I don't usually complain about Prince's music in this forum 'cause lord knows I really like most of it.

BUT...

I was just trying to give It Ain't Over another chance...

And after JIR, the Musiq track came on and I had to turn it off...

How much does this guy SUCK! He has to be one of the worst of the new breed of male r & b singers out there. I love the original "If You Want Me To Stay", but this guy adds NOTHING of worth to it and this piece of trash doesn't warrant justification for sampling a cool bass line from a classic song.

If the "It Ain't Over" CD wasn't bad enough, ie, Larry Graham getting trigger happy with the bass distortion pedal on "JIR", the the complete waste of a guest appearance on the idiotic "We Do This" and the aimless jams on what is supposed to be "Peach", "Girls and Boys" and the like... THIS talentless piece of crap called Musiq is on there, too!

I seriously would have preferred just the 2 ONA Live CDs with the Dorothy Parker version off It Ain't Over Stuck on there maybe (and perhaps It Ain't Over's 2 Nigs United). Sorry, folks, but the rest is indulgent CRAP.

ONA Live, the first two CDs are awesome though, I might add. Even if they weren't always the BEST versions, none were BAD as on It Ain't Over.

i agree...i always skip musiq's crap on the cd. it's a waste of digital space, imo...

Well, I did like Musiq's first album, the second is super weak. When he's singing live, it seems like he doesn't have complete control over his voice or something. The song on It Ain't Over is bad enough but what really killed it is him talking over P's solo!

Yeah.

I really can't stand the "I'll get someone young and part of the new wave of r&b to perform with me so that the youngsters will think I'm cool and still relevant" thing. "And even if it sounds crap, at least it will look cool in print".

I hate that!

CalhounSq said:

EXACTLY. He has NO sense of musical sensitivity to the ensemble or soloist. Fuck "musicians" who are famous and don't know shit about real musicality.

It's the Jughead on this disc, even though I like Jughead.

Except for Dorothy Parker and 2 Nigs, this whole CD is worse than jughead for me. And that's really saying something!

Anji said:

mrdespues said:

Say you mistakenly forgot JIR, please?? :O

mrdespues said:

I agree.

But it seems like there is a large percentage of people who buy do into that sort of arrangement and think it's great. Unfortunately.

I personally get so tired of all the "P should work with so-and-so and P should do a duet with blah blah blah.." and many of the names that get mentioned are just lame flavor-of-the-month "artists" who don't appear to have any actual musical talent going for them except for their hype.

Doing that sort of sellout only cheapens his own legitimate talent, and his image, if you ask me.

mrdespues said:

I think the aftershow jamming vibe works best when you're actually there. Still, I think it's excellent.

CalhounSq said:

With all due respect to the Father of Funk, the GClinton vocals are a close 2nd. It's hard to believe that was the best song P could find with George singing...?

mrdespues said:

"it ain't over" is quickly becoming my favorite cd to jam out to... ... (with the exception of musiq's song) it never stops funking... he doesn't let up or break... just keeps that shit pumping strong...

and actually, larry graham's bass is my 2nd favorite part of "joy in repitition"... prince's guitar playing makes it for me... then larry graham's bass just makes it that much better... i love the thumb-slapping that he does, and then he keeps sneaking in that distortion- that shit is smooth... i love it when prince introduces him... "hear larry graham play 'joy in repitition'"... then larry gives you a peek of how he can tear that shit up...

IMHO, not enough bass players use distortion anymore... larry graham and bootsy collins use to tear that shit up in the past... the only bass player i've seen rock a distorted bass solo in recent years was gene simmons at the last kiss concert in the US in charleston, sc (well, the last one until they reunite again)... he tore that bass up without mercy... that was almost 3 years ago... i miss shit like that...

XNY said:

Yea, the "I just swallowed a bag of gravel" sound is a little too funky & phlegmy for me :O

XNY said:

if "we do this" doesn't make you move, you are devoid of funk, my friend... that track is funktabulous...

CalhounSq said:

I'm sorry, but a love P's guitar solo on JIR but Larry Graham is SHIT on this. I don't know what happened on this track, but he is zealous with the distortion pedal. He has no sense of ensemble playing or leaving space for Prince's solo. I play it every now and then for Prince and just have to ignore Larry's rude, interrupting distortion pedal. Damn that distortion pedal!

EllisDee said:

It does get into your head after a while, but his voice is downright disturbing!

hhhow y'alll doinnn' in hhheeeaaa?

hhhooowww y'aaalll doooinnn uuup innn hhheeeaaa??!!

EllisDee said:

Er, no, it's not funktabulous. It's fuckedtabulous. And by the way, I have a lot of soul and that track doesn't.

Anji said:

I'm sure you're right. I really like "Small Club" for example, although I don't think that's perfect like everyone says it is, either.

mrdespues said:

WOW I love Lil' Lurry on this one, shit sounds good to me

SnowQueen said:

EXACTLY.

CalhounSq said:

LOL THAT WAS SO FUNNY CALHOUNSQ!

EllisDee said:

My problem isn't with distortion on bass, my problem is with Larry Graham not knowing how to use it. Maybe the problem was just that it was too high in the mix, I don't know...but it leaps out of nowhere in comparison to the mix of his clean bass sound and competes for the frequency range of P's guitar. That is a no no.

.
[This message was edited Thu Feb 13 20:06:08 PST 2003 by mrdespues]

mrdespues said:

apparently, not enough... ...


I am Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk
I have always been devoid of funk
I shall continue to be devoid of funk
I will never dance



we edit this, this is what we edit...
[This message was edited Thu Feb 13 20:03:04 PST 2003 by EllisDee]

EllisDee said:

I would be keen to jam with you just to see how much soul you actually have. I'm sure it would end in tears on your side.

mrdespues said:

i wouldn't count on it...

EllisDee said:

I would BET on it.

I don't think the collab with Musiq is so much Prince wanting a modern artist perform with him as it is the other way around. I mean off a 3CD set, Music is the ONLY newer modern guest performer on there right???

As far as JIR, I really like Larry's bass playing. I can't break it down technically like some of y'all, but for me the bass playing doesn't at all drown out or distort Prince's solos. On the parts that might (part of the second of P's solo), I think the intention is to give Larry the floor.

mrdespues said:

My wife loves the original song.


But when I played her the live cut...

She said it was horrible. Espesially when he does his falsetto thingy before he realized he was way off key.