tricky99 said:

Graycap23 said:

Just an opinion............leave it at that.

Ok, cool but its a pretty empty opinion if you refuse to articulate what u mean. What's the point of you keep throwing it out there?

Its pretty simple really...

A Dirty Prince is alot more fun than a Clean Prince.

[Edited 2/16/12 8:24am]

Graycap23 said:

funkyhead said:

On record over the last however many years a lot of us are agreed that the man has 'lost it'.

A lot of us DON'T agree.

Exactly. I mean what exactly has he lost? He has a 30 year plus catalogue and then some, and still going. I see nothing lost at all. However, I do agree his is awesome with soul ballads, right up there with Smokey Robinson.

SquirrelMeat said:

He hasn't lost it, and I would go opposite on the ballads.

I think his soul ballads are mostly stuck in a rut. The same old beats, the same old multilayed vocals, rather than proper background singers. The same old themes.

Future soul and Call My Name are so run of the mill for Prince, as it the On the Couch type song.

I find it much more interesting when he mixes it up. Somewhere Here on Earth is the best ballad in the last 10 years I would say, and The Last December is one of his best ever. But they are not ballads in the typical sense.

Genre wise, I still think the middle ground of pop is Princes strongest suit, even if it ends up on the fence with fans.

Tracks like 4ever, The one U wanna C, Cinnamon Girl are bubblegum pop but damn good bubblegum pop.

I guess that's how you can describe those 3 tracks you listed, and you could include "Here" in that category too.

I think "Here on Earth"; "Better With Time"; "Walking in Sand";"Sea of Everything" (In which SOE, sounds like a Smokey Robinson track) are all nice soul ballads. I think one of his strongest gifts as far as his singing voice, is always his falsetto voice, which always does well with his soul ballads. As a matter of fact, "Call My Name" did very well on on of the r&b stations in NYC. It was on WKRS 98.7KIssfm's playlist for 3 years from 2004-2007.

[Edited 2/16/12 9:18am]

Whenever I hear that Prince has lost it as a rocker and funkateer, I'm always curious for that person to tell me who is making quality rock and funk today better than what Prince has done in the past five years. Of course, it's all subjective because when this question has been rarely answered on this cite I usually cringe and think, "I'm glad that Prince isn't making that music." And when I see whose getting the rock awards for the Grammy's and AMAs I can't help but laugh, thinking that while I might like some of those acts, they still can't hold a candle to Prince. Even if Prince has lost a step or two, Prince at thirty percent less than what he was, if that is the case, is still more powerful than what's happening today.

2020 said:

tricky99 said:

Ok, cool but its a pretty empty opinion if you refuse to articulate what u mean. What's the point of you keep throwing it out there?

Its pretty simple really...

A Dirty Prince is alot more fun than a Clean Prince.

[Edited 2/16/12 8:24am]

For some a dirty Prince may be more fun than a clean Prince, but I'd think it pretty pathetic if a fifty-two year old man could only write about oral sex and threesomes. How much head does one need before it is no longer one's primary life emphasis? Current Prince is just as much fun for me as the Prince of my teens because he's matured as I have matured. Yes, I still listen to "Head," but I'm glad that Prince, at fifty-two, has more to discuss than that. Besides, for me, his music still rocks and is still funky, regardless of the subject matter.

1725topp said:

2020 said:

Its pretty simple really...

A Dirty Prince is alot more fun than a Clean Prince.

[Edited 2/16/12 8:24am]

For some a dirty Prince may be more fun than a clean Prince, but I'd think it pretty pathetic if a fifty-two year old man could only write about oral sex and threesomes. How much head does one need before it is no longer one's primary life emphasis? Current Prince is just as much fun for me as the Prince of my teens because he's matured as I have matured. Yes, I still listen to "Head," but I'm glad that Prince, at fifty-two, has more to discuss than that. Besides, for me, his music still rocks and is still funky, regardless of the subject matter.

that's a very fair point and I too cringe when he sings about chaisng girls. My definition of losing it though is more along the lines of being daring / original musically - his stuff ,IMHO,feels shackled and lacks the energy and puch of old on record. At the live gigs though the man still has it - i loved the new version of LRC and especially HOT THING - how funky was that!.

funkyhead said:

Tremolina said:

You juts made the case that P is still making great soul ballads and now you're agreeing with that.

OK.

nope!, ballads are where he allows some of his sexy back, just listen to the wonderful Elixer - DAYUM that's a sexy as he's been in a long while. Likewise ,IMHO the reason why he isn't the creative force he once was on albums is without a doubt his own religious self cenrsorship.

Except sould ballads, I got that. But I don't agree and don't think GC did either

SquirrelMeat said:

Somewhere Here on Earth is the best ballad in the last 10 years I would say, and The Last December is one of his best ever. But they are not ballads in the typical sense.

Not really soul ballads no. SHOE is more like a jazz ballad and LD a rock ballad.

NouveauDance said:

funkyhead said:

perhaps he needs to focus on this and take the Adele route for his next CD?!.

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

IMO, you are confusing "still truly good" with 'consistent'. For me, 'consistent' doesn't really cut it. Cookie-cutter ballads are boring.

I agree. Since he turned JW, he has toned down his lyrics a lot and I for one don't particularly want to hear a 52 year-old man talking about sincerely fucking the taste out of some girl's mouth. However, his religous beliefs and his age are no excuse for the large amount of tedious and ultimately unmemorable ballads he's created over the past decade. You don't have to swear to be sexy or even sleazy. If it fits the mood of the song, then great. If not, then drop it. I think the problem that a lot of his more recent slower songs have had is that they lack a hook or a memorable lyric, which means that they end up sounding very pedestrian and 'by numbers'.

But to suggest that all he is good for is soul ballads is ridiculous. There are plenty of songs he's released since 2000 which are not ballads and can stand up to his 80s output, e.g.: When I lay my hands on U, The Everlasting Now, Reflection, Black Sweat, The Word, Chelsea Rodgers, SHOE, Colonised Mind, Feel Better, Dance 4 me...

funkyhead said:

1725topp said:

For some a dirty Prince may be more fun than a clean Prince, but I'd think it pretty pathetic if a fifty-two year old man could only write about oral sex and threesomes. How much head does one need before it is no longer one's primary life emphasis? Current Prince is just as much fun for me as the Prince of my teens because he's matured as I have matured. Yes, I still listen to "Head," but I'm glad that Prince, at fifty-two, has more to discuss than that. Besides, for me, his music still rocks and is still funky, regardless of the subject matter.

that's a very fair point and I too cringe when he sings about chaisng girls. My definition of losing it though is more along the lines of being daring / original musically - his stuff ,IMHO,feels shackled and lacks the energy and puch of old on record. At the live gigs though the man still has it - i loved the new version of LRC and especially HOT THING - how funky was that!.

Yes, I also love the Monteux version of "LRC." It is killer. As for his new stuff, it seems to rub different people differently. "Colonized Mind" makes me tingle with energy. It feels as edgy, passionate, and "f-the world" as any of his eighties work to me and immediately became one of my top ten favs along with "Musicology," and I've been listening to Prince since '78. I don't hear or feel the shackles, but I know that doesn't mean that others don't. I'm just glad his work still moves me.