XxAxX said:

RodeoSchro said:

Well, I tried the opposite. On Gunsnhalen's advice, I listened to what he said was the best track on "Yeezus" - an album whose songs were all rated on a scale of 1 - 5 by GnH, and no song was given less than a 4. Now, I disagree with GnH on many musical subjects, but I absolutely respect his knowledge of, and dedication to, music. He's a thinker.

He rated "Blood on the Leaves" as the best song on the album. He absolutely gushed over how great it is. And, of course, Kanye himself has described everything he does as awesome, so I figured: Listen to "Blood on the Leaves". If this truly is the best of the best, let's see how it stacks up to Prince.

Z.O.M.G.

That song sucked so bad there are not words fit for a family audience to use to describe it. I made it through exactly two minutes of it.

It's nothing but autotune! How in the Sam Hill can anyone think vocals that sound like they were recorded underwater are listenable, much less good?!?

Nothing about that song, or at least its first two minutes, was remotely good or...good. I mean, NOTHING. The "music" sounds like it was recorded on a 1992 Casio keyboard. The lyrics...well, I've forgotten them all so that should tell you something.

Therefore, if "Blood on the Leaves" is the pinnacle of modern-day music, then Prince could release the sound of him belching after a heavy meal of beans and it would still be better than anything Kanye West "creates".

.

[Edited 6/17/13 8:47am]

damn. don't be shy now, tell us what you really thought

Honestly, I listened to that song with high hopes. The way GnH described it, I thought, "Hey - maybe Kanye West really IS a musician. He's been saying he is for a long time, and I don't listen to the radio so I haven't heard his stuff, so maybe - JUST MAYBE - there really is someone out there creating great music!"

Oh, how I was wrong. That song was so bad. First off, the second you hit the "Autotune" button on your mic, you sound so 2005. Autotune is fresh?!? LMAO, it wasn't fresh when it was fresh! All it was ever good for was a chuckle when people like Taylor Swift used it in parodies.

Sadly, if "Blood on the Leaves" is the standard by which current pop music must be measured, then every single thing anyone has ever said about how much today's music sucks is absolutely, positively, 100% right on the money.

there are a lot of good musicians out there, but imo prince on his windiest day is more interesting than a lot of what i hear out there.

As an artist............u make what ever it is that u feel.

Either fans are with it or they are not.

Either way........an artist should continue 2 do what he feels.

Why start a thread that defines Prince's new music as "bad" already with its title and not allow other members of the board to make their minds about its quality?

XxAxX said:

databank said:

I don't understand your point: this is just a new angle for posting the "Prince is finished" thread of the week.

We've had one like this last week, and the week before that, and the week before that, and so on for years... THIS is boring.

So what are you trying to say if you ain't got nothing new to say?

Peace.

that was eaxctly what i was gonna say. i enjoyed the latest albums from prince. the only thing boring around here is fans who don't know when to pack it in and leave

Would you really want a sterile forum full of sycophants? i couldn't think of anything worse.

I LIKE differing views.

Marrk said:

XxAxX said:

that was eaxctly what i was gonna say. i enjoyed the latest albums from prince. the only thing boring around here is fans who don't know when to pack it in and leave

Would you really want a sterile forum full of sycophants? i couldn't think of anything worse.

I LIKE differing views.

I don't. At least, not for stuff that I own. If I like it, then I like it. If I don't, then I don't. Whether or not you like it isn't going to change how I feel about it.

Marrk said:

XxAxX said:

that was eaxctly what i was gonna say. i enjoyed the latest albums from prince. the only thing boring around here is fans who don't know when to pack it in and leave

Would you really want a sterile forum full of sycophants? i couldn't think of anything worse.

I LIKE differing views.

i like different points of view too but this particular point of view has been done to death. this thread topic comes up approx. once a week

RodeoSchro said:

Well, I tried the opposite. On Gunsnhalen's advice, I listened to what he said was the best track on "Yeezus" - an album whose songs were all rated on a scale of 1 - 5 by GnH, and no song was given less than a 4. Now, I disagree with GnH on many musical subjects, but I absolutely respect his knowledge of, and dedication to, music. He's a thinker.

He rated "Blood on the Leaves" as the best song on the album. He absolutely gushed over how great it is. And, of course, Kanye himself has described everything he does as awesome, so I figured: Listen to "Blood on the Leaves". If this truly is the best of the best, let's see how it stacks up to Prince.

Z.O.M.G.

That song sucked so bad there are not words fit for a family audience to use to describe it. I made it through exactly two minutes of it.

It's nothing but autotune! How in the Sam Hill can anyone think vocals that sound like they were recorded underwater are listenable, much less good?!?

Nothing about that song, or at least its first two minutes, was remotely good or...good. I mean, NOTHING. The "music" sounds like it was recorded on a 1992 Casio keyboard. The lyrics...well, I've forgotten them all so that should tell you something.

Therefore, if "Blood on the Leaves" is the pinnacle of modern-day music, then Prince could release the sound of him belching after a heavy meal of beans and it would still be better than anything Kanye West "creates".

.

[Edited 6/17/13 8:47am]

Blood on the Leaves is a wonderful song.

Graycap23 said:

RodeoSchro said:

Well, I tried the opposite. On Gunsnhalen's advice, I listened to what he said was the best track on "Yeezus" - an album whose songs were all rated on a scale of 1 - 5 by GnH, and no song was given less than a 4. Now, I disagree with GnH on many musical subjects, but I absolutely respect his knowledge of, and dedication to, music. He's a thinker.

He rated "Blood on the Leaves" as the best song on the album. He absolutely gushed over how great it is. And, of course, Kanye himself has described everything he does as awesome, so I figured: Listen to "Blood on the Leaves". If this truly is the best of the best, let's see how it stacks up to Prince.

Z.O.M.G.

That song sucked so bad there are not words fit for a family audience to use to describe it. I made it through exactly two minutes of it.

It's nothing but autotune! How in the Sam Hill can anyone think vocals that sound like they were recorded underwater are listenable, much less good?!?

Nothing about that song, or at least its first two minutes, was remotely good or...good. I mean, NOTHING. The "music" sounds like it was recorded on a 1992 Casio keyboard. The lyrics...well, I've forgotten them all so that should tell you something.

Therefore, if "Blood on the Leaves" is the pinnacle of modern-day music, then Prince could release the sound of him belching after a heavy meal of beans and it would still be better than anything Kanye West "creates".

.

[Edited 6/17/13 8:47am]

That mess is painful. Good Gawd.

thedance said:

Isn't it a paradox, Prince is definately a real musician, like he says whan playing live in concerts..: "Real music by real musicians".. yes.. U can hear he is, live in concerts. Prince is truly gifted, no doubt. One of the greatest - ever.


HOWEVER on records he is after all one of the most boring "real musicians" these years:

Just to name a recent album: "Planet Earth". Or "20Ten" or "3121".

Many of my other favorite artists are great on studio releases but not as good live. Possibly with Prince I have new appreciation for certain songs after hearing them live. Take "Emancipation" maybe if he played more of those songs on the JOTY tour I would have a better appreciation for that album, I'm certain I would. Some studio trax become even bigger favorites for me after seeing them live, songs like She's always in my Hair, Beautiful Strange come to mind. Often the live shows only enhances the album. Even if I hear about him playing some song that he has not played in 15 years, I may go back and have a listen.

I also tend to believe track vs. track some of the new songs grade well against the old songs.

Graycap23 said:

As an artist............u make what ever it is that u feel.

Either fans are with it or they are not.

Either way........an artist should continue 2 do what he feels.

Amen!

You know what's hilarious about this topic TheDance cooked up this thread years ago and has been reheating it with every Prince release and serving it up like it's something new and fresh. He's in more of a rut than he can ever accuse Prince of being in. Prince has evolved over the years and that may be to some people liking or not but he has changed it up over time. Unlike this thread and this topic.

HonestMan13 said:

funkaholic1972 said:

The point is that people like TheDance and me believe that somewhere deep inside Prince has still some interesting new music hidden. But, like others said, I feel he is resting on his laurels and is not willing to do "The Work" anymore.

While some still enjoy his current output, most of the fans here don't (at least not as much anymore). And there is a good reason for that, most new tracks are just sketches and not completed songs. And the production is often very boring/dated. So the results are often not very interesting.

I am still here because I enjoy this website, and love his eighties/early nineties output, and because I still have the hope that one day Prince will come with a really good new album or song. So don't tell me to leave or to shut up, cuz I (and others here) have just as much rights as others to comment on current Prince and his new music.

Nobody is telling to you to shut up or leave the site. The Dance starts these threads asking us to answer "why we still follow?" and telling us "we have to agree" with his viewpoint. Yet he can't bring to pull himself away from Prince but spends time trying to convince others to give up their enjoyment. We got into this same discussion on another thread and I told you that y'all would be here in years having this same discussion because you're not going anywhere and here we are two weeks later. Hold onto your hope, that is your right but why create a weekly thread questioning others hope and telling them it's a waste of time.

Dude, I never told others to give up their Prince fandom, plus I never said to you (or anyone else) that I am going to leave this website. So don't act all smart ass now with your "and here you are again two weeks later".

Geez, now that I think of it, you are one of the most annoying fams around here. So please go listen to LOL of some of that other new Prince drivel that you seem to enjoy so much, but don't talk to me anymore with this annoying pedantic attitude of yours. Dick...

Marrk said:

XxAxX said:

that was eaxctly what i was gonna say. i enjoyed the latest albums from prince. the only thing boring around here is fans who don't know when to pack it in and leave

Would you really want a sterile forum full of sycophants? i couldn't think of anything worse.

I LIKE differing views.

Some people here would LOVE it if "Haters" like you and me would be banished from the Digital Garden. They don't want to hear anything bad about their idol Prince. They want a Brave New World where everyone is adoring every fart their hero makes. Sad but seemingly true...

XxAxX said:

Marrk said:

Would you really want a sterile forum full of sycophants? i couldn't think of anything worse.

I LIKE differing views.

i like different points of view too but this particular point of view has been done to death. this thread topic comes up approx. once a week

Just like every other subject about Prince is discussed here week after week, thread after thread, year after year. Just saying...

As a live performer going through his old classics and top hits, Prince is great; he's among the best of the best. As a recording artist making new songs, Prince is just about a lost cause today. Most of the new music sounds boring, self-aggrandizing and vain, with bland grooves, an absence of hooks, perfunctory musicianship and dated sounds that try desperately to evoke a Pavlovian nostalgia for the old Prince ("A linn! He used a linn again! Prince is back!"). Most of the songs are so vainglorious, they make your average boy band appear like Bob Dylan in comparison ("I got a lot of money," "I like pretty things"). Then the odd time he does attempt to write about anything meaningful, he makes even atheists pray that he hadn't since he subjects us to his ludicrous medieval theology (does anyone else care to forget his pathetic denial of evolution in Colonized Mind?) or totally uneducated, childish perspectives on geopolitics (it was funny in the 80's when Prince was essentially still a kid; now it's time to grow up or shut up). Prince is too worried about Armageddon to record a good album again, even if a rare good song like Somewhere Here on Earth slips through. A rare gem in a sea of mediocrity and filth - that's as good as it's gonna get imo.

[Edited 6/18/13 0:19am]

skywalker said:

thedance said:

Why follow a "real musician" like Prince is, today... when.. the end result on his albums isn't that "vital" like it used to be..?

You tell us. You are the one saying his new music sucks, yet are posting at his fansite. Do you need others to validate your opinion?

Funny thing....believe it or not, you don't need to have your lips sewn to the man's ass to enjoy some of his music and/or frequent this site.

Marrk said:

XxAxX said:

that was eaxctly what i was gonna say. i enjoyed the latest albums from prince. the only thing boring around here is fans who don't know when to pack it in and leave

Would you really want a sterile forum full of sycophants? i couldn't think of anything worse.

I LIKE differing views.

No we don't. As I said earlier the regular "Prince is the greatest musician of all times" threads, usually posted by teen-agers, are just as irritating but they just pop-up once a month while the "Prince is finished" threads come-up every week.

Both are ridiculous beyond reason and even more because they are just the same thing repeated over and over again every week or so by people who have nothing new to add to these 2 debates which aren't even debates since they are too extreme points of view to be debatable.

Prince neither is the greatest musical genius of all times nor is he over and done. People need a sense of perspective

[Edited 6/18/13 2:24am]

Why aren't we allowed to say Prince is the greatest musical genius of all time? Plenty of people place him among the greatest musicians of all time, so singling out Prince as "the greatest" if you're a fan yourself shouldn't be that odd or irrationational behaviour.

novabrkr said:

Why aren't we allowed to say Prince is the greatest musical genius of all time? Plenty of people place him among the greatest musicians of all time, so singling out Prince as "the greatest" if you're a fan yourself shouldn't be that odd or irrationational behaviour.

You're allowed to say whatever you wanna say and I'm allowed to disapprove as well.

Why? Because there is no such absolute thing as "the greatest musician of all times", it's sheer nonsense to make such a statement about anyone.

Plus, such thinking is usually the result of a poor musical culture, people who know only their top-40 and the biggest names in mainstream pop music. When you listen to as much music as I do, to so many different artists and musical genres you realize that Prince, despite his genius and achievements, is an extremely talented individual among dozens, if not hundreds, of other extremely talented people. Prince IS a musical genius, but he hasn't come close to accomplishing certain things in certain specific aspects of musical creation that countless others have, while these others sure haven't accomplished what Prince has in some other aspects.

I'm just tired of simplistic analysis and thinking, things are more complex than that.

[Edited 6/18/13 3:05am]

One other problem is that Prince's entire demographic has aged with him. I've been listening to Prince since I was 11 years old, and I'm 41 now. But I think in Prince's mind, his demographic is 18-30 year olds. At least that's the demographic he wants.

.

I don't think he wants audience members who are as old or older than him.

.

So as a 41-year old, what I find appealing in music is different than when I was 11. Stuff like The Black Keys or Adele might bore the hell out of Prince, but the public loves it. Conversely, stuff like "Lolita" or "Hot Summer" bores others.

chrisslope9 said:

I've been buying Prince records since '82. People slept on Controversy , SOTT, LoveSexy, Chaos and Disorder, Rainbow Children when they were released. Now these records are considered classics. The mid 90s are now considered a golden era by many Prince fans. Yet, at the time , most were bashing the man and his music. History has shown that sometimes it takes people a while to appreciate a Prince record. 3121, Lotus , and 2010 and a lot of the stuff he's been dropping lately with 3rd Eye are solid records. My guess is that in 15 years, those records will be held in high regard by fans.

The 90s records were bashed at the time because they weren't as good as the 80s records. Then the 2000 records weren't as good as the 90s, so we immediately longed for the 90s. The 2010s aren't as good as the 2000s, so yes in time the 2000s will look better in our eyes.

.

I find stuff to like in all of his releases, but don't for a second think that anyone would choose Musicology/3121/PE/LF/MPLS/20Ten/3EG over 1999/PR/ATWIAD/Parade/SOTT/Lovesexy.

databank said:

novabrkr said:

Why aren't we allowed to say Prince is the greatest musical genius of all time? Plenty of people place him among the greatest musicians of all time, so singling out Prince as "the greatest" if you're a fan yourself shouldn't be that odd or irrationational behaviour.

You're allowed to say whatever you wanna say and I'm allowed to disapprove as well.

Why? Because there is no such absolute thing as "the greatest musician of all times", it's sheer nonsense to make such a statement about anyone.

Plus, such thinking is usually the result of a poor musical culture, people who know only their top-40 and the biggest names in mainstream pop music. When you listen to as much music as I do, to so many different artists and musical genres you realize that Prince, despite his genius and achievements, is an extremely talented individual among dozens, if not hundreds, of other extremely talented people. Prince IS a musical genius, but he hasn't come close to accomplishing certain things in certain specific aspects of musical creation that countless others have, while these others sure haven't accomplished what Prince has in some other aspects.

I'm just tired of simplistic analysis and thinking, things are more complex than that.

[Edited 6/18/13 3:05am]

Well, yes. I don't disagree with you, but I don't think there's a need to subject the use of such words to that type of criticism.

When a person that is a fan says Prince is "the greatest" (or "the best" etc.) it usually just means that Prince is among the greatest musicians of all time and that he happens to be the favourite of the person making such a statement. It's not "nonsense" - it's simply the way people express themselves. There might be some naive individuals on this site that think Prince being "the greatest" is an undisputable "fact", but I'm pretty sure most are aware that it's a matter of taste in the end.

novabrkr said:

databank said:

You're allowed to say whatever you wanna say and I'm allowed to disapprove as well.

Why? Because there is no such absolute thing as "the greatest musician of all times", it's sheer nonsense to make such a statement about anyone.

Plus, such thinking is usually the result of a poor musical culture, people who know only their top-40 and the biggest names in mainstream pop music. When you listen to as much music as I do, to so many different artists and musical genres you realize that Prince, despite his genius and achievements, is an extremely talented individual among dozens, if not hundreds, of other extremely talented people. Prince IS a musical genius, but he hasn't come close to accomplishing certain things in certain specific aspects of musical creation that countless others have, while these others sure haven't accomplished what Prince has in some other aspects.

I'm just tired of simplistic analysis and thinking, things are more complex than that.

[Edited 6/18/13 3:05am]

Well, yes. I don't disagree with you, but I don't think there's a need to subject the use of such words to that type of criticism.

When a person that is a fan says Prince is "the greatest" (or "the best" etc.) it usually just means that Prince is among the greatest musicians of all time and that he happens to be the favourite of the person making such a statement. It's not "nonsense" - it's simply the way people express themselves. There might be some naive individuals on this site that think Prince being "the greatest" is an undisputable "fact", but I'm pretty sure most are aware that it's a matter of taste in the end.

Well, I don't know about that. People saying a thing but actually meaning something else... That's odd isn't it?

funkaholic1972 said:

HonestMan13 said:

Nobody is telling to you to shut up or leave the site. The Dance starts these threads asking us to answer "why we still follow?" and telling us "we have to agree" with his viewpoint. Yet he can't bring to pull himself away from Prince but spends time trying to convince others to give up their enjoyment. We got into this same discussion on another thread and I told you that y'all would be here in years having this same discussion because you're not going anywhere and here we are two weeks later. Hold onto your hope, that is your right but why create a weekly thread questioning others hope and telling them it's a waste of time.

Dude, I never told others to give up their Prince fandom, plus I never said to you (or anyone else) that I am going to leave this website. So don't act all smart ass now with your "and here you are again two weeks later".

Geez, now that I think of it, you are one of the most annoying fams around here. So please go listen to LOL of some of that other new Prince drivel that you seem to enjoy so much, but don't talk to me anymore with this annoying pedantic attitude of yours. Dick...

OOOH you called me a "fam". How will I ever pick up the pieces? Maybe if I spend a decade and a half dwelling on it it'll come to me. See you in two weeks on thedance's next pity thread.

www.prince.org/msg/7/397868 (link to the last pity thread)

[Edited 6/18/13 5:50am]

[Edited 6/18/13 5:52am]

SuperFurryAnimal said:

Graycap23 said:

As an artist............u make what ever it is that u feel.

Either fans are with it or they are not.

Either way........an artist should continue 2 do what he feels.

True Cuz it ain't OVA

Lol..............well, I still don't see a "cd" released.