Prince claims that the reason he recorded Lovesexy was because he didnt want the Black album to be the last thing he ever did if he died right there and then. But in the same vain, if he has now retired from the studio does he really want 20Ten to be the last thing he ever did? Is he really that proud of it that he can call it a day and retire on a high? I hope not. Whilst better than MPLSound, it is hardly one to treasure.

I hope there is at least one more great album in him and I would rather wait 4 years, with no other releases whatsoever, rather than get a mediocre samey samey album every year with dull horns, old and tired jazz infused slow funk tunes, boring formulaic ballads and production techniques that sound tired, samey and overdone.

I think most of his hard core fans are waiting for that album (and have been waiting fruitlessly for nearly 20 years now). Can he do it? maybe. Should he try? Absolutely!

Leaving the market alone for a few years may be the way to achieve it.

... and in the meantime Prince, please come to Africa and give us a few shows. I have no doubt you will find a different inspiration here that you may find fantastically brilliant! Afterall... music, like humans, have their origins right here.

Another possibility would be that he's been reinforcing his international fan base as part of a plan for a major distribution...

alphastreet said:

Hopefully it won't be another MDNA

A mix-up of different sounding songs that include some of the best of the artists career? Only in my dreams would Prince make an album like this

steakfinger said:

Giovanni777 said:

We shouldn't assume that Prince will release another album...

It's unfortunate, especially since I've been more exited about Prince's releases since 2000 than I ever was in the '90s.

'The Rainbow Children'

'N.E.W.S.'

'Musicology'

'3121'

'Planet Earth'

'Lotusflow3r'

All fantastic albums

'MPLSound' and '20ten' were also slammin'.

He's either run out of distribution ideas, or has lost interest in sharing his new creations with a laregly unappreciative fan base.

Who knows... maybe all of this touring is creating enough revenue to fund his own distribution. Previously, he relied on others for distribution of his label. He could have a plan to devise a massive independant distribution.

Of course, there's always the argument of:

"Why doesn't he just create a website, and let folks order new albums?"

I would say that would limit the buyers to mainly just his fanbase.

Others may say:

"Why not just charge for a download, and therefore he would have no material costs?"

Personally, I prefer a physical format with artwork and credits... Vinyl or CD... and no, I don't want to make my own CD inserts.

I'd say he is disgruntled with both the state of the "single-minded" music trends - All based on singles not albums, and downloading mp3s via iTunes, combined with the constant negativity and bashing he gets from a lot of his fans.

?

[Edited 5/30/12 13:40pm]

Not necessarily in disagreement with your post, but duck-lips are never sexy and even less often acceptable. Jersey Shore is NOT a drama.

I'm not sure why you are mentioning duck lips, unless it's a reference to the fact that I happen to have full lips.

No, duck lips aren't sexy, never were, and are a poor imitation of the original pout.

I'm not sure why you are mentioning Jersey Shore, unless it's because my name is Italian, and you wish to rub in the fact that only the worst stereotypes are successful in Italian-American media. In America's eyes, we are either ignorant or criminal...

[Edited 5/31/12 9:42am]

Unless Prince has some new form of motivation..........we may have seen the last of his official releases.

No More Candy 4 u.

I am willing to wait. Just yesterday I was listening to Musicology, which I did not like when it came out, but i have to admit, that it is really quite decent! Somehow I liked 3121 more, but I think TRC, Musicology, 3121, Planet Earth and Lotosflower have all really good moments, but besides TRC they are not very innovative...

During the prolific era between 1979 and 1995 I would not have wanted to skip any songs, but starting from Emancipation I think he should have had better song selection for albums. If he had realeased only half of that material and I mean the strongest songs then his sales/ reputation as a brilliant artist would still be as high as it could be.

He just doesn't have the same level of creativity that he used to have. Less quantity and more quality is the way he should choose. The majority of people older than 30 don't know much about him anyway. If he wants real comeback then he should really plan things well.

To release Purple Rain and 1999 remastered versions with b-sides + bonus tracks from the era and really good new album in 2014 after 4 year break would sound good! Something for mass audience and the new album for the die hard fans!

It does not matter if he tries jazz, funk, rock, ballads on the new CD. The quality of songwriting matters! He has really high chance of repeating himself like he did with Black Sweat. It is probably his greatest pop song from the last decade, but it is still compared to Kiss. Most of the other material from the last decade can't come close to his 80s level, but is more or less comparable to 1990-1995 releases.

Of course if he would do some kind of duets album (Beck, D´Angelo, Badu, Joni Mitchell, Mick Jagger, Esperanza Spalding, Bowie) or let someone else to produce him then we could still hear something fresh, but it is not going to happen. He just will not let someone else produce and write the songs. I would hate to see him performing American songbook like Rod Stewart or soul classics like Seal.

But looking at his back catalogue I really think that it is almost impossible to surprise us anymore, because we have witnessed maybe one of the greatest artist ever with the incredible creativity that even he can't repeat.

Graycap23 said:

Unless Prince has some new form of motivation..........we may have seen the last of his official releases.

No More Candy 4 u.

Main motivation 4 Prince = Touring (Best-of Tour)=a lot of $$$$$$$$.....end of his motivation for studio albums (except 4 his vault & private listening)!

PS> i'm less & less interrested by an Artist like this!

Graycap23 said:

Unless Prince has some new form of motivation..........we may have seen the last of his official releases.

No More Candy 4 u.

I'm okay with that. However, as a caveat to the decision, I hope it means that he will work on his legacy (remasters etc etc).

love2thenines2003 said:

Graycap23 said:

Unless Prince has some new form of motivation..........we may have seen the last of his official releases.

No More Candy 4 u.

Main motivation 4 Prince = Touring (Best-of Tour)=a lot of $$$$$$$$.....end of his motivation for studio albums (except 4 his vault & private listening)!

PS> i'm less & less interrested by an Artist like this!

I'm sure Prince knows that you don't have to an album out to have a marjorly successful tour. I mean Cher's about to go on her what 4th goodbye tour?

Its not a bad thing. It just means he isnt inspired right now. I wonder how Prince plans on releasing his music when he is no longer "here" to oversee it. Imagine it getting into the hands of some greedy record exec or family member. All his vault material could probably financially support some one a lifetime and then some. He said in an interview once that he is always recording so I'm sure theres tons and tons of records he has unreleased.

We shall see what's next after the tour down under....

He's probably fed up with the often rabid criticism new releases get by fans especially the ones that say 'wait 2/3 years to make an album that'll be a classic'. Maybe that's what he's gonna do.

Or, more likely, he's just waiting and seeing where the music industry is going before looking at distribution etc he said that in the Lopez interview. I don't doubt the vault has been given some extra songs during this time!

purplethunder3121 said:

We shall see what's next after the tour down under....

My prediction: Welcome 2 Asia.

electricberet said:

purplethunder3121 said:

We shall see what's next after the tour down under....

My prediction: Welcome 2 Asia.

Like I said back in January, one of the session guitarists from the Lovesexy era was in a band we hired for a party. We were talking about Prince and he told me he (the guitarist) had been at an NPG member's house a couple days before.

This person told this guy that Prince was working on a new album.

I have no doubt the information is 100% genuine. But, that doesn't mean we'll ever hear the album, does it?

Also, there is an interesting article in the latest issue of Texas Monthly.

It's about some guy I've never heard of named Austin Mahone. He's got a YouTube channel and has 70,000,000 views. He's being touted as the next Bieber.

Lots of good stuff in the article but the quote that stood out to me was from one of his managers - "The money is in the crowd".

His point was that it was hard to monetize YouTube views, and you don't make much from iTunes, and selling CDs is going the way of the dinosaur.

So, the money for musicians is in touring.

This isn't new news to me, but it does maybe explain Prince's last few years.

Not releasing new music is by far the best career decision he's made in thirty years.

What could Prince possibly have to say at this point? More bigoted rambling punctuated with dippy religious views and trend-chasing production? No thanks.

No one cares for a new Prince album except for a few thousand hard core fans.

Much like Madonna and any other artist that have been around for 20-30 years plus, Prince is now part of that group that releases non-successful commercial music, but rakes it in when touring.

It happens to everyone unfortunately.

Hec, even U2 are in this bracket. I didnt even buy their last CD, but you'll see me at their shows everytime they tour!

RodeoSchro said:

Like I said back in January, one of the session guitarists from the Lovesexy era was in a band we hired for a party. We were talking about Prince and he told me he (the guitarist) had been at an NPG member's house a couple days before.

This person told this guy that Prince was working on a new album.

I have no doubt the information is 100% genuine. But, that doesn't mean we'll ever hear the album, does it?

I have no doubt that he's been recording new music this whole time. Some of it might actually be good. I've been listening to The Chocolate Invasion and The Slaughterhouse a lot recently, and those NPGMC tracks seem stronger to me than his recent "official" albums. He may have given up on trying to sell music to the masses, but I don't think he'll ever stop recording as long as he can pick up a guitar.

[Edited 5/31/12 19:10pm]

If he does put out a new album I just hope he allows others to have some creative input. His band and/or a producer. Otherwise its probably going to be another rehash of old stuff (e.g. MPLSound) or (as someone said above) an attempt to follow the latest musical trends and produce something "the kids" will dig. I really don't buy a 54 yr old man singing about seeing someone in "da club" on "da floor". Unless its the local senior citizens club and someone's on "da floor" cos they've had a stroke.

As you get older it gets harder to come up with genuinely new ideas. Your thought processes start to following the same patterns over and over and its hard to get way from it. It happens to us all. One way to break out of that is to bring in new people with new ideas. He produced some nice stuff in the early 2000's (TRC etc.) and I think its because he allowed others to have some input. There's no shame in that. That's how Miles Davis kept fresh. He kept bringing in new young talent with new ideas that he could use as a springboard for his own creativity. Do that Prince!...Hear me?!

[Edited 5/31/12 19:28pm]

erik319 said:

Doesn't really matter to me. The longer he makes us wait for new material, the more I find myself listening to his vault material and other artists.

I still hold out hope, but like I said, the longer I wait, the less I care about new stuff, so it's no biggie.

Definitely the opposite for me.

The discovery of new great music is always more fun than a song I already know.

I loved the Mutiny and Dance Electric rehearsals on drfunkenberry.com. Gimme more!!

I'm sure he's recording.

He said he was not going to release a CD.

He was only going on tour.

Agree with what someone else said. Doesn't make any since 4 him 2 release a new "MasterPiece" album with the way the music industry is 2day it would be a waste. He is better off doing what he does now play music on stages across the world. He makes more money that way. Plus Keeps fresh & in top playing mode.. mean look what happen 2 Madonna. Her latest set a record 4 plummeting down the charts. Its a flop..

It's good Prince doesn't release new stuff. Just let him wait another couple of years, get rid of the overrated jehovashit, and then return with an album to end his career.

An album he put together with the help of other better contemporary producers of today.

And i'm not talking about R'nB pimps, but rather steady good quality producers.

Let him make one simple killer album. Big release through major.

And please, let him STOP touring the big venues. just a couple of live shows maybe in 6/7 or 10 years of time from now will do. That'll put him back on the map for future generations.. maybe.

marcuskuip said:

erik319 said:

Doesn't really matter to me. The longer he makes us wait for new material, the more I find myself listening to his vault material and other artists.

I still hold out hope, but like I said, the longer I wait, the less I care about new stuff, so it's no biggie.

Definitely the opposite for me.

The discovery of new great music is always more fun than a song I already know.

I loved the Mutiny and Dance Electric rehearsals on drfunkenberry.com. Gimme more!!

They were alright, I guess. But I'd hardly call them either great nor new. I listened to them once... no more.

I'm happy to have an odd distraction like this, but I don't want an album of vegas cover versions. If he finds his muse and creates a classic album, then happy days, if not, I've lost the capacity to care very much.

There's some cracking stuff been released on bootlegs that scratches my itch just fine.

Creating music and not sharing it is sacrilegious.

i wouldn't mind him waiting a bit longer if he's compiling another great album. remember,

he crafted the lotusflower album for a few years. and it shows, imo.

in the meantime he could release individual songs he feels good about through other and

interesting ways.

a single or a short EP with a big U.S. or worldwide distributed magazine or get some of his

songs on a soundtrack again.

then in 2014, boom, double disc album, 22 songs, so great it will make us wet our pants

or not, lol.

I really liked his last one because it had sort of an 80s feel to it. I hope the next one has a similar feel. It does seem like a long wait for Prince since he usually releases so quickly but he deserves to take his time after so many albums already I'm sure hes still writing many songs but hes just waiting for the right time. The longer he waits the more excitement is built up too maybe thats what hes doing :p.