Scooch87 said:

With the release of PE and AOA, these last few weeks have been exciting for us fans. When I got news of the new albums I made a decision to get ‘caught up in the hype’. I’ve been a fan since I was 13 when Controversy came out, and have picked up every new release as soon as it was available. For me personally, 1982 through 1989 were insanely rich. Every new release (which was every year) brought surprises. Throughout this period Prince’s music meant a lot to me. It was the reason why I became such a fan of music. Through Prince’s music I became a fan of artists such as Miles Davis, Joni Mitchel , Jimi Hendrix and James Brown – plus many others. In recent years I’ve lost some of that excitement so it got me thinking – is it the music itself or me just getting older. I still enjoyed his albums of the last 20 years or so, just not with the same passion. Obviously Prince’s music has changed much in the same way we all change as we grow older. I still have a passion for many recent releases from artists such as Jack White, The Hold Steady, Beck and TV On the Radio – but nothing compares to that period mentioned above. Was it nostalgia? Was the music really that good? Was my memory of it better than the actual experience at the time? I wasn’t sure, but I wanted get into these 2 new albums from my favorite artist of all time, and I started to put myself in Prince-mode as soon as the release date was announced.

I started by listening to Prince again. From time to time I’ll play an album, but I decided to throw myself into his music this time. I loaded my phone up with everything and started listening to all his albums. I quickly discovered I slept on the disc Lotus Flow3r (the single disc). I knew all the songs, I listened to the album a lot when it came out and thought it was the best of the 3 discs, but I soon realized what I had been missing the last 5 years. This is an amazing album! Somehow this lead me back to those 80’s albums. I needed to know were these albums as good as I claimed they were. I can say now with complete clarity – yes they are. Prince is not the ‘best’ musician… or songwriter… or singer… or even producer. But the stuff he has accomplished in his career is brilliant. It’s the sum of all these things. Back in the 80’s he was like a mad scientist… or mad painter – just throwing colors up on a canvas, letting the paint splatter where it landed and then creating art that is beyond words. It’s in the subtleties of tracks like The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, or the lack thereof in the screams of Temptation. It’s the blend of the horns and guitar in a track like Lovesexy or the starkness of Sometimes It Snows in April. It’s in the contrasts that identified him for much of his career – funk music with heavy guitar? Drum machines with live cymbals? Sped up voices, sped up guitars, beautiful background voices whether it was all him or Wendy & Lisa (or a combination). Much of it wasn’t exactly neat either. Ever hear the chair creaks in Sometimes It Snows in April? Or the cough he left in the full version of Raspberry Beret? And that was part of it’s appeal – it felt real... sincere, and it brought something truly unique to top 40 radio in an age that is considered very synthetic and polished. So I stand by this era… these albums are in my opinion masterpieces. Even if you don’t like Prince, you have to admit these albums are made by someone who doesn’t see things quite like anyone else and is insanely talented.

So what about the albums from the last 20 or so years? I actually love many of his 90’s albums as well. I think most of the tracks from Graffiti Bridge are brilliant. We can argue that much of the music on this album is actually from the 80’s, but I also love Diamonds & Pearls and The Symbol Album. Though they are much different than those 80’s albums, I enjoyed (and still enjoy) these albums…. As a matter of fact, The Symbol Album is one of my favorite Prince albums. But as I asked before - what about those late 90’s and 21^st century albums? For example, New Power Soul – was it as bad as I remembered? Or Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic or the NPGMC albums. I’ve always dismissed this era as his ‘bland’ time. As albums not very satisfying, but there are some incredible songs. I thought the same for albums throughout the 2000’s. I’ve come to the conclusion that even though I may not enjoy these albums as much as I have others, they are still good albums that do not deserve the criticisms I originally threw at them. They may lack the qualities I personally look for and admired in the earlier albums, but that doesn’t make them weaker or inferior. I truly love Emancipation as it contains some brilliant tunes… many of the songs are very well written, and the production may lack some those contrasting properties I mentioned earlier but it’s clean and pristine. So just because I prefer the wilder and messier production style, I can’t say it’s less of an album – and the same can be said for all the albums since then. With this new mindset I’ve come to enjoy these new albums much more than I ever had… and I’m enjoying Art Official Age and PlectrumElectrum more than I have enjoyed a new release in quite some time!

[Edited 9/30/14 18:00pm]

We're very similar -- I think one of the problems is that people put Prince on a pedestal so high for so long that they forgot the expectations they have are unreal and unfair. Pablo Picasso did not paint a Guernica every year, Mozart or J.S. Bach did come out with masterpieces after masterpieces uninterrupted, they wrote things that were less ambitious that nonetheless sound great today -- because they have those elements we recognize as Mozart and Bach.

At this point, Prince is conscious of his musical legacy despite his protests that he does not look back. He's entitled to some efforts that aren't Purple Rain, SOTT or 1999-size in terms of their cultural impact. Save for maybe one or two records he did, there's always been a song or three that left me cold or lukewarm, I never thought he was going to be immune to some level of failure. So while I admire his abilities, I've made a conscious effort not to expect non-stop wows and OMGSOGENIUS moments from him pretty early on.

Scooch87 said:

With the release of PE and AOA, these last few weeks have been exciting for us fans. When I got news of the new albums I made a decision to get ‘caught up in the hype’. I’ve been a fan since I was 13 when Controversy came out, and have picked up every new release as soon as it was available. For me personally, 1982 through 1989 were insanely rich. Every new release (which was every year) brought surprises. Throughout this period Prince’s music meant a lot to me. It was the reason why I became such a fan of music. Through Prince’s music I became a fan of artists such as Miles Davis, Joni Mitchel , Jimi Hendrix and James Brown – plus many others. In recent years I’ve lost some of that excitement so it got me thinking – is it the music itself or me just getting older. I still enjoyed his albums of the last 20 years or so, just not with the same passion. Obviously Prince’s music has changed much in the same way we all change as we grow older. I still have a passion for many recent releases from artists such as Jack White, The Hold Steady, Beck and TV On the Radio – but nothing compares to that period mentioned above. Was it nostalgia? Was the music really that good? Was my memory of it better than the actual experience at the time? I wasn’t sure, but I wanted get into these 2 new albums from my favorite artist of all time, and I started to put myself in Prince-mode as soon as the release date was announced.

I started by listening to Prince again. From time to time I’ll play an album, but I decided to throw myself into his music this time. I loaded my phone up with everything and started listening to all his albums. I quickly discovered I slept on the disc Lotus Flow3r (the single disc). I knew all the songs, I listened to the album a lot when it came out and thought it was the best of the 3 discs, but I soon realized what I had been missing the last 5 years. This is an amazing album! Somehow this lead me back to those 80’s albums. I needed to know were these albums as good as I claimed they were. I can say now with complete clarity – yes they are. Prince is not the ‘best’ musician… or songwriter… or singer… or even producer. But the stuff he has accomplished in his career is brilliant. It’s the sum of all these things. Back in the 80’s he was like a mad scientist… or mad painter – just throwing colors up on a canvas, letting the paint splatter where it landed and then creating art that is beyond words. It’s in the subtleties of tracks like The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, or the lack thereof in the screams of Temptation. It’s the blend of the horns and guitar in a track like Lovesexy or the starkness of Sometimes It Snows in April. It’s in the contrasts that identified him for much of his career – funk music with heavy guitar? Drum machines with live cymbals? Sped up voices, sped up guitars, beautiful background voices whether it was all him or Wendy & Lisa (or a combination). Much of it wasn’t exactly neat either. Ever hear the chair creaks in Sometimes It Snows in April? Or the cough he left in the full version of Raspberry Beret? And that was part of it’s appeal – it felt real... sincere, and it brought something truly unique to top 40 radio in an age that is considered very synthetic and polished. So I stand by this era… these albums are in my opinion masterpieces. Even if you don’t like Prince, you have to admit these albums are made by someone who doesn’t see things quite like anyone else and is insanely talented.

So what about the albums from the last 20 or so years? I actually love many of his 90’s albums as well. I think most of the tracks from Graffiti Bridge are brilliant. We can argue that much of the music on this album is actually from the 80’s, but I also love Diamonds & Pearls and The Symbol Album. Though they are much different than those 80’s albums, I enjoyed (and still enjoy) these albums…. As a matter of fact, The Symbol Album is one of my favorite Prince albums. But as I asked before - what about those late 90’s and 21^st century albums? For example, New Power Soul – was it as bad as I remembered? Or Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic or the NPGMC albums. I’ve always dismissed this era as his ‘bland’ time. As albums not very satisfying, but there are some incredible songs. I thought the same for albums throughout the 2000’s. I’ve come to the conclusion that even though I may not enjoy these albums as much as I have others, they are still good albums that do not deserve the criticisms I originally threw at them. They may lack the qualities I personally look for and admired in the earlier albums, but that doesn’t make them weaker or inferior. I truly love Emancipation as it contains some brilliant tunes… many of the songs are very well written, and the production may lack some those contrasting properties I mentioned earlier but it’s clean and pristine. So just because I prefer the wilder and messier production style, I can’t say it’s less of an album – and the same can be said for all the albums since then. With this new mindset I’ve come to enjoy these new albums much more than I ever had… and I’m enjoying Art Official Age and PlectrumElectrum more than I have enjoyed a new release in quite some time!

[Edited 9/30/14 18:00pm]

We're very similar -- I think one of the problems is that people put Prince on a pedestal so high for so long that they forgot the expectations they have are unreal and unfair. Pablo Picasso did not paint a Guernica every year, Mozart or J.S. Bach did come out with masterpieces after masterpieces uninterrupted, they wrote things that were less ambitious that nonetheless sound great today -- because they have those elements we recognize as Mozart and Bach.

At this point, Prince is conscious of his musical legacy despite his protests that he does not look back. He's entitled to some efforts that aren't Purple Rain, SOTT or 1999-size in terms of their cultural impact. Save for maybe one or two records he did, there's always been a song or three that left me cold or lukewarm, I never thought he was going to be immune to some level of failure. So while I admire his abilities, I've made a conscious effort not to expect non-stop wows and OMGSOGENIUS moments from him pretty early on.