I know this is something that has come up before, but - I was listening through all of my Prince CDs last week in chronological order, and just really noticed a real dip at Batman. Everything up to and including Lovesexy is, for me, genius. So varied, often experimental - you really feel like he was trying to do something new all the time.

Then Batman. I would have thought of it as a blip if it hadn't been followed up by Graffiti Bridge. Do people think this was the point when Prince ran out of ideas, or is there great stuff later on that I'm missing? I've written a blog post on it at...

http://www.cutyourhair.org/?p=123

It signaled an end of an era. I like the album a lot, but it paled in comparison to his other 1980s output.

Yeah, your right. It was a rushed mixed affair.Pretty digital record if you ask me, so I think P at that time traded his ears in for - u know. ears appreciate the warm sound of tape. Ampex 2" tape.

dassvenster said:

Nah, he was still going strong for me at that point with D&P being a good point too. The very clear cut-off in ideas/turning point was New Power Soul on my eyes. With a few exception that album marked a shift in the way he sang and the quality he put into the little details of tracks. Hr used to totally reinvent every year or so but since then the same old phrases and themes keep coming up.

It's his choice but around this time he shored beliefs to JW and mixed with some company that some would say blunted his cutting edge. Never been the same since

Yeah, I hear what you are saying, sorry I'm still stoned..

purpledoveuk said:

Mmm - I liked D&P, but I certainly didn't love it like I did the earlier albums. The thing I'm trying to figure out (and really don't know) was - was it a conscious choice? Did he think - "This is too much like hard work, no-one will really notice if I don't make too much effort from now on..." or, was he still trying to produce great stuff but didn't have it in him?

I think this is where being bunkered in at Paisley Park was starting show.

I think 1989 was weird for music across the board. I think everywhere music dipped at this point, I hated music everywhere between 1990-1995. There were lots of cheesy beats around. I think where Prince became part of this is simply that-he became part of it

great record

except for Arms of Orion

but if I were dating Sheena Easton I would do an entire album of duets with her

Yes I agree, I think that with the great sales of this album and a number1 single maybe made prince think that "whatever" he changed or did differently to that of pervious albums was(sadly)working for him, but we can all tell that the album is a very low point for princey!

I would also like to add that, pretty much everything before before "Batman" was amazing, from start to finish, and most artist only have 1 or 2 albums like this, prince had 7-8? in a row... So maybe it was time for a down turn... I dunno,

I also think paisley park plays a big factor?!

andykeen said:

On your last point, I think there are only a handful of artists that have put out more than 1 or 2 truly great albums before things go downhill. Prince's 7 album run is incredible, perhaps matched only by Bowie (http://www.cutyourhair.org/?p=15) and Kate Bush (http://www.cutyourhair.org/?p=33) - that I can think of for now...

purpledoveuk said:

I'd agree with this but quite liked NPS and Rave to an extent. The real steep dropoff begins in the 2000s IMO.

dassvenster said:

Batman & Diamonds & Pearls saved him from bankruptcy. Sometimes you have to sacrifice creativity to sell records.Sometimes people are too harsh on prince.
Even his average albums are better then his competetors best.
He has always been creative he has always challenged the listner.

I think stylistically its a shift from the 80's albums, but I think hes still being his weird eccentric genius stuff on here... though I really can't listen through "Arms of Orion" and Scandalous is boring

Vicky Waiting gives me Parade vibes.. and I like the feel of "The Future" its got some nice interesting synth work with a creepy prince voice that pulls me in. Partyman is a bit too much of a jam, but its still fun.

The album is probably a combination of a few tunes written for the movie and music that he had back then that needed lyrics and some vault tracks. I would say he dropped off at Diamonds and Pearls... i havent gotten to listen to the entire album in full, it doesn't sound interesting, and it feels like he began to make style over substance instead of adding it into his arsenal of fusing music

I think the reason why this album feels so rushed is because Warners gave him the project when he needed to make some money. If he had released the 'Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic' album as he was originally planning, it would have kept on going with that creative feel from Lovesexy and the albums that came before.

Batman Soundtrack is a hell of an album. Strong quality songs as any throughout the early and mid 80's with the exception of Arms Of Orion. Those who don't like it need to revisit it again. It would have been better than the planned original Rave album. The Prince drop off to me started with The Gold Experience. I think that is an okay album. Some think that its the next closest album to Purple Rain. I think its waaay overrated. But from 1995/96 to 2004 Prince's music sounded the same. Musicology to now is like a rebirth period to that good ole Prince. If any album was a blip on the radar it would be Planet Earth. He definitely took a breather on that one. But Prince is riding a high now. I pulled out Chaos and Disorder and been listening to that for the past week and when I first bought it I was like meh, but now I'm really diggin' it especially I Like It There! Whatever, I'm going to get Prince's music whether it's heaven sent or shit on the curb.
[Edited 10/16/09 15:04pm]

NouveauDance said:

Needed to get out to get some inspiration.