Anxiety said:

I didn't want to admit it but PE really did lower my expectations too. The two preceeding albums did too, to some extent, though not nearly as much.

Lotus is less a masterpiece than a relief.

Sounds like ENVY spewing from the pen of a failed musician...
I did some research and Mr Yamodas latest artistic contribution consists of making a Jimi Hendrix mixtape for an all-asian rewrite of a more famous play...they stage this in the attic of a church. Prior works include making mixtapes for other third rate plays.

From centerstagechicago.com...
City Lit is located on the second floor of a church, down the hall from the main stairwell. It's a good sized space designed as a thrust, and is intimate enough that there aren't really any bad seats. When walking there from the Bryn Mawr Red Line stop, there's (naturally) a Starbucks on the way and a great restaurant, Mia Francesca's, is right across the street.

Mr Yamoda...you are not worthy of judging O)+>

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

yeah, i see what you mean, but i guess my thing is, it's hardly news. i just figured it was something that people just come to accept from pop icons when they get long in the tooth. the music loses its edge and the only people who really embrace it are the diehard fans. everyone else just flocks to the concerts and is satisfied to hear the big hits performed, then they talk through the new stuff when it's being performed.

To all the haters on the Internet... No More Candy 4 U !

Sounds like ENVY spewing from the pen of a failed musician...
I did some research and Mr Yamodas latest artistic contribution consists of making a Jimi Hendrix mixtape for an all-asian rewrite of a more famous play...they stage this in the attic of a church. Prior works include making mixtapes for other third rate plays.

From centerstagechicago.com...
City Lit is located on the second floor of a church, down the hall from the main stairwell. It's a good sized space designed as a thrust, and is intimate enough that there aren't really any bad seats. When walking there from the Bryn Mawr Red Line stop, there's (naturally) a Starbucks on the way and a great restaurant, Mia Francesca's, is right across the street.

Mr Yamoda...you are not worthy of judging O)+>

theums said:

In that case, neither are you. According to you, none of the positive posts about Prince's music on this site, none of the millions of records he has sold to regular folks like you and me, count for anything. The only opinions of Prince that count are from people who have matched or exceeded Prince's accomplishments.

Small club.*

(* No pun intended.)

i don't know why this yahoo article decided to focus solely on prince. what are those who are supposedly considered his "peers" up to these days? is madonna still wowing them like she used to? what's michael jackson done in the past 2 decades?

stanleylieber said:

Unlike you...I don't pretend to be a critic or web journalist. If you're gonna link to a webpage you designed...you might want to have more than 5 pages of content...wait...3 if you don't count what you cut and pasted from wikipedia. Seriously...I made better looking websites ten years ago with html version 1.0.

I will concede that my opinion is worth the same as all others on the org...
and that eric clapton or paul mccartneys opinion is worth infinitely more.
When you give yourself the title of "music critic" you need to have accomplished something of significance musically or you have no credibility.
www.secureenough2notmakeawebpage.com

npggirl77 said:

I can....ALL OF THEM!

i don't know why this yahoo article decided to focus solely on prince. what are those who are supposedly considered his "peers" up to these days? is madonna still wowing them like she used to? what's michael jackson done in the past 2 decades?

i think a much more interesting article would be to compare and contrast the relationship between aging 80s icons and their aging fans, as opposed to the last generation of aging pop stars and their baby boomer fans. going after prince specifically seems a bit like shooting fish in a barrel.

buttcheeks said:

What is that supposed to mean, though? It's not like Prince is giving away anything for free that he can withhold from people he deems to be "haters."

to tell you the truth in the matter
La Sirena GordaDrains the main vein everytime

Planet Earth is not my favorite Prince album but I do think I like it better than the two new ones.

Elixer is better than all three.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/rocksbackpages/9319/purple-drain-is-it-time-to-give-up-on-the-prince-we-all-want/

Purple Drain: Is It Time To Give Up On The Prince We All Want?
Posted Thu May 7, 2009 11:10am PDT by Paul Yamada in Rock's Backpages

Paul Yamada on two more pointless chapters in the slow-death decline of a once-mighty talent.--Barney Hoskyns, Editorial Director, Rock's Backpages



On the final Sunday of March, Prince released a three-CD set. Two of the albums are his music with his band; the other is by a young female singer, Bria Valente. He appeared on Jay Leno's Tonight Show the preceding Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to promote the package, which at present is only available at Target.

The CD entitled lotusflow3r is a pastiche of slightly hard rock, proggy, Hendrix-influenced guitar playing, familiar pop-rock, and powerpop. It certainly does not herald any new or different aspirations, and though it has an up-to-date production and "finish" to the sound and production quality, this recording may very well remind his longtime fans of Purple Rain. Or at least Purple Rain without anything as exciting as "When Doves Cry," or the more surging, ecstatic moments of "Let's Go Crazy."

While the contents are polished and well-played, and for the most part easy to listen to, this music makes me wonder if there is a marketing and audience grab involved, and if so, how many fans or former fans will bite? I also wonder if other listeners will respond like I did, and think that Prince didn't have to work very hard to make this record.

Purple Rain was a hit a long time ago--25 years?--and the crossover audience and crowds he drew began to thin out by the time he released "Alphabet Street," or at least that is how I've perceived the trajectory of his career over the past 20-plus years.

The other CD, mplsound, is more disappointing. It does not impress either as (funky) dance music or as pleasant R&B. It is actually kind of boring, which seems quite a damning thing to ascribe to music by Prince. BORING.

Is there still an audience for Prince the rocker, the guitar hero who seems bound to remind us that he can ape Jimi Hendrix? What happened to the Prince who made riveting soul, funk, and jazz-tinged R&B records? What happened to the funky, slinky, jazzy Prince on guitar? He showed some of that stripped-down flash at the end of his third night on Leno: crisp, clean, funky, chicken-fried licks, delivered with an old-fashioned, lean-and-mean tone, a tone you might hear a "jazz guitarist" using in an organ (B3) and sax trio or quartet. Now, this is the Prince I'm always excited about: a guitarist who can not only evoke the best aspects of funk and soul from 1966 to 1976, but who could also be the axeman in that B3 group, and burn it down like maybe no one else could but Melvin Sparks, or Rodney Jones, having a particularly fine night. There are moments of this evocative guitar playing IN THE BACKGROUND of tracks on mplsound, but nothing more.

Most of the lead guitar Prince plays on both discs is the "over-the-top-Hendrix"-sounding stuff, with lots of boost and sustain, and very little old-fashioned dirt, like it all comes from a pedal or a computer setting. Where has the invention and the lean, probing, rhythmic drive gone?

Now that I've mentioned rhythmic drive, where has that gone? To assembly line "church," since the drums and bass playing on these discs often resembles what gets churned out on commercial, run-of-the-mill, jubilee gospel recordings: little or no variation, no substitutions, no drive, and certainly no playing that can push a guitarist, much less interact with the playing. In sustaining some energy level, the rhythm tracks relate to the hum-drum, same-ole same-ole you can hear jumping from Christian channel to Christian channel on Saturday night or early Sunday morning: NOW AIN'T THAT GOOD NEWS?!

No, because there's more going on between the bass pedals of the organ player and drummer on a Davis Sisters 45 on Savoy than there is on both of these Prince CDs, as far as bass and drums goes. If this is "give up the funk," I'd rather listen to Denise LaSalle file her nails, because that would be some scratchy rhythm!

Now that's enough with the complaints because they beg the question; as long as Prince isn't going to push the soul-funk envelope, embracing the tradition--now that he is 50--is not such a bad idea. Can you imagine what it would be like if he strapped on that sky-blue Stratocaster--or better still, a Gibson Super 400--and opened with 10 minutes of Johnnie Taylor's "Little Bluebird"? And then continued in that fashion with a workout of Taylor's "Jody," in different tempo? Yeah, and he's got a four-piece horn section along with B3, bass, and drums. After "Jody" he's really hot and slams into "Sexy MF." Then a souped-up version of "Chelsea Rodgers," a stunning version of "She Loves Me 4 Me," which showcases his "soul guitar" playing, and he wraps it up with a pumping, over-the-top rendition of "1+1+1 is 3."

Yeah, it wouldn't be an hour-long set, but it would be a great one. At present, I don't think anything like this will ever happen, as Prince has kind of become enigmatic and perhaps unconscious. He needs to realize that his old music is still great, especially the increasingly funky and soulful material he has laid down beginning with Sign O' The Times through the recent Planet Earth--though some of what he's done since Rave Un2 The Dawn is cliché and ballast--embrace it, and embrace not just the tradition he clearly understands and cares about, but use it to push the envelope in new and different ways, establishing him as a funk and soul man that could blow away most of the retro "revues" that are out there playing for kids who think you can get good chicken-fried steak at Boston Market, or worse, who think that the expression "bone fish" is really a Fishbone EP they've never heard.

It really isn't worth continuing to dream, or pick at these two Prince CDs. He's not going to do that amazing "Jody" workout. He's not going to give up doing lazy, goopy-sounding, '"quiet storm-like" tunes that even Donny Hathaway couldn't have re-arranged into anything worth listening to. If you have most, or all of Prince's recordings, like I do, go ahead and buy it. I think you will agree that Planet Earth is much, MUCH better, and much less confused, less familiar and trite, by the man's own "standards," so to speak. I'd say the same for a chunk of Rainbow Children. So buy it, if you will; and if you do like it, please go on to discover some of his better music from this decade.

Read dozens more Prince interviews and reviews at www.rocksbackpages.com. Over 14,000 articles by the greatest writers from the finest rock publications of the last 40 years.

Picked up this comment from the blog regarding this article, from John M.I think it's spot on.

whts up world? i been listening 2 prince since 1978 and just like i tell everybody if u aint a true prince fan u aint gonna like his music plain and simple..hes a musical genius..rock & roll hall of famer....he writes produces and composes all of his music since day 1...u people have to understand prince makes his music for his ears from his heart...he always has...and will come at u from all angles... these three cds just show how much versatility he has as an artist...u never know wht 2 expect from the pupleman...2 words-unpredictable licks...thats just who he was-is -and always will b...so please...dont hate..same prince different day...its 2009 and im still on the purple banwagon....nowletmegetback2thelotus....

i will say that i really like the production on elixer...it doesn't matter if it's bria or a drunk-ass dolphin singing the lead vocals, the album sounds nice. and for a prince project it's very consistent and focused. i wouldn't go as far as what stanley's saying, but i think elixer is a lot better than most people give it credit for...if you listen to it as a showcase for prince's talents instead of trying to squeeze something out of bria's presence on that album, you'll have a much better time with the music.

he had me up until the "planet earth is much, much better" part.

when i got to that paragraph, i was like STEP AWAY FROM THE CRACK PIPE.