I swear a lot of the stuff Prince did in the 80's could still easily be a hit today in the same state it's in [add some bottom, it's even better ]. But 90's Prince is a whole other thing. The 90's stuff is so dated imo....

What are your thoughts on this?????

Because the production values of the Eighties fit the current times better? Because 90's Prince just wasn't as funky in lots of cases? Because the actual 80's songs and their arrangements are in general better than the 90's stuff?

Because people are using the MPLSound (sorta) again.

Yeah, well, 1999 may be a classic album, but it's VERY dated. C'mon, "Delirious" is stuck in 1982.

UltraLash said:

Yeah, well, 1999 may be a classic album, but it's VERY dated. C'mon, "Delirious" is stuck in 1982.

There's nothing wrong with music being dated. Dated doesn't = bad.

dated, who says they are dated...... I don't agree:

I wouldn't want the Prince albums on Warner Bros. 1978-1995 to sound any different.

They are great as they are, Prince was a great producer. Back then.

most of the albums 1978-1995 are just perfect.

i think prince around 1994 was on a hot streak.....the gold experience and the dawn 4.1 show he was writing some great stuff(i know the dawn has stuff from a wider time period but it shows all the great stuff he was writing around that time)...i think only 1986 was a better period for creativity for prince...so...the 80s was brilliant but the mid 90s wasnt far behind for me ...

.

80's stuff I agree could be a hit now. When I listen to songs like ; Beautiful Ones, When Doves Cry, If I Was Your Girlfriend, Controversy, D.M.S.R, etc. could be hits now.

simple explanation for this : Prince started too late to fool around with rap. and he never understood that rap certainly isn't his 'music' to play with or fool around with. he lost it there. simple as that.

in the 80's Prince was a 'leader' in the 90's Prince became a 'follower'....nowdays he's kinda all over the place...but throughout his career there's always been unmissable gems...

UltraLash said:

Yeah, well, 1999 may be a classic album, but it's VERY dated. C'mon, "Delirious" is stuck in 1982.

You must not own a radio.

His 80's albums were a lot more original in terms of the music. He was the leader of the Minneapolis sound. The 90's stuff was Prince trying to do what others were doing at the time. Prince was not the leader of the Hip-Hop and New Jack Swing sound.

On a another thread about The Time's Pandemonium, a 90's album, to me, the only two tracks that stand out, that have that certain intangible something, are the two 80's Prince tracks. AND they retain that certain something even when re-recorded under that god-awful 90's veneer.

Most of Prince's 80's tracks are just great. Even just doodles like "Lisa" or "Purple Music"

When we say dated, I think a better word is "awful" Because even while Prince's 80's tracks have that certain something that betrays it's era of origin, they are still great. Same with any classic artist of whatever era when were at their peak in. Whereas Prince's 90's tracks are awful regardless of the era they are released.

[Edited 8/25/11 6:51am]

Prince has a few dated records from the 90s but people often paint the entire decade with one big brush.

Graffiti Bridge, large portions of D&P and Love Symbol, half of Rave and NPS, most of Gold Experience, some of Come, most of Emancipation all sound fresh still.

Prince did also a lot of stuff in the 90s that sounds like it could be released today with just a few tweaks. Whenever the production is based on, say, acoustic drums, horns, guitar, organ and piano sounds the end-result is timeless. Think of tracks like "Willing and Able", "Dark", "Into The Light" or "When The Lights Go Down". It's often just the amount (and type) of reverb used that connects those tracks to a certain time period.

He did also a few electronic tracks that sounded nothing like the music at the time - "In This Bed I Scream" springs to mind - so it's hard for me to consider them dated. He was already referencing his 1980s output by the time he did "Emancipation" and stylistically a lot of that stuff just doesn't sound like what the music in the 1990s sounded like. I don't really care for most of the material on NPS and Rave, but hell, many of those tracks could have easily been on 3121, Planet Earth, MPLSound or 20Ten and no one would have noticed much of a difference.

In general, I find Prince's 90s output still quite enjoyable to listen to. Can't say the same about many of the albums that are considered "classics" from that decade.

In 80's Prince was leading the way with sound and production. In the 90's he was following.

switch from analog to digital recording.

emesem said:

switch from analog to digital recording.

This.

Also the 80s stuff sounds just as dated, just in a good way. I agree with blackbob the 93/94 period was great, I can imagine the music press bigging that era up as a hidden treasure they discovered after he's gone.

Because the music built around it....even back then it just didnt SOUND like HIM around all those damn hip hop samples and drum tracks...good god...less funk and more hip hop was almost the thing for him for like 10 years..jesus. Even as a kid growing with Prince around the 92 and up era I would buy his tapes with my allowance money from the previous albums and knew that in the 80's he was on a whole other level...Sign O The Times and Parade turned me out even as a 12 year old in the 90's.

I don't think it does. Emancipation sounds like it was recorded this year. Purple Rain sounds freakin ancient in terms of synths etc.

TheFreakerFantastic said:

I don't think it does. Emancipation sounds like it was recorded this year.

And that's a good thing?

NouveauDance said:

TheFreakerFantastic said:

I don't think it does. Emancipation sounds like it was recorded this year.

And that's a good thing?

Well it doesn't sound dated so yes it is a good thing. I first heard the Purple Rain album in 1995 and even then it sounded really out of date, while Eman was done 15 yrs ago and still sounds recent.

The 80s sound horribly dated, but his music is still great so it doesn't matter that much. In the 90s he made significant improvements in the sound production so, in that regard, the music can hold its own against anything new. Creative composition is another matter, but I feel his post 80s material holds it's own in that respect as well. The main thing that dates his early 90s music for me is the rapping.....and, of course, lyrics such as "funky fresh for the 90s."

Spinlight said:

UltraLash said:

Yeah, well, 1999 may be a classic album, but it's VERY dated. C'mon, "Delirious" is stuck in 1982.

You must not own a radio.

That has nothing to do with it.

Spinlight said:

UltraLash said:

Yeah, well, 1999 may be a classic album, but it's VERY dated. C'mon, "Delirious" is stuck in 1982.

You must not own a radio.

Yeah, I own a radio. And "Delirious" is still stuck in 1982.

Spinlight said:

Prince has a few dated records from the 90s but people often paint the entire decade with one big brush.

Graffiti Bridge, large portions of D&P and Love Symbol, half of Rave and NPS, most of Gold Experience, some of Come, most of Emancipation all sound fresh still.

But one thing about GB is that alot of that music came from the 1980's it wasn't 'original' recordings from the GB era

Tick Tick Bang 1980 vs Tick Tick Bang 1990 2 totally different songs

1st one inventive original 2nd one dated in a bad way unoriginal

OldFriends4Sale said:

Spinlight said:

Prince has a few dated records from the 90s but people often paint the entire decade with one big brush.

Graffiti Bridge, large portions of D&P and Love Symbol, half of Rave and NPS, most of Gold Experience, some of Come, most of Emancipation all sound fresh still.

But one thing about GB is that alot of that music came from the 1980's it wasn't 'original' recordings from the GB era

Tick Tick Bang 1980 vs Tick Tick Bang 1990 2 totally different songs

1st one inventive original 2nd one dated in a bad way unoriginal

Imagine if he released the original version of that track instead of the crappy remake....that performance scene in GB would have went over waaaaayy better than someone playing a "game boy" while watching....

TheFreakerFantastic said:

I don't think it does. Emancipation sounds like it was recorded this year. Purple Rain sounds freakin ancient in terms of synths etc.

Good anchient sound!! U know how much those synths are going for these days? People want them BBAADD

paisleypark4 said: