Mars23 said:

If I don't like it I don't like it.
[Edited 2/26/10 14:20pm]

I don't get it, he deliveres a pile of shit like Purple And Gold people hate it naturally and then he brings out a pop rock track and still people hate it.I'm lost!

What Do You Want?

Klyph said:[quote]

BlackandRising said:

TGE is overrated in most fans' minds but the period of 93-95 was his last great era. He turned inward and was on the cusp of a musical rebirth but then he became a religious zealot, told himself he knew how everyone should live their lives, and as a result, he lost the inner conflict and dialogue that gave the world such great music for so many years. There was tension in the self and it was evident in the music and it made for sublime work when it was released.

And what made TGE seem as if a rebirth was possible was the fact that he wasn't repeating his 80's output. He was on the path to new horizons combining the best of the old with a zest for trailblazing a new era. The usual sycophantic fam can't get past "You people just want another Purple Rain!" don't understand that nobody is calling for Sign O The Times Pt 2, but rather something fresh and not a rehearsed piece of pop lite with guitar pyrotechnics and pompous production. Alas, such music, at least by Prince, will not be made.

And while the song isn't like nails on a chalk board, can any serious music fan whose tastes go beyond Prince, The Time, Michael Jackson say with a straight face this is anything but embarrassing filler? The only possible solution to this travesty of a career would be for Prince to allow someone else to produce him, but I think we all know the chance of that happening is nil.

NDRU said:

I wish Prince could write lyrics as good as "9 to 5". That song puts "Cause and Effect" to shame. I think since Prince doesn't live in the real world, he can't write about real world matters. Only what's going on inside of his head, alone in his studio, with another woman by his side who doesn't really care about him, surrounded by studio musicians who have no input in any of the music. Even a great song like Colonized Mind is ruined somewhat by some of the narcissist lyrics ("a joint venture record deal"). Prince has proven that too much "God" is bad for you, and no matter how talented you are you can't do it all by yourself. There's a lot missing from his later work because he's all alone. Just my humble opinion!

Wall said:[quote]

Klyph said:

Come was a great album, and TGE is solid, but was ruined somewhat by all the time it took to be released. In that time, Prince added P. Control (weak), a worse version of Endorphin Machine, and a worse version of We March.

All the music during the Come/Gold period was awesome, though.

Tame said:

sweet rock,
i found similarity with Living Colour,s song SEVEN NATION ARMY

but this is Prince,s music

My opinion after the first listen:

Okay, I think the guitar is awesome! But the vocals have me scratching my head, I'm not gonna lie. I find it a bit strange. It's kind of a hybrid... it jerks back and forth between a light pop kind of thing and a rough rock jam. Sometimes that works, but in this case, I'm not sure. I'll have to keep replaying it to get my official opinion, but for now, this is all I've got!

Wall said:

Top post sir.





[Edited 2/26/10 13:46pm]
[Edited 2/26/10 13:51pm]
[Edited 2/26/10 14:21pm]

I love that he's still recording and letting it out for us all... that's great... love that... and I don't DISLIKE the song... it's just... i dunno... like I said before... Recorded it LIVE... LIVE it will kick ass.. I'm sure... so why doesn't he recorded in a Live setting...

lotusflower said:

It's really sad to say that for the real drummer on that track :/

jeromba said:

exactly... U know why? He needs to stop cleaning SHIT op on TRACKS! FUCK PRO TOOLS!

i am HERE.... where are U?
Just caught another reply at 3:37 pm...Was hard to listen at work this morning....Second tyme hearing..Still loved it and hope it is in connect with some more trax...Bunker's 3/1/2010 I will b there..hoping

I don't get how the lyrics are "out of touch". He's basically saying, that even though he regrets some choices in his life, he's glad he's made them because he's where he's at and he's happy. Ya'll act like he's talking about spaceships and chemtrails

I think it would be cool to hear a more "Minneapolis Sound" production; I like the whole live band feel, and I dig that sound, but a part of what made Prince's music sound strong IMO is that, often that there wasn't too much going on. Good track.

Ok WTF is that....it is left over from what 1990?

Wall said:[quote]

Klyph said:

yes, I just happened to hear Gold as something not new but rather less stylish and more generic. I like the music, mind you, I just think maybe the reaction some people have to Prince's 2000's era output is the same one I had to his 90's output. I hated it at first.

Nobody has to like this song or any other, but I think perhaps given time they might realize not everything is the steaming pile of crap they thought it was, compared to Gold.

The song is so bad it ought to be an intentional joke. It's almost as if the harder Prince tries to sound like his quirky old self these days, the more obnoxious, contrived, and messy his new songs become. This one is a patchwork of different Prince ideas all forced into one another; it's like he threw every can of paint possible on a canvas hoping it'd create a masterpiece.

It reminds me of the tortured, depressing feeling of contrivance of the Rave era. Not the production, mind you, but just that self-aware effort to sound Princely that fails so miserably.

**/*****

CoolTarik1 said:

I don't know man... to me the lyrics to When U Were Mine are more in touch than Cause and Effect. And that was written when, 1980? Back then, Prince's music had a more real world and earthy feel. It not only sounded great, had a catchy hook, but you could relate to what he was saying. In Cause and Effect, some of the words may be all right, but they don't fit in the song, so there's a constant awkward feeling as he piles more words into the music than it can handle. It's like when Prince was bugging out at Michael Scott for playing too many notes. Well, Prince is singing too many words.

I'm not crazy about the song. But I like the guitar at the end.

dannyd5050 said:

I don't know but I just took a listen and I swear I hear the beginning of this:

It's good, I really dig the later half.

[Snip - Mars23]

The song sounds like a throwaway "Gold Experience", "Symbol" album track.

I don't like it, at all. There's no "virtuousic guitar playing" either, on the song.

bigd74 said:

Sadly some of us want that which attracted us to his music in the first place, a sound that was like nothing else on the radio back in the day.

Some days I swear I'd would be happy if he would just strip all the vocals from the '80's era music, re-edit / mix them up a bit and then release them as instrumental works.

Which admittedly is kind of what he did with MPLSound, but a couple of those songs could have benefited from a lack of lyrics too.

And I know he is more spiritual now and sometimes that works(The Love We Make, The Holy River, are perfect examples of this) but more often than not to me at least it does nothing for me.

And assuming the reversed vocal is something about 'contracts' like someone else here is guessing then my response to that is, when is he going to let it go?

Yes WB is evil as well as most music companies but until recently it was near impossible for any musician talented or not to make it without a company backing them. I mean really imagine if Prince had not been signed to WB or any other company for that matter. Would we even know who he is now?

Oh well now I am going off on a tangent! Sorry! Long story short we want 'Great music' (the kind that makes other musician stand up and take notice) and hopefully with 'meaningful lyrics' to boot!

Thanks! Peace!

PurpleKnight said:

And to think... Prince records all day. He doesn't have a job. His job is making music. If someone worked on music all day, every day, for 35 years, wouldn't you expect better song craftsmanship than this? It must really suck to be Prince, if this is all he can come up with. It's depressing. I wonder how he really feels, when you strip away all that fake "God" nonsense and fake positivity. Until he digs down deep and and stops being fake, this is the kind of music he'll make.

NeoGeo24bit said:

Hey, I'll meet you halfway; I don't think the actual message is that hard.. but I do agree there is a certain awkwardness about the execution.. like the second verse works for me, because I know about his failed marriages, so maybe that's what he's alluding to here:

If i could talk to myself back then right now
i'd say 'son you might wanna, stick around
something amazing is about to go down'
if i could leave myself just 1 little note
one that husbands and fathers wrote
it say 'you need to be a superstar or grow up,
but not both'

Maybe the metaphors would work more in a poem setting than a pop song.. but I think "When You Were Mine" (Which I love) is a more simpler song.. about a dude who is thinking about the girl who left him. The lyrics are in a pop music setting but the content is a bit deeper, I think.

bellanoche said:

Sure, not a problem. IMO:

Lyrically, the best song Prince has ever written is The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker. To me this songs lyrics just ooze vulnerable confidence with a touch of "little boy in a grown woman's world". Next would probably be Let's Pretend We're Married for the sheer nasty confidence of it. After those two, in no particular order (for lyrics) would be Raspberry Beret, Paisly Park, Something In The Water, The Cross, Strollin' (for the simplicity of it), Old Friends 4 Sale (original version), Adore,If I Was Your Girlfriend and I cant really think of any more at the moment that immediately hit me.

Musically, I would have to say (in no particular order): No Light In A Large Room (original version), Housequake, Lady Cab Driver (yes, this song. Minimalistic funk at its best, back when he seemed to think "less is more), Alexa De Paris, Power Fantastic (extremely haunting),The Question of U (even more haunting) ummm....I think you get the point.

Overall, my favorite Prince songs would be (in no particular order): Dorothy Parker, Splash, Let It Go, I Could Never Take The Place, Lady Cab Driver, Let's Pretend We're Married, Paisley Park, Life Would Be So Nice, If I Was Your Girlfriend, I Wish You Heaven, The Question of U, Somewhere Here On Earth (for some strange reason I like this song!), Controversy, Let's Work, She's Always in my Hair, 17 Days, Take Me With You,ummm, yeah.

In the last 10 or so years, there are few songs that I feel are even close to these: Somewhere Here On Earth is Nice, so is I Love You But I Don't Trust U Anymore. I "love" Love (lol) and i think Dance 4 Me should be the stripper national anthem, but overrall, for me.....harldy anything computes.

alexnvrmind said:

I just want one good song that has some structure, a chorus, a hook, and adult lyrics. This is all gimmicks... a 50+ year old musician shouldn't be relying on gimmicks. Just write and record some real music. Who's Prince's current engineer anyway?

Wall said:

While I disagree with much of this...I think you're onto something with the idea that Prince "lost his inner conflict and dialogue" following the tragic death of his son (which I believe to have directly precipitated his religious "conversion") and the subsequent break-up of his marriage. Whether he actually lost it or simply moved to a point where he wasn't going to share it anymore (for whatever reason), the result is the same.

He could have moved the inner turmoil into another arena - the unfairness of life, the pain of loss, the inevitable decline we all face. But I think that, at some point, it all just got a little to painful and a little too real. And let's face it, Prince has never shown any interest in seeming human.

It's much easier to float on the surface than swim underwater.

bobbyc17 said:

Again WHO exactly is stuck in the past?

NeoGeo24bit said:

I would not say the music is all gimmicks. But sometimes I think his music might be better served by not having any vocals at all. I agree that the songwriting--lyrics & melody--sometimes just doesn't seem to flow in a natural way.
[Edited 2/26/10 14:14pm]

Prince should make more music like Wall of Berlin and Dreamer. Those two songs destroy Cause and Effect. The guitar playing too. Cause and Effect sounds like something from the NPGMusicClub "Props 'n Pounds" era. I thought that era was over?