Would you say looking back now to The Black Album that Prince's music has grown musically, lyrically, rhythmically, conceptually?

What are some examples?

Rockability said:

100%. Prince is not someone that has ever rested on his past, most of his fans have however, and thats why his fan base is down to what it is, some people just cant let it go.

Prince's musical growth is everywhere, but for me his highest point is the "Rainbow Children" "One Nite Alone" era. This is when he was at the top of his playing, lyrics, creating, tours, and also his band was top notch. I am hoping that with the 2 new records and the more "indie" feel and going back to touring small clubs that kind of "Fury" will come back.

I love the black album for many reasons.
It was a part in princes life where he was searching for something, or just mabey he had a album to fullfill for the label ,or just a collection of random tracks off the love sexy or before era?
Its a combination of love/hate/sex/funk/fun ,music.

Rockability said:

The reason for pulling the album - in time - didn't make sense. In time he played that same style funk music that was on the Black Album.

It feel's like in the 80's he always had a plan(agenda): the tour, album, videos, styles, overal vibe..etc would change completely from album to album. Then he found his freedom and just wasn't pimping the new stuff and started to do the hits tours.

Examples of growth after black album? Love Symbol, The Gold Experience. TRC.

Can you imaging if he did still had an agenda with the live show, tour, image..etc. How creepy it would be to have had "The Rainbow Children" the musical live tour..with a complete live set that told 'the story' hahaha.

Didn't P believe at one time that all the props/concepts/drama for the live act hurt and watered it down?? I remember hearing something like that?? Like he just wanted to let the music do that talking.
[Edited 1/10/09 9:31am]

I would say that he has abilities to get creative musically, but he has not put together such a cohesive and startlingly creative concept like "black album" in a long time. He usually plays for more of the variety show type album. Rainbow Children is very retro in composition (very 70's).

He hasn't put out anything as creative and fresh (in 1987) as "Bob George" in a while... has he?

The irony of the Black Album is that it shows off Prince's humor so well. Just about the whole album is funny, or at least Prince's idea of funny, despite the album's purported representation of a really dark period in his life.

And the album is funky as hell. Funny and funky, that's what makes the Black Album so damn awesome.

He's definitely grown in many ways since then, and it's great in many ways, but I really like when he regresses to that devilishness, as he did with "PFUnk."

Rockability said:

I'm not sure TBA is a good place to start the yardstick. The album itself was a retreat from the growth he'd just shown from PR through SOTT.

It's very cohesive, and I love it to death, but it shares a lot of the faults -paper thin lyrics and monotonous grooves- that critics would slate about his later works.

U mean looking black? lol

...THE BLACK ALBUM..is the ..YIN...of LOVESEXY's..yang...there is a lot of wishes in that album...from the music to the voice-alterations...2 the ballad...asking questions..and just waiting 4 the answer..

..mzsexybaby

Good points made by you all.

I think that Prince has grown by leaps and bounds since Black but the decision to not release the album hurt him. I will add that his reason why he decided to not release the album made sense.

muleFunk said:

He did do some of the songs on the black album on the love sexy tour,so i think there was a plan at one point for the black album,and im gonna say that the love sexy album took the place of the black album.

Artistically 87 was his current end point.
He definitely has not grown since.
Everything he does now is just another weak attempt to recreate what he did in the past, but at least has become an awesome minstrel.
it would be nice if he really tried doing something new, a country western record, something in bluegrass.
But for now we are lucky that he's still around and still may stun us with some incredible new works.
[Edited 1/11/09 17:29pm]

Violetblue ?

Wouldn't you say that outside a few acts no one has really done anything since 1987 ?
The only real iconic group was Nirvana and that is questionable and debatable to some.

Someone stated that SOTT was the last great R&B album and I had to really think and it's true because hip-hop took over Urban/R&B after SOTT.

muleFunk said:

The first song i heard from Nirvana really blew me away, the second one i said whoah who who are these guys? Yes they were iconic great from the get go.
But so was Radiohead, U2, Springsteen and Sting continued to grow in ways that didn't seem like an embarrassing parody.The White Stripes and ColdPlay struck me immediately but i cant quite call them iconic yet. Bjork has done her own thing thought the 90' through today.The Beastie Boys took hip hop to the highest levels ever and that was like 15 years ago or more.
Prince is a badass i will not take anything away from his work, but i cannot say he has moved musically since 87,

But you are right, in general there arnt any more acts in the level of Prince, U2, Nirvana, Bjork, Sting,and a handfull of others.

I see The White Stipes as the heir apparent to the rock mantle
[Edited 1/11/09 17:52pm]

You get my drift.

Music sucks now and we don't have a MJ,Prince,or Madonna to save us.

I don't think The Black Album is the place to start either. Lovesexy is an incredible album that truly shows his abilities. Critiqued alongside The Black Album I think they are peerless.

I consider Diamonds and Pearls to be an excellent album as are many since, however I don't think Prince has broken new ground in quite the staggering way that he once did. He's changed, evolved, tried and often succeeded in his various projects and I really can't think of many artists that could fill the O2 like he did for so long (cheap tickets help though).

I would say that rhythmically Prince has grown. As any artist (or person in general) continues to do what they do they are bound to grow. Into what, who knows. I do think he has always strived to do what he loves and feels is right for him. It would be a pity to think he was doing it for us as that wasn't why I fell in love with the music in the beginning.

iloveannie said:

i like to call them normal prised.

muleFunk said:

And we never will because the record labels with the power to market the next Prince/MJ/Madonna aren't prepared to make a long term investment in anybody anymore

Very few artists have a whole decade of continual growth and surprise. Upto TBA/Lovesexy, that was Prince. That is, and most likely always will be, the higest regarded period of Prince. But I think he's explored lots of new ground since.

'Batdance' expanded on the sampling on '16' to a frenetic conclusion. Surely it's one of the craziest number one singles ever?

Diamonds & Pearls might've been commercial kowtowing, but as always with Prince it was on his terms. The NPG of the D&P-Gold Nigga period brought a new fuller band sound, kind of a pre-cursor to the TRC-sound in that synths and drum machines were less important. There is little in the Prince canon before that is much like Strollin' or Willing & Able.

Then after this, Prince flipped right back with a hard synth sound, almost an updated post-New Jack Swing MPLS Sound of the Come/Gold era, with things like 'Acknowledge Me' and 'Race'. At the same time, Prince was doing lots of his best rock and blues tracks - Calhoun Square, Interactive, Endorphinmachine, The Undertaker album, which contracts the bloated NPG right back to it's bare essentials. I think the Come/Gold era cemented his sound for the next few years, much like SOTT did until D&P.

On Exodus you hear a lot of interesting stuff too - the title track, Hallucination Rain. Is Hallucination Rain not the germ that grew into 'The War', and is that in turn, not the sapling that grew into 'The Rainbow Children'.

With TRC, Prince brought in a more natural band sound influenced by the 70s, and now we have two concurrent strains of sound in Prince's music, one from this TRC strand, and the other that goes back to the Come/Gold era. So we have things like Planet Earth and (from what we've heard so far) Lotus Flow3r, which follow the former, and the Musicology and 3121 type material which follows on from Emancipation and Rave (which use the Come/Gold era templates).

So yeah, I think it's grown (does 'grown' mean better? I just mean it as in 'evolve', which doesn't necessarily denote a direction in growth). It's grown because a lot of this music references itself and not the period upto Lovesexy.

Oops, what a long ramble!

A very pleasant ramble though.

muleFunk said:

I was never a fan of theirs, they never had ther abilities to save anything, they were barometer of lowest common detonator that musical acts strove be meet.
[Edited 1/12/09 8:32am]

violetblues said:

BJORK ? - i think she is over untill she decides to embarrass her self again for the sake of publicity
The white stripes are over as well , just half of a rock band will have no longevity in the bizz , they were a quick investment.