Many of us were on the purple band-wagon prior to Purple rain and even more jumped abord during the hoopla. For those of u who got on the purple bus after the Purple Rain era how do u think u approach the music differently then us old-timer's. Are u more attuned with later projects? How does it feel to go backwards in discovering Prince? Do u think u are more enthusiastic with new releases then the old-timers? How do u view us old-timers?

i jumped on only 4 years later, in 1988 and still failed to understand
the momentum and brilliant mass appeal of purple rain. so i can only
guess what it must be like for later generations who discovered prince
in say the 00's.

buying and listening to purple rain sans all the hype must have been
a very different experience to the one you had, getting it when it'd
just been released. it must have been a great time to be a fan.

having said that, i think that the impact of the purple rain album is
probably almost the same for any person, whenever they bought it, be
it in 1984 or in 2004. it's simply that good of an album. it's filled
with good songs and it's got it own unique sound, even in prince's
vast catalogue. more than any other of his great or perfect albums
purple rain whips you into a frenzy just by listening to the songs
even if you don't have a clue of the whole project in it's prime.

furthermore i think the era in which you became a fan doesn't really
matter that much in so far that it would make a difference in how you
approach his new releases. i think that's simply a matter of age.

when i was younger i used to get into new music way more than i do at
this age. coupled with the overload of music one gets these days thru
downloads and filesharing, a new album by any artist is becoming less
and less of a major event.

IstenSzek said:

This is a logical progression. The older you get the more 'new' music turns out nothing more than a rehash of an earlier movement. Only a few real original or true artists/bands surface every decade.

I have been lucky to have been on the bandwagon around 1984 becuz in that music scene Prince was maybe not special, mixing the genres that he did, but it was the entire package; the music, that voice, the guitar, the hair, the mysticism, the attitude.

And I jumped on the wagon on 83/84. but imagine to have been there in the beginning; Prince in underwear just two years before 83. The most beautiful thing about Prince's music was the journey he was on. And lemme stress again that the road he took to where he is now was much more riveting than his destination.