"Interesting" (to say the VERY least) article

http://new.music.yahoo.co...3#comments

Why oh why do these article writers come off sounding like they're all in the same high school together (and some of them haven't darkened the doorways of a center for higher learning in years, so that should tell you something), and why do they try to sound like they think they have a wit?

To be honest the author of the piece has a point. The gist of what they're saying is pretty spot on - that from the early 90s upto about 4 or 5 years ago Prince pretty much self-imploded his credibility with the mainstream audience and media, but since then he's made a lot of steps in repairing that image to where he is now a widely-respected and still productive elderstatesmen of pop, a rare thing today.

Now the author worries that Prince hasn't really learned anything about interacting with the mainstream after all and this work will go to waste on yet another whim at showing how versatile he is, yet not delivering on the goods. It's a valid point IMO. The material from Lotus Flower sounds promising, but what very little we've heard of the other two projects doesn't inspire confidence that they will turn out any different to similar ventures from the past decade and a half.

The general public and media just want one good record, that's all, yet the worry is Prince seems intent at giving them 3 half-baked ones. It just seems to be undoing all the good kudos he's been building the past few years.

The piece sums it up nicely: "Unfortunately, when Prince competes against himself, there's a good chance no one will win."

I disagree with the the story. Not because I'm a hardcore prince fan but because this is another one of those "let me write a story to get some credit while prince has a certain amount of spotlight"

In any case this does not have to do with prince competing against himself. Much more i think if you look at the request of fans and high demand he is somewhat giving us a gift. We can't always complain we want new material and than bash it when it quite frankly is very good. If you look at some of the reactions to planet earth (if i may add i liked it very very much) i find them disturbing. It is a very good album lyrically and music wise in general. Anyway my point is before we start talking about some sort of conflict prince is having with someone or himself we have to wait for the albums to even come out.

Ps. A crucial thing is that fans have to stop expecting another Purple Rain. His material is just as good its just some of us don't accept it as the sound changes a lot. You could say it becomes somewhat more modern or more to our times. Im 15 and im on this site, prince being my absolute fave artist. I mean i only talk about him the whole time and have ignorant fellows that are very rebellious usually metal fans etc (not picking on anyone) who give examples like prince is gay and what not. We all need to adapt to our times. Does not mean you have to start listening to miley cyrus (please not ) Only thing that needs to be understood like said above is that the sound changes which is normal. beethoven used to be one of the artists that made the so called Pop music or mainstream music and now is seen as legendary music and everyone knows and especially me who loves classical music. Howmany people listen to Beethoven on a daily basis nowadays in comparison to some band like take an example Linkin Park. A band i cant stand but you know its the mainstream bands and they are constantly promoted etc via mass media. I doubt prince is trying to get into mainstream he is just making music of or times and i believe all his albums have been as great as purple rain,1999 or SOT etc. Just that too many fans cant appreciate a "new" sound. Basically thats why i criticize the article as it is already criticizing a product that basically does not exist yet (yes its produced) but who has heard it?

Cheers
[Edited 1/6/09 4:11am]

Ever thought of becoming a DJ for GTA:Vice City, Lovesymbol2?

Nope i havent considered yet but now where you suggest..
[Edited 1/6/09 4:11am]

NouveauDance said:

1. how are people so confident that these albums are half baked when they
haven't heard any of the albums in full yet. all song from "lotusflower"
sound very inspired and good to me and we've only heard one single song
off the mplsound album this far. and personally, i like it a lot.

2. what exactly did prince building up kudo's with the general public or
the critics get the people who were members of the npgmc or who kept on
buying and appreciating his stuff when no one else seemed to care except
his actual fans?

all we got since 2004 are 3 albums which imo are amongst the least cool
and experimental stuff he's done in a long long time. up until 2003 there
were only 2 prince albums i hardly listen to which are diamonds n pearls
and the symbol album.

both came from the same crowdpleasing place as musicology, planet earth
and 3121. all those albums contain a few tracks that are brilliant, yes
and so did diamonds n pearls and the symbol album. but overall they are
seriously lacking imo.

i enjoy the "substandard" or "disastrous" and "whimsical" npgmc era stuff
tons more than those crowdpleasing albums.

what exactly does anyone stand to lose if prince decides to release more
music through the internet? aren't we beyond the point of wanting prince
to sell a million albums? no one sells that well anymore and there is no
more money in recordsales anyway.

so then what? the fame? the glory? being regarded as an idol? seems like
something fans want more than prince himself.

i welcome these 2 new albums and a protege disc with open arms and i am
thrilled by the fact that prince set up shop again on the internet.

who cares if he doesn't release a single 10 track album with a major in
2009 and then another one in 2011? i'd rather have the music now and be
happy with it.

people complain that he's watering down with these kind of releases, in
the same way they complained about the supposed flood of music coming
through the npgmc. music that many claimed should have remained in the
vault.

but what for? if he released a single disc right now and left the other
25 tracks in the vault people would still be bitching and tearing that
album to pieces.

same thing they did with the npgmc. they'd rather have had a single cd
of 14 tracks instead of all the npgmc material? i know i wouldn't want
to trade any of that material. it might not all be stellar but it's too
nice to disregard imo.

compile whatever tracks you like into your favorit "album" and have the
rest of the tracks as extra stuff. what's the use of all these songs
left to dwindle in the vault simply because people say they are just
not good enough. how can anyone decide what i like to listen to? and
how much i'd like to buy?

prince has proved to himself and the world that he's still relevant in
some way or another since Musicology. my guess is that he's already
tired of it again. he's proved his point, became well respected once
more and now it's just time for him to do his own thing once more but
with a lot more eyes focussed on him than when he set up shop online
in 1999 when everyone except the hardcore audience had left him.

IstenSzek said:

I said that I thought the material from Lotus Flower sounded good. I'm not
confident that the other 2 albums will be half-baked, but that is my
initial impression having heard the material assumed from them so
far, which, as I said, was hardly anything at all in terms of quantity.
I hope they're great albums.

IstenSzek said:

I'm not really sure if was in reply to my post as well as I didn't say anything
about the NPGMC. My point wasn't about the quality of the material on the last
3 albums, just that during their promotion, Prince had managed to raise his
public profile to a level that is practically polar opposite to what it was
before this period, and that flooding the market with multiple albums and pet
projects could very well undo all that. I make no judgement as to whether it's
worth keeping that level of public image or not.

IstenSzek said:

Again, this wasn't my point. I don't and never have cared if Prince is riding
high in the charts. Again, I wasn't making a judgement that selling lots and
having a high profile in the media is good or bad, just that it seems
Prince has put effort into raising his profile, and multiple album releases may
work against that.

IstenSzek said:

Me too, can't wait.

IstenSzek said:

Not I.

IstenSzek said:

Me too.

IstenSzek said:

Yup. Although I'd add that he's proved himself as a legacy act who can still
spin a few surprises and create a buzz (Superbowl, newspaper giveaway), but
isn't particularly relevant in terms of still recording and releasing great,
impactful and engaging music. Again, I'm playing devil's advocate and speaking
from the media and general audiences POV.
I enjoyed Planet Earth immensely.

hey NouveauDance, you're right, i didn't make it clear enough
that my post was not meant as a reply purely to anything you
wrote. from what you wrote i figured that's what the guy from
that blog said in the article

IstenSzek said:

All's well that ends well.

If he had never hit Superstardom, then he'd be an unbelievable talent that continues to make music and explore new things. No one would question whether he has another hit in him. But everyone wants a repeat of the 80s. I was there. I don't want a repeat. He has open my ears up to music I did not previously listen too. He's grown. I'm grown. Music is subjective.


15? Please trade places with 15 year old!!

Too much of him? Well, let's see. We are all here on prince.org discussing his music. There is a few people that still are thrill to get new music from him.

I think it is so ignorant when someone yells, HE"S GAY! (it'a always locked in caplitals) Those people we don't want to share Prince's music with. They are not worthy of the gift.

rnljs said:

This is 3 different kinds of crazy reply!

BTW, if he hadn't hit superstardom, most of us most likely wouldn't be here! Don't knock recognition

rnljs said:

Thats why i agree it's usually those very dark dressing rebellious kids who i believe in 10 years will notice how ignorant they were being

I don't think that Prince 'experimenting' is a bad thing at all. To be honest, the current musical climate is pretty boring; everything sounds the same, and there's no originality. Almost everyone is either copying Michael Jackson or those straightforward, soulless emo bands like My Chemical Romance and The Jonas Brothers. Music needs a good kick in the ass, and if Prince jump starts it by creating an experiment that turns out to be a success, that'll be a good thing.

On the other hand, I agree with the author that three albums is a little too much Prince in one year. He should put out the first two in 2009, and save the third for 2010. Plus, if he's just throwing together albums, the music will suffer. I'd like for him to take his time, and put out one or two great albums this year, rather than putting out three inconsistent albums.

NouveauDance said:

Should I be insulted or complimented? 3 kinds of crazy is better than 1, right?

After 30 years of Prince.....some people have NOT learned a damn thing about the man.

Graycap23 said:

Most have learned...then they're those that just can't accept Prince for being Prince and would like for him to please them "cause they're the fans and they brought him to stardom and spent all their money bla bla bla boo hoo hoo"

Graycap23 said:

You ain't lying about that one

That article is very truthful. I think elements of his work should be controlled in certain ways. But when you're the boss, anything goes... and that is exactly what happens when you back track on his catalog of music. It's very irritating, but i've became just a prince scavenger to his newer music. I still support him, however, I will digest the entire album and only keep what works. Due to prince being his own producer, poo poo floats through the speakers on every other track. so I have to man handle the track listings to make it worthwhile.. hey, we do what we can these days