bigd74 said:

I don't get the adulation for Others Here With Us. But that's just me.

I think it's because of how very different in tone and subject the tune is. For me it's one of the most unique things he's ever done although I don't now how it would fit on an album unless there was a concept to it. It's to do with the ambience of the track, sorta haunting and nihilistic in outlook, but it's cool to see such sparse music be used to an interesting end.

bluegangsta said:

JoshuaWho said:

For me, this has always been Empty Room. I remember one of the many complaints about Crystal Ball being the omission of this track. I never understood the iconic status it maintains among the purple aficionados.

Really? You can't relate to the lyrics at all? To me, it's the perfect articulation of the anguish someone goes to when someone they love very much ends their relationship.

I can't think of too many songs that triumph lyricaly in this manner.

I agree with both of your points, on the one hand the lyrics are as honest as can be, for Prince at least, because we know it's about Susannah, on the other hand the music is unfulfilling and seems incomplete. It's too repetitive and just meanders along. Not one of my favs either...

Mindbells9 said:

I never understood the praise that "The Grand Progression" gets. I've always found it to be a song that completely bores me to tears.

agreed, not terrible, but another meandering piece with an ugly chord progression that goes nowhere and he uses that corny sounding synth for the descending arpeggio part that sounds like the old cheap Casios from Radio Shack...

bonatoc said:

Adonis and Bat-Sheeba, or whatever her name is.

Ugh, what a syrupy sticky bucket of slime.
No wonder Susan Rogers raised her eyes.

If the track had been an instrumental, I would disagree with you but the lyrics and vocal delivery make listening a true labor for me

paulludvig said:

A Place in Heaven with Lisa on vocals.

I never thought that was a 'fan fav with great popularity'

it's not disliked but not a 'fan fav with great popularity'

OldFriends4Sale said:

paulludvig said:

A Place in Heaven with Lisa on vocals.

I never thought that was a 'fan fav with great popularity'

it's not disliked but not a 'fan fav with great popularity'

I have to agree

In defense of Moonbeam Levels.

We can't expect every song to be a timeless classic.
Put it back in the context and the era, and my oh my it is something.

I don't mind the lyrics, it's Prince at its most fragile, it's adolescent in a rock'n'roll sense,

and Free ended up being a better candidate as a song about the strays of the world.

This is a spirit that would take 3/4 more years to become mainstream pop.
Broken Wings by Mr. Mister, I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight by Cutting Crew, maybe they're not the best comparisons

and naysayers will jump right on my analogies, but they bear this kind of transcendent feel-sorry-for-myself mood.

I compare Moonbeam Levels to pop bubble-gum songs because I never considered it to be more

than a FM Pop exercise. The construction is classic (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus-adlib),

but in 1982, such a production is revolutionary. Take the right-in-front-of-the-mix reverse shaker,
or the sustained guitar notes during the verses, where anyone else would have put a synth to play the line.

So what did they get on the airwaves in 1982? Listen to anyone of these crappy pop tunes,
and play ML right behind. Skipper is far ahead.

I don't know, I understand it can be a disappointment, but not a major one.
The vocal delivery is one of his best, it's not often that we get "Broken Down Prince".

Sure, we have Holy River, Dolphin, and other examples of white pop Prince voice, but this one stands out.

When I think about it being post-controversy, this is a major step for him, and certainly gave him confidence

to stretch his limits. I could go as far as saying that in a sense, without Moonbeam Levels, production-wise, there would be no

Something In The Water, or even Little Red Corvette. I may be wrong, but I think Moonbeam Levels

is the first Prince song where the verses are not laid on a steady beat of some kind.
You have no bass during the verses, and barely drums, just the kick.
Heck, it may even be the ancestor to When Doves Cry! (OK, you can all jump on me now)

I find that most of the outtakes, maybe 90% of them, deserve to remain as outtakes. Moonbeam levels is an ok song, but I dont think it is a lost classic that should have been released. Empty Room on the other hand is in that top 10% of gems that somehow got shoved away and shouldnt have been.

I would have liked to have had the albums released that many of the better outtakes were supposed to be on. For example Dream Factory. A lot of the songs that were culled from albums that were released I think, in most cases, deserved to be culled because the album had better songs. But the songs that were culled because the whole album got culled, well, in some cases that was a shame because some genuinely good songs never saw the light of day because of it.

I just don't get the adulation that "My Tree" gets. Not just in the Prince community but also in the general public. Just a few months ago I saw our local High School Marching Band playing the song during a homecoming parade and a huge football game. How the catch phrase of "Leave my tree alone" has hit the pop culture zeitgeist. To the point of seeing news anchors using the phrase after a crime story(ex. "Well Bill, I guess he should've just left that tree alone") and also seeing people wearing the phrase on sweat shirts and t-shirts.

I just don't get it

Big Chick

"Security Ensuring Thee"

BigChick said:

I just don't get the adulation that "My Tree" gets. Not just in the Prince community but also in the general public. Just a few months ago I saw our local High School Marching Band playing the song during a homecoming parade and a huge football game. How the catch phrase of "Leave my tree alone" has hit the pop culture zeitgeist. To the point of seeing news anchors using the phrase after a crime story(ex. "Well Bill, I guess he should've just left that tree alone") and also seeing people wearing the phrase on sweat shirts and t-shirts.

I just don't get it

Big Chick

"Security Ensuring Thee"

Some of the early ones like "Shes Just a Baby", "Lisa" and "Disco Away" are pretty cringeworthy, but he was just learning his craft.

.

For me it has to be In a Large room with no light, it sounds like an ad for a 1986 Camaro complete with white walls, flashing cameras and the image of an 80s babe lifting her shades. Cliched mid 80s yuppie rock a la Robert Plamer. It's very terrible. Yuucchhh!!

.

I really love Grand Progession, some beautiful lifting vocals a nice companion piece to Still Would stand all time. Same with Moonbeam levels a cute reaffirmation song.

The only thing more over rated then Moonbeam Levels by the hardcore Prince fans is The Gold Experience.