Or maybe a spiritual combination of blues/gospel!!

respectively

I think its possible although I think straight ahead jazz or jazz fusion will be more likely.

Prince's heavily sexual persona has him boxed into a corner with an hourglass waning away.

He still looks good at 50 and can pull off the charismatic sexy stuff but he is heading for a time when his moves are going to look silly and embarrasing.

Its going to come sooner than later and I'm sure he knows it.

I'm predicting that as the next decade rolls by P is going to take his msuic in another more serious direction.

There's nothing more painful and difficult to watch than an artist who created their signature sound and stage persona at a young age try to keep that act going after their mid-fifties. (I know, an argument can be made that Mick Jagger is pulling it off but he is the exception).

Prince has too much class to even think about going there but he also knows that he's going to have to make a gradual transition across a span of years where he phases out the wilder stuff and phases in the new, more mature sound.

It's not P that has to make the change so much as it is us, his listeners. Although he could turn to the new overnight he understands that he will have to break us in gently.

Like I say, some sort of funky jazz is the obvious direction but a one off gospel album would fit his oeuvre quite nicely.

Somehow I can't hear him visiting the blues for more than one song every couple of years.

But if the brotha doesn't want to turn into a sad characture of himself he knows he's got to find a new sound.
[Edited 7/29/08 19:46pm]

I would love a Prince Blues album, but I know thats just not going to happen

Age doesn't matter when you have such a beautiful voice. I remember seeing Diana Ross...on tv...before I saw her live on two occassions...and although, she danced with more energy earlier in her career...I would still go see Diana just standing there.

I would love either of these.

why wouldn't Prince do a blues album?

I'd be content with either

Essentially Lovesexy and The Rainbow Children are gospel albums, not in the traditional sense but in the messages. As for blues, do we really need him to do a dozen tracks that sound like "The Ride"? Anyway, his last handful of albums has given ME the BLUES!

P has already said that LOVESEXY was his gospel LP. It would be cool to hear him do a blues record but it has to be with Sonny T and Micheal Bland.