novabrkr said:

The 80s had Prince and Michael Jackson on top. They were the KINGS of the 1980s.

1990s, on the other hand, had some HUGE artists. Nirvana, Blue Oyster Cult, Marilyn Manson, Garth Brooks was a MEGAstar in the 1990s, Run DMC, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Public Enemy, Seal, etc.

So, while he had some good in the 1990s, I don't think he'll EVER reach the level of the 80s again.

I think it needs to be observed that the 1980's were a far better decade than both the 1990's and the 2000's. If you pick the best records of the 80's (with its greatest contributors Michael Jackson, Prince and Kate Bush, as well as very rich contributions by David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Bob Dylan and many others), I thinks those two other decades really pale. In the rock era, the 50's, 60's, 70's and the 80's were all prodigious of really landmark music, but that is not the same case for the 90's and 00's. There were good music there, but not on the same level. At least in my opinion.

I'm not even sure who I think my favourite 90's artist were. There were some really great novelties, like some of you remembered. I agree with Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, Radiohead, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Bjork, Prodigy. I'd also add TLC (I love the CrazySexyCool album), Alanis Morissette (Jagged Little Pill was remarkable), Madonna and Outkast. Michael Jackson's Dangerous was a truly great album, I think it was by far the best new jack swing album - it's somehow underrated critically. The Rolling Stone's Voodoo Lounge was very nice too. And Paul Mccartney (Flaming Pie) and Bob Dylan (Time Out of Mind) released an album each that are as good their very best.

Still talking about albums, thinking in retrospect now, I think the greatest album of the 90's was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I still have strong feelings about this album to this day. It never got old.

I agree that Prince realeased lots of great things in the 90's, although not in the same level as the 80's. Rave was a mess, Diamonds and Pearls had its moments, but didn't work as a whole album. But the Love Symbol and the Gold Experience were great, and I think that Emancipation is a very strong candidate as one of the very best albums of the 90's. It was wonderfully creative.

[Edited 5/10/12 20:17pm]

[Edited 5/10/12 20:18pm]

And Oasis??? What's the fun with that? At least nobody said U2, that would be the crown. I really can't understand how people like these.

V10LETBLUES said:

novabrkr said:

What the hell motivates you to write these type of dumbass comments on this site?

Don't try to put this on me because you like it. Prince was trying to be a combination of MC Hammer and MJ or something, like the Soviet version of contemporary music. And even that description is a slight to the great musicians of the Soviet bock. It was beyond dated even in Soviet terms on the day of it's release. Truly cringeworthy. He completly dropped whatever elements of sophistication he may have had and brought in the Game Boyz. Nuff said. [Edited 5/6/12 19:00pm]

You don't seem to be able to present a single argument without resorting to exaggerations and nonsensical analogies with almost every sentence that you write.

Well, I grew up in the 90s (born in 88), so I missed the 80s. Dammit.

BUT...the 80s are DEFINITELY far superior!

BrazilianOnRaspberryBeret said:

And Oasis??? What's the fun with that? At least nobody said U2, that would be the crown. I really can't understand how people like these.

I didn't make a list of favorite 1990s artists, but U2 would be on it.

V10LETBLUES said:

novabrkr said:

What the hell motivates you to write these type of dumbass comments on this site?

Don't try to put this on me because you like it. Prince was trying to be a combination of MC Hammer and MJ or something, like the Soviet version of contemporary music. And even that description is a slight to the great musicians of the Soviet bock. It was beyond dated even in Soviet terms on the day of it's release. Truly cringeworthy. He completly dropped whatever elements of sophistication he may have had and brought in the Game Boyz. Nuff said. [Edited 5/6/12 19:00pm]

Okay, we get it ... you're a troll

BrazilianOnRaspberryBeret said:

I think it needs to be observed that the 1980's were a far better decade than both the 1990's and the 2000's. If you pick the best records of the 80's (with its greatest contributors Michael Jackson, Prince and Kate Bush, as well as very rich contributions by David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Bob Dylan and many others), I thinks those two other decades really pale. In the rock era, the 50's, 60's, 70's and the 80's were all prodigious of really landmark music, but that is not the same case for the 90's and 00's. There were good music there, but not on the same level. At least in my opinion....

On reflection they're the three that really stand out. All born within a three month period too.

was? at the time it was backstreet boys and mariah carey. i still have the gold pendant my dad made, it says backstreet boys, now i wish i had got the symbol. lol

flyorra said:

V10LETBLUES said:

flyorra said:

was? at the time it was backstreet boys and mariah carey. i still have the gold pendant my dad made, it says backstreet boys, now i wish i had got the symbol. lol

I forgot about The Backsteet Boys. In the 90's they were better than Prince.

Graycap23 said:

actually princes 90's era is my favourite in terms of of his look. today i wouldn't say his 90's music and performances was all that bad. i don't listen to the backstreet boys at all today, and rarely mariah carey.

tobydavies said:

I lost intererest in Prince's music after the disappointment of Batman and Grafitti Bridge.

Through the 90s I was listening to "indie" guitar music from bands like Suede, Oasis and Blur.

I started listening to Prince again around the time of Musicology and having gone back over all his previous material, including the albums from the 90s, I realised that he continued releasing great music throughout his career. The 80s were probably his creative and commercial pinnacle but, judged on their own merits, the 90s albums are still peppered with genius in my opinion.

However, the bands that I did like during the 90s just don't hold any interest for me anymore. I still have respect for what they meant at the time but I just don't want to listen to them any more.

So at the time, no, Prince wasn't my favourite artist of the 90s ... but I now consider him my favourite artist of all time and that includes his output from the 90s.

[Edited 5/6/12 7:41am]

^^ The bolded part is similar to my experience. I became a music-buying teen in '90, and I began actively listening to P with the album. Like toby and flyorra, when lately revisiting Prince of the '90s, I still really like it, whereas the other '90s stuff I listened to the '90s are in my past.

Yes, I enjoyed Prince's 90s material more than anyone else who was creating music during the time. In fact, whenever people say that Prince has lost it, that is my measuring stick. Does his music move me more than anyone else making music? So far, for each decade--80s, 90s, 00s--that has been the case for me. I never liked hip hop, and, while I understood grunge's artistic worth, it never moved me except for a rare song, here and there. So, for me, Prince's music was still the most moving during the 90s, and it remains that way so far.

Yes, I bought everything he released if I was old enough to buy during the 90s.

I was really ass-up, crazy about Michael Jackson, but Prince was on the fringes, looking in.

Mainly because he scared my mom shitless and she didn't want his little purple cursing ass in her house. LOL.

The day fter i turned 18, Prince appeared.

BobPaisleyPark said:

If you judged the music that Prince released during the 1990s against the music other solo artists and bands released in that decade, would he be your favourite music act from the 90s?

Being brutally honest Prince wouldn't even make my top 5 from that decade. My top 5 acts from the 1990s would be.

1. Morrissey

2. The Fall

3. Public Enemy

4. Bjork

5. Aphex Twin

It's Prince's music from the 1980s that I love, his music from the following decade did little for me.

Was Prince your favourite artist of the 1990s?

Out of your list the only one who could compare to Prince in the 90s for me would be Bjork.

Yes... He still did the splits and put a smile on my face.

Symbol, Gold, Come and Emancipation.

My 'fandom' with Prince is spotty.

I was obsessed with his music from 1984 until about 1992, and played the crap out of The Gold Experience in 1995.

But not since 1995 have I actually 'dug' him all that much. I love some of his songs since

then, and I really love to spin 3121 from time to time. But, I recall the 1980s being filled

with such excitment when I saw his preceding singles with the words, "Music from the forthcoming album...". It was really a special time to be a Prince fan during the 1980s.

Now when I hear of a Prince album being released, it's sort of like having Christmas dinner

and knowing your very creative and entertaining, but equally embarassing and alchoholic

uncle is showing up. He's either going to wow everybody with a song on the piano, or

he'll end up with his face buried in a bowl of eggnog. I approach his current releases with

caution.

You know, the 90's must have been a scary time for Prince. The R&B crowd was moving solidly to hip hop (which we know Prince didn't like - at least, initially), and the vogue in rock was all about not being able to sing or play your guitar. Where's a high-singin', virtuoso playin' icon fit into all that?

Oh, how I bemoaned pop music in that decade. What I'd pay to have it back, now!

I was like most other people here, Graffiti Bridge ground me down and by the time the symbol album came out I'd had enough... I think i was embarrased and I wanted sex, i was 15!

I listened to Morrissey, Manic Street Preachers (first 4 albums), Pulp, Suede, Huggy Bear, Blur, Belle & Sebastian, Super Furry Animals, Bjork etc... stuff that actually meant something to me at the time.

I also id some catching up and educating on stuff like the Smiths, Bowie, Stevie Wonder, the Beach Boys etc

I listen to the stuff he did in the 90's and although a lot of it sounds a bit naff there are some really good songs burried under that appaling cheesy keyboard sound and all the god lyrics...

absolutely not