I mean, someone compared Prince to Queen Latifah....


THIS is what I'm talkin' about...Prince get's that level of disrespect ON A SITE THAT BEARS HIS NAME...

Not only is he one of the best ever, he IS the best ever, of all times...
anything less than that is called denial.

Bowie? Really???

BTW...I'm just talking about talent, because P is an ASS for sure (I wonder if this comes into play when discussing this topic)

Revolution said:

That def. plays a part.

mostbeautifulboy said:

as an enormous bowie fan, i have to say prince and bowie are largely apples and oranges, at least in terms of their accomplishments. i'd be hard-pressed to say which one trumps the other, because their creative strengths are too different.

Anxiety said:

True they are apples and oranges, but based on the critia given, ie Influence/Impact, Longevity of Creativity, Complexity/Diversity of Sounds, Multi-Dimensional Talents (Songwriting, Production, Performance, Musicianship, etc), Intangibles, I would say they are at least on a par. Every thing except dancing of course

mostbeautifulboy said:

there's certainly overlap. i just don't feel comfortable comparing the two, because there are wildly different things that i appreciate from each of them individually.

Bishop31 said:

go look at the footage from him in tokyo on the bad tour ..then watch the victory tour ..then the dangerous tour ..etc etc ...

then u'll b able 2 tell what was live and what was not cause the voice is sooooo different

never ever has prince ever lip sychned live 4 a concert in his entire career

Revolution said:

---
Very well said... Thanks

L4OATheOriginal said:

I think Prince lip synched '1999' on Solid Gold.It looked the band wasn't even playing their instruments.

shellyann said:

That's not a concert, friend.

shellyann said:

tv apperances don't count lol

L4OATheOriginal said:

Everyone lipsynced on AB....I think it was the show's policy.

Why Hate let's celebrate!

Revolution said:

It wasn't policy, it was just easier. As popular as some of those shows were, they just never had a set up for live performances. I always hated it though.

Talking about greatness? How the fuck do you measure that, what is the criteria? You can't really put him in the league of Ellington, Beethoven or Mozart as a composer can you?? You can't put him in the league of James Brown, Elvis Presley or the Beatles for breaking new ground and revolutionary innovations. Without his publicity machine churning out the word genius from the git go I am not sure if some of us would be so high on the man. I'd put him top ten all time. He's definitely in my personal top 5. He's not the only guy who can play a bunch of instruments, he may be the only guy who can do as many things so proficiently, at least in the public eye. There are lots of people you never heard of who can do the same.

Revolution said:

yeah but was it a full fledged live concert apperance?

catpark said:

Its not that I dont like it, its just that i'd rather watch him as a frontman than as a drummer.
IMO Jack White has the full package vocalist,prolific songwriter,producer,musician/a better guitarist than Prince too.
He also comes across in interviews as very humble.
Im not a Prince hater im just trying to answer the OP

mozfonky said:

You evaluated his "greatness" by putting him in your top ten. The debate set the Rock Era as perimeters so Ellington, Beethoven and Mozart are not included. "Breaking new ground" and "revolutionary innovations" are subjective evaluations that you freely make with no problem.

Of course this argument has no real scientific value, but it's plain fun to argue that P can blow Elvis and the Beatles off the stage. Have you ever seen the TAMI Show when JB just killed the Rolling Stones? It's all part of Rock and Roll competition. Haven't you ever seen any Battle of the Bands or read any books where they discuss the cultural and musical relevancy of particular artists?

And I think you are really down playing the enormous gifts of P by saying his skills are a dime-a-dozen and I know a guy in the neighborhood who can do it. Please! Stevie, Dylan, Springsteen, Miles- have all marveled at his gifts. The man is a once in a lifetime talent.

Prince is unique, in his own league....

can't compare fruits to veggies...NO NO NO

Prince who?

jdcxc said:

He's great in my mind no doubt,i'm just making a point. Playing devils advocate. Musical ability is truly a dime a dozen, I'm a musician and I see loads and loads of hugely talented people, they are out here and you will never hear about them. Can you even say his being great on 2 or 3 instruments is any better than being superhuman on one? I mean how do you measure such things. Prince is special. I don't think he get's points for innovation though. And as far as him blowing elvis or the beatles off the stage that's all a subjective thing. No one ever had more charisma than Elvis ever.

muirdo said:

I hear what ur saying he needs to be fronting the band but on the new single he is and staring in the video for it too which is fanastic I may add
When it comes to him and comparing him to Prince, Jack White right now in time is more experimental and is not afraid to hold back where Prince will add boundaries to his music now. White does remind of an 80's Prince. when it comes to guitar playing its hard to say as obviously Prince has been playing for it for a lot longer...im not sure i think White is probably uses more different guitar style techniques and becomes like a mad scientist with it where Prince kinda justs keeps the same ones.
Jack White is first class brilliance but I still prefer Prince more always and forever!

What Prince did using the internet to distribute his music independently was considered innovative and groundbreaking, and he won a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award for his visionary use of internet to distribute music. Many artists followed his lead afterwards. Purple Rain in itself was groundbreaking. It's still a classic after 25 years. Not many artists can claim that, if any. Plus he has an oscar for the score. It's all relative to the time period you're in. You can't break ground that's already been broken.

And it's not about playing just 2 or 3 instruments. (I think he plays much more than that.) I remember seeing a former band member or friend in an interview,(can't remember who) state that P could play the one instrument that you spent your entire life mastering, better than you could. Many have stated he's the most underrated guitarist around. I think his multitude of talents gets lost in the mix. He's such a mixed bag. But that's what makes him so special.


AND he's funky!
[Edited 7/25/09 6:05am]

All this artist x vs artist y threads make me sick.
Prince is unique, like Stevie Wonder is and MJ was.
If u want to listen to Prince, put a Prince record in your player.
When u don´t want to, just let it be...

no doubt but,like i said, just playing devils advocate a little bit. He's very good on several instruments and I think that quote you allude to came from paul pederson. He's a phenomenon, because of his versatility. But I've seen musicians who'll put him to shame on the drums, on piano, you'll never even hear of these guys. They don't have the whole package, some of them are bitter as hell to because they look at guys like prince and wonder what they have that they don't. Breaks are a huge part of it, I don't know, maybe 50 percent of the whole thing. So many things you just don't control. I was recently listening to some Shuggie Otis, never heard of the dude, monster talent, great looks, like a Prince before Prince and I never even heard of the dude. Those are the breaks.
[Edited 7/25/09 7:04am]

boom said:

Great points. Other innovations:

Prince ushered in the producer era. After his one-man-band studio wizardry and production, the era of 12 piece bands (Ohio Players, Commodores, Cameo) started to fall by the wayside. There would be no Jam/Lewis, Babyface, Timbaland without P.

Prince created a sound (synth-based horns, sparse funk, guitar stabs) that is still identifiable as only him and a major influence on all contempory popular music. Don't you a remember a time in the 80's when everything on the radio had that Minneapolis vibe? Today, all you have to do is listen to Timbaland, Outkast, Maxwell (or any retro soul hipster) and Prince is all over the place. P took JB's revolutionary funk and added new wave, punk, jazz, folk elements- all in his own amazing synthesis.

Racially, Prince refused to be pigeonholed and categorized. There has never been an African-American artist with his level of control, independence, freedom, exploration and "I don't give a f" attitude. He paved the way for a certain kind of artistic ethos. And don't even let me get started on his sexual imagery and gender challenging influences in conservative puritan American culture.

There has been a lot of talk of his amazing multi-instrumentalist skills, but his songwriting and compositional craft has been overlooked. As far as song structure, genre-hopping, and musical diversity- he has no peer. He has written some of the greatest pure pop songs for himself and scores of classics (Sinead, Family, Time, Bangles, Chaka, Sheila) for others.

Prince has absolutely no musical limitations.

[/quote]

Great points. Other innovations:

Prince ushered in the producer era. After his one-man-band studio wizardry and production, the era of 12 piece bands (Ohio Players, Commodores, Cameo) started to fall by the wayside. There would be no Jam/Lewis, Babyface, Timbaland without P.

Prince created a sound (synth-based horns, sparse funk, guitar stabs) that is still identifiable as only him and a major influence on all contempory popular music. Don't you a remember a time in the 80's when everything on the radio had that Minneapolis vibe? Today, all you have to do is listen to Timbaland, Outkast, Maxwell (or any retro soul hipster) and Prince is all over the place. P took JB's revolutionary funk and added new wave, punk, jazz, folk elements- all in his own amazing synthesis.

Racially, Prince refused to be pigeonholed and categorized. There has never been an African-American artist with his level of control, independence, freedom, exploration and "I don't give a f" attitude. He paved the way for a certain kind of artistic ethos. And don't even let me get started on his sexual imagery and gender challenging influences in conservative puritan American culture.

There has been a lot of talk of his amazing multi-instrumentalist skills, but his songwriting and compositional craft has been overlooked. As far as song structure, genre-hopping, and musical diversity- he has no peer. He has written some of the greatest pure pop songs for himself and scores of classics (Sinead, Family, Time, Bangles, Chaka, Sheila) for others.

Prince has absolutely no musical limitations.[/quote]

NOTHING TO ADD. Totally agree.

"As far as song structure, genre-hopping, and musical diversity- he has no peer. He has written some of the greatest pure pop songs for himself and scores of classics (Sinead, Family, Time, Bangles, Chaka, Sheila) for others.

Prince has absolutely no musical limitations."

---
It has been said that he is the only person to successfully combine so many different genres of music.

Speaking of the other talented people, my brother is one of the most talented drummers I know and he picks up other instruments really well. But he didn't pursue it and continue to develop it. If he did, who knows what could have been. But nobody knows him so it's a pretty moot point. P did make use of his gifts and with the right opportunities and breaks he has become who he is today.
I appreciate everyone's talent and there is a lot out there. I just want to show some love to my fave artist while he's around and still rockin it.

I'm not hating on anyone... just Prince loving...

boom said:

I hear you, and the great thing is, for whatever he's lost physically and creatively, he is still improving as a musician and a singer, yes it's true. How are the other guys from his era faring recently?

boom said:

By whom?

Source?

TyphoonTip said:

I don't remember. I've read it in articles and heard it said many times. I can't think of anyone else who has successfully done so. (pop, rock, funk, r&b, soul, jazz, blues). But if you must see a source and quote, here's one:

"Dirty Mind has been said to be one of the most musically influential albums of the last 50 years (from SPIN and Rolling Stone magazines) and many of his other albums have been added to that list. Prince was the only artist to blend all of the previous genres (that contributed to funk) together with many other genres of music, like disco/dance, European/new romantic, new wave, folk, techno/electronic, Latin and world music, and hip-hop. This new genre of music that emerged from Prince' unique blend was called New Funk. As the generations went on, many musicians of all colors started listening to the music of the original African-American pioneers and were mainly influenced by them. However, Prince was one of the few remaining artists who continued the traditions of previous soul artists."

New Funk Order