Firstly, let me just say, that I am a Prince fan first and foremost due to his guitar playing. For mind, there is nothing like seeing and hearing Prince play guitar, especially in live performance. His playing is uniquely recognisable whether it be rythmic licks or blistering solo's. While there are some many aspects to his genius...vocals, lyrics, keyboards, bass, style and sheer presence...it's his guitar playing that separetes Prince from so many others.

That being said, I often hear a great track that is essentially guitar driven at it's core but has been (imo) over-produced with the guitar effects to the point where it's almost devoid of the natural guitar sound. I'd rather his tracks be enjoyed for the pure melody and craft rather than experiemental studio effets masking his true sound.

Exmaples come to mind of "Anotherloverholdenyohead". The studio version, while a good track, pales by comparisson to the live renditions he has performed in recent years. To me...it's becuase of the rock element and the guitar being allowed to the fore. Some more examples of guitar tracks that have been too heavily masked are New Power Generation & U Got The Look off the top of my head. There are plenty more of course.

With the 3rd Eye Girl band, there appears to be an obvious renewed enthusiasm for the raw rock sound of guitars. I welcome this and am enjoying the heavier presence of the guitar playing even on studio versions of recent tracks like "Screwdriver" and "Fix Ur Life Up", and clearly the guitar based "Plectrum Electrum".

Sounds like the most guitar focussed with studio tracks he's been since Purple Rain. I like it!

batman89 said:

Sounds like the most guitar focussed with studio tracks he's been since Purple Rain. I like it!

Really? I wouldn't compare 3rdeyegirl to the classic stuff:

- imo songs like Screwdriver and Fix.. are among the worst Prince tracks ever.

Even songs from the Chaos & Disorder album is a lot better.