You can sum this whole argument up in 2 words:

BIG FUN

That song is a straight call out to the Ice Cubes/Dre's/Snoops of the world. Ole Skool Company aint even a call out on himself.

God Prince, please come betta next time. No more lazy uninspired crap. Your old fams are waiting. The Linn drum doesn't confuse us all.

Get Freaky, Let your head bob

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Barely interested here. Really not anxious to hear his next album at all. He is that far gone, no more purchases from me til he gets his act together. I'm tired of his recent albums and him settling for mediocrity.

He's as good as his last song =

i wouldnt say "that far gone"

name an album he has released that didnt have some lackluster tracks?

i like ole skool company and have even grown to enjoy valentina.

i kind of like "old skool company", especially how it goes into
some weird shit in the second half.

having said that, i have to agree: BIG FUN!

BIG FUN

come and dig the funky music
i got some old shit u might get in2

minneapolisFunq said:

you know, people say that more and more these days, as if all of his
80s albums have sub standard tracks too.

well, they don't.

i enjoy all of his later and new albums too but they aren't as good
and consistent as his prime material at all.

i think lotusflower, the title disc, is a fantastic album. but alas,
another parade, it is not.

ah yes, i live in the past, it's quiet and comfortable here and they
play some fierce motherfunkin music in this bitch.

thats where opinions come into play.

i think parade sucks aside from kiss which he didnt even come up with on his own.


i'm not saying the new set is flawless but there are enough good tracks to make it worth my money.

i really dont understand all of the hatred for it.

and i also prefer his earlier work(and music from the 80s in general).

minneapolisFunq said:

I keep trying to like them but i can't. Musicology, 3121, PE, Lotus. There's a decent double album in there somewhere, but that's all.

Honestly, TRC, ONA, NEWS were interesting and a welcome diversion from junk like Rave and NPS, but he's back to that kind of form now. Just rubbish.

minneapolisFunq said:

Well it is so perverse, even for Prince, to be singing about Mama to baby!

I think everything he has done Rainbow Children and up have been much more intresting than Grafitti Bridge down. Yeah there might have been more albums from 90 - 99 hoiwever the quality and muscicianship has greatly improved. I heardly heard him do any jazz tracks or very soulful music in that time. Alot of it was very mechanical and cold. The writing was atrocious past Emancipation to Slaughterhouse. I dont know what went wrong there..and even the bootlegs show that.

Last but not least it wasnt even the writing aspect, but the way he was producing the music was everywhere. He had a good 24 tracks going in some songs during the D&P - Come Era I mean...lots of overproduction. There were some really nice songs that never shined because it was drowned out in loud production and crazy sounds.

It was like he was personally trying to drown out drama in his life by adding MORE MUSIC into his tunes, eventually tearing down some very memorable tunes. Take "Northside" foir instance. Not overproduced, but has NOTHING compared to the way it sounded live this past year at Paisley Park. There was a song I despised in front of me and I was shocked at how it sounded live...I said to myself, "this is ACTUALLY a GREAT tune!" But in reality it's not what I can go back and listen to on CD, and it's very upsetting.

Im glad he stopped the madness in the past ten years and made some really great tunes. Digital Garden, Rainbow Children, If Was The Man In Your Life, Reflection, Black Sweat, Love, Get On The Boat, 3121, The 1 U Wanna C, Chelsea Rogers, Dance 4 Me, Valentina, No More Candy, Feel Better, Feel Good, Dreamer, $...

They may not be the Grand Progression but it sho is funky.

minneapolisFunq said:

Parade sucks?

you must turn in your Prince card immediately!
[Edited 1/28/10 15:53pm]

paisleypark4 said:

Wait a minute: Are you suggesting that his work in the last 10 years is better than the stuff from the 80s?

I love Old Skool Company.

If you don't like it just don't listen.

No need to protest about not purchasing future releases.

It's just boring.

Again and again people on the org talk about the past V the future and in EVERY SINGLE THREAD, the only thing we agree on is that we ALL have different favorites. I love everything from the Rainbow Children through to loTusflow3r. I think it's some of the best music ever made my anyone. It's cool if you don't though. I'm just a bit sick of reading about how dissapointed you are.

I'm not trying to be offensive but perhaps P has out grown you? Maybe he is making EXACTLY what he wants to make. Perhaps he isn't falling short of what you see as greatness because he is achieving what HE sees as greatness, In all our lives, that all we can aspire to do, surely?

I got into P alongside Maxwell, the Fugees, Bjork, Mos Def etc. I'm not an 80s kid. Perhaps I have different expectations from people who were 18 in 1984. I just really hope that when I'm 45, I don't keep complaining about how bad music is and how Amy Winehouse isnt making another 'Frank' and how Bjork is so evil for not making another 'Vespatine.'

A good friend of mine recently said 'People that keep an open mind, never grow old'.

No disrespect.

x

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

... ...

minneapolisFunq said:

... ...

MobeenAzhar said:

IstenSzek said:

Ol' Skool Company....

to me the best song on the entire LF/MPLS set.

and.... I'm and old fan too -




It's Chocolate Box which is "lazy uninspired crap"/ the worst of them all, imo.

I love Ol Skool Company more than Big Fun, so

MobeenAzhar said:

Well said bro.

Big Fun is hardly a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. If you're going to try and undermine a recent Prince song by comparing it to an older track you need to be a little more selective.

Ol Skool Company is everything I love from Prince. It's cocky, it has something to say, it's got some funky-ass guitar. It's a great little track - even my family love it, and they aren't exactly big Prince fans.

OSC is one of the baddest, hippest, most attitude filled, fonky, explosive, in your face, relevant jams ive EVER heard from Prince. Nastiest since Days O Wild.

paisleypark4 said:

Hear this!

I like this song, and I think the concept is cool as well...I listen to "Old School," music almost everyday. The music keeps me at peace.

So says you. There are some 80's Prince tracks that don't do it for me. I don't hate them, they are just "meh". I mean, do you really feel that a song like "Eye No" is the bees knees? I don't. It's just there.

TwiliteKid said:

I read it as a suggestion that Prince's 00's output is better than his 90's output.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I've never been able to stomach this song.

I just really can't listen to it...at all.


But I still think his lotusflow3r set (minus Bria's throwaway coffee coaster) is his best effort in years.

It's true for me, and honestly on ALL his albums, I've only originally thought (within the first year they come out) that I like only 2-3 tracks as gems on repeat listens on each and every one his albums... except for Black Album... I liked everything on there except for When 2 R in Love which I just found boring for it's pace and intent at the time in Black Album context (1988)

For example, on Parade... for me that first year, I only thought Boy and Girls, Kiss, New Position, and Mountains were good, I felt like the rest was throw-away half baked stuff.

On Purple Rain, I liked the title track, Let's Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, but wasn't into the other tracks that much, originally thought "Take Me With U, Baby I'm A Star" were whimpy throw away crap.

skywalker said:

After a second read, I think you're right. He's a little muddled though.

It's always interesting to gauge the diverse approach of Prince's fans towards his music, especially recent output.

i could not diverge anymore from the assertion of this post though...i think that Lotus is one of Prince's greatest releases in years.

i find the lyrics and music highly inspired