With the confirmation of the "3EG album" already long time ago (fx. MOJO) coming soon on the one hand and now the recently confirmed (a.o. Andy Allo) new "Prince album", I found myself in an odd situation, that I am more exciting about a "side project" (3EG) than the man's own album ...twisted as it may sound. To be honest, I couldn't care less for "Breakfast can't wait" and "The Breakdown" seems to me a pretty average song ... let alone the horn-overkill ...

New Prince album or 3EG? What do you look forward to more?

The 3EG album for sure. I was hoping 3EG to be a new Revolution/New Power Generation type era. A few albums with Prince & 3rdEyeGirl would be great - who knows, maybe it will still happen. Wow, Marz, Funknroll and Plectrumelectrum sound really good and I'm sure the 3EG version of The Breakdown is even better than the stand alone Prince version. I'm not a big fan of Breakfast Can Wait, and Nik West described the album as having R&B songs and 'club bangers', which doesn't sound too promisng.

Why does it have to be one or the other?

Prince has been putting rock songs, R&B songs, and electronic songs on the same album for 30 years.

I think it would be fantastic to have songs like The Breakdown, Breakfast Can Wait, FIXURLIFEUP and FunkNRoll all on the same album.

Militant said:

Don't we already have 9 or 10 3EG songs ? Therefore their "album" ?

I'd rather have a Prince album myself.

I like his 3EG hard rock, but the funk even more!!

Wish #1: Both

Wish #2: New Prince album

Wish #3: 3EG and/or NPG

Some nice stuff with 3EG, but Prince holds the most potential for me.

Breakfast Can Wait is HOT and underappreciated. The Breakdown has epic potential (live version especially) and Groovy Potential is so much fun for the ears, etc. Those could make up the beginnings of a hot CD.

Prince is probably going to be Prince and give us all of the above in some way (1CD, 2 or 3 CDs).

(Fangers crossed).

I appreciate and love the rock stuff/influences, but, man, where is the love and respect for R&B here?

Where would Prince be without R&B?

All love.

3rd Eye Girl. I don't like The Breakdown or Breakfast can wait. 3rd Eye Girl songs were interesting and had a new life to them. I was really looking forward to that cd and I am fearful that it will not come out now. I hope it does though

I don't like any 3eg songs.... like Fixurlifeup, RnRLA, PretzelBodyCrapsong, some of the worst songs.

and, I am not wild with The Breakdown either, it really isn't that good.. but I still guess I would prefer a new "Prince album".

But mostly I am looking forward to the old remasters.

The new Prince music sucks most of the time..

thedance said:

I don't like any 3eg songs.... like Fixurlifeup, RnRLA, PretzelBodyCrapsong, some of the worst songs.

and, I am not wild with The Breakdown either, it really isn't that good.. but I still guess I would prefer a new "Prince album".

But mostly I am looking forward to the old remasters.

The new Prince music sucks most of the time..

What do you not like about them? I don't dislike them, I just find them very tame. They project a reserved approach to making music. Which makes the music lack an edge-I believe the music needs a commanding energy. And these songs are not commanding.

I believe at any age you should push your boundaries,in this case, musically speaking.

Hey, if Picasso can push the boundaries late in his career, why can't Prince?

Militant said:

Why does it have to be one or the other?

Prince has been putting rock songs, R&B songs, and electronic songs on the same album for 30 years.

I think it would be fantastic to have songs like The Breakdown, Breakfast Can Wait, FIXURLIFEUP and FunkNRoll all on the same album.

I would rather have a coherent Prince album than the usual eclectic mishmash of styles, showing he can do it all, but shooting in all directions and therefor losing its focus.

To mix the songs you mention would sound messy in my ears ... think of a song like "Big City" and the PE or FIXURLIFEUP ... for me that is certainly a no go on one album.

The point however was actually not so much the choice between one or the other, but rather that the 3EG material is something he hasn't done before (i.e. a true rock album) where as the other material is more of the same to me, nothing new on the horizon.

Hmmm I was really looking forward to Plectrumelectrum and the whole "Prince & 3rdEyeGirl" thing. I was really enjoying this garage rock approach (not original but certainly different for Prince and therefore in Prince terms sounded, to me, pretty fresh). If it doesn't see the light of day then I WILL be dissapointed.

Obviously any new Prince album is a must but I am way beyond expecting anything that can remotely touch his best work. I mean realistically why should it? The man has been recording for 36 years and is 55. I cannot think of a single artist who has released the volume of work over the same period of time who is still as vibrant and fresh as they were during their heyday!

A good yardstick would be The Beatles (there are plenty of others of course but I am being lazy). The Beatles released 11 studio albums between 1963-1970 (the first 3 contained a fair few cover versions too). If you compare this to Prince then 11 albums takes you from "For You" to "Batman" and I would argue an equally amazing progression artistically as The Beatles.

After that you have to start comparing the solo Beatles work to match against (in years terms) Prince's output. Can anyone really argue that the McCartney releases in the 80/90s are artistically stronger than Prince's output in the 00s? How does Off The Ground compare against Lotusflw3r in terms of artistic progression and quality (both 30 years after they made their recording debut)?

My point is that "we" gotta stop saying stuff "the Prince album we have been waiting for" or "the best Prince album since..." because it is all academic and doesn't matter. Prince will NEVER make an album as good or influencial as any of his 80s output because of a multitude of reasons - one being that he is no longer part of the zeitgeist. However, he will (and I would argue has) continune to release solid albums that have merit (as long as we stop comparing to past achievements).

So I want BOTH albums

[Edited 4/26/14 6:33am]

obviously there ARE 2 lps.....3rd eye is more interesting