Be honest, do you really believe that Prince truly believes that his modern day music is as good as the likes of Corvette, Alphabet, Doves, Beret, 1999, Mountains, Heaven, Girlfriend, Adore, Kiss, SOTT etc, etc.

He keeps telling us, that his music is as good as it's always been.

But do you believe him?

I believe that prince believes his music is just as good

Whats your thoughts?

FragileUndertow said:

I believe that prince believes his music is just as good

Whats your thoughts?

The lil' purple fella lies to himself TBH.

Does he really think Purple and Gold is as good as Purple Rain?

I honestly think he does

BobPaisleyPark said:

Does he really think Purple and Gold is as good as Purple Rain?

I honestly think he does

Ohh hell no! im sure he doesnt

He knows what songs made him a star

Why else would he's still be playing purple rain live in concert for 20something odd years

I'm just glad the man is still performing

I don't have a clue what he believes but he's released plenty of stuff in recent years that I absolutely love.

FragileUndertow said:

BobPaisleyPark said:

Does he really think Purple and Gold is as good as Purple Rain?

I honestly think he does

Ohh hell no! im sure he doesnt

He knows what songs made him a star

Why else would he's still be playing purple rain live in concert for 20something odd years

I agree with you, he know the hits, but he also knows that he's a different person now, so different material is gonna come. It's all about evolving. In other words, he doesn't believe in being stuck in the past. I admire him for that.

nursev said:

I'm just glad the man is still performing

I am too. The Rolling Stones are still performing and they are as old as dirt! No, Prince isn't a young man anymore but he still has many more years of performing ahead. I hope

But in regards to how he feels about his music. I believe he once said that he is always evolving so perhaps he feels that his music is better now than it was. Its all good to me though.

The Vault is a complete "MasterPiece"!!!!!!

nursev said:

BobPaisleyPark said:

Be honest, do you really believe that Prince truly believes that his modern day music is as good as the likes of Corvette, Alphabet, Doves, Beret, 1999, Mountains, Heaven, Girlfriend, Adore, Kiss, SOTT etc, etc.

He keeps telling us, that his music is as good as it's always been.

But do you believe him?

You cant think of something better to post than this same ol same ol nonsense?

rdhull said:

BobPaisleyPark said:

Be honest, do you really believe that Prince truly believes that his modern day music is as good as the likes of Corvette, Alphabet, Doves, Beret, 1999, Mountains, Heaven, Girlfriend, Adore, Kiss, SOTT etc, etc.

He keeps telling us, that his music is as good as it's always been.

But do you believe him?

You cant think of something better to post than this same ol same ol nonsense?

Be nice, RD.

I think this is a legit question. The tough part of answering it is that "good" is so subjective and complicated a measure.

Do I believe Prince believes his current music is as good -- or better -- than, say, his pre-1990 output, based on its technical superiority, its decreasing reliance on cheap vulgarity, its accessibility on some spiritually idealistic level? Yep.

Do I believe Prince believes his music is as viscerally satisfying, artistically reaching, or... plain funky? No.

But this is all speculative, of course... and fairly inconsequential. I've got years worth of back catalog that I prefer. Meanwhile, I just hope the man still finds joy in his own vocation.

[Edited 1/13/13 9:40am]

Lammastide said:

rdhull said:

You cant think of something better to post than this same ol same ol nonsense?

Be nice, RD.

We do this every three weeks.

No.

But like lammastide already commented he's probably happy that he's reached the level of sophistication that a lot of his new stuff showcases and that he doesn't have to rely on vulgarity so much with his newer stuff.

Then again, it's hard to tell if he really feels if his older stuff really belongs to "a different era" as he's performing it live so often. With some songs like "Let's Work" and "D.M.S.R" he usually does great job, so it doesn't really seem like he's viewing that stuff as just something that he did in the past and that he has distanced himself from it.

No.

But Prince had a peak period and just like almost every other artist it was when he was younger in his 20's and 30's. David Bowie was arguably at his peak from around 1971-1980, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were arguably at their peaks from 1963-1971 and 1965-1973 etc. and I would say Prince peaked from 1980-1987 when he released DM, Controversy, 1999, PR, ATWIAD, Parade and SOTT. Up until 1995 he released great albums and singles. Even now he still occasionally releases great material but on a much less consistent basis IMO.

I have no idea what he believes since I'm not him, but I do tend to believe that he thinks it is but knows we don't think it is. So rather than release a complete album on one theme like he used to do, which in this day and age with his large diverse fan base, would piss a big section of his fans off, he throws together a bunch of tracks at random in a desperate attempt to try to not only please all his fans, but gain new ones also.

no, i think he's aware & he's struggling, raiding the vault for the safe tunes!! he must be avoiding his saucy stuff, he doesn't identify with it anymore

Yeah while I agree every artist has a peak creatively this doesn't mean their not capable of greatness again. People who like Bob Dylan will tell you some of his recent efforts are right up there with the best stuff he's ever done. I think its just harder for them to hit their high point, doesn't mean it won't happen. Obvoiusly once an artist attains success they will lose the edge that got them there in the 1st place. You can't remain connected when your wealth divides you from the common man. I think Prince has also concentrated too much on the technical side of muscicanship. While its made him a better guitar player it's distanced him from the craft of songwriting. Again I think its still possible for him to tap into his overall greatness but it must be alot harder to maintain it. That's why your seeing vault arrangements surface. He's acknowledging how hard its become.

I think he thinks the music he is working on right now is as good as anything

But once it's done, he either realizes that it's not as good or that it's not what everyone wants to hear live, because he rarely plays it. My guess is he thinks it's good, but that because it's not a hit he needs to stick to the old stuff

Why do people think what Prince plays live is an indicator of how he views his music?

Surely, he has an idea of what his audience wants to hear. Thus the difference between arena and club setlists.

Look at the celebration concerts and how they were jam packed with new songs and obscure fan favorites.

In some ways, Prince cannot win. In the mid 90's, when he performed exclusively Gold Experience material in the UK, he got poor reviews for his shows even though we consider that material stellar.

skywalker said:

Why do people think what Prince plays live is an indicator of how he views his music?

Surely, he has an idea of what his audience wants to hear. Thus the difference between arena and club setlists.

Look at the celebration concerts and how they were jam packed with new songs and obscure fan favorites.

In some ways, Prince cannot win. In the mid 90's, when he performed exclusively Gold Experience material in the UK, he got poor reviews for his shows even though we consider that material stellar.

skywalker said:

Why do people think what Prince plays live is an indicator of how he views his music?

Surely, he has an idea of what his audience wants to hear. Thus the difference between arena and club setlists.

Look at the celebration concerts and how they were jam packed with new songs and obscure fan favorites.

In some ways, Prince cannot win. In the mid 90's, when he performed exclusively Gold Experience material in the UK, he got poor reviews for his shows even though we consider that material stellar.

That's pretty simple. If there's new cool material available, if you feel its relevance, you want to show it to the world, no matter what. The least thing you think about would be: what could happen if I play a setlist like this in a venue like this etc. It completely doesn't matter.

Neither do I consider his material from the Gold experience stellar nor do I think the concerts were great.

He knows the score. But he's such a Wizard of Oz character, I think he finds it difficult after such a long time of holding it up to let the curtain down.