Timmy84 said:

Jackson stan please.

It's always the band that is more important than Prince in your mind. Prince was the ringleader/producer/leader for a reason.

And I speak as a fellow fan of Michael Jackson and Prince, please stop where you're going with your stuff.

all the band members gave their account of what they contribute to his music. why is prince still contending that he came up with the ideas for the music when his band gives a different account of what happen in those recording sessions? If prince is so talented, why is he sampling other people music in to his own music? example= life of the party= a james brown song, ballad of dorothy parker= sly stone song called a family affair. the guitar solo at the end of lets go crazy is a funkadelic riff at the begining of their song call shit, goddamn, get off your ass and jam.

jackson35 said:

prince's versatility came from the band that was put together in 1978. dez dickerson brought a classic rock element to the band that prince was not familiar with. lisa and wendy brought a certain pop element that prince wanted to put in his music. mat fink brought a bluesy- jazz feel that struck a chord with prince that reminded him of his father's playing. mark brown and bobby z brought a funk rock feel that would add a nice twist to the whole thing. what is this vocal range that you are talking about? he has ruin a lot of classic cover songs with his vocal range.

prince's versatility comes from his talent. Why dont u answer my question, prince plays funk and rock guitar, prince plays multiple instruments, he does these things.

jackson35 said:

Timmy84 said:

Jackson stan please.

It's always the band that is more important than Prince in your mind. Prince was the ringleader/producer/leader for a reason.

And I speak as a fellow fan of Michael Jackson and Prince, please stop where you're going with your stuff.

all the band members gave their account of what they contribute to his music. why is prince still contending that he came up with the ideas for the music when his band gives a different account of what happen in those recording sessions? If prince is so talented, why is he sampling other people music in to his own music? example= life of the party= a james brown song, ballad of dorothy parker= sly stone song called a family affair. the guitar solo at the end of lets go crazy is a funkadelic riff at the begining of their song call shit, goddamn, get off your ass and jam.

none of his band members have ever claimed to write songs that they were not given credit for, except wendy and lisa claimed "power fantastic" and andre claimed "do me baby". Thats it, the rest was prince's songwriting and you cannot handle this

Yes he really is that talented. Miles davis called him a combination of jimi henrdrix, james brown and marvin gaye. Eric clapton thinks highly of him.

A few samples doesnt change anything. He has written most of his best stuff himself, is one of the best multi instrumentalist in the world, and has written numerous hits for others. If prince's band members were the real geniuses, then they would have been the ones writing i feel for you, nothing compares to u, manic monday and so on

Once again princs versatilty comes from his ability to play multiple instruments. When he impressed rock fans at the rock and roll hall of fame, it was him playing guitar, not his band. It was prince that has been named as one of the best funk guitarist in the world, not his band. Its prince that has written most of his best songs, not his band. Time to stop trolling.

I'd say David Bowie's output 1969-1980 is hard to beat in terms of musical and lyrical quality, cultural impact, influence on other artists, and, not least, artistic development and change. Comparable only to The Beatles 1962-1970.

No, I'll go for 1980-1990 Prince.

It's a valid argument but I would suggest that in terms of cultural impact and artistic 'peak',

I think that Bob Dylan's 1960's run of albums eclipses Prince's efforts.

And pretty much anyone else's too.

But it is very subjective.

jackson35 said:

prince's versatility came from the band that was put together in 1978. dez dickerson brought a classic rock element to the band that prince was not familiar with. lisa and wendy brought a certain pop element that prince wanted to put in his music. mat fink brought a bluesy- jazz feel that struck a chord with prince that reminded him of his father's playing. mark brown and bobby z brought a funk rock feel that would add a nice twist to the whole thing. what is this vocal range that you are talking about? he has ruin a lot of classic cover songs with his vocal range.

I agree with this completely .. the fact that prince CAN copy anybodies playing style does not mean he is that good when left to himself .. how much music did he actually write? thats a good question .. the beatles would take Ringo Star and George Harrison contributions and the songs would still be listed as Lennon McCartney due to some legal and record company concept of marketing. Same with Prince .. he was selling this boy Genius who can play all these instruments and write and produce everything himself .. I wouldn't be surprised if there were numerous Ideas that came up in jams that Prince took and simply credited himself. The fact that great tunes like Do Me Baby and Mountains and KIss. Scandelous and even Money Don't Matter 2nite all benefited greatly from outside input should put things slightly more in perspective. Prince DOES have good ideas and good skill but he is seriously over rated and if his post WB catalog does not PROVE that to you than nothing will.

I will also mention Stevie Wonder who played drums on a lot of his records and not only that but his drumming slays ANYTHING prince has ever drummed on .. and the songs are way better as well. Again Prince is great but .. is Lets go crazy really that good of a song? .. no .. he was selling an image at the time .. not the music .. there are clunkers on even the great records .. does Do U Lie compare to Mountains? .. Do U LIe is ok but it only really works because of the music that surrounds it. Ps .. A lot of prince "great" songs are 12 bar blues structures .. not that hard to write .. expecially when your drum "skills" consist of hitting play on a drum machine that plays possibly the simplest beat EVER and he uses it on almost every song. Prince has never been a great solo guitarist .. his solos are as boring as they get save a couple of stand out songs .. prince sucks at HARD ROCK .. the gold record is as plastic and shallow as any 80's metal band that has long since been forgotten due to corny lyrics and lame production .. prince is an ok funk guitarist but nothing he has done compares to anything James Brown Guitarist has put down.

Kiss would be nothing but another 12 bar blues bore if not for the production and arranging of others which Prince famously did not give proper credit for. Regardless of who actually played on the record .. Prince music was only as good as who he was surrounded by and who he lifted Ideas from. Prince jammed on Dirty Mind with the band but then went home and recorded the whole thing himself .. why not invite the band should be the real question of Prince genius .. I think his shallow materialistic output is a reflection of Prince true nature that was suppressed while influenced by more genuine personalities. And thats what it takes to get to the top .. shallow priorities and a willingness to steal from others. There u have it. It certainly explains how he can take a huge spritual backslide (Compared to The Question of U or God or The Cross) releaseing self righteous pompous crap like rainbow children at a time when he should in theory be more spiritually awake. It also explains why he rubs so many collaborators the wrong way .. cuz he was always an insecure less talented than the hype, person who's personality and songwriting was elevated by the company he kept at the time but now he has no one close to him as a result and the music is lonely and desparate and pales compared to previous efforts.

And .. Most great musicians can play most of the instruments. The fact that they were willing to acknowledge someone else as being a better musician and let them play on the record instead of using a drum machine and doing it themself does not make them less talented than Prince. Prince never plays anything that complicated when he does it himself .. in fact it borders on the preprogrammed accompanyment you find on most keyboard rhythm patterns ..

Prince is great but way overrated and does not have the greatest Decade in History.

novabrkr said:

Major78 said:

Agree or disagree and why?

Disagree. 1978-1988 is not a decade. A decade is ten years, not eleven. 1979-1988 or 1980-1989 would be more like it.

His albums from Dirty Mind to Lovesexy could be the strongest streak of releases put out by any pop / rock artist. I could only see David Bowie challenging that, but his classic period in the 1970s also contained some duds (Pin Ups) and fairly mediocre releases (Young Americans, Lodger). However, I don't think the first two albums by Prince are very strong either.

Seriously though, do people really prefer the first two albums over Batman and Graffiti Bridge? As silly as Batman and Graffiti Bridge are thematically they certainly contain stronger individual tracks than his first two albums.

I agree with most of this...

but honestly the incredible maturation from Dirty Mind to Lovesexy was nothing short of breath taking. We have simply never seen anything like it and we may not ever. Also we have to keep in mind that we are not just talking about the volume of music produced (the Time & Sheliah E records for example) but the incredible quality of the works that spanned so many genres.

It still blows me away

Timmy84 said:

Jackson stan please.

It's always the band that is more important than Prince in your mind. Prince was the ringleader/producer/leader for a reason.

And I speak as a fellow fan of Michael Jackson and Prince, please stop where you're going with your stuff.

Let him/her keep CLOWNING themselves.......I need the laugh.

TrevorAyer said:

jackson35 said:

prince's versatility came from the band that was put together in 1978. dez dickerson brought a classic rock element to the band that prince was not familiar with. lisa and wendy brought a certain pop element that prince wanted to put in his music. mat fink brought a bluesy- jazz feel that struck a chord with prince that reminded him of his father's playing. mark brown and bobby z brought a funk rock feel that would add a nice twist to the whole thing. what is this vocal range that you are talking about? he has ruin a lot of classic cover songs with his vocal range.

I agree with this completely .. the fact that prince CAN copy anybodies playing style does not mean he is that good when left to himself .. how much music did he actually write? thats a good question .. the beatles would take Ringo Star and George Harrison contributions and the songs would still be listed as Lennon McCartney due to some legal and record company concept of marketing. Same with Prince .. he was selling this boy Genius who can play all these instruments and write and produce everything himself .. I wouldn't be surprised if there were numerous Ideas that came up in jams that Prince took and simply credited himself. The fact that great tunes like Do Me Baby and Mountains and KIss. Scandelous and even Money Don't Matter 2nite all benefited greatly from outside input should put things slightly more in perspective. Prince DOES have good ideas and good skill but he is seriously over rated and if his post WB catalog does not PROVE that to you than nothing will.

I will also mention Stevie Wonder who played drums on a lot of his records and not only that but his drumming slays ANYTHING prince has ever drummed on .. and the songs are way better as well. Again Prince is great but .. is Lets go crazy really that good of a song? .. no .. he was selling an image at the time .. not the music .. there are clunkers on even the great records .. does Do U Lie compare to Mountains? .. Do U LIe is ok but it only really works because of the music that surrounds it. Ps .. A lot of prince "great" songs are 12 bar blues structures .. not that hard to write .. expecially when your drum "skills" consist of hitting play on a drum machine that plays possibly the simplest beat EVER and he uses it on almost every song. Prince has never been a great solo guitarist .. his solos are as boring as they get save a couple of stand out songs .. prince sucks at HARD ROCK .. the gold record is as plastic and shallow as any 80's metal band that has long since been forgotten due to corny lyrics and lame production .. prince is an ok funk guitarist but nothing he has done compares to anything James Brown Guitarist has put down.

Kiss would be nothing but another 12 bar blues bore if not for the production and arranging of others which Prince famously did not give proper credit for. Regardless of who actually played on the record .. Prince music was only as good as who he was surrounded by and who he lifted Ideas from. Prince jammed on Dirty Mind with the band but then went home and recorded the whole thing himself .. why not invite the band should be the real question of Prince genius .. I think his shallow materialistic output is a reflection of Prince true nature that was suppressed while influenced by more genuine personalities. And thats what it takes to get to the top .. shallow priorities and a willingness to steal from others. There u have it. It certainly explains how he can take a huge spritual backslide (Compared to The Question of U or God or The Cross) releaseing self righteous pompous crap like rainbow children at a time when he should in theory be more spiritually awake. It also explains why he rubs so many collaborators the wrong way .. cuz he was always an insecure less talented than the hype, person who's personality and songwriting was elevated by the company he kept at the time but now he has no one close to him as a result and the music is lonely and desparate and pales compared to previous efforts.

And .. Most great musicians can play most of the instruments. The fact that they were willing to acknowledge someone else as being a better musician and let them play on the record instead of using a drum machine and doing it themself does not make them less talented than Prince. Prince never plays anything that complicated when he does it himself .. in fact it borders on the preprogrammed accompanyment you find on most keyboard rhythm patterns ..

Prince is great but way overrated and does not have the greatest Decade in History.

you took the words right out of my mouth. can u please school these young bucks on this board?

Graycap23 said:

Timmy84 said:

Jackson stan please.

It's always the band that is more important than Prince in your mind. Prince was the ringleader/producer/leader for a reason.

And I speak as a fellow fan of Michael Jackson and Prince, please stop where you're going with your stuff.

Let him/her keep CLOWNING themselves.......I need the laugh.

Exactly.

TrevorAyer said:

jackson35 said:

prince's versatility came from the band that was put together in 1978. dez dickerson brought a classic rock element to the band that prince was not familiar with. lisa and wendy brought a certain pop element that prince wanted to put in his music. mat fink brought a bluesy- jazz feel that struck a chord with prince that reminded him of his father's playing. mark brown and bobby z brought a funk rock feel that would add a nice twist to the whole thing. what is this vocal range that you are talking about? he has ruin a lot of classic cover songs with his vocal range.

I agree with this completely .. the fact that prince CAN copy anybodies playing style does not mean he is that good when left to himself .. how much music did he actually write? thats a good question .. the beatles would take Ringo Star and George Harrison contributions and the songs would still be listed as Lennon McCartney due to some legal and record company concept of marketing. Same with Prince .. he was selling this boy Genius who can play all these instruments and write and produce everything himself .. I wouldn't be surprised if there were numerous Ideas that came up in jams that Prince took and simply credited himself. The fact that great tunes like Do Me Baby and Mountains and KIss. Scandelous and even Money Don't Matter 2nite all benefited greatly from outside input should put things slightly more in perspective. Prince DOES have good ideas and good skill but he is seriously over rated and if his post WB catalog does not PROVE that to you than nothing will.

I will also mention Stevie Wonder who played drums on a lot of his records and not only that but his drumming slays ANYTHING prince has ever drummed on .. and the songs are way better as well. Again Prince is great but .. is Lets go crazy really that good of a song? .. no .. he was selling an image at the time .. not the music .. there are clunkers on even the great records .. does Do U Lie compare to Mountains? .. Do U LIe is ok but it only really works because of the music that surrounds it. Ps .. A lot of prince "great" songs are 12 bar blues structures .. not that hard to write .. expecially when your drum "skills" consist of hitting play on a drum machine that plays possibly the simplest beat EVER and he uses it on almost every song. Prince has never been a great solo guitarist .. his solos are as boring as they get save a couple of stand out songs .. prince sucks at HARD ROCK .. the gold record is as plastic and shallow as any 80's metal band that has long since been forgotten due to corny lyrics and lame production .. prince is an ok funk guitarist but nothing he has done compares to anything James Brown Guitarist has put down.

Kiss would be nothing but another 12 bar blues bore if not for the production and arranging of others which Prince famously did not give proper credit for. Regardless of who actually played on the record .. Prince music was only as good as who he was surrounded by and who he lifted Ideas from. Prince jammed on Dirty Mind with the band but then went home and recorded the whole thing himself .. why not invite the band should be the real question of Prince genius .. I think his shallow materialistic output is a reflection of Prince true nature that was suppressed while influenced by more genuine personalities. And thats what it takes to get to the top .. shallow priorities and a willingness to steal from others. There u have it. It certainly explains how he can take a huge spritual backslide (Compared to The Question of U or God or The Cross) releaseing self righteous pompous crap like rainbow children at a time when he should in theory be more spiritually awake. It also explains why he rubs so many collaborators the wrong way .. cuz he was always an insecure less talented than the hype, person who's personality and songwriting was elevated by the company he kept at the time but now he has no one close to him as a result and the music is lonely and desparate and pales compared to previous efforts.

And .. Most great musicians can play most of the instruments. The fact that they were willing to acknowledge someone else as being a better musician and let them play on the record instead of using a drum machine and doing it themself does not make them less talented than Prince. Prince never plays anything that complicated when he does it himself .. in fact it borders on the preprogrammed accompanyment you find on most keyboard rhythm patterns ..

Prince is great but way overrated and does not have the greatest Decade in History.

you cannot just assume that he didnt write the stuff himself. His band members have claimed a grand total of two songs. His songwriting is his genius, not anyone else's. You wont see any of his band members writing hits or masterpieces like him, because they couldnt. You and jackson35 are creating this ridicolous myth that it was his band members who were the real geniuses behind his work when they were not, and they themselves would tell you this. The fact is that he was written most of his best work by himself.

Most great musicians may play multiple instruments but not on the level of prince. Stevie wonder does play to the level of prince as a multi instrumentalist but not many can. Listen to crystal ball and then tell me he cannot play complicated beats, thats prince drumming on that track

and prince didnt use drum machines out of insecurity. He used them because it suited his sound. He hired sheila to play for him, bobby z, john blackwell and others. He has no problem using superior drummers than himself. But he is a good drummer himself as evidenced by tambourine of crystal ball. Claiming that prince doesnt play anything complicated is laughable when you listen to crystal ball for example.And not to mention most of the great guitar work on his records is him playing. Even then he had no problem letting andre play little red corvette.

You dont like his recent output, so you seem a little angry. Fine, but why only complain about prince? Why not other artists in their 50's whose music isnt anywhere near as good as it was in their 20's? Come on, your post is kinda silly (no offense). Prince does and can play complicated beats, he did not use drum machines out of insecurity but because it suited his sound, he has had no problem hiring superior drummers and pianists than himself, he is not overrated at all, he is infact underrated. Many people have no idea he is an amazing guitarist/multi instrumentalist, how versatile he is, how he has written great songs for others, that is not overrated but underrated. And yes, i stand by my comment that his output between 1980-88 can be considered among the best in pop/rock music history, if not the very best.

jackson35 said:

TrevorAyer said:

I agree with this completely .. the fact that prince CAN copy anybodies playing style does not mean he is that good when left to himself .. how much music did he actually write? thats a good question .. the beatles would take Ringo Star and George Harrison contributions and the songs would still be listed as Lennon McCartney due to some legal and record company concept of marketing. Same with Prince .. he was selling this boy Genius who can play all these instruments and write and produce everything himself .. I wouldn't be surprised if there were numerous Ideas that came up in jams that Prince took and simply credited himself. The fact that great tunes like Do Me Baby and Mountains and KIss. Scandelous and even Money Don't Matter 2nite all benefited greatly from outside input should put things slightly more in perspective. Prince DOES have good ideas and good skill but he is seriously over rated and if his post WB catalog does not PROVE that to you than nothing will.

I will also mention Stevie Wonder who played drums on a lot of his records and not only that but his drumming slays ANYTHING prince has ever drummed on .. and the songs are way better as well. Again Prince is great but .. is Lets go crazy really that good of a song? .. no .. he was selling an image at the time .. not the music .. there are clunkers on even the great records .. does Do U Lie compare to Mountains? .. Do U LIe is ok but it only really works because of the music that surrounds it. Ps .. A lot of prince "great" songs are 12 bar blues structures .. not that hard to write .. expecially when your drum "skills" consist of hitting play on a drum machine that plays possibly the simplest beat EVER and he uses it on almost every song. Prince has never been a great solo guitarist .. his solos are as boring as they get save a couple of stand out songs .. prince sucks at HARD ROCK .. the gold record is as plastic and shallow as any 80's metal band that has long since been forgotten due to corny lyrics and lame production .. prince is an ok funk guitarist but nothing he has done compares to anything James Brown Guitarist has put down.

Kiss would be nothing but another 12 bar blues bore if not for the production and arranging of others which Prince famously did not give proper credit for. Regardless of who actually played on the record .. Prince music was only as good as who he was surrounded by and who he lifted Ideas from. Prince jammed on Dirty Mind with the band but then went home and recorded the whole thing himself .. why not invite the band should be the real question of Prince genius .. I think his shallow materialistic output is a reflection of Prince true nature that was suppressed while influenced by more genuine personalities. And thats what it takes to get to the top .. shallow priorities and a willingness to steal from others. There u have it. It certainly explains how he can take a huge spritual backslide (Compared to The Question of U or God or The Cross) releaseing self righteous pompous crap like rainbow children at a time when he should in theory be more spiritually awake. It also explains why he rubs so many collaborators the wrong way .. cuz he was always an insecure less talented than the hype, person who's personality and songwriting was elevated by the company he kept at the time but now he has no one close to him as a result and the music is lonely and desparate and pales compared to previous efforts.

And .. Most great musicians can play most of the instruments. The fact that they were willing to acknowledge someone else as being a better musician and let them play on the record instead of using a drum machine and doing it themself does not make them less talented than Prince. Prince never plays anything that complicated when he does it himself .. in fact it borders on the preprogrammed accompanyment you find on most keyboard rhythm patterns ..

Prince is great but way overrated and does not have the greatest Decade in History.

you took the words right out of my mouth. can u please school these young bucks on this board?

i just schooled both him and you

this thread is beyond hilarious. Prince cannot play complicated beats and he used drum machines out of insecurity His band members were the real songwriting geniuses, yet it was prince who was asked to write hits for others, which he did for a long time.And tom petty, sting, mj being greater than prince thanks for the laugh guys.

The Police is irrelevant? Wow, I strongly disagree. Great songs, great musicians, great musical chemistry.

hhhhdmt said:

you cannot just assume that he didnt write the stuff himself. His band members have claimed a grand total of two songs. His songwriting is his genius, not anyone else's. You wont see any of his band members writing hits or masterpieces like him, because they couldnt. You and jackson35 are creating this ridicolous myth that it was his band members who were the real geniuses behind his work when they were not, and they themselves would tell you this. The fact is that he was written most of his best work by himself.

Most great musicians may play multiple instruments but not on the level of prince. Stevie wonder does play to the level of prince as a multi instrumentalist but not many can. Listen to crystal ball and then tell me he cannot play complicated beats, thats prince drumming on that track

and prince didnt use drum machines out of insecurity. He used them because it suited his sound. He hired sheila to play for him, bobby z, john blackwell and others. He has no problem using superior drummers than himself. But he is a good drummer himself as evidenced by tambourine of crystal ball. Claiming that prince doesnt play anything complicated is laughable when you listen to crystal ball for example.And not to mention most of the great guitar work on his records is him playing. Even then he had no problem letting andre play little red corvette.

You dont like his recent output, so you seem a little angry. Fine, but why only complain about prince? Why not other artists in their 50's whose music isnt anywhere near as good as it was in their 20's? Come on, your post is kinda silly (no offense). Prince does and can play complicated beats, he did not use drum machines out of insecurity but because it suited his sound, he has had no problem hiring superior drummers and pianists than himself, he is not overrated at all, he is infact underrated. Many people have no idea he is an amazing guitarist/multi instrumentalist, how versatile he is, how he has written great songs for others, that is not overrated but underrated. And yes, i stand by my comment that his output between 1980-88 can be considered among the best in pop/rock music history, if not the very best.

- I agree.

GustavoRibas said:

hhhhdmt said:

you cannot just assume that he didnt write the stuff himself. His band members have claimed a grand total of two songs. His songwriting is his genius, not anyone else's. You wont see any of his band members writing hits or masterpieces like him, because they couldnt. You and jackson35 are creating this ridicolous myth that it was his band members who were the real geniuses behind his work when they were not, and they themselves would tell you this. The fact is that he was written most of his best work by himself.

Most great musicians may play multiple instruments but not on the level of prince. Stevie wonder does play to the level of prince as a multi instrumentalist but not many can. Listen to crystal ball and then tell me he cannot play complicated beats, thats prince drumming on that track

and prince didnt use drum machines out of insecurity. He used them because it suited his sound. He hired sheila to play for him, bobby z, john blackwell and others. He has no problem using superior drummers than himself. But he is a good drummer himself as evidenced by tambourine of crystal ball. Claiming that prince doesnt play anything complicated is laughable when you listen to crystal ball for example.And not to mention most of the great guitar work on his records is him playing. Even then he had no problem letting andre play little red corvette.

You dont like his recent output, so you seem a little angry. Fine, but why only complain about prince? Why not other artists in their 50's whose music isnt anywhere near as good as it was in their 20's? Come on, your post is kinda silly (no offense). Prince does and can play complicated beats, he did not use drum machines out of insecurity but because it suited his sound, he has had no problem hiring superior drummers and pianists than himself, he is not overrated at all, he is infact underrated. Many people have no idea he is an amazing guitarist/multi instrumentalist, how versatile he is, how he has written great songs for others, that is not overrated but underrated. And yes, i stand by my comment that his output between 1980-88 can be considered among the best in pop/rock music history, if not the very best.

- I agree.

Right along with y'all.

bobzilla77 said:

I'd say it's right up there.

Beatles have less than a decade as recording artists but probably take the title. Stones 64-73 is up there too, the Who 65-74, Neil Young in the 70s, Coltrane 57 to 66, Beach Boys 63 to 72, Stevie in the 70s, I think all of those probably stand just a little higher than Prince in my estimation, but he gives every one a good run for their money.

If you follow the careers of the Beatles--as a group and then individually--from 1964 to 1973, I think that run is impossible to top. But there is only one Prince, so it's not really a fair comparison.

electricberet said:

bobzilla77 said:

I'd say it's right up there.

Beatles have less than a decade as recording artists but probably take the title. Stones 64-73 is up there too, the Who 65-74, Neil Young in the 70s, Coltrane 57 to 66, Beach Boys 63 to 72, Stevie in the 70s, I think all of those probably stand just a little higher than Prince in my estimation, but he gives every one a good run for their money.

If you follow the careers of the Beatles--as a group and then individually--from 1964 to 1973, I think that run is impossible to top. But there is only one Prince, so it's not really a fair comparison.

Exactly. Plus the Beatles are a group (always has, always will be).

I agree again. When you do almost everything by yourself, like Stevie or Prince, it´s hard to compare to a band.

novabrkr said:

Seriously though, do people really prefer the first two albums over Batman and Graffiti Bridge? As silly as Batman and Graffiti Bridge are thematically they certainly contain stronger individual tracks than his first two albums.

Album two, the self-titled Prince is a classic and much better than both the Batman soundtrack and Graffiti Bridge. With songs like Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad, I Wanna Be Your Lover, Still Waiting, With You, Sexy Dancer, Bambi, and It's Gonna Be Lonely, that album is quite strong!

Batman was a decent album, however, for me it lacks a GREAT track. Scandalous is close, and I love Electric Chair, but I wouldn't call them great. There are at least 4 great tracks on 'Prince'.

As for Graffiti Bridge, it's a much better album than Batman because it does have some great tracks. Joy In Repetition, The Question of U, Thieves In The Temple are all-time classics, but from first to last the self-tittled Prince is a better album.

Oops, forgot the topic. I'd say from the self-titled Prince in 1979 up through Sign O' The Times in 1987 is a stretch of music by one artist that is hard to beat. There is not an un-great album in that 8 album run. There might not be a more diverse or creative run by an artist either!

I'm afraid, I'd have to say no. ...and choose Joni Mitchell instead

1968-1977:

Song To A Seagull

Clouds

Ladies Of The Canyon

Blue

For The Roses

Court & Spark

Miles Of Aisles

The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Hejira

Don Juan's Reckless Daughter

clearly music is a personal taste but really?

let's just say I am glad I don't have your ears if you think that

TrevorAyer said:

bob dylan

bob marley

james brown

miles davis

stevie wonder

frank black / pixies

sonic youth

the cure

perry farrell / janes addiction

ani difranco

beatles

led zeppelin

jimi hendrix

nirvana

black sabbath / ozzy

michael jackson

joni mitchell

ian mackaye /fugazi / minor threat

johnny cash

willie nelson

george clinton / parliament / funkadelic

paul westerberg / replacements

david byrne / talking heads

frank zappa

rolling stones

sting / police

tom petty

leonard cohen

prince is an outstanding artist and had an excellent 5-6 year run like many of the above mentioned artists .. what separates prince from the rest is only the mass of mediocrity he released after his prime .. most other artists had the good judgement to slow down and try to maintain some quality over quantity .. prince became known for being prolific and lost sight of the point. I would not place prince above anyone listed above by any means. He simply hasn't earned that title.

novabrkr said:

Major78 said:

Agree or disagree and why?

Disagree. 1978-1988 is not a decade. A decade is ten years, not eleven. 1979-1988 or 1980-1989 would be more like it.

His albums from Dirty Mind to Lovesexy could be the strongest streak of releases put out by any pop / rock artist. I could only see David Bowie challenging that, but his classic period in the 1970s also contained some duds (Pin Ups) and fairly mediocre releases (Young Americans, Lodger). However, I don't think the first two albums by Prince are very strong either.

Seriously though, do people really prefer the first two albums over Batman and Graffiti Bridge? As silly as Batman and Graffiti Bridge are thematically they certainly contain stronger individual tracks than his first two albums.

true...

I would argue its probably the most DIVERSE and varied decade in a musician's history (although Bowie also is pretty diverse)....although its excellent I think that saying is the best in history may be a stretch..its a case of things looking better when looking back rather than appreciating at the time.

"'Prince's output from 1978-1988 is it the greatest decade by any artist in history?'"

In the pop music realm (excluding jazz, classical and other music forms), I would give an absolute and unqualified yes.

I'd have to say P-Funk from 1969-85 just too many classic funkers. Great 15 year run. Even some of the GC solo stuff that didn't sell. But Prince is up there don't get me wrong.

No, indeed. It's really good. But, as good as it is, it falls short of the greatest. I reserve that for Stevie Wonder, followed closely by the Beatles, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Jimi Hendrix, probably Miles Davis.

Game-changing output over a decade is needed, and Prince, though really good, wasn't in their league.

I said the band has made important contributions to his music. i said nothing about his lyrics. cystral ball is not a good example of showing how muti talented prince is. stevie wonder and other musicians back in the day didn't need to play 27 instruments because it was not a requirement to do so. prince had to do this because in 1978, he did'nt have a big budget to pay people to make the kind of music that he wanted on his album. this has to do with ego and being stingy, there are a lot of talented session men and women that could have made prince's albums a classic, instead he turns down maurice white to do it all by himself. prince has admitted that he is guilty of not giving andre cymone the credit that he deserved in kickstarting the punk image in dirty mind and the music.how many of you knew that lisa coleman recorded the music for the time's first album and andre cymone came up with the image. but if you read any bio on the time, all you see is prince, prince prince.