zaza said:

MoneyMade said:

Somebody tell Bono's Momma stop playing on the internet....

It's a beautiful day...wah wah wahhhh

IT'S CALLED A DELAY.....

Gibson Explorer, Axess BS-2, TS-9, GE-7, Korg A3, Digitech WH-1, Deluxe Memory Man, AC-30.

SO SIMPLE EVEN A CAVE MAN COULD PLAY IT...

And now try to play with Edge's delay settings and create those soundscapes as he does. I think the problem is some of you know only few U2's songs. Just like people who diss Prince. POP is U2's underrated masterpiece and unknown by the most of people. Just listen to "Mofo" of that album and tell me - does it sound like U2 you used to know?

Your problem seems to be that you make too many assumptions - assuming that no-one can sound like The Edge, assuming how familiar people are with part of the subject (U2) they are talking about and so on. I also asked you earlier if you played guitar, which you dodged and then asked for my credentials!

I own all of U2's work and have been listening to them almost as long as I have Prince - I enjoy both of them, but Prince is superior for me for many reasons - musicianship and virtuosity, musical variety and innovation, complete ability as performer/producer/whatever etc. But I know U2's work almost as well as I do Prince's.

I am a music producer and performer for a living - I've been playing drums for 32 years, piano/keys for 30 years and GUITAR and bass for around 26 years. And just click on the links in my sig, if you want to check out whether I can play or not!

I'm pleased for you that you obviously hold the Edge's guitar playing in such high regard and I'm certainly not trying to affect your enjoyment of that - but, believe me when I tell you that what he does is not difficult and is easy to replicate. The same cannot be said for some of Prince's licks. The Edge is not a "bad" guitarist, but he's not great either and certainly not complicated. He has become known for a particular style and sound and there's nothing wrong with that - but any competent guitarist will tell you (someone else already has in this thread) that what he does can ge emulated by many.

From what you have said so far, you either don't play at all, or you "dabble", shall we say? Otherwise, this would have been a very different conversation. I'm not looking to belittle you or even say that your high opinion of The Edge is misplaced, I'm just challenging you on your statement about nobody being capable of doing it like him because, from a musician's point of view, that isn't accurate.

Mindflux said:

dandeeland said:

Actually I check Prince, Mellencamp, Aerosmith, U2, Victor Wooten daily. I check Nickelback, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Weird Al, Michael Jackson, Ice-T, Jesse Johnson, Lenny Kravitz, Walter Trout, Kenny Wayne Shepherd weekly. I have a few others I check often but not regularily. I am a MUSIC fan in general. I usually buy 3 to 4 new releases each week to stay up on music. There is so much more out there than Prince. He is in my top 10 for sure but its not all i listen too. In fact not even close!! This week(or later today) I am buyingth new

Katy Perry

Usher

Dandy Warhols(very excited bout this one)

and MAYBE the Sex Pistols(depends)

[Edited 8/23/10 21:56pm]

i agree with u. prince is an amazing artist. in fairness i hve 2 say he is my fav. just 4 the risks

& i grew up listning 2 him. But u hve a right 2 xpress ur view. I also feel that although prince is a

true megastar, but there r artists with a better back catalogue f music u2 r 1 of them.

I quite like U2 but Bono cant sing worth shit....terrbile voice..just terrible.

U2 : phenomenal records in the 80ties. Great records in the 90ties. Since 2000 a boring and overrated band. Bono´s is just annonying. The Edge is a good guitarplayer with a unique style, but no genious - just look at the documentary "It might get loud".

purpledoveuk said:

Little know fact but, back in 1995 before talking to the stage together at The Pod, Prince and Bono made a wager; each man bet the other that, over the next 15 years, he could disappear up his own arse through self-importance before the other....it's pretty close to call

i remember after the 1987 Grammy's (where U2's Joshua Tree beat out SOTT) Prince made a snarky comment: "I probably won't go to awards shows anymore because when I do I find myself losing best album to a band like U2."

I always thought that comment was both classless and clueless.

When Bono accepted the award for Best Album he actually made it a point to say that he thought Prince was great ("Prince makes great dance music but he's so much more than that.") Too bad Prince had to be a jerk from his end.

Prince might think he could play all of U2's music ...... but he couldn't - at least not like U2 does, anyway. There is so much subtlety in their music - particularly Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Those albums shine brighter now than they ever did. Prince doesn't understand their music if he thinks its easy to play. This is not the Foo Fighters, Prince.

Same thing with Prince and R.E.M. Prince made disparaging comments about them in the early 90s - something to the effect "I have no idea how or why they are considered a great band." With that comment he showed he doesn't know "white music" nearly as much as he thinks he does. Its more than just The Beatles and The Who, Prince. From Radio Free Europe through Automatic For The People, R.E.M. wrote a slew of classic albums containing numerous amazing songs. Prince not getting them says how little he knows about that kind of music. From 80-92 R.E.M. were an amazing band - there's no doubt.

^ I never understood/ understand R.E.M. either...

Sure Loosing My Religion and Man On The Moon are great songs, but imo that's about it. I don't consider R.E.M. a great band certainly not comparable with The beatles.

IMO.

squirrelgrease said:

purpledoveuk said:

Little know fact but, back in 1995 before talking to the stage together at The Pod, Prince and Bono made a wager; each man bet the other that, over the next 15 years, he could disappear up his own arse through self-importance before the other....it's pretty close to call

Bono's ass knows Prince will spank that ass! Sum of u guys r just punks & haters & should stalk U2's fansite. Creeps!

Shawnt27 said:

Also, I notice every other month there is a thread spitting venom at U2. I am not sure I understand the hate. Bono brings up Prince a lot and is always heaping praise on him. A few quotes:

"These white rock stars, they think they're authentic, and that Prince is just some sort of showbiz Christmas tree. But he has more soul in his little finger than a whole harbor full of these rock bands."

Bono talks about meeting Prince in the early 90s and asking him about the word "slave" written on his face:
"There's no excuse in the twentieth century for intelligent people signing a deal they don't understand. That said, Prince deserves the best deal in the world because he is the best in the world. He's Duke Ellington to me!"

[Edited 8/23/10 6:21am]

He also commented that prince is too talented and that it hurts him at times, which is great insight from a very talented Bono.

OskarKristio said:

alandail said:

The Bee Gees being a clear exception to that.

Prince's point was simply "I can do what they do, they can't do what I do". And he's pretty clearly right about that. Music is such an odd form of entertainment - it's the only area I can think of where versatility isn't rewarded. U2 still has hits, all of their songs are pretty much the same style and played on the same stations.

Prince has a history pushing his audience in different directions, the musical equivalent of Steven Spielberg jumping from Raiders to ET to Poltergeist to Schindler's List, to Jurassic Park to Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg even broke away from the established movie studios and started his own studio. Yet the follow the same formula people - U2, Madonna, etc - continue to get airplay while Prince hasn't had anything other than minor hits in 15+ years.

Once again I disagree or am not convinced that Prince can do what many other groups can do especially capturing the right vocal style etc, for example I dont think Prince can come close to Robert Plant as evidenced by Prince's version of Whole Lotta Love, it was ok but nothing compared to the original.

Maybe it can be said that Prince could take the musical styles and songwriting styles of other artists and make his own music that emulates that but thats not originality, bands like U2 and Zeppelin are their own flavour they are original.

I dont see Prince's music as being as vast and varied as you seem to imply, maybe it is more variable in vertain respects to many artists but it also regurgitates itself eg repetition of ballads like "call my name" "dont make me sleep on the couch" etc, and regurgitation of funk and pop, with at times blues,jazz,rock overtones, not unheard of variations among many other artists actually.

I would refer to Prince as a musical genius due to fact he has mostly written ,produced and recorded most of his output by himself, its no question he is brilliant but I just dont buy that he can do what every other artist can do or that he is better in every way than every other artist.

[Edited 8/23/10 17:03pm]

Jimmy Page himself attended O2 and was blwon away by Princes version of WLL and his playing. His version of Creep on youtube is followed by blown away reactions of Foo fans, can anybody take a prince song and garner that reaction?.

purpledoveuk said:

dandeeland said:

Actually I check Prince, Mellencamp, Aerosmith, U2, Victor Wooten daily. I check Nickelback, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Weird Al, Michael Jackson, Ice-T, Jesse Johnson, Lenny Kravitz, Walter Trout, Kenny Wayne Shepherd weekly. I have a few others I check often but not regularily. I am a MUSIC fan in general. I usually buy 3 to 4 new releases each week to stay up on music. There is so much more out there than Prince. He is in my top 10 for sure but its not all i listen too. In fact not even close!! This week(or later today) I am buyingth new

Katy Perry

Usher

Dandy Warhols(very excited bout this one)

and MAYBE the Sex Pistols(depends)

[Edited 8/23/10 21:56pm]

Good for you...some people need to take the purple blinkers off and get out more. I'd say Prince is my fav artist,...but i still dont listen to him that much anymore - over exposure I guess

Katy Perry is tha shit yo!!

BEAUGARDE said:

Bono's ass knows Prince will spank that ass! Sum of u guys r just punks & haters & should stalk U2's fansite. Creeps!

what i love about prince in his prime is he had an elite athletes approach to competition. He worked his ass off and if he thought he was better he'd say it, and more importantly he'd take it where it needed to be on stage. Mid to late 80's it wasn't uncommon to hear him say live "cant nobody fuck wit us" and he meant it. Do any of us think Prince would not go heads up with U2 back in 87? seriously dude didn't give a shit and when he was young he'd call you out. Now, after maturing as a person and musician he understands that U2 have their own genuis and light to shine in and i'm sure he views Bono as a peer.

alandail said:

Prince has a history pushing his audience in different directions, the musical equivalent of Steven Spielberg jumping from Raiders to ET to Poltergeist to Schindler's List, to Jurassic Park to Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg even broke away from the established movie studios and started his own studio. Yet the follow the same formula people - U2, Madonna, etc - continue to get airplay while Prince hasn't had anything other than minor hits in 15+ years.

A lot of that is his own fault.

Not saying it's good/bad, right/wrong - just saying if you're not playing by the set rules, you're not going to win the game.

On another point I'm not sure what the point of this thread is, or at least a lot of the replies. Of course Prince comes out trumps on here, it's a fucking Prince fan site.

I don't even like U2, but I respect their longevity.

thedance said:

PS:

U2 are still having world wide top 40 hits,

from the 2000-2010 decade:

Beautiful Day,

Stuck In A Moment you Can't Get Out Of,

Elevation,

Walk On,

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own,

City Of Blinding Lights,

Vertigo,

Get On Your Boots,

I wouldnt wipe my arse with any of those songs.

U2 lick balls

dreamshaman32 said:

OskarKristio said:

Once again I disagree or am not convinced that Prince can do what many other groups can do especially capturing the right vocal style etc, for example I dont think Prince can come close to Robert Plant as evidenced by Prince's version of Whole Lotta Love, it was ok but nothing compared to the original.

Maybe it can be said that Prince could take the musical styles and songwriting styles of other artists and make his own music that emulates that but thats not originality, bands like U2 and Zeppelin are their own flavour they are original.

I dont see Prince's music as being as vast and varied as you seem to imply, maybe it is more variable in vertain respects to many artists but it also regurgitates itself eg repetition of ballads like "call my name" "dont make me sleep on the couch" etc, and regurgitation of funk and pop, with at times blues,jazz,rock overtones, not unheard of variations among many other artists actually.

I would refer to Prince as a musical genius due to fact he has mostly written ,produced and recorded most of his output by himself, its no question he is brilliant but I just dont buy that he can do what every other artist can do or that he is better in every way than every other artist.

[Edited 8/23/10 17:03pm]

Jimmy Page himself attended O2 and was blwon away by Princes version of WLL and his playing. His version of Creep on youtube is followed by blown away reactions of Foo fans, can anybody take a prince song and garner that reaction?.

The Joshua Tree was a great album, but it's universally known that Bono's a c**t.

Never a tremendous U2 fan, but as far as their 80s output, they were solid.

Ernest has a point that's worth noting... along with the idea that these nominations are sort of lobbied, advertised and hyped. It's similar to the Oscars. When they nominate something, it's been pushed by labels and sales, and if the artist doesn't capitalize on that, they stand less of a chance of winning.

U2 have always known how to make money. Prince, on the other hand, has shot himself in the foot multiple times in his career, SOTT being a prime example.

And of course, whether it wins a Grammy or not has no bearing on the subjective worth and quality that we each take away from it.

(but I'll take SOTT any day ; )

ernestsewell said:

thedance said:

1) Prince lost to U2 in 1987 at the american Grammys, "Sign "☮" The Times", the Prince masterpiece did not win a Grammy for this year's best album... he lost to U2's "The Joshua Tree". (Looking back, IMO it seems "unfair", cuz SOTT is a lot better, and a lot more varied in styles than Joshua Tree.)

2) Prince later said something like: "give me any of U2's songs and I can easily play that, but U2 can't play "Housequake"". [from memory, not the exact words].

4) 30 march 1995, on the "Gold Tour" Bono front singer of U2 was on stage with Prince and the NPG - in Dublin at the club "The Pod". Bono sang the "The Cross" live on stage. Unfortunately Bono did not knew the lyrics and half through the song he forgets what to sing. Embarrassing.

You cannot be dismissive of U2, whether you're a bigger Prince fan, or just dislike U2 in general. The Joshua Tree was a bright, haunting, melodic, and downright awesome record. 1987 was a great year for great music. SOTT was not "a lot better". In fact, I'd have a hard time deciding which one was truly superior. The criteria changes, and so does popular opinions. Both have solidly put their foot down in music history. The difference is that U2 understood the importance of the popularity of that record, and played it as much as they could. Prince lost interest in his little treasure early on, and instead gave us a not-so-real concert movie to tie us over. U2 toured the hell out of their album, and still gave us a new album, and a documentary about the tour. The Joshua Tree years really went well on a few years with the release of Rattle and Hum.

For me, The Joshua Tree deserved to win. The other people in that category were Whitney Houston - Whitney; Michael Jackson - Bad; Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris - Trio; Prince - Sign O' The Times. I think U2 had a clear shot at winning, and deserved it. I'm quite surprised MJ didn't beat them, but it could also be a timing issue, as to when things were released, and what was more prevelant on folks minds. But if memory serves, I remember hearing Joshua Tree and Bad, both in the summer of 1987 in Philadelphia, so - the winner stands.

U2 doesn't need to play "Housequake". Lyrically, U2 pounds Prince into submission, a lot of the time. I don't remember Prince tuning up to "Where The Streets Have No Name" or "One Tree Hill" or "Mothers of the Disappeared". He might have covered a U2 song somewhere along the line, but I've yet to hear it. I think Prince is scared of bands like U2. He should be. They kicked his ass a lot of the time. He didn't really go after that U2 money like he did with that Duran Duran money just a few years prior.

Bono obviously didn't know "the Cross". Not really embarrassing. It's not his song. He did what he could. Prince forgets half his lyrics anyway, so anyone else not knowing is their own thing.

With all due respect I don't think Bad had a shot at all, I remember that back then Bad was considered a critic (and commercial) disappointment, with the rising of new rock as a alternative music Bad seemed totally out of place.

I totally agree that you cannot be dismissive of U2, they were a really important band that brought something new to the 80s between 81-87, later on they turn into a cliche but that doesn't mean they are overrated. Still, I think Sign O The Times was so a head of it's time and a much better album de JT.

My favorite thing on that Grammys telecast was Bono speech when they won Album of The Year, he praised Prince and Bruce Springteen (that wasn't nominated on that category) as an example of the best music of that moment, he never mentioned MJ, Whitney or the Dolly Parton trio.

StonedImmaculate said:

IMO Prince not winning that Album of the Year grammy for SOTT was payback for skipping We Are The World and the negative press he received for being so "reclusive".

Not to mention the first grammy he won in 85...the man walked up with everyone jazzed to finally get to hear him speak. He said..."Thank you" and walked away. My mom told me then that they would never pay him the respect he's due in years to come for being such an ass about these types of things. Turns out she was right, in a way...the man seemingly got no respect for 20 years, not until 2004 when he went into the hall.

Back to U2...I think Bono was well aware that SOTT deserved that award. He gave props to Prince in their acceptance speech saying something like "Music is from the heart...otherwise Prince would be just another song and dance man. But he's not...he's much, much more."

And dont skip on U2! Tha Joshua Tree is a fantastic album. Maybe not as beloved as SOTT to us diehards, but fantastic nonetheless.

Totally agree with u, the whole Quincy Jones/Belafonte/MJ/Ken Kragen clan went after his purple ass like if their way was the only way to do charity work, I wish there was more info on the real intentions of the USA for Africa fiasco, a self-indulgence, egocentric publicity stunt.

Bono not knowing the words to The Cross might have insulted Prince just a little, but just to show that Bono should never go on Mastermid here is a little clip of him doing perhaps one of his greatest songs, One, see if you can spot where it all goes wrong!

http://www.youtube.com/wa...jB1M51PplA

[Edited 8/27/10 23:31pm]

OskarKristio said:

emesem said:

that comment about housequake was tacky. Prince's track record on rock covers is not all that great. He made a mess of Whole Lotta Love and Creep.

Joshua Tree was the album of that year. Maybe if Prince wouldnt have given up on SOTT so quickly, toured the US, he would have had cause to complain.

[Edited 8/22/10 22:33pm]

I Love Prince but gotta agree with you, in reality he doesnt really have the real rock vocals

to cover many classic rock tracks very well. Not saying anything bout his rock guitar ability or performance ability he ranks highly in those but vocally he cant be up there with rockers like Zeppelin and many others. Sure he can do stuff like Bambi pretty good , but thats in his own high voiced style.

Everyone has their limitations and as brilliant as Prince is he has his limitations too.

As for SOTT vs Joshua Tree, in the end people can just say subjectively which they prefer .

I actually love both albums and dont find it easy to say one is so much greater than the other.

Maybe I would overall choose SOTT as better but not by much.

[Edited 8/23/10 3:34am]

Disagree 100%.

Creep was amazing, he gives more dimension to a 90s alternative cliche song, Prince made it soulful and almost spiritual, one of my favorite covers ever.

Whole Lotta Love cover is good too.

Xibalba said:

jdcxc said:

Who gives a F about a goddam grammy!

Prince did...obviously.

Hey, it was a interview to promote GB, Rolling Stone ask him about awards shows, he answer honestly, is not like he did a press release on why Sign O The Times is better then the Joshua Tree.

alandail said:

jdcxc said:

Oh please. Any guitarist can play the simple ringing guitar lines of the Edge. And many people are missing the point P was making in referencing Housequake. It is extremely rare for European bands/artists to be able to master Funk/R&B/Soul genres. I've never seen anything more ridiculous than the U2 music documentary in which they are looking for musical legitimacy by walking the streets of Harlem trying to relate to the street musicians and adopt black music forms.

C'mon, can you really see Bono doing a legitimate version of Housequake? Even Bono has described Prince as the genius of our times. And SOTT is a masterpiece, who gives a F about a goddam grammy!

The Bee Gees being a clear exception to that.

Prince's point was simply "I can do what they do, they can't do what I do". And he's pretty clearly right about that. Music is such an odd form of entertainment - it's the only area I can think of where versatility isn't rewarded. U2 still has hits, all of their songs are pretty much the same style and played on the same stations.

Prince has a history pushing his audience in different directions, the musical equivalent of Steven Spielberg jumping from Raiders to ET to Poltergeist to Schindler's List, to Jurassic Park to Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg even broke away from the established movie studios and started his own studio. Yet the follow the same formula people - U2, Madonna, etc - continue to get airplay while Prince hasn't had anything other than minor hits in 15+ years.

Spielberg never push his audiences on different directions, in fact all the Raiders films and ET (82) had the same audience, young teens.

Before Schindler's List he did many projects for the same audience, Twlight Zone, Amazing Stories, Hook, Jurrasic Park etc. He always try hard to be a crowd pleaser.

He din't direct Poltergeist, that was the great Tobe Hooper.

"Prince is the Ken Russell of music"

-Bono.

LinnLM1 said:

i remember after the 1987 Grammy's (where U2's Joshua Tree beat out SOTT) Prince made a snarky comment: "I probably won't go to awards shows anymore because when I do I find myself losing best album to a band like U2."

I always thought that comment was both classless and clueless.

When Bono accepted the award for Best Album he actually made it a point to say that he thought Prince was great ("Prince makes great dance music but he's so much more than that.") Too bad Prince had to be a jerk from his end.

Prince might think he could play all of U2's music ...... but he couldn't - at least not like U2 does, anyway. There is so much subtlety in their music - particularly Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Those albums shine brighter now than they ever did. Prince doesn't understand their music if he thinks its easy to play. This is not the Foo Fighters, Prince.

Same thing with Prince and R.E.M. Prince made disparaging comments about them in the early 90s - something to the effect "I have no idea how or why they are considered a great band." With that comment he showed he doesn't know "white music" nearly as much as he thinks he does. Its more than just The Beatles and The Who, Prince. From Radio Free Europe through Automatic For The People, R.E.M. wrote a slew of classic albums containing numerous amazing songs. Prince not getting them says how little he knows about that kind of music. From 80-92 R.E.M. were an amazing band - there's no doubt.

Totally agree with u, he doesn't know "white music" that much, I think he doesn't understand it, I mean he praised Beyonce and Alicia Keys but kinda trashed REM and U2!

I can't imagine what he thinks about Beck, Jack White or Arcade Fire.

BTW Michael Stipe was a big Prince fan.

aarontj said:

LinnLM1 said:

i remember after the 1987 Grammy's (where U2's Joshua Tree beat out SOTT) Prince made a snarky comment: "I probably won't go to awards shows anymore because when I do I find myself losing best album to a band like U2."

I always thought that comment was both classless and clueless.

When Bono accepted the award for Best Album he actually made it a point to say that he thought Prince was great ("Prince makes great dance music but he's so much more than that.") Too bad Prince had to be a jerk from his end.

Prince might think he could play all of U2's music ...... but he couldn't - at least not like U2 does, anyway. There is so much subtlety in their music - particularly Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Those albums shine brighter now than they ever did. Prince doesn't understand their music if he thinks its easy to play. This is not the Foo Fighters, Prince.

Same thing with Prince and R.E.M. Prince made disparaging comments about them in the early 90s - something to the effect "I have no idea how or why they are considered a great band." With that comment he showed he doesn't know "white music" nearly as much as he thinks he does. Its more than just The Beatles and The Who, Prince. From Radio Free Europe through Automatic For The People, R.E.M. wrote a slew of classic albums containing numerous amazing songs. Prince not getting them says how little he knows about that kind of music. From 80-92 R.E.M. were an amazing band - there's no doubt.

Totally agree with u, he doesn't know "white music" that much, I think he doesn't understand it, I mean he praised Beyonce and Alicia Keys but kinda trashed REM and U2!

I can't imagine what he thinks about Beck, Jack White or Arcade Fire.

BTW Michael Stipe was a big Prince fan.

Prince is careful not to "trash" other artists. His quotes on U2 are mildly competitive asides. What did he exactly say about REM? And to say that he doesn't know "white music", whatever that is, is ridiculous. He grew up in Minnesota and he has an encyclopedic musical vocabulary and ear.

His praises for Keys and Beyonce is more about his relationship and keen awareness with rock journalists undervaluing of certain music forms (R&B, Soul, Dance) and the crazy critical worship of overrated musicians such as Beck, Bono and Stipe.

Prince is a true contrarian who is always pricking the interviewer's (and reader's) belief system.

chaos96 said:

I think Prince really felt that he was going to snag Best Album for SOTT. Not only because he obviously thought he had put out the best product among the nominees but also maybe as a late consolation prize for Purple Rain being shut down by Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down a couple years before. All speculation of course, but yeah, he definitely had a bug in his ass about U2 for a few years after that. He took a swipe at them in the Rolling Stone interview in 1990 but I guess he had relaxed by the time of that Pod duet.

Let's not forget that is was an exception for black people to get the grammy for "best album" back in those times, not the norm. Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life and Thriller are the only two that come to mind from back then. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Phil Collins' No Jacket Required wasn't better than Purple Rain either, but it beat him out in '85 as well. Doesn't say much about U2 but it speaks volumes about the attitude of the Grammys.

jdcxc said:

aarontj said:

Totally agree with u, he doesn't know "white music" that much, I think he doesn't understand it, I mean he praised Beyonce and Alicia Keys but kinda trashed REM and U2!

I can't imagine what he thinks about Beck, Jack White or Arcade Fire.

BTW Michael Stipe was a big Prince fan.

Prince is careful not to "trash" other artists. His quotes on U2 are mildly competitive asides. What did he exactly say about REM? And to say that he doesn't know "white music", whatever that is, is ridiculous. He grew up in Minnesota and he has an encyclopedic musical vocabulary and ear.

His praises for Keys and Beyonce is more about his relationship and keen awareness with rock journalists undervaluing of certain music forms (R&B, Soul, Dance) and the crazy critical worship of overrated musicians such as Beck, Bono and Stipe.

Prince is a true contrarian who is always pricking the interviewer's (and reader's) belief system.

Bono and Stipe "overrated"??? Sorry but you simply have no earthly idea what you are talking about.

And I told you what he said about REM. He did not get them or understand why they were considered a great band. And he was pissed that they were getting such good critical reviews at a time when he was finally beginning to get slagged in the music press with each new weak as hell 90s album. As a Prince fan and an R.E.M., fan I can assure you that R.E.M. from '81-'92 were an amazing band just as Prince was unreal from '78-'88.

Oh, and another weird comment Prince made years ago: that he formed The Family "to go after some of that Duran Duran money". Huh??? The Family and Duran Duran, particularly the Duran Duran of 1985 (when The Family's album was released) had virtually nothing in common musically. Nothing. (And for the record I liked The Family much more though DD did have some great tunes.)