Does Prince have the ability to make a real rock and roll record? Planet Earth started like a rock record, but morphed into the same bland, boring, meaningless r&b and rap (aka crap). Is Prince afraid that going all out rock will make him seem too white? Or does he not have the ability to create a rock record? I can't believe he hasn't done it already, because whenever Prince pulls out his guitar, many more people take notice (the buzz after gently weeps/fury)... however when the actual album comes out, it's still the same lazy crap music. Why, why why?? You'd think Prince's two best albums... Purple Rain and SOTT would clue Prince in as to why people like him.

1. The masses of Prince fans are rock fans.
2. The minor fans of Prince are the r&b fans who supported albums like "Prince."
3. The less rock oriented music Prince does, the less people care.

I don't think he's going back that way again.

lspear76 said:

I like Prince's Rock side more than his R & B Side. "Chaos and Disorder" was full of raw rock and roll, but i think there were maybe 2 songs which werent rock songs on there, " I Will" (which sucks like "Arms of orion) and i think there was one more. So i think prince needs 2 make more songs like

Endorphinmachine,Interactive,Fury,Guitar,Electric Chair,I Like it There,Zannalee,and more.

lspear76 said:

Huh?
Prince has never been a "rock" nor "r&b" performer. He doesn't fit into a real mold in popular music. He has done some great rock and some great r&b, but he has never released a complete album or r&b or rock.

Now, some of his albums have a harder "rock" edge (Chaos & Disorder, Dirty Mind, etc.), but the majority of his stuff is mixed together.

Additionally, I don't agree with you that "the masses of Prince fans are rock fans." I would have to say the masses of Prince fans like "popular music". Look at the posts here...most of us are into everything from jazz to metal.

As for "minor fans...are the r&b fans who supported albums like Prince" is not true either. "Prince" was a pretty big pop album. He first crossed over with "I Wanna Be Your Lover". Sure, he had more dance and r&b hits off of that album, but it did cross over.

For your final point...you never hear rock stations (in the States at least) play any of Prince's "rock" stuff. If that was the case, songs like "The One You Wanna C" would have been released as singles and properly promoted.

Let's just face it, in recent years, there has hardly been anyone that liked an ENTIRE Prince album all of the way through, but Prince.
[Edited 10/29/07 10:25am]

daPrettyman said:

Purple Rain is a rock and roll album. If I listened tot he radio, I'm sure i'd hear the songs on that album. Then One You Wanna See does not compare so that point is moot.

i have heard "Guitar " and "Fury" on rock stations b4.

The weird thing about Princes fanbase i think, is that its so damn hard to pin down.

I mean, it seems so diverse to me:
- People who are into classic funk (James, Sly, George, Cameo etc.)
- People who were into new-wave in the early eighties.
- People who like slick, sophisticated R&B (Luther Vandross, George Michael)
- People who love his rock-side
- People who love alternative, more experimental music (Bjork, Radiohead, Beck)
- People who put in him in the line of rocks greatest: Beatles, Queen, Hendrix, Bowie, etc.
- People who even seem to like commercial drab like Janet Jackson and Kylie

I cant think of another artist who has such a diverse fanbase nowadays.

I think Prince has still got some rock in him. I don't know when it's going to resurface but I don't look for it to be via a total rock album. I'm sure he will always have to dip his paint brush in all the colors.

lspear76 said:

PR is NOT a Rock album. It is definitely a POP album...from start to finish.

1. The masses of Prince fans are rock fans.
2. The minor fans of Prince are the r&b fans who supported albums like "Prince."
3. The less rock oriented music Prince does, the less people care.[/quote]


er...I think you mean POP...lets start again

1. The masses of Prince fans are POP fans.
2. The minor fans of Prince are the POP fans who supported albums like "Prince."
3. The less POP oriented music Prince does, the less people care.[/quote]

Now that sounds better...my work here is done

no purple rain is rock album with pop sensibility.
the only no rock songs are i would die 4 u9pop) baby im a star pop funk.
even purple rain song is rock balad

thebanishedone said:

Let's Go Crazy - Pop/Rock
Take Me With U - Pop
The Beautiful Ones - Pop Ballad
Computer Blue - Pop/Rock
Darling Nikki - Pop
When Doves Cry - Pop/R&B
I Would Die For You - Pop
Baby I'm A Star - Pop
Purple Rain - Pop/Rock

PR is definitely a "POP" album. No ifs, ands or butts.

As for the B-sides from that era:

17 Days - Pop/R&B
Erotic City - FUNK
Another Lonely Christmas - Pop
God - Who Knows?
[Edited 10/29/07 11:43am]

lets go crazy pop rock
take me with you-pop
beutiful ones -ballad that goes into rock at the end when you hear screaming guitars at the end
computer blue is so so far away from pop its funk hard rock hybrid
darling nikki is pure rock song

when doves cry -can not be categorised

i would die 4 u-pop
baby im a star pop funk

purple rain rock ballad

thebanishedone said:

I have 2 ask....what is ur definition of funk? Better yet, what are some songs you consider "funky" or "funk"?
[Edited 10/29/07 11:48am]

Everybody's talking about the new sound, funny, but it's still rock n roll to me.

Trying 2 pin-hole Prince has been pointless for 30 years.
[Edited 10/29/07 13:37pm]

Purple Rain is a rock and roll album... nothing else to say... if you think it's pop or r&b, you're crazy

He tried to "Rock" with Fury but failed.

Rinluv said:

I wouldn't say he failed, but the masses didn't buy it.

wlcm2thdwn said:

he certainly plays enough rock at his aftershows.

if he made an album full of songs like fury and bambi, it would rule...i love pretty much everything by the man, but a straight up rock album would be a great change of pace and convert a lot of the more casual music fans who arent quite sure about him yet.

Prince has many layers to himself as a musician, and He has never really fit into any particular category, other that being capable of making a song that could be classified as Rock or Funk or Soul...Prince always rocks in a smoothe, Rhythm and Blues, kind of way. I give up trying to place Prince and his potential anywhere, other than in the world, that says music wouldn't be as thorough of an explaination without him.

MAN FUNK IS NOT ABOUT SONG IT'S ABOUT GROOVE.
BUT IF YOU INSIST
FUNK
-JAMES BROWN SEXY MACHINE
KOOL AND A GANG -JUNGLE BOOGIE,
KOOL AND A GANG-RIGOR MORTIS
MANDRILL-FENCEWALK

FUNK ROCK

THE ISLEY BROTHERS-CLIMBING UP THE LADDER
FUNKADELIC-STANDING ON A VERGE OF GETTIN' IT
PRINCE-INTERACTIVE
PRINCE-COMUTER BLUE

YOU SEE THE CLOSEST PRINCE COMES TO POP MUSIC

ON ALBUM PURPLE RAIN IS I WOULD DIE 4 U,

WHEN DOVES CRY HAVE POP ELEMENT BUT ITS QUIRKY PRODUCTION TENDS TO MOVE IT OUT OF POP CATEGORY.

LITTLE TRIVIA DO YOU KNOW THAT PRINCE GUITAR EFFECT FLANGER WAS CONNECTED WITH HIS DRUM MACHINE AND THATS THE REASON YOU HEAR THAT SOUND.

IF WHEN DOVES CRY HAD BASS LINE MAYBE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN POP.
BUT ITS NOT.

COMPUTER BLUE IS THE LEAST MAINSTREAM ORIENTED SONG ON ALBUM .LYRICS ARE TOO STRANGE FOR POP MUSIC.MUSIC TEXTURE ARE MORE RELATED TO FUNK AND ROCK .
ITS VERY DARK FUNK ROCK HYBRID I WOULDNT DARE CALLING IT A POP.

TAKE ME WITH YOU IS POP WHEN YOU TRANSFIX TO THE LYRICS BUT LISTEN TO THE MOOD OF THE SONG .IT HAVE SOME PSYHODELIC BEATLES SGT PEPPER DEEL TO IT.ESPECIALY THE DRUM AND ORCHESTRA LINES.

I THINK THAT PRINCE WAS TOO WEIRD TO BE POP .

HE JUST HAD ENORMOUS LUCK THAT SOME OF HIS CRAZY MUSIC BECOME

POP IN THAT TIME PERIOD INCLUDING MANY OTHER FACTORS LIKE GREAT ROCK MOVIE.

thebanishedone said:

It's interesting 2 c what u consider funk, pop, rock, etc. I'm not knocking you or making fun of u, it just intrigues me that u would NOT consider WDC as Funk or pop.

Songs I consider funky:
Erotic City
DMSR
Jungle Boogie - Kool and the Gang
Hollywood Swingin' - Kool and the Gang
Move Your Boogie Body - Bar Kays
She Talks To Me With Her Body - Bar Kays
The Breaks - Kurtis Blow

More modern day - funk (at least I consider it funk)
Baby - Brandi
Shine - Luther Vandross
Get Me Bodied - Beyonce

To me, funk is an undescrible feeling. Funk, to me, is like a "pissed-off" version of the blues. Funky songs stem from a different part of the soul. Maybe it is a cultural difference. That is what I love about this board. Everyone has a different perspective...especially in different parts of the world.

lspear76 said:

none of those are true

1. The majority of Purple Rain fans are short-term Prince fans who like rock
2. The "minor" fans of Prince are those who like other music as well as rock and pretty much constitute his fanbase since Purple Rain
3. The less rock oriented music Prince does , the fewer short-term fans he gains , nothing perks the fickle publics ears like a catchy rock song .

lspear76 said:

Just to muddy the waters with no intellectual input. I'd say Purple Rain was a gospel song.

And imagine if there were no black or white then the whole 'Greys' theory would be fucked. They'd be back to "little green men 'bout four foot two...".

Seriously though Prince does dip his fingers into a lot of pies (pun). Master of them all? No. His own unique take on them? Oh yes (bar Kamasutra... this surely was his expermination with drugs and not the Black album?).

I like his rock and this really shines live. His pop? Well what the fuck is pop nowadays anyway? Popular music? That could be anything really, whatever's fashionable. His soul? Oh man yeah, he's cool at that. RnB? New or old? Funk? We all know that's why we love him (well me anyway). New Wave? He was still Prince and never became Flock of Seagulls (loved that band). Jazz? It's the band that gets him through this genre. He doesn't seem to have had the training to tackle it fully.

Me i'm just glad he carries on doing his stuff. PE I haven't really listened to much. It's a bit lame on my ears. Apart from a couple of good tracks on there. As always. With any album. In fact the last album that blew me away as it came as a breath of fresh air was the debut album by the Scissor Sisters (gay disco is always great!). I actually knew lyrics to that album!! That hasn't happened since I was a teen! Muse's Black Holes appealed to the progrocker in me and it's silliness and pomp made me laugh quietly.

I find I am listening to a lot of Prince's back catalogue of bootlegged material and other oddities since the tour. Also the years I missed as I was busy melting my brain with chemical enhancements and dancing my fucking ass off in a repetitive manner (that was when the scene was underground and a new musical genre was happening. That was pushing the fucking boundaries just like Rock n Roll did in the 50s and the Summer of Love did during the 60s. Hell even Studio 54 was at the forefront of disco and Northern Soul ripped through the underground scene here. And whilst I'm waffling how about the whole Madchester scene?!). Hmm lost it there and I'm meant to be packing as we move house in two days...

Have a nice day all

NB: Prince Rocks!

pop sucks and rock is something not new. go listen lynyrd skynyrd or van halen.

prince makes prince music. hes way too complex as a person and mixes different styles of music. purple rain song can be gospel and can be rock. baby im a star is definetly church music.
[Edited 10/30/07 3:33am]

lspear76 said:

PR does not fit into just the rock & roll category. As with all his albums he's mixing different genres and sounds so to me it's impossible to say this one is rock, this one r&b, that one is funk the other jazz... I always thought that if you're a Prince fan you're a fan of music and even if you have your prefernces you appreciate all categories.