I was just looking at all the threads and the general complaints about Prince being arsey,money grabbing etc. However I was thinking that in a lot of ways he is far more of a normal pop star than he ever was. If we look at his output since the turn of the century he has released an album per year, done interviews and normal promotional activity. Don't you think this is the Prince that Warner Brothers dreamed of having in the 1980's and early 1990's,less output and participation in getting it out there. The irony is that once he was completely free he has been less avante garde (Rainbow Children aside) both musically and as an individual. Of course I understand that if we didnt have the Prince of the 1980's who demanded triple album releases etc the music would be not have been the same but I still find it amusing that he had to be "Free" to be "Normal"

Yea I can agree with that for sure.

Prince has always released an album a year except 1983 and I think 1995 or something like that. He's always done promotion on most major albums. If anything he had MORE promotion with the WB, because it's what record companies do. Their money is at stake, and they want to promote the shiz outta something to get their investment back on it, and on the artist. Prince is notorious for losing interesting in projects, and not following through with promotion. SOTT was a great example of that, because he never toured in the US with it, instead just being lazy and putting out that movie. Now if he had toured in the US, THEN released a concert movie, it would have garnered another two singles from the album probably, and the SOTT train would have been on track for a bit longer.

He's already lost interest on Lotus it seems. He never promoted N.E.W.S. (although what's to promote?). 3121 had a lot of build up, but after a Selma Hayek video...what happened? Oh right, Tamar's failed album (due to be out that May and never happened). 3121 had a bit more than Lotus had, in promotion, giving it a #1 status. He had the gig at his house, and did Good Morning America, as well as the NFL News Conference (both of which he performed a 3121 song from). The promotion for One Nite Alone Live was misleading. And he kind of cheated (although very clever) with Musicology record sales, giving him a near #1 again (it hit #3).

In reality, I think his assumed normality comes from him getting older, and him dropping some of that alleged mystique he had. NO ONE is THAT mysterious. They're just private, and know how to play up the mystery card. MJ did the same thing.

Under pressure and circumstances, people change and sometimes make rash decisions for their own well-being.