iloveannie said:

80spfantwp said:

I'm laughing up in here, some of y'all really need to switch up a gear and examine how blinded you've become

I simply can't disagree with those saying the album is mostly filler - it is. It failed because it's not very good. Yes, It really could be that simple.

Maybe Prince has finally realised he doesn't get a free pass even with his hardcore fanbase! hene the hiatus.

The whole Lotusflow3r debacle was probably a complete slap in the face for Prince - he 'promoted' it by first streaming ' Another Like Me' and - if you remember at that time - even many hardcore fans were , like, wtf is this shite... ..

Low join up numbers probably made Prince suddenly realise his current output aint seen as very good - despite being likely told the contrary by the yes people around him.

Imo he's taking time out from recording because he finally realises he's damaging his legacy with current releases.The mainstream are simply not listening and more and more hardcore want remasters and outakes rather than new stuff

Dance 4 Me is arguably the best Mpls track - even with a club mix people weren't interested. Says plenty.

Live - he's doin ok - nothing groundbreaking, but he's making money. Studio wise - thank goodness he's taken a break to re evaluate - he needs to.

But please! megahit album - nah, too much filler. He'll only get that success again if he comes bak with a stella album - and it's at this point it's debatable whether he's actually holding back the good stuff for when the industry problems are sorted, or whether he's simply dried up creatively. We all, of course, would hope that the former is true and that's what keeps a lot of us interested after all these years.

Exactly. Nuff said.

It was definitely geared toward mainstream. That's what makes it one of his worst albums ever.

With MPLSound (or any other new P album that I don't love), I would take myself back to 1992, when I was listening to and thinking it was the shittiest Prince album I had ever heard. But I kept listening, and once, I thought "what would I think if I had never heard Prince before?" and suddenly I liked the album a lot. I realized how much of my opinion was based on my expectations.

I wonder the same about MPLSound. If you'd never heard Prince before, what would you think of it? Granted, you would think he was cheesy and really weird, but would you notice that he was a phenomenal musician and be interested in the album based solely on that?

I mean, the Katy Perry comment actually makes sense considering she has an army behind her, and this is still the product of one man. If Katy Perry did MPLSound by herself, people WOULD be impressed!

why do prince fans always think people will be impressed just because prince can play all the instruments half decent? it doesn't matter .. at all .. it does not make an album or song worth listening to ... no one would get into mpls just because prince did it himself and it doesnt sound sloppy ... the songs suck .. beginning middle and end of 'what makes a record work or not work'

prince can play shitty and write a good song and people will buy it ... prince cannot play great on shitty songs and expect people to give a rats ass just because he didn't hit any bad notes

If u like it, does it matter?

TrevorAyer said:

why do prince fans always think people will be impressed just because prince can play all the instruments half decent? it doesn't matter .. at all .. it does not make an album or song worth listening to ... no one would get into mpls just because prince did it himself and it doesnt sound sloppy ... the songs suck .. beginning middle and end of 'what makes a record work or not work'

prince can play shitty and write a good song and people will buy it ... prince cannot play great on shitty songs and expect people to give a rats ass just because he didn't hit any bad notes

And these top 40 songs that are in constant rotation on these shitty radio stations aren't shitty? I would rather listen to a horrible P cut than the junk that's out there.

TrevorAyer said:

why do prince fans always think people will be impressed just because prince can play all the instruments half decent? it doesn't matter .. at all .. it does not make an album or song worth listening to ... no one would get into mpls just because prince did it himself and it doesnt sound sloppy ... the songs suck .. beginning middle and end of 'what makes a record work or not work'

prince can play shitty and write a good song and people will buy it ... prince cannot play great on shitty songs and expect people to give a rats ass just because he didn't hit any bad notes

sure...if you don't care about musicianship. Some people actually do, that is why they gush over the fact that Gaga actually plays an instrument! That's why Madonna tries to pretend she does. That was my point about "if you'd never heard him." If this was some new artist, critics and promoters would be gushing about this guy being a genius of some kind. But because it's Prince, they expect some culmination of all his 30 years of greatest hits put into every single record, forgetting that they didn't love Batman, Graffiti Bridge, or even most of Parade.

I agree, playing guitar well is not the only determining factor in whether or not a pop album is good. But I don't think MPLSound is bad. I think it's good, in fact. And the musicianship is still fantastic. It's just not nearly as creative as Parade.

[Edited 7/13/12 12:07pm]

NDRU said:

TrevorAyer said:

why do prince fans always think people will be impressed just because prince can play all the instruments half decent? it doesn't matter .. at all .. it does not make an album or song worth listening to ... no one would get into mpls just because prince did it himself and it doesnt sound sloppy ... the songs suck .. beginning middle and end of 'what makes a record work or not work'

prince can play shitty and write a good song and people will buy it ... prince cannot play great on shitty songs and expect people to give a rats ass just because he didn't hit any bad notes

sure...if you don't care about musicianship. Some people actually do, that is why they gush over the fact that Gaga actually plays an instrument! That's why Madonna tries to pretend she does. That was my point about "if you'd never heard him." If this was some new artist, critics and promoters would be gushing about this guy being a genius of some kind. But because it's Prince, they expect some culmination of all his 30 years of greatest hits put into every single record, forgetting that they didn't love Batman, Graffiti Bridge, or even most of Parade.

I agree, playing guitar well is not the only determining factor in whether or not a pop album is good. But I don't think MPLSound is bad. I think it's good, in fact. And the musicianship is still fantastic. It's just not nearly as creative as Parade.

[Edited 7/13/12 12:04pm]

[Edited 7/13/12 12:06pm]

That's part of the problem. I'm in the margin of folks that thinks that MPLSoUND was a great album. People just love putting the stuff he's done recent to his legendary past output. We all know what P is capable of, but come on...alot of folks' expectations are way too high and haughty.

[Edited 7/13/12 12:11pm]

silverchild said:

NDRU said:

sure...if you don't care about musicianship. Some people actually do, that is why they gush over the fact that Gaga actually plays an instrument! That's why Madonna tries to pretend she does. That was my point about "if you'd never heard him." If this was some new artist, critics and promoters would be gushing about this guy being a genius of some kind. But because it's Prince, they expect some culmination of all his 30 years of greatest hits put into every single record, forgetting that they didn't love Batman, Graffiti Bridge, or even most of Parade.

I agree, playing guitar well is not the only determining factor in whether or not a pop album is good. But I don't think MPLSound is bad. I think it's good, in fact. And the musicianship is still fantastic. It's just not nearly as creative as Parade.

[Edited 7/13/12 12:04pm]

[Edited 7/13/12 12:06pm]

That's part of the problem. I'm in the margin of folks that thinks that MPLSoUND was a great album. People just love putting the stuff he's done recent to his legendary past output. We all know what P is capable of, but come on...alot of folks' expectations are way too high and haughty.

[Edited 7/13/12 12:11pm]

Yeah, I am not going to say it's a great album, but I do quite like Dance 4 Me, Here, Old School Company, No More Candy.

And I don't hate the others.

I still love No More Candy 4 U.

Nope. LFlower never had a shot. 3121 was the last, best hope for a hit. Black Sweat, Lolita, and Fury could have been those hits.

DarkKnight1 said:

Nope. LFlower never had a shot. 3121 was the last, best hope for a hit. Black Sweat, Lolita, and Fury could have been those hits.

"Black Sweat" was surprisingly a nice sizable hit for P and it helped push the 3121 project further. I still feel that he missed the boat with having "Te Amo Corazon" as the lead single, even though it was a good cut. But he came back out on top with "Black Sweat." He had everyone on the pop charts jealous and shook up. Then, the hype for that album and era decreased.

But the success of "BS" is one reason why I feel P could've pushed MPLSoUND, as an individual album, to the fullest and go all out, if he was in that frame of mind. I respect highly what he is doing at this point in his career, but you have to admit, P misses alot of opportunities. He is an icon who makes original music and doesn't have to depend on any mold, but at the same time, has some flaws in the distribution and promotion department.

silverchild said:

DarkKnight1 said:

Nope. LFlower never had a shot. 3121 was the last, best hope for a hit. Black Sweat, Lolita, and Fury could have been those hits.

"Black Sweat" was surprisingly a nice sizable hit for P and it helped push the 3121 project further. I still feel that he missed the boat with having "Te Amo Corazon" as the lead single, even though it was a good cut. But he came back out on top with "Black Sweat." He had everyone on the pop charts jealous and shook up. Then, the hype for that album and era decreased.

But the success of "BS" is one reason why I feel P could've pushed MPLSoUND, as an individual album, to the fullest and go all out, if he was in that frame of mind. I respect highly what he is doing at this point in his career, but you have to admit, P misses alot of opportunities. He is an icon who makes original music and doesn't have to depend on any mold, but at the same time, has some flaws in the distribution and promotion department.

Yeah I thought he was REALLY back with "Black Sweat", then nothing else. I did buy the album though.

Timmy84 said:

silverchild said:

"Black Sweat" was surprisingly a nice sizable hit for P and it helped push the 3121 project further. I still feel that he missed the boat with having "Te Amo Corazon" as the lead single, even though it was a good cut. But he came back out on top with "Black Sweat." He had everyone on the pop charts jealous and shook up. Then, the hype for that album and era decreased.

But the success of "BS" is one reason why I feel P could've pushed MPLSoUND, as an individual album, to the fullest and go all out, if he was in that frame of mind. I respect highly what he is doing at this point in his career, but you have to admit, P misses alot of opportunities. He is an icon who makes original music and doesn't have to depend on any mold, but at the same time, has some flaws in the distribution and promotion department.

Yeah I thought he was REALLY back with "Black Sweat", then nothing else. I did buy the album though.

It seemed like everyone was singing in his praises and it was a nice move after the huge momentum of Musicology. But then, it all vanished and he was on to something new. 3121 was an excellent album nonetheless.

silverchild said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah I thought he was REALLY back with "Black Sweat", then nothing else. I did buy the album though.

It seemed like everyone was singing in his praises and it was a nice move after the huge momentum of Musicology. But then, it all vanished and he was on to something new. 3121 was an excellent album nonetheless.

If there was ever a better moment to catch the opportunity it was with that. But Prince never really operated like that.

Timmy84 said:

silverchild said:

It seemed like everyone was singing in his praises and it was a nice move after the huge momentum of Musicology. But then, it all vanished and he was on to something new. 3121 was an excellent album nonetheless.

If there was ever a better moment to catch the opportunity it was with that. But Prince never really operated like that.

True, but then again, how would you explain him signing distribution deals with major labels such as Columbia and Universal? Prince has never operated with the norm as an artist and businessman, but he talks out the side of his mouth sometimes. Some of his motives have been questionable. (Hint: Clive Davis, Arista).

I don't think an album from an artist in his 50's can be a megahit in this day and age no matter how good it may be.

The days of Santana and Cher having huge hits like they did in the late 90's are over, IMO.

silverchild said:

Timmy84 said:

If there was ever a better moment to catch the opportunity it was with that. But Prince never really operated like that.

True, but then again, how would you explain him signing distribution deals with major labels such as Columbia and Universal? Prince has never operated with the norm as an artist and businessman, but he talks out the side of his mouth sometimes. Some of his motives have been questionable. (Hint: Clive Davis, Arista).

Because he's Prince. He wouldn't be Prince if he wasn't so contradictory. That's what makes him who he is. He was no different than, say, James Brown because of that.

Timmy84 said:

silverchild said:

True, but then again, how would you explain him signing distribution deals with major labels such as Columbia and Universal? Prince has never operated with the norm as an artist and businessman, but he talks out the side of his mouth sometimes. Some of his motives have been questionable. (Hint: Clive Davis, Arista).

Because he's Prince. He wouldn't be Prince if he wasn't so contradictory. That's what makes him who he is. He was no different than, say, James Brown because of that.

He's a mindfuck indeed. He has the mind of a Jack Johnson, crudeness of a James Brown, and the spirit of Miles. Can't fault him, but it's just me I guess. Prince has always been like that, so it's not totally surprising anyway.

silverchild said:

Timmy84 said:

Because he's Prince. He wouldn't be Prince if he wasn't so contradictory. That's what makes him who he is. He was no different than, say, James Brown because of that.

He's a mindfuck indeed. He has the mind of a Jack Johnson, crudeness of a James Brown, and the spirit of Miles. Can't fault him, but it's just me I guess. Prince has always been like that, so it's not totally surprising anyway.

Yup!

[Edited 7/13/12 19:38pm]

Paris9748430 said:

I don't think an album from an artist in his 50's can be a megahit in this day and age no matter how good it may be.

The days of Santana and Cher having huge hits like they did in the late 90's are over, IMO.

You may have a point there, but you never know. Al Green hit a commercial resurgence back in 2008, without any promo really. I know I'm looking at two hugely different spheres, but people love late-career hits sometimes. Santana and Cher went toward trends anyways and it backfired on both of them quickly.

[Edited 7/13/12 19:44pm]

Paris9748430 said:

Some of you are truly deluded!!

"MPLSound" was a shit album full of shit songs filled with shit lyrics and a shitty production. I am the greatest fan of the Minneapolis Sound, but this was an embarrassing attempt by Prince to rehash his old sounds that almost completely missed the spot.

A good album starts with good songs, no matter the production, and there are simply not enough good songs on here to make a good album, let alone a "megahit album".

Sorry folks!

^ "deluded"?

just because we have a different opinion?

Dance 4 Me

Ol' Skool Company

these are fantastic songs, imo.

Even these are not like "17 Days" or "Erotic City" if that is what you mean..?

The MPLSound album is really not that shitty like you say,

but ok that is your opinion..

imo the album deserves 8/10,

it's 1 of the best since the Gold Exp.

thedance said:

^ "deluded"?

just because we have a different opinion?

Dance 4 Me

Ol' Skool Company

these are fantastic songs, imo.

Even these are not like "17 Days" or "Erotic City" if that is what you mean..?

The MPLSound album is really not that shitty like you say,

but ok that is your opinion..

imo the album deserves 8/10,

it's 1 of the best since the Gold Exp.

8/10? Like the man said, "deluded."

TrevorAyer said:

prince was successful because of QUALITY ..

Quality is subjective.

Prince's most "successful" albums were/are his most heavily promoted. Check the sales stats. There is a direct correlation between Prince's "megahits" and promotion. You think Batman and Diamonds and Pearls are among his best ever efforts? They certainly were among his best promoted works.

thedance said:

^ "deluded"?

just because we have a different opinion?

Dance 4 Me

Ol' Skool Company

these are fantastic songs, imo.

Even these are not like "17 Days" or "Erotic City" if that is what you mean..?

The MPLSound album is really not that shitty like you say,

but ok that is your opinion..

imo the album deserves 8/10,

it's 1 of the best since the Gold Exp.

I like Ol'Skool Company and Dance 4 Me as well, and have been cautiously enjoying VAlentina at times. These tracks I will give a 7 out of 10. The rest is extremely poor IMO, certainly no "megahit album" material. So I stand by my "deluded", sorry...

For me MPLSoUND is by a wide margin my least favourite Prince album circa 2004-present so I can't really see it being a megahit. Of course Diamonds and Pearls is one of my least favourite Prince albums too and it was a pretty big hit, you just never know what the general public is going to take to.

Only if he had released it during the summer of 2007 (or early 2008), and promoted by a big label, and maybe a remix single/video of Dance4Me with Timbaland (still fresh at that time) or the Neptunes;

Planet Earth basically killed the 3121/Superbowl momentum, MPLS arrived two years too late and was poorly promoted and poorly distributed, the triple-album thing didn't help either...

that said, do we really want Prince as a mainstream pop star all over again??

[Edited 7/15/12 12:22pm]