Handclapsfingasnapz said:

That's why I luvs yoo!

chickengrease said:

aww...

Actually, it all began with The Game Boyz


.

August 4, 1998, around 6:35 in the morning. His toaster wouldn't work, there were grounds in his coffee, and he was just like:

(stomps high-heeled fuzzy slipper on the floor)
"Gawd mutherfucking dammit all to fuck! I canNOT take this ANY MORE! I am goin' to find Jesus and write fucking music about that shit for the rest of fucking eternity, because I have had ABOUT ENOUGH of gawddamn REALITY!"
(stomp stomp stomp over to Kingdom Hall. . .)

chickengrease said:

I really don't think the seeds of Prince's 90s trough were evident in The Black Album. At times I think it's his best album- crazily inventive, infectious, just brimming with ideas. Only SOTT and Lovesexy rival its wonderful, colourful genius. Prince takes those songs to the upper limits, exhausting every little tangent imaginable in bringing them to fruition.

That's all fairly intangible, though. You say that The Black Album is the start of Prince as trend follower instead of trend setter. Perhaps it was a touch self-conscious to the extent that the whole marketing strategy was built around surreptitiously proving that he could still move the hardcore funk crowd. But on the music alone I don't think you can say it is derivative in the slightest. This is Prince in the purest sense- only he could have produced an album like that. And as for 'Dead, On It', I've always said this is simply another case of Prince's ingenious genre fusion. The funk of that track hits so hard, harder than peers of his doing straight hip-hop. The rapping is needlessly criticised on this site, too- Prince brings a sense of harmony to rap that in my eyes (and this is without doubt a minority view) introduces another dimension to the genre. In this respect his point in the song is well-made- when real talent grapples with hip-hop, you are left with a new beast, and a far more imaginative one.

When was Prince's downfall? It's a rough question in the first instance, because his output in the 90s- even at its worst- is still beyond the reach of most others. But, if anywhere, I would locate the seeds of his decline with Lovesexy. It's a great album, don't get me wrong. One of my favourites. But it's also the first time Prince's arrangements lose that magical touch. Once again, we're entering dangerous territory here, and after what Brendan has said I am reluctant to use the word dated. But in patches on Lovesexy I think we get a glimpse of all that was wrong with Prince's sonic experimentation in the 90s. Something grates that didn't on SOTT and The Black Album. Fifteen or so years down the track, there is something tacky or cutesy about Lovesexy in parts. It's ever so slight, and I should repeat that I rank Lovesexy among his top five albums.

No artist in the history of popular music has been able to sustain the originality and brilliance of their peak forever. Prince is no exception. There is no shame in this. An album like SOTT or The Black Album or 1999 is so rare that we should not expect him to be able to emulate it again and again. Perhaps he lost that creative verve at the turn of the 90s. But there is a lot of gold amongst his output since, and plenty amongst his latest releases. I couldn't say TRC (or One Nite Alone, for that matter) is on par with his 80s peaks, but it's damn close, and it is some consistently excellent music. Perhaps he is ready to shock us again with a work of utter genius.
[This message was edited Fri Feb 21 20:32:32 PST 2003 by fairmoan]

fairmoan said:

But the Black Album was the first sign of Prince beginning to repeat himself. Maybe he thought he had done all that he could do with the Linn Drum but what was actually fresh and innovative about the Black Album? The mystique of the album was wonderful. There were signs of brilliance but for me this was the first LP, where I heard 'throwaway' tracks. Tracks that probably couldn't have been reworked to make them appeal to me as a listener.

The funk of Dead On It doesn't hit nearly as hard as Superfunkycalifragisexy, an homage to the P-Funk if I ever did hear one. The bass heavy beats of hip-hop were becoming the staple of music at this point and Prince sounded like he was trying to capture that on Dead On It. The only beat driven song that Prince came close to capturing the essence of hip-hop at the time was Housequake.
Prince wasn't blind, he knew that rap was going to take over. Little did he know that eventually some would disregard 808 drums machines and pick up some instruments and incorporate a "real" melody. Dead On It, as humorous as it may have been, was the sound of pure plastic. Much like the 90s sound of his releases without a band.




But somewhere during the Black Album/Lovesexy sessions. The only listeners left were his die-hard fans and the critics.



Of course, I know Prince isn't any different. This post was really just for shits and giggles; For those who have followed the man's music since the beginning, I was just wondering when they felt that "magic" wasn't there anymore.

Did ya eva stop and think maybe "the magic" didn't leave HIM but left U...

origmnd said:

Oh coem on now...you now he was coasting sometimes and on some boolshit with some stuff from NPS, Emancipation, D&P, etc. He doesnt shit a gold brick every bowel movement nor should he be expected to.

Tom said:

Wouldn't "funk bible" build up expectations too?

Besides, there's already a funk bible: Headhunters.

(p.s. jazz-funk, but even so, it is).

Hmmm…. I guess it all depends on whether you like the music he’s made in the 90s and is making today. The 80s music was allot more addictive but it was songs like My name is Prince, Sexy MF, Loose, Let it go, Pheromones, Pussy control, TMBGITW, Gold, Jam of the year and Baby know (Just a few to name) That made me start collecting Prince. I bought most of the 90’s album before touched one from the 80s albums. So I can’t say he ‘lost it’.

chickengrease said:

That I do agree with, and that was very significant to what he made after. He really wanted everything he did after that to be successful. But I don't think he ever gave in to mainstream.

Lovesexy?
The Truth?
The undertaker?
One nite alone (piano album)
Rainbow childen?

These were art, not created to sell millions of record but simply to be great music. He did however want people to like it.

i know i'm one of the rare breed but for me prince has never lost the plot or the magic. Just like life music changes and musicians change with the times. They influence the culture and also are influenced by the culture. Prince delved into rap because he "had too". He could not ignore this shift in music. His talent, ego, and imagination are to great for him to have done otherwise. So many of u seem to project your limitations of the possible on to what prince has done or should have done.

I don't expect prince to produce another "1999" or "lovesexy". If anything it is the everchanging nature of Prince that keeps it fresh. I also have favorite albums and cuts but that doesn't lead me to label other things as "shit" or commercial trash because i personnally dont' get into them as deeply as others. People the magic is in the journey.

For me there is something positive to be said for almost everything prince has done musically. So much of what u all dismiss i'm glad he recorded.

The day the Batman album was released. That whole 1989-1992 period was really really bad artistically.

WildheartXXX said:

He got paid phat though!

My simple conclusion: Its all good and its all funky

Brendan said:

Yes and no.




Yes and no. TRC sounds more like desperation than inspiration.




Execllent point. I totally agree.



Agree totally.

chickengrease said:

I think you have made very good observation. I have come to realize that Prince's sound was not just his sound but a sound that was developed through working with different musicians. I like the times when Dez and Andre were in the band. Even after Andre left Prince always was on the newer side of music. One of the changes that I see in Prince's music today is that he like so many others sound the same live. The musicians that he uses are excellent players but they don't seem to have any stage presence or personality. I'm not saying that they are boring but they sound like any other live band that plays behind and artist today such as Alicia Keys, Erika Badu,Musiq, etc. When Prince use to play "Do it all Night" live for instance, no one then sounded like that. Even today no one sounds like that. They always had you wanting more. He didn't really compete with other artist in the sense of trying to do what they did. He (they) innovated not duplicated. When I see an artist come on Jay Leno or Letterman, it seem like it's alway the artist out front and the band in the back and thats how Prince is today. The group thing is gone and the funky rock thing left with Dez and Andre. Sure he tried it with Mike Bland and Sonny but it seemed more contrived than natural. I think the music industry has lowered the bar a long time ago and it did have an effect on Prince's music and attitude towards the so called competition.