HonestMan13 said:

funkomatic said:

Well, that's exactly what happens if an album doesn't have any substance. You don't need a lot of attention span to get it.

The problem with Prince is: he does work a lot, but he doesn't work hard. Working hard means to question yourself and your creations, to strive for a piece of art better than anything you've done before. That's what Prince hasn't done for years. And you know what? I can understand that. Life is so much easier if you handle it this way. The only disadvantage is that there won't be any truly amazing results, just a work of affirmation.

[Edited 6/3/12 22:52pm]

That's what you thought of the project but that's just your opinion of it. Some people thought it was fantastic. The only fact is that none of us know what Prince thinks or feels when he's recording anything. I personally find it hard to believe he goes into a studio with the intention of being lazy. He obviously has a filter for songs he doesn't feel fit to release since there are hundreds of circulating bootlegs he obviously felt a need to shelve that cover a large chunk of his career. Stands to reason there have been hundreds more since then but just better security.

Where did I say that he is lazy? He obviously works a lot, kinda like it's a day job. The question is: Does he work hard enough to create something truly amazing. When does he stop to filter? Does he really think that his new work is as good as his best in terms of quality?

Of course we don't know what he feels about his new creations. We can only speculate. Fact is: If I had created an album I'm actually proud of, I'd want people to listen to it, no matter what. I'd tour the songs and promote them with the intention of becoming an addition to the great songs I've already made. The way Prince handles it there will never be any new hits. Never.

Take a look at Madonna's tour setlist. That's brave! She wants her new music to be heard, no matter what others think.

[Edited 6/6/12 9:46am]

funkomatic said:

HonestMan13 said:

That's what you thought of the project but that's just your opinion of it. Some people thought it was fantastic. The only fact is that none of us know what Prince thinks or feels when he's recording anything. I personally find it hard to believe he goes into a studio with the intention of being lazy. He obviously has a filter for songs he doesn't feel fit to release since there are hundreds of circulating bootlegs he obviously felt a need to shelve that cover a large chunk of his career. Stands to reason there have been hundreds more since then but just better security.

Where did I say that he is lazy? He obviously works a lot, kinda like it's a day job. The question is: Does he work hard enough to create something truly amazing. When does he stop to filter? Does he really think that his new work is as good as his best in terms of quality?

Of course we don't know what he feels about his new creations. We can only speculate. Fact is: If I had created an album I'm actually proud of, I'd want people to listen to it, no matter what. I'd tour the songs and promote them with the intention of becoming an addition to the great songs I've already made. The way Prince handles it there will never be any new hits. Never.

Take a look at Madonna's tour setlist. That's brave! She wants her new music to be heard, no matter what others think.

[Edited 6/6/12 9:46am]

Apples.....meet oranges.

^And that means what?

funkomatic said:

^And that means what?

Madonna is in a 360 deal and does what she is told. Prince is a 100% independent artist doing what ever he chooses. Comparing the 2 of them has no merit that I can see. Prince writes and produces his own work....madonna paids folks 2 do that.

Graycap23 said:

funkomatic said:

^And that means what?

Madonna is in a 360 deal and does what she is told. Prince is a 100% independent artist doing what ever he chooses. Comparing the 2 of them has no merit that I can see. Prince writes and produces his own work....madonna paids folks 2 do that.

Gawd dammit will you please stop making sense? So tired of that shit.

rdhull said:

Graycap23 said:

Madonna is in a 360 deal and does what she is told. Prince is a 100% independent artist doing what ever he chooses. Comparing the 2 of them has no merit that I can see. Prince writes and produces his own work....madonna paids folks 2 do that.

Gawd dammit will you please stop making sense? So tired of that shit.

Graycap23 said:

funkomatic said:

^And that means what?

Madonna is in a 360 deal and does what she is told. Prince is a 100% independent artist doing what ever he chooses. Comparing the 2 of them has no merit that I can see. Prince writes and produces his own work....madonna paids folks 2 do that.

Don't get it. Both are 80s icons, still release pop music and tour. That's enough for me to compare them. BTW I'm pretty sure that Madonna does have a big hand in most of the decisions concerning tracklists, setlists etc.

Do you know how independent Prince is? He doesn't even dare to play more new material because he thinks the big audiences don't want to hear it.

funkomatic said:

Graycap23 said:

Madonna is in a 360 deal and does what she is told. Prince is a 100% independent artist doing what ever he chooses. Comparing the 2 of them has no merit that I can see. Prince writes and produces his own work....madonna paids folks 2 do that.

Don't get it. Both are 80s icons, still release pop music and tour. That's enough for me to compare them. BTW I'm pretty sure that Madonna does have a big hand in most of the decisions concerning tracklists, setlists etc.

Do you know how independent Prince is? He doesn't even dare to play more new material because he thinks the big audiences don't want to hear it.

Lol............economics 101.

Play new music in joints 2 to 5 thousand people.

Play old music in joints holding 10,000 and up.

U do the math.

If true, is this what freedom sounds like? Prince is independent and therefore damned to play his god damn old hits until the end of his lifetime, because he doesn't want to play smaller crowds?

What about the big audiences of Madonna? Why do they want to hear her new stuff?

[Edited 6/6/12 11:30am]

funkomatic said:

If true, is this what freedom sounds like? Prince is independent and therefore damned to play his god damn old hits until the end of his lifetime, because he doesn't want to play smaller crowds?

What about the big audiences of Madonna? Why do they want to hear her new stuff?

[Edited 6/6/12 11:30am]

Prince has choices.....

funkomatic said:

If true, is this what freedom sounds like? Prince is independent and therefore damned to play his god damn old hits until the end of his lifetime, because he doesn't want to play smaller crowds?

What about the big audiences of Madonna? Why do they want to hear her new stuff?

[Edited 6/6/12 11:30am]

Who says they do? We already been through this. 90% of Madonnas audience isnt trying to hear that new shit. They have to put up with it.

Still people go to her concerts, right?

funkomatic said:

Still people go to her concerts, right?

Yes, to see the old hits. Just as Prince. Aka no shit sherlock. You wrote things alluding to Madonna performs new stuff all the time as if thats what Prince should be doing but you also stated as if the fans all go to hear that new crap she does. Now you want to say "still, people go to her concerts, right?"

Stop moving the goal posts.

rdhull said:

funkomatic said:

Still people go to her concerts, right?

Yes, to see the old hits. Just as Prince. Aka no shit sherlock. You wrote things alluding to Madonna performs new stuff all the time as if thats what Prince should be doing but you also stated as if the fans all go to hear that new crap she does. Now you want to say "still, people go to her concerts, right?"

Stop moving the goal posts.

Lol. There's no contradiction. Prince and a lot of his fans argue that he has to play greatest hits shows for the big audiences. How comes that Madonna plays mostly 50-50 shows and still people go to her concerts? Simple question, isn't it?

My hypothesis is: Prince deliberately chooses to ignore his new material by playing greatest hits shows.

funkomatic said:

rdhull said:

Yes, to see the old hits. Just as Prince. Aka no shit sherlock. You wrote things alluding to Madonna performs new stuff all the time as if thats what Prince should be doing but you also stated as if the fans all go to hear that new crap she does. Now you want to say "still, people go to her concerts, right?"

Stop moving the goal posts.

Lol. There's no contradiction. Prince and a lot of his fans argue that he has to play greatest hits shows for the big audiences. How comes that Madonna plays mostly 50-50 shows and still people go to her concerts? Simple question, isn't it?

My hypothesis is: Prince deliberately chooses to ignore his new material by playing greatest hits shows.

If u don't understand the difference between a sponsored corp Act (Madonna) and an Indie act what is the point of discussion?

[Edited 6/6/12 12:33pm]

Graycap23 said:

funkomatic said:

Lol. There's no contradiction. Prince and a lot of his fans argue that he has to play greatest hits shows for the big audiences. How comes that Madonna plays mostly 50-50 shows and still people go to her concerts? Simple question, isn't it?

My hypothesis is: Prince deliberately chooses to ignore his new material by playing greatest hits shows.

If u don't understand the difference between a sponsored corp Act (Madonna) and an Indie act what is the point of discussion?

[Edited 6/6/12 12:33pm]

It's like trying to reason with a severely mentally challenged person(s).

Graycap23 said:

funkomatic said:

Lol. There's no contradiction. Prince and a lot of his fans argue that he has to play greatest hits shows for the big audiences. How comes that Madonna plays mostly 50-50 shows and still people go to her concerts? Simple question, isn't it?

My hypothesis is: Prince deliberately chooses to ignore his new material by playing greatest hits shows.

If u don't understand the difference between a sponsored corp Act (Madonna) and an Indie act what is the point of discussion?

[Edited 6/6/12 12:33pm]

So then tell me the difference regarding Prince and Madonna?

rdhull said:

Graycap23 said:

If u don't understand the difference between a sponsored corp Act (Madonna) and an Indie act what is the point of discussion?

[Edited 6/6/12 12:33pm]

It's like trying to reason with a severely mentally challenged person(s).

I love you too!

funkomatic said:

Graycap23 said:

If u don't understand the difference between a sponsored corp Act (Madonna) and an Indie act what is the point of discussion?

[Edited 6/6/12 12:33pm]

So then tell me the difference regarding Prince and Madonna?

SDNafka said:

Militant said:

he wasn't talking about john coltrane, he was talking about billy "hard axe bill" coltrane, the legendary improvisational polka musician.......damn that guy was sick

Man, that takes me back.....I remember stumbling on "The Best of Hard Axe" in a second-hand record store ( that's right...vinyl) when I was in high school. It blew my mind. No one, and I mean NOONE played polka with the passion of Hard Axe. The guy was a freak and really pushed the polka envelope to to breaking point. When he first hit the scene he upset alot of traditionalists with his unusual arrangements of polka classics but they soon came 'round. Of course alot of people say he sold out in his later years but I think his last album "Hard Axe to Follow" was ahead of its time and I think, unfortunately, its genius will only be truly appreciated by future generations of polka fans.

Man, everyone always praised "Hard Axe to Follow", but I don't think it's half the masterpiece of "Lemme Axe You a Question" or even "Axe to Grind" (his album of 70's funk covers). I mean, you've never LIVED until you've heard Hard Axe playing the Ohio Players "Fire" on the squeezebox!

Graycap23 said:

funkomatic said:

So then tell me the difference regarding Prince and Madonna?

Lol...maybe this makes it easier. So you doubt my hypothesis that Prince chooses deliberately to ignore his new material by playing greatest hits shows because of the fact that Prince is independent, whereas Madonna is not?

FnkyManifesto7 said:

Dear Prince, here is how you release an album that has sucess at least like Musicology:

Step1. Sign with a major record label.

Step 2. spend a lot of time in the studio (we can honestly say he has). Its been 2 years. Make tracks as good as you can.

Step 3. Put all that silly Jehovah business aside, or even leave the damn cult (no offense).

Step 4. Get used to it. The internet is far from over, distribute via LEGAL music downloading websites. You can also do what the Red Hot Chili peppers are doing and release that new stuff for vinyl as well.

Step 5. Do a few more interviews like what you did on Geroge Lopez (BTW, Damn Conan for being the reason that awesome show ended).

Step 6. being with a major company means promotion.

Step 7. Stay as far as you can from the dark side of Hollywood like you've always done.

Step 8. Choose a good track for the first single.

Step 9. Don't turn towards the crap we hear on the radio nowadays- keep it funky

Oh wait- the most important one- DON'T EVER RELEASE AN ALBUM EXCLUSIVELY FOR 1 COUNTRY AGAIN!

[Edited 6/3/12 13:48pm]

yeah, This is exactly what he has to do in order to have a huge album again (something in the vien of Madonna, success wise, not quality wise).

Unfortunately, I don't think he'll ever do this. Prince will continue to make bad business decisions again and again and let hokey religious beliefs get in the way of his art.

I think Prince has been making music so long there really isn't much of a "work ethic" involved. He gives the songs what they think that they need.

I am in the minority, as I am one of those weird people who thinks his studio albums are better than his concerts most of the time.

Prince may work too hard on some things....for example, for The Gold Experience, I thought the production was overdone, especially on Endorphinmachine, which was great in its original form, and still very good in how it was released.

The most important aspect in an album is the songwriting, and that comes from inspiration, not hard work.

I like most of 20Ten, but am sad he hardly plays any of it, and am very critical of his concerts since 2006. I better end this post before I complain again about having to hear Shelby waste her talent on shouting "Put Your Hands Up" all the damn time.

stillwaiting said:

I am in the minority, as I am one of those weird people who thinks his studio albums are better than his concerts most of the time.

Could that have anything to do with the fact that he's released about 150 songs that he doesn't play live, instead falling back on playing the same batch of songs that he's been playing forever? It does for me. No matter how well they're played, or how great the jam, I'm just not as excited about hearing all the same songs live again.

It wasn't always that way, either. The tours around The Rainbow Children and Musicology included large sections of those album in the shows. But ever since, not so much, and he's stopped playing most of the song from those albums, too. Basically its hits and cover songs (don't even get me started there) with a rarity or two thrown in to make people think they heard/saw something special.

Cerebus said:

stillwaiting said:

I am in the minority, as I am one of those weird people who thinks his studio albums are better than his concerts most of the time.

Could that have anything to do with the fact that he's released about 150 songs that he doesn't play live, instead falling back on playing the same batch of songs that he's been playing forever? It does for me. No matter how well they're played, or how great the jam, I'm just not as excited about hearing all the same songs live again.

It wasn't always that way, either. The tours around The Rainbow Children and Musicology included large sections of those album in the shows. But ever since, not so much, and he's stopped playing most of the song from those albums, too. Basically its hits and cover songs (don't even get me started there) with a rarity or two thrown in to make people think they heard/saw something special.

You are correct about ONA, but on the Musicology tour...only a 3 songs were part of the set:

Musicology(every show)

Life O The Party (almost every show)

On The Couch(most shows)

Call My Name(hardly ever played despite it being a single)

Dr Mr Man a few times

A Million Days(one show in partial acoustic form, lucky I was there)

And cover songs are only one small reason I don't like his recent tours....he isn't singing that much. He either shortens the lyrics, has the girls singing, or just plays the same groove over and over while Shelby plays crowd flunky. And of course on Kiss, he holds the mic out for the crowd to sing.

funkomatic said:

HonestMan13 said:

That's what you thought of the project but that's just your opinion of it. Some people thought it was fantastic. The only fact is that none of us know what Prince thinks or feels when he's recording anything. I personally find it hard to believe he goes into a studio with the intention of being lazy. He obviously has a filter for songs he doesn't feel fit to release since there are hundreds of circulating bootlegs he obviously felt a need to shelve that cover a large chunk of his career. Stands to reason there have been hundreds more since then but just better security.

Where did I say that he is lazy? He obviously works a lot, kinda like it's a day job. The question is: Does he work hard enough to create something truly amazing. When does he stop to filter? Does he really think that his new work is as good as his best in terms of quality?

Of course we don't know what he feels about his new creations. We can only speculate. Fact is: If I had created an album I'm actually proud of, I'd want people to listen to it, no matter what. I'd tour the songs and promote them with the intention of becoming an addition to the great songs I've already made. The way Prince handles it there will never be any new hits. Never.

Take a look at Madonna's tour setlist. That's brave! She wants her new music to be heard, no matter what others think.

[Edited 6/6/12 9:46am]

That's a subjective issue right there. Stuff that he shelved back in the days are considered classic material by his fanbase but obviously he didn't think much of the songs otherwise they'd have found life on another project or as a b-side. As for working hard enough I'm sure he feels he does but his fans don't think so at times. That begs the question is it his issue or ours with his work ethic?

JediMaster said:

SDNafka said:

Man, that takes me back.....I remember stumbling on "The Best of Hard Axe" in a second-hand record store ( that's right...vinyl) when I was in high school. It blew my mind. No one, and I mean NOONE played polka with the passion of Hard Axe. The guy was a freak and really pushed the polka envelope to to breaking point. When he first hit the scene he upset alot of traditionalists with his unusual arrangements of polka classics but they soon came 'round. Of course alot of people say he sold out in his later years but I think his last album "Hard Axe to Follow" was ahead of its time and I think, unfortunately, its genius will only be truly appreciated by future generations of polka fans.

Man, everyone always praised "Hard Axe to Follow", but I don't think it's half the masterpiece of "Lemme Axe You a Question" or even "Axe to Grind" (his album of 70's funk covers). I mean, you've never LIVED until you've heard Hard Axe playing the Ohio Players "Fire" on the squeezebox!

See, this is why I love the org. I scour the internet looking for a chance to have a great discussion about Hard Axe. There should be a picture of the guy in the dictionary next to the word "underrated". It frustrates me when the name Coltrane is brought up, because I know the uneducated masses are only going to talk about that jazz guy. In a perfect world, Billy "Hard Axe Bill" Coltrane would have a place in every record collection.

Did you guys ever hear about his unreleased movie, "The Hardest Axe Alive"? Part documentary, part live concert. Apparently the movie ends with the ultimate polka jam. The audience just couldn't take it, and the stage was filled with bras. Legend has it that there was an orgy afterwards, and the film crew captured that too. Last year, there was a rumor on Twitter that it might some day get released.

Remember on the now-canceled George Lopez show that after thirty years he was going to take a break. He meant that! Up until the shows in Austrailia we haven't heard a peep out of him. That's a long time to keep funkin'.

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