Honest Man: Haha, no they have not foreclosed. I agree 77 is not going to break the bank, but that doesn't mean that I can't wish I got value for my $77.

Vendetta, Skywalker: You two have interesting points and I thank you Vendetta for letting others know that it is ok to express opinions on Prince.org.

To all: I am not, nor have I ever been, in the "Prince Hater" category. I see this category as someone who bitches about everything P puts out (insert Bart VH here). It's not that and I feel like some orgers have read this as coming from an angray place. I am not angry with Prince. I may have been too harsh saying "This fan is moving on". Prince has not lost a fan. Maybe he simply lost the "fanatic" I once was. My point is, if one day he did in fact lose every one of his fans, maybe it was his goal all along.

Prince said it best in the song Don't Play Me

"My only competition is well me in the past"

There are not many artists that get into there 50s and are still expected by fans to put out more than 3 albums a year.

I think the legend of the vault and his obvious stock of unreleased recordings helped his mystique in the begining but now has become a bit of a rod for his own back.

We can look back at all this work in a detatched manner but think about what your asking Prince to do by opening up the vault. Contrary to what the originator of this thread feels I think Prince cares incredibly for his music and feels it's a real statement of who he is at the time. What you are asking him to do from his point of view is publicly stand by who he was 20 years ago not many of us can present ourselves confortably in that way.

Conversely Prince shouldn't advertise that material for 77 bucks and not deliver. He should just put up current concert material. I think everybody would be happy if all he did was upload the soundboard from the previous nights show as a stream or download.

Simple he doesn't have to trawl back over songs that don't reflect where he is and the fans get mostly what they want

Prince has finally got what he has always wanted. His music is no longer relevant. It has been something he's wished for himself for a long time. If one goes back one sees examples of this time and again. As early as 1984 (during promotion for Purple Rain) he talked about retiring. He retired again in 1986 after the Parade tour. Again in 1992 after the Act 2 tour, he "retired". (There were even reports briefly about his death-- planted?) In the film Purple Rain, Billy tells him, "Your music makes sense to no one... but yourself!" In Grafitti Bridge Morris says, "Kid, your shit ain't hittin' no more!" This has been a self-fulfilling prophecy since the early 80's.

It is even more evident in the choices he's made musically. If he were about the music, he would have given WB the trax for each of his LP's and let them market him (basically let them do their job). But he fought for singles he thought were stronger than others (Glam Slam anyone?) instead of letting A & R guys pick radio friendly tunes and proper lead off singles. He refused to do videos for Lovesexy and when he finally did (Alphabet St.) it was a thrown together video he shot himself in one night.

It has been argued that WB constricted his output and that if he were free he would have been able to release projects like Crystal Ball and The Dream Factory without interference. But if this were true and he just wants/wanted to get his music out at the same pace as he produced it, then why hasn't he released it all by now? He's been free since 2000. Ten years have passed and ne'er an Xtraloveable, Purple Music, Moonbeam Levels et al. Maybe he is saving it for a more lucrative (read: $$$) release, but if he waits any longer, nobody is going to care. (Especially if he keeps irking fans with debacles like lotusflow3r.com)

I speak for myself when I say I am getting old, but surely I am not alone. Bootlegs and concerts that he has locked away in his vault are becoming less valuable to me. Ten years ago I would have paid a hundred bucks easy for a CD/DVD with some concert footage from the Nude Tour or some Revolution era bootlegs with good sound quality. Now? Not so much. And at this point I've heard/seen versions online (and they are only becoming more available as the internet grows), that I would have to think really hard about paying anything at all for his vault material. I have a mortgage now, Prince.

So while he keeps his stuff under wraps, jerks fans around with super expensive websites that don't reveal what they contain until after the fans have paid (turns out it contains stuff we all already have--Greatest Hits Videos? Really, Prince? That was on DVD in 1994. Did we have to drop $77 for a digital version that isn't even downloadable?), and releases fight songs for crappy football teams (that wasn't "cool" weird like 1980's Prince, that was just "weird" weird) his fans are moving on (or at least this fan is). But if you look back at his messages through his movies, his career choices, and his treatment of his fans, maybe this is exactly what Prince wanted.

Prince has finally got what he has always wanted. His music is no longer relevant. It has been something he's wished for himself for a long time. If one goes back one sees examples of this time and again. As early as 1984 (during promotion for Purple Rain) he talked about retiring. He retired again in 1986 after the Parade tour. Again in 1992 after the Act 2 tour, he "retired". (There were even reports briefly about his death-- planted?) In the film Purple Rain, Billy tells him, "Your music makes sense to no one... but yourself!" In Grafitti Bridge Morris says, "Kid, your shit ain't hittin' no more!" This has been a self-fulfilling prophecy since the early 80's.

It is even more evident in the choices he's made musically. If he were about the music, he would have given WB the trax for each of his LP's and let them market him (basically let them do their job). But he fought for singles he thought were stronger than others (Glam Slam anyone?) instead of letting A & R guys pick radio friendly tunes and proper lead off singles. He refused to do videos for Lovesexy and when he finally did (Alphabet St.) it was a thrown together video he shot himself in one night.

It has been argued that WB constricted his output and that if he were free he would have been able to release projects like Crystal Ball and The Dream Factory without interference. But if this were true and he just wants/wanted to get his music out at the same pace as he produced it, then why hasn't he released it all by now? He's been free since 2000. Ten years have passed and ne'er an Xtraloveable, Purple Music, Moonbeam Levels et al. Maybe he is saving it for a more lucrative (read: $$$) release, but if he waits any longer, nobody is going to care. (Especially if he keeps irking fans with debacles like lotusflow3r.com)

I speak for myself when I say I am getting old, but surely I am not alone. Bootlegs and concerts that he has locked away in his vault are becoming less valuable to me. Ten years ago I would have paid a hundred bucks easy for a CD/DVD with some concert footage from the Nude Tour or some Revolution era bootlegs with good sound quality. Now? Not so much. And at this point I've heard/seen versions online (and they are only becoming more available as the internet grows), that I would have to think really hard about paying anything at all for his vault material. I have a mortgage now, Prince.

So while he keeps his stuff under wraps, jerks fans around with super expensive websites that don't reveal what they contain until after the fans have paid (turns out it contains stuff we all already have--Greatest Hits Videos? Really, Prince? That was on DVD in 1994. Did we have to drop $77 for a digital version that isn't even downloadable?), and releases fight songs for crappy football teams (that wasn't "cool" weird like 1980's Prince, that was just "weird" weird) his fans are moving on (or at least this fan is). But if you look back at his messages through his movies, his career choices, and his treatment of his fans, maybe this is exactly what Prince wanted.

Vendetta1 said:

yeah, forget about Prince and come over to General Discussion - we mainly talk about sex.

...But maybe that's just the high school kid in me wishing for the days of wild.

Rebeljuice said:

yeah how dare someone write an actual thread on a Prince forum. Disgraceful. Quick, someone start a 'post a pic of Prince blinking' thread, so things can get back to normal.

Erik

Prince has finally got what he has always wanted. His music is no longer relevant. It has been something he's wished for himself for a long time. If one goes back one sees examples of this time and again. As early as 1984 (during promotion for Purple Rain) he talked about retiring. He retired again in 1986 after the Parade tour. Again in 1992 after the Act 2 tour, he "retired". (There were even reports briefly about his death-- planted?) In the film Purple Rain, Billy tells him, "Your music makes sense to no one... but yourself!" In Grafitti Bridge Morris says, "Kid, your shit ain't hittin' no more!" This has been a self-fulfilling prophecy since the early 80's.

It is even more evident in the choices he's made musically. If he were about the music, he would have given WB the trax for each of his LP's and let them market him (basically let them do their job). But he fought for singles he thought were stronger than others (Glam Slam anyone?) instead of letting A & R guys pick radio friendly tunes and proper lead off singles. He refused to do videos for Lovesexy and when he finally did (Alphabet St.) it was a thrown together video he shot himself in one night.

It has been argued that WB constricted his output and that if he were free he would have been able to release projects like Crystal Ball and The Dream Factory without interference. But if this were true and he just wants/wanted to get his music out at the same pace as he produced it, then why hasn't he released it all by now? He's been free since 2000. Ten years have passed and ne'er an Xtraloveable, Purple Music, Moonbeam Levels et al. Maybe he is saving it for a more lucrative (read: $$$) release, but if he waits any longer, nobody is going to care. (Especially if he keeps irking fans with debacles like lotusflow3r.com)

I speak for myself when I say I am getting old, but surely I am not alone. Bootlegs and concerts that he has locked away in his vault are becoming less valuable to me. Ten years ago I would have paid a hundred bucks easy for a CD/DVD with some concert footage from the Nude Tour or some Revolution era bootlegs with good sound quality. Now? Not so much. And at this point I've heard/seen versions online (and they are only becoming more available as the internet grows), that I would have to think really hard about paying anything at all for his vault material. I have a mortgage now, Prince.

So while he keeps his stuff under wraps, jerks fans around with super expensive websites that don't reveal what they contain until after the fans have paid (turns out it contains stuff we all already have--Greatest Hits Videos? Really, Prince? That was on DVD in 1994. Did we have to drop $77 for a digital version that isn't even downloadable?), and releases fight songs for crappy football teams (that wasn't "cool" weird like 1980's Prince, that was just "weird" weird) his fans are moving on (or at least this fan is). But if you look back at his messages through his movies, his career choices, and his treatment of his fans, maybe this is exactly what Prince wanted.

Yeah, the next time you have a thought. Let it go.

Spoken like a man who has no IDEA what Prince is about.

Graycap23 said:

who can say what Prince is about anymore? People who have shrines to him in their bedrooms, that's who. I don't think that's exaggerating.

abigail05 said:

plus I'm guessing you're not a man, Abigail.

Erik

erik319 said:

A board certified physician felt up my balls this week. All man, baby!

Maybe the old vault stuff was a retirement plan and through the miricle of torrents and other bootlegging efforts WE ruined it. No remaster, no nothing, he'd rather jerk our chains for fuckin with his exit plans lol.

did mayte or mani remarry???

cuz maybe prince just is puttin out his worst work to sell enough to pay alimony and once the lil ladies remarry he is gonna drop the million sellars again ... that way they cant get at his new funds .. yup thats what is really going on so we gotta get those 2 remarried quick ... mayte .. call me .. yall can fight over mani

Spoken like a man who has no IDEA what Prince is about.