prince is known for his ability to make a song in most of the
genres of popular music and more or less he can sound
convincing.
but some of his albums suffer because of genre diverity.
on album like chaos and disorder you have electro song dig u better dead.
,maybe that song is not bad but it totaly kills the vibe of that album.
or we march and now on gold album.
or baby im a star on purple rain-while song itself is considered a classic it dont fit the sound of that album.
not to mention symbol album.

i think that was one of the criticisms I read with the 3121 cd, where one critic felt he was all over the place with genres, but it worked well for me for 3121 and other albums, but not so much for planet earth.

Not at all, I love his albums.

Although I have heard some of the more similar songs together in mixes and it serves them quite well to be together.

For example: culling together all the Camille tracks.

It doesnt bother me at all. i actually prefer it like that.

I it!

The diversity really bothers me.

All the exploration of different genres, styles and rythms is totally unnecessary.

It's more than my narrow mind can handle.

I want him to find a rut, really get deep into it, and just stay there.

I've been a Prince fan since the beginning 80's and NO, his diversity has never bothered me.

CJBabyDaddy said:

I love your answer.

[Edited 1/2/09 7:49am]

Princes Diversity is why I love his music
His above all Others
I also love REM, U2, White Stripes, Kanye, Common, The Roots, and many others and sometimes while I listen to their albums, they start to blend to (I hate to say) to a point of bland, but that is only their albums.Maybe I don't have the constentration powers of others.
With Prince my interest is aways kept, even in the Jazz albums(8, 16, N.E.W.S. Xpectation and C-Note)
In general, its the way his albums are a trip for the listener, with many points of interest on the way.
If he settled in a rut, then as fans what would keep our interest,artitcles in Hello magazine or yet another greatest hits cd.

That´s what it makes Prince different than others, his diversity is why I admire him a lot

zucris said:

co-sign

zucris said:

i completely agree. if he stayed in one musical place for too long, i think it would have damaged his longevity.

no its one of the main reasons I love his music, and it acted as a bridge to other styles that I was pretty ignorant to when I was younger. his music served as an introduction to his influences as well

Dayclear said:

That was a pretty funny answer!!!
hahaha

No, I think his diversity makes things interesting...
I think it is cool that I am not hearing the same style over and over...
Love when he experiments with Jazzy stuff!
Nice topic...

you didn't understand me at all.
i also love prince's ability to make funk and hard rock because i like both genres of music.
but on the albums
song that are stylisticly diffrent like heaven and earth.
chaos and disorder would be much better album if empty room was there instead of dig u better dead.
sometimes it interrupts the flow of the album.

Meloh9 said:

same here. when I became a fan it led to me appreciate other types of music.

I think diversity is cool. That's what always kept me interested in P, Funkadelic, The Beatles, The Police and Miles. As a musician, you always want to keep your listener interested.

Uhhh no. That's what makes Prince who he is as an artist. You can't classify him as any one thing because his best songs are a combination of different genres.

Prince is an artist that explores all that He can and gives us what he wants...We're here and most of us completely satisfied.

Thank God he's as diverse as he is or he may not have reached me!

PurpleKnight said:

Well said! Diversity is always a good quality.

The 90s was a period when many bands felt like they had to cram each CD with 60-78 minutes of music and having all possible styles covered (i.e. The Cure "Wild Mood Swings"). That's also when Prince expanded his palette even more, and of course on of the grounding ideas of his -period, and the first name change, was that he could do whatever he wanted to do. He also spoke of an "entirely new style of music", but in the end it mostly just dissolved into him trying tons of different genres.

lately yes, because it can come off as formulaic and uninspired. i refuse to believe that there arent times when he gets in a zone and stays in a certain vein. Does every album have to have a sultry ballad? a rocker, a jazzy tune. lotusflow3r might be the first album that reflects a legitimate mood in a long time.

The fact that Prince isn't "true" to any single genre or another is the reason he doesn't sound like anyone else. And thank God for that!

His diversity is almost always a benefit. I really like the songs you mention.

Flowers2 said:

From when I first came to this site,
all I've ever seen people want from the artist,
is diversity.

nope, never

Princes' diversity is very stimulating it's never boring and all that variety keeps it poppin