As much as I think that the Minnaepolis sound was an essential form in the 80's, I still think that it wasn't Prince's crowning achievement.

Purple Rain had no MS in it.. It was pure surreal pop rock with r&b/balladry influences.. The whole thing was just translated into a purple image, that sound, the whole mesmerizing atomosphere, I think that is what Prince sounds like, that image also showed some of its textures in Parade, an album with little funk in it, but it was more "Purple"-ish; atomspheric, and surreal yet not that avant grade. the whole funk formula P incorporated in 1999, Controvery, Dirty Mind is great and all, but do y'all feel thats what Prince did best as a musician? Let alone his jazz-funk/stripped down neo jazz stuff he did later in the 90's... but it wasn't as epic as his 80's stuff was, so let's focus mainly on what people heard the most from P.

[Edited 7/18/14 15:52pm]

The answer is yes imo.

With his use of linn drum ,oberhaim synths Prince did create his own brand of funk music.

In terms of innovation it is his greatest achievement.

And you are wrong about Purple Rain

Baby Im A Star is classic mpl sound as is Cool by The Time.

Those Linn drum rims with oberhaim synth on The Beautiful Ones is also

the Minnaepolis sound

One track being a MP funk song doesn't mean that's what the whole album sounds like...

I get the linn drum thing but I don't think it is what really defined prince sound .. it was more the minimalist drums out front .. just a little music here and there style that every single horrible rnb and rapper then copied for the last couple decades.

TrevorAyer said:

I get the linn drum thing but I don't think it is what really defined prince sound .. it was more the minimalist drums out front .. just a little music here and there style that every single horrible rnb and rapper then copied for the last couple decades.

The linn drum thing was on all of Prince and associated artists music 1982 1987.

yes it was minimalist drums but always Linn lm1 except Kiss was Linn9000

Lm1 is so integral for his sound that he used other versions of linn only on some assiciated artists work.

created a whole musical movement and highly contributed to shape the sound of a decade and the sound of dance music as a whole ever since. If impact is a factor of achievement then yes it may be his greatest.

But maybe his true genius was to start doing something else in 1985, when everybody was doing what he'd been doing the previous 5 years.

The Minneapolis sound was his crowning achievement, imo...this was the one time that he really pushed boundaries and created someting absolutely new!

Shawy89 said:

As much as I think that the Minnaepolis sound was an essential form in the 80's, I still think that it wasn't Prince's crowning achievement.

Purple Rain had no MS in it.. It was pure surreal pop rock with r&b/balladry influences.. The whole thing was just translated into a purple image, that sound, the whole mesmerizing atomosphere, I think that is what Prince sounds like, that image also showed some of its textures in Parade, an album with little funk in it, but it was more "Purple"-ish; atomspheric, and surreal yet not that avant grade. the whole funk formula P incorporated in 1999, Controvery, Dirty Mind is great and all, but do y'all feel thats what Prince did best as a musician? Let alone his jazz-funk/stripped down neo jazz stuff he did later in the 90's... but it wasn't as epic as his 80's stuff was, so let's focus mainly on what people heard the most from P.

[Edited 7/18/14 15:52pm]

"Baby I'm a star"

Uhm, the Minneapolis sound doesn't refer to just funk. It refers to a blend of funk, pop, rock and new wave. Synths and drum machines are essential to it, but it still has a live band feel to it in many cases. Songs like "Let's Go Crazy", "The Beautiful Ones", "Computer Blue", "Darling Nikki", "Baby I'm A Star" are all very good examples of what the word refers to.

I get the idea behind the thread otherwise. Prince's genius is best represented (or, should it be "presented"?) by the material he did during the so called Dream Factory and Crystal Ball sessions.

skywalker said:

Shawy89 said:

As much as I think that the Minnaepolis sound was an essential form in the 80's, I still think that it wasn't Prince's crowning achievement.

Purple Rain had no MS in it.. It was pure surreal pop rock with r&b/balladry influences.. The whole thing was just translated into a purple image, that sound, the whole mesmerizing atomosphere, I think that is what Prince sounds like, that image also showed some of its textures in Parade, an album with little funk in it, but it was more "Purple"-ish; atomspheric, and surreal yet not that avant grade. the whole funk formula P incorporated in 1999, Controvery, Dirty Mind is great and all, but do y'all feel thats what Prince did best as a musician? Let alone his jazz-funk/stripped down neo jazz stuff he did later in the 90's... but it wasn't as epic as his 80's stuff was, so let's focus mainly on what people heard the most from P.

[Edited 7/18/14 15:52pm]

"Baby I'm a star"

*

Skywalker, I don't have anything to add to this thread, but I just want to say how happy I am to read a post from you. I rarely have anything else to say on this site, but your posts over the years were some of the few good moments. I apologize for interrupting this thread and now return y'all to your ongoing discussion.