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Side projects without bite... ...I was driving south the other day and listening to the new Eagles of Death Metal Album. It's good. That's by-the-by... whilst listening to this album I began to muse on the fact that Prince's side-projects have become less about exploration and more about exposition... allow me... ahem ....
In the early 80's Prince, through The Time, Vanity 6 and Sheila E was able to experiment with sounds that wouldn't fit... he didn't see fit for... but were also enhanced by the collaborative process with strongminded musicians/people. Mid-80's sees The Family and Madhouse (and Sheila) and likewise, strong people - St Paul, Susannah, Eric Leeds, Matt Fink, etc... Even into the early nineties with the NPG through Gold Nigga and The Undertaker/Exodus you can see strong musicians bringing vitality to aspects of Prince's music that was then reflected in his 'own' work. Now we have a couple of starlets and a series of projects that are Prince performing in guises determined entirely by himself and without, seemingly, any dissention or challenge. To hear of Prince playing Montreaux and there being no Eric Leeds or Matt Blistan in his ranks is somewhat perverse... to my mind... also, just that fact that Prince now no longer appears to have proteges worth any salt, or work with peers of similar talent/strong personality, reflects in the work he puts out under his own name. Listening to the 'new' version of In A Large Room... makes me shriek and wish for the day when his original was recorded. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the new release, but the safety of its sound is alarming and the 'jazz' is a little too 'nice'. The bootleg No Light is a song of life and vitality, the early side-projects were a catalyst for Prince to produce work of immeasurable quality... I wish he was working with musicians like that now. | |
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BoySimon said: ...I was driving south the other day and listening to the new Eagles of Death Metal Album. It's good. That's by-the-by... whilst listening to this album I began to muse on the fact that Prince's side-projects have become less about exploration and more about exposition... allow me... ahem ....
In the early 80's Prince, through The Time, Vanity 6 and Sheila E was able to experiment with sounds that wouldn't fit... he didn't see fit for... but were also enhanced by the collaborative process with strongminded musicians/people. Mid-80's sees The Family and Madhouse (and Sheila) and likewise, strong people - St Paul, Susannah, Eric Leeds, Matt Fink, etc... Even into the early nineties with the NPG through Gold Nigga and The Undertaker/Exodus you can see strong musicians bringing vitality to aspects of Prince's music that was then reflected in his 'own' work. Now we have a couple of starlets and a series of projects that are Prince performing in guises determined entirely by himself and without, seemingly, any dissention or challenge. To hear of Prince playing Montreaux and there being no Eric Leeds or Matt Blistan in his ranks is somewhat perverse... to my mind... also, just that fact that Prince now no longer appears to have proteges worth any salt, or work with peers of similar talent/strong personality, reflects in the work he puts out under his own name. Listening to the 'new' version of In A Large Room... makes me shriek and wish for the day when his original was recorded. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the new release, but the safety of its sound is alarming and the 'jazz' is a little too 'nice'. The bootleg No Light is a song of life and vitality, the early side-projects were a catalyst for Prince to produce work of immeasurable quality... I wish he was working with musicians like that now. I have nothing to add, but I like this very much! Thanks for posting. | |
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That's quite alright... I've obviously been barred from converse or I've said something that no-one else has an opinion on! I feel.... lonely? | |
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Tara Fitzpatrick comes to mind on this one. I abdicated the throne in Ithaca, but now I am...
Albany's Number 1 Prince Fan | |
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