok"? [/quote]

What do u mean by songs?

Just the one song.

I didn't really get why people liked this song so much... until today. I just chilled out with it and saw the artistic nature of it... and its so diff. I guess I didn't appreciate how different it was in comparison 2 the others.

So I call it an "oddball" cuz it didn't quite fit in with the others, but I guess the nature of the song makes it fit in perfectly with the likes of Automatic and Let's Pretend We're Married.

Mabye U'r the Oddball







J/k

mplsmike said:

answer me this... has he done anything like "Lady Cab Driver" or "All the Critics" since? And there's nothing else on the album like 'em... or has he done anything like 'em since?

I'd add "international lover" 2 the list... but actually, it's a really cheesy version of "Do me baby", heh.

jonylawson said:

I never took it as rape of the woman. But willing rough sex that is allegory to the feeling of being lonely and desolate. He has never been excepted. He has lived in the shadow of others. He was never good enough at anything: except Sex.

I also took it as an extension of "Annie Christan" which may well be a nod to "Big yellow taxi"
[Edited 9/10/07 18:50pm]

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

He's , I ....I .. stop your scaring me

There just songs.. i dont think that makes them oddballs..just because theres no other song/types like them on the album

Look at around the world in a day, hes never done any other songs like Tamborine ,Temtation, ARTWIAD, A conditon of the heart...Heck allmost every song on the album..but i wouldnt say there oddballs

mplsmike said:

Yeah, but ATWIAD is more or less a grab brag of diff. sounds and new instruments. Heh, every single song on there is an oddball, cuz its an oddball album. And that's kinda what I like about it. A lot of people aren't so into it, but they were probably expecting another PR when it came out.

1999, the song, kinda defines the sound I was expecting from the album as a whole... and every single one from the first 1/2 of the half was some derivative of that sound.

Actually "something in the water" is a little odd on its own too, but I dig it.

Maybe I just think those 2 in particular are odd cuz they contributed a little 2 my not-liking 1999 so much at first... kinda threw me off a bit, I guess. Today was the first time I really got into either of them.

I know what your saying/coming from but,
I think your wrong for expecting this/that from prince
u never know what he's gonna give us

looooove lady cabdriver

mplsmike said:

haha... this is pretty much a summarization of my thoughts on the album on my first listen... besides the fact that it was really long 4 me. That's why I had to cut out a track or two at first.

U'd better be glad I wasn't around to express my disappointment with it, and asking various questions like "what's so great about it", etc, etc.

Overall, it was a bizarre experience... and it took me 8 listens to actually get into it as a whole. But it's one of my favorite albums now.... man, that seems to happen a lot with albums I have trouble getting into...

But since I got into it, I haven't fallen out of love with it. Unlike TGE, we have a complicated relationship.

It's all good

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

What do u mean by songs?

Just the one song.

I didn't really get why people liked this song so much... until today. I just chilled out with it and saw the artistic nature of it... and its so diff. I guess I didn't appreciate how different it was in comparison 2 the others.

So I call it an "oddball" cuz it didn't quite fit in with the others, but I guess the nature of the song makes it fit in perfectly with the likes of Automatic and Let's Pretend We're Married.[/quote]

Ehem sorry, I was a bit tired when I read your comment last night and thought you meant you typically think all his songs are just ok, but this one was more than just "ok".

1999 is the perfect synthesis of raw experimentation and tight precision.

Moonbeam said:

maybe in the songs themselves... but the album seemed ridiculously long 2 me the first time.

Think about the line-up 4 a sec. Nearly all of the songs (except for Little Red Corvette, Delirious, All the Critics and Free, I'm pretty sure) are 6+ minutes long. I don't think he cut any slack on it.
In fact, I just read recently that he said he didn't want make a double-album set, but he couldn't stop writing.

Of course, after taking out a track or two, I got more into it and could understand it more. The whole album was pretty odd @ first cuz I sure wasn't expecting anything that sounded like Lady Cab Driver & All the Critics.

But you're absolutely right, each song was done 2 perfection, every instrument was where it needed to be and he made each the best it could be. haha, then again, if he didn't cut down some of the PR tracks, they'd be just as long as some of the 1999 tracks.

The most experimental songs 2 me were definitely the 1/2 half of the album, everything after Automatic. "Does not Compute" is brilliant and there's nothing else like it. "Free" is the precursor to other spiritual-type tracks like "Purple Rain" & "The Ladder." "All the Critics" is pretty much attitude & personality, but little else, but then again, I love that about him.
And of course "International Lover," I certainly wasn't expecting... as much as I love it, I've found few other songs that have cheesier metaphors. Makes me everytime.

And actually, I do tend 2 enjoy his experimental stuff A LOT... I mean, "Come" has become one of my fav. albums since getting it.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

I love that the tracks are long! It ties the album to the disco/dance 12" tradition, and it gives Prince a chance to explore the deep funk soundscapes. I don't find any of the tracks to be too long. In fact, edits of the tracks seem incomplete to me.

Moonbeam said:

I guess I wish I was more prepared 4 that. Since then, I've tried to check the length of the albums b4 I play them the first time.

His long tracks have never really caused too much trouble 4 me (I love Come, Gold, PR, Computer Blue, Shh... just 2 name a couple) until I got to this particular album... cuz there were too many of them, I guess.

I Automatic and it's the longest track on there.

Speaking of different. He did the same thing for P.R. the songs Computer Blue and Darling Nikki. He hasn't done stuff like that either.

Automatic is one of my all time favorite songs and the video always blows me away. I also love DMSR. And if you can see these from a live show you'll know why. Best DMSR is from 8/3/83 first ave. If you want to see how funky this man can get then check that out.

Int'l Lover was always ok with me, until I seen him perform it from the 1999 tour and I really like it after that. He dragged it out and had fun with it.

Again, this is one of my favorite cds from Prince.

Glad your enjoying it too!

SANSKER7 said:

haha... I never really noticed that too much. I mean I just saw the songs as they were in the movie. Didn't take the time to think how diff. they are.
If anything, I think Computer Blue (full version) is an updated version of Automatic (or Something in the Water)... where he originally sees the fault in the girl, but figures out that he's the one with the problem, haha

It might be ill-advised 2 ask for this, but I sometimes kinda wish he had done more like "Darling Nikki"

I was just listening to automatic and lady cab driver today. I was fixated on the sounds of the seagulls in lady cab driver, kind of near the end. I mean, DAMN. What an original sound to put in there. Very atmospheric. There are so many brillant tracks on that album. And, whoa, the guy was sooo young. Like 24, eh?
Those tracks are really so powerful. He was so inspired and he must of felt like the whole world, all of it, and all of the world's expereinces, were his alone to feel through his music. Remember how those deep, loud, baratone notes we the norm? Man, oh, man.