I keep reading "Prince is not what he used to be, the music isn't what it was, etc." or "well it's going better now but the plastic years sucked, etc.".

I've been a fan for 22 years now, and in the end i realize that i love all that came before my time (pre-1989) and most of what came ever since, up until today. I end-up listening to every new Prince album a lot, and enjoying it a lot. It was like that in the 90's, it's been like that in the 2000's and it's likely to continue 4ever: I can be critical, sure, but fact is that i just love what Prince does in general.

Am i the only "old fan" who's always been more or less satisfied with Prince's output?

I've been a fan since Lovesexy, and while I have generally appreciated a lot of his output after that, my enthusiasm has faded. The 80s stuff I still find amazing, and it hasn't even faded with the years. Whereas I rarely return to the 90s stuff, with a few notable exceptions. Every album usually has a great tune or two, which makes me as much of a fan today as back then.

i've been a fan since sign o the times. his 80s stuff is the definition of genius. the first album i didn't rave over was graffiti bridge and he hasn't made an album since that i'm wholly satisfied with. some of them such as rave and n.e.w.s. have been embarrassingly bad. these days i live in hope rather than expectation that prince can still deliver another genius album.

databank said:

databank said:

I keep reading "Prince is not what he used to be, the music isn't what it was, etc." or "well it's going better now but the plastic years sucked, etc.".

I've been a fan for 22 years now, and in the end i realize that i love all that came before my time (pre-1989) and most of what came ever since, up until today. I end-up listening to every new Prince album a lot, and enjoying it a lot. It was like that in the 90's, it's been like that in the 2000's and it's likely to continue 4ever: I can be critical, sure, but fact is that i just love what Prince does in general.

Am i the only "old fan" who's always been more or less satisfied with Prince's output?

Aware of Prince since "For You". Fan since Dirty Mind. Satisfied with every era of Prince. Virtually every album has at least one of my favourites and one which is the opposite.

Been a fan since Controversy and 1999. The heyday for Prince is gone. He'll probably always be respected and looked up to, and there will probably always be a group of fans that are excited about each of his new releases, but I don't think there will ever be a time when he is changing the face of contemporary music like he did. 1999 was a great album, Purple Rain was a game changer for music in general, ATWIAD, although similar to PR in some ways was a departure, PARADE an even greater departure, SOTT was Prince was solo again and going in yet another direction and then LOVESEXY which rounded it all out. At the same time you have to remember that most of these albums had tours (ATWIAD being the exception) and each of these tours was drastically different than the last. In most artist's careers they would be lucky enough to have tours as varied as Parade (86), SOTT (87), and LOVESEXY (88). Each tour had a different feel and different staging and SOTT had a different band. The fact that these 3 different tours took place one after the next gave fans the most incredible view of an artist who was at creative peak.

This is not to say he hasn't done anything great since (although the argument could be made that he stopped being innovative after 96-but that is a different thread!), but this period, 82-88 is considered, not only Prince's peak, but the sort of peak that most musicians never attain.

So, the answer to your question (at least from me) is Yes, Prince's music is not what it used to be. My interest in his music for the last decade has been more obligatory than anticipatory. I keep hoping that he'll knock it out of the park one more time... and I have to realize that he probably isn't. I stick around just in case... maybe that magic will be there again, but I have realized that part of it is where he is now in life, and part of it is where I am in life. I don't have the time to spend hours memorizing an album anymore. I don't have the time to devote to committing to loving an album, so I can't expect him to win me over when I'm not giving him 100% either.

Co-sign the above.

fan since "for you". i rolled with it when he changed up for "prince" and then even more for "dirty mind"...by the time "controversy" hit i knew that i was one of the fortunate ones to be plugged in from the first days in the career of a true force in music. is prince as prolific as he used to be? evidence we are privy to, says not...but who after 30+ plus years in the business remains at the height of their success or output. he is after all wonderfully human. prince will always give us gems, songs to be listened to years after they've been served up. still innovative? does he have to be? his influence on the music industry is evident across many different genres to this day. regardless of the negative press attention due to his actions or speculation, it is evident also in the reception he receives whenever he shows up. his body of work is stellar imho and i will forever be grateful for the music he has created that is a major part of the soundtrack of my life. that said, i'd love the cohesive quality of his earlier releases to be more evident in today's offerings but i ain't mad at him as long as i get those few gems to weave into the tapestry he's helped to create cause you see i got mine back in the day cause i'm "old". LOL

madhouseman said:

Been a fan since Controversy and 1999. The heyday for Prince is gone. He'll probably always be respected and looked up to, and there will probably always be a group of fans that are excited about each of his new releases, but I don't think there will ever be a time when he is changing the face of contemporary music like he did. 1999 was a great album, Purple Rain was a game changer for music in general, ATWIAD, although similar to PR in some ways was a departure, PARADE an even greater departure, SOTT was Prince was solo again and going in yet another direction and then LOVESEXY which rounded it all out. At the same time you have to remember that most of these albums had tours (ATWIAD being the exception) and each of these tours was drastically different than the last. In most artist's careers they would be lucky enough to have tours as varied as Parade (86), SOTT (87), and LOVESEXY (88). Each tour had a different feel and different staging and SOTT had a different band. The fact that these 3 different tours took place one after the next gave fans the most incredible view of an artist who was at creative peak.

This is not to say he hasn't done anything great since (although the argument could be made that he stopped being innovative after 96-but that is a different thread!), but this period, 82-88 is considered, not only Prince's peak, but the sort of peak that most musicians never attain.

So, the answer to your question (at least from me) is Yes, Prince's music is not what it used to be. My interest in his music for the last decade has been more obligatory than anticipatory. I keep hoping that he'll knock it out of the park one more time... and I have to realize that he probably isn't. I stick around just in case... maybe that magic will be there again, but I have realized that part of it is where he is now in life, and part of it is where I am in life. I don't have the time to spend hours memorizing an album anymore. I don't have the time to devote to committing to loving an album, so I can't expect him to win me over when I'm not giving him 100% either.

I agree with a lot U say.

Except that I consider '82-'92 as his peak period with a last greatness in '96 with TGE.

After that I still enjoyed some songs but it wasn't untill ONA...Live and Musicology that I considered Prince was BACK!! I also think it was nice 2 see that he was more mature because he

did had some embarresing moments in the '90's!! (the BBC interview with the scarf covering his face while Mayte had 2 answer the questions was terrible...even 4 a Prince fan!!)

While some of U may think he sold out playing his hits live and releasing 'safe' albums, I feel he is defending/protecting his legacy!!

Let's face it, we should be glad that he won't be remembered 4 some things he did in the '90's

(TAFKAP, NOT playing hits,silly albums...)

I love his last decade and I hope there is still more 2 come!

[Edited 5/9/11 10:40am]

Paisley4u said:

madhouseman said:

Been a fan since Controversy and 1999. The heyday for Prince is gone. He'll probably always be respected and looked up to, and there will probably always be a group of fans that are excited about each of his new releases, but I don't think there will ever be a time when he is changing the face of contemporary music like he did. 1999 was a great album, Purple Rain was a game changer for music in general, ATWIAD, although similar to PR in some ways was a departure, PARADE an even greater departure, SOTT was Prince was solo again and going in yet another direction and then LOVESEXY which rounded it all out. At the same time you have to remember that most of these albums had tours (ATWIAD being the exception) and each of these tours was drastically different than the last. In most artist's careers they would be lucky enough to have tours as varied as Parade (86), SOTT (87), and LOVESEXY (88). Each tour had a different feel and different staging and SOTT had a different band. The fact that these 3 different tours took place one after the next gave fans the most incredible view of an artist who was at creative peak.

This is not to say he hasn't done anything great since (although the argument could be made that he stopped being innovative after 96-but that is a different thread!), but this period, 82-88 is considered, not only Prince's peak, but the sort of peak that most musicians never attain.

So, the answer to your question (at least from me) is Yes, Prince's music is not what it used to be. My interest in his music for the last decade has been more obligatory than anticipatory. I keep hoping that he'll knock it out of the park one more time... and I have to realize that he probably isn't. I stick around just in case... maybe that magic will be there again, but I have realized that part of it is where he is now in life, and part of it is where I am in life. I don't have the time to spend hours memorizing an album anymore. I don't have the time to devote to committing to loving an album, so I can't expect him to win me over when I'm not giving him 100% either.

I agree with a lot U say.

Except that I consider '82-'92 as his peak period with a last greatness in '96 with TGE.

After that I still enjoyed some songs but it wasn't untill ONA...Live and Musicology that I considered Prince was BACK!! I also think it was nice 2 see that he was more mature because he

did had some embarresing moments in the '90's!! (the BBC interview with the scarf covering his face while Mayte had 2 answer the questions was terrible...even 4 a Prince fan!!)

While some of U may think he sold out playing his hits live and releasing 'safe' albums, I feel he is defending/protecting his legacy!!

Let's face it, we should be glad that he won't be remembered 4 some things he did in the '90's

(TAFKAP, NOT playing hits,silly albums...)

I love his last decade and I hope there is still more 2 come!

[Edited 5/9/11 10:40am]

I was just listening to TGE the other day and forgot how damn good it is. Dolphin is an amazing song and I blew it off back in the day and GOLD is freakin' great. Sadly, I felt that it was an anomaly as opposed to a trend. Emancipation was ok, but at least a disk too long and almost everything afterwards.... well, again, not his peak. Glimpses of greatness, but mostly just not of real interest. If some of these albums during the last 10-15 years had come out from someone else, I wouldn't have listened to them twice. I try to give Prince multiple listens just in case there was something that I've missed, and for the most part, I've found them sadly forgettable.

I was a die hard fan 84-96. I still listen to all output released during that time, but I just can't get into any album as a whole after 96. Some decent songs here and there, but nothing like pre 97 for me.

databank said:

I keep reading "Prince is not what he used to be, the music isn't what it was, etc." or "well it's going better now but the plastic years sucked, etc.".

I've been a fan for 22 years now, and in the end i realize that i love all that came before my time (pre-1989) and most of what came ever since, up until today. I end-up listening to every new Prince album a lot, and enjoying it a lot. It was like that in the 90's, it's been like that in the 2000's and it's likely to continue 4ever: I can be critical, sure, but fact is that i just love what Prince does in general.

Am i the only "old fan" who's always been more or less satisfied with Prince's output?

I have been a Prince fan for 27 years and I am for the most part satisfied with Prince's output. I would like for there to be some changes in certain areas in the music but the main goal is that I continue to enjoy what Prince is doing TODAY, not just yesterday and I'm happy to say that I do. If I didn't, then I wouldn't even deal with Prince in any way, shape or form, like coming to this site. Prince still does it for me.