sean2009 said:

i'll take exception only with the one i highlighted. it's a great album, but it's the beginning of the end for Bowie for about a decade-plus.

THE 80's!!!!!

It is hard to compare eras when you've got 20 years of history with stuff from the 80's vs. now.

Of course much of his work in the 80's is classic. Give the new stuff a few decades and we'll have some more classics from this era added to the list.

I think his songwriting/structuring skills are better now and so is his musicianship and sense of performance... but in the 80's he had a "put on the fashionable shoe but rip it to fit your larger than life self imagined shoe size" type of energy and he had a mission to be relevant to the youth and be successful on all fronts and that drive gave him an edge. His lyrics and subject matter was more primal. That's what made those songs in the 80's vibrant and shocking and cutting edge. If he still had that drive now, he could do it again, perhaps better, but back then that was the drive of a naive young man to whom his stature and the world in general was quite fanciful. Now we have a grown man who has been hit by truths of the world, reality, and experienced naturally changing in beliefs and values. That kind of puts dampers on the music in some ways.

ernestsewell said:

This thread is one bait I'm really trying not to bite on...lol

ufoclub said:

My post isn't bait. Prince still still releases brilliant stuff. And many still complain that it aint up to par. What's a man got to do to please some of these so called fams?

NONSENSE said:

Stop making shit music.

vivid said:

For sure... if you get a fresh eared music lover to listen to 3121 and listen to SOTT, you might be surprised by which one seems to have more command over a spectrum of song building and structure, but the older album (despite songs that bore and even irritate a non-nostalgic critical listener like Hot Thing, It, Slow Love, Play in the Sunshine) excels in original tone and high energy (whereas 3121 seems a bit tired or reserved).

I can remember my first reactions to all the albums as I listened to them (on all of them I felt that there were 2-3 songs that hit with me, and the others were frustrating and even seemed lame on first listens). Those 80's albums that are held in high regard didn't hit the way you think they did without repeated plays and disregard for pop culture which had lukewarm reactions. Read the Rolling Stone review of SOTT from the time it was released.

gravity said:

but u know some don't want him 2 have that "growth" but ur post is on point and i agree with u

ernestsewell said:

and this is from a person that thinks that planet earth is a masterpiece. u just made ur point not make any sense at all

I thoroughly disagree with you.

What strikes me about many of his latests songs is the lack of a good, gripping chorus. While earlier pop-songs of him, like Raspberry Beret, Starfish and Coffee and even Dolphin, were very well written songs using the classic structure (verse-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus), songs like Cinnamon girl, Boom and the poppier/rockier tracks on Rave are forgettable choruswise.
Only on Love from 3121 he did really nailed it for me with the chorus.

Also on the more dance / R&B orientated songs from the '00-s his melodies mostly plod-along. Songs like Never be another one like me and Chocolate Box simply fall flat on that level. No way these songs are on a level with the well-rounded melodies of Erotic City or When Doves cry.

When it comes to the structuring/arranging off his material (at least on record) I dont hear any progress, i hear a drawback. Most of the times his arrangements sound lazy, and undercooked.
Song like Million Days and Lion of Judah sound very awkward: its like he has no idea what direction he wants to go with the arrangements.
Chocolate Box and Old Skool Company just plod along as dance-tunes.
Nothing really exiting is happening to keep the grooves interesting. Compare that to the minimalistic, but very cleverly structured Automatic or the more complex, elaborate arrangements on Lovesexy.

Just listen to Come On and Old Skool Company back to back. Tell me where you hear the 'growth'?

L4OATheOriginal said:

Well dickhead, I never said PE was a masterpiece. I said it's miles above Musicology and a bit better than 3121.

Don't get all butt hurt because someone hates the albums you love. You are an adult, aren't you? Perhaps you life would be better with a new pair of shoes.

Riverpoet31 said:

Let's not forget he has always had confused, rushed, forgettable on every album! When a friend first pushed Purple Rain on me I even felt Take with U, Baby I'm a Star, Computer Blue were very half assed melodies and ideas with good elements but fragile as songs.

Let's look at his last release... for me the keepers are: Boom, Crimson and Clover, Colonized Mind, Elixer, (There'll Never B) Another Like Me,No More Candy 4 U, and Here.

Back in 1987, my keepers upon first listens for SOTT were: SOTT, Housequake, If I was Your Girlfriend, Starfish & Coffee
in 1988 for Lovesexy were: Eye No, Alphabet st, Dance On, I wish U Heaven

for Around The World back in 1986: Around the World, Condition of the Heart, Pop Life, Tambourine (I thought Raspberry Beret was weak not catchy to me)

1978-1979 >>> Really great 8/10.....


1980-1988 >>> Brilliant 10/10.....


1989-1995 >>> Really great 9/10...


1996-2009 >>> Just okay 6/10.....


imo.
[Edited 7/24/09 12:41pm]
[Edited 7/24/09 12:42pm]

Prince's music in the 80's is world's better than his musical output today. Its not even close.

ernestsewell said:

my my we have 2 use the obscenties now do we? hmmm r u sure ur an adult?

i could care less if someone hates an album that i like but at least i have the mature ears 2 recognize that if u think planet earth is better than 3121 than u must still watch sesame street or barney

and also u retort 2 me using a 80's song u want ur delorean back as well?..

sit ubu sit..
[Edited 7/24/09 14:32pm]

L4OATheOriginal said:

Hey, you took it personal first, big man. I don't like Musicology or The Rainbow Children. It's SHIT. I love PE more than 3121, but still like 3121. How does that affect you? It doesn't, no more than you hating PE affects me, right? There's room for everyone's so let's move on.

(PS It's COULDN'T care less. Just a peeve, that's all. if you COULD care less, you would. If you COULDN'T care less, it means you just have nothing left in you to care with. )

I once heard that orgnotes were great for having personal conversations....

ElCapitan said:

[Edited 7/24/09 14:47pm]

ernestsewell said:

i take nothing personal that's all just had a chuckle at how u went there and still continue 2 go there lol

L4OATheOriginal said:

I'm committed.

I think we'll all agree that Prince set the bar high with his earlier work. My point, is that Prince's new music is equally as good if not superior to his earlier work. Some complain because they don't like the style ie perferring rock over funk or jazz, but his stuff is still high quality. But that's a style over a substance argument which has nothing to do with quality.
[Edited 7/24/09 18:50pm]

this is better than anything on tv right now

He simply sounds like an old artist now. He's more of an entertainer and legend these days.


I think once he got into Jahovah Witness he was intellectually gone as for as being on the creative level we know he could be.

You guys are drinking the purple coolaid.While he is much more versatile now and a superior arranger his studio stuff namely the vocals have been lacking since the late 80s.Not a hater just the truth.Im new to this website according to one of the orgers his brain was never the same after heavy ectasy dabbling in 87 or 88 which makes a lot of sense and explains alot of the stupidity he displayed in the 90s.When he creates magic as in the creep cover performance he brings me back but the real deal is his voice sounds lifeless and his songs are no longer catchy.TWNBALM and chocolate box a case in point.Nothing can touch P 80 to 85.

Part of the problem for many people with P's music during the 70's and early 80's was the overwhelming trebble in his sound and his synthesized sound. I love controversy in the original form, but I loved it w/ the heavy guitar, rich sound he uses on it now as well.

I think he definetly sounds richer on all of his cds from later 80's on versus early synthesized, trebble(y) stuff (from Purple Rain on actually you don't notice the overwhelming trebble or synthesized sound you do on previous albums). Obviously, recording just got stronger as time passed- technology got better, and every musician out there got better sound on their recorded works. I think a lot of it had to do w/ the fact P was trying to do everything himself in the beginning, and hadnt gotten the amount of input he had in later years from various experts who work in the engineering aspect of recording. But I think most of the work from earlier just had better lyrics, stronger emotion, and just plain more funk. I think it is only natural that as any musician gets older and has more experience, that his music might have more going on within a song- but it is definitely true that weak crap like Black Sweat, Life of the Party, etc just seem like fluff and cannot compare to the heart, emotion, and funk that is Erotic City, DMSR, etc.

I used to think Erotic City was the shit, until I realized "White Horse" came out first.

Prince is the kind of artist who makes a little something for everyone.

We're dealing with a long lasting legacy of music for all ages to enjoy and for many more to discover for decades to come. The changes in his musical styles is just a part of an evolution of his career. I am glad he has decided to explore his vault and reinvent himself by reworking his unreleased songs without destroying the integrity of the original recordings.

The new version of Empty Room for example is one of the best songs that I've heard from him in quite some time. It has so much more power and emotion than the previous two versions, and blows them out of the water. I just hope it'll have a more proper release than C-Note.
[Edited 7/26/09 23:08pm]
[Edited 7/26/09 23:09pm]