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PrintableBasically comes down to the quality and lasting appeal of the songs. The Beatles and Bee Gees have the two most successful song catalogues in the modern era. Prince comes no way near the achievements of either band. Stevie Wonder and David Bowie are certainly more gifted writers than Prince too. That puts him below the four mentioned and above the three not mentioned. "The Pentagon controls every word and image the American people reads or sees in mass media."
Richard Perle 2004, at a press conference in the Pentagon.  | |
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Hmmm, thats a great way to look at it, I think you may have swayed my vote. | |
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I was also going to start my post with "they are smarter" , then i thought nawww, i'm not going to go there, lol. But you are right they are very bright people and heck since we are here i am going to say that everyone on that list is smarter than Prince, Prince is a musical genius but doesn't seem very bright when it comes to anything else. [Edited 6/21/10 16:24pm] | |
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I'm a big fan of his 90s output too, Emancipation and Crystal Ball would've benefited with a little skimming though.
Maybe he's just stubborn. [Edited 6/21/10 13:43pm] | |
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That was the stupidest thing I've ever read here, ...even worse than " What's Goin' On? is a shitty album"...mmm, wait, no, that one was worse...  | |
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My Legacy
http://prince.org/msg/8/192731 | |
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If the question was purely a ranking of musicianship, I'd rate Prince above them all, but factoring in songwriting, albums, singles, and impact on society changes things a bit. My Legacy
http://prince.org/msg/8/192731 | |
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You might wanna read back. Where does the sweeping statement you've italicized come from? | |
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Higher x's 7 4 me | |
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Also, are we considering live performances? Because Prince easily smokes everyone on the list...easily. Any gauge/competitive comparison of artistry has to take this into consideration. [Edited 6/21/10 16:37pm] "New Power slide...." |
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Prince wins across the board. He's done music like any of those artists, but they could never follow him to places he's gone, and hit musically. | |
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Depends on your definition of "musicianship" I guess. Bono is pitchy every time I hear him live. The Edge couldn't improvise a solo or an embellished jazz vamp across a modulating progression to save his life. Neither have much of an understanding of music theory. Have met Edge, and he's commendably humble about his abilities.
On the other hand, I've worked as a professional muso for almost 20 years, and neither myself nor any of the other musos, songwriters, producers, conductors and orchestrators I've worked with have ever created anything like the U2 sound. U2 deserve legendary status because their music is distinctive and appealing. It has a personality that is recognisable as "U2" and it has spawned numerous wonderful songs. While they have obviously developed a little more musicianship over the years, they remain "naive" artists. But undoubtedly brilliant naive artists.
[Edited 6/22/10 1:39am] [Edited 6/22/10 1:41am] | |
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Well, if that was true, then Joe Satriani should be the greatest musician of all time, but he obviously isn't...where many acknowledge great musicianship as a guy thay could play his instrument with his penis, I saw a guy or a band crafting timeless songs with cutting edge production, just sayin'...
Another example: I've always seen the so-called "gifted musicians" as the guy who graduates with honors in cinema studies from UCLA but who couldn't write an appealing script to save his life, while others could effortlessly; that's the difference between Satriani and U2, for example, and that's why I consider Prince the greatest artist of all time, cuz he's great at both (songcraft and musicianship...)
[Edited 6/22/10 4:38am] | |
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As I said, U2 have "limited musicianship", by which I mean technique, theoretical knowledge, improvisational ability and skills to play, arrange and orchestrate a wide varitey of styles. I stand by that. And I've never heard anyone who is musically knowledgeable rate them at all on those criteria. Perhaps there are others who disagree, but to call it the "stupidest thing I've ever read here" was a pretty outlandish remark.
U2 are great for different reasons, and I've never said otherwise. However, they have been very reliant on producers to bring those "timeless songs with cutting edge production" together. This doesn't take away from their creative brilliance, but their talents should not be seen for something that they are not.
Your second paragraph is on the money imho, and more or less the same as what I stated in my earlier reply to you. I especially agree that one of the keys to Prince's greatness is that he covers the gamut. He is creative, original, innovative, a great songcraftsman and also a superb musician.
It's a shame if this is all about semantics, but I employed the word "musicianship" in its common usage.
Btw, I would have thought Vai or Malmsteem would be better examples of guitar wizards who don't always strike a broad emotive response with their compositions. Yes, Satriani is virtuosic, but he's also crafted some very attractive and accessible melodies. Now, however, we are trespassing on questions of taste, and it becomes highly subjective.
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