Yes, because shit is shit.

I'm a Prince fan because I like Prince singing. I'm not interested in listening to the side projects and I'm even less interested when someone else is singing an album track. If I wanted to listen to someone else singing I'd play something from an artist who's voice I like listening to.

No - nowhere near the level of public criticism, if 'Dream Factory' had been released at the time. But, the opportunities to publicise your views widely in the mid 80's usually meant sending a letter to a nationally-circulated music paper or magazine (who probably would have had no interest in that level of opinion), or to a fanzine with limited distribution.

Didn't you already do this thread and then request it be locked?

I like "She Wants a Place in Heaven." It's a nice little extra mismatched piece on the patchwork that is Dream Factory. One reason why the non-Prince vocals are so citicized on PE is because the songs weren't very good in the first place, nor did they account for the weaknesses of the singer.

It would be a decision 10x worse than releasing an Under the Cherry Moon sequel

I would love it, the fans would love it... but it would most likely fail and help Prince fall into obscurity. I find it even harder to get into than ATWIAD+Parade.

NouveauDance said:

No because back then we didn't have the internet.

I've not even seen any reviews in the press that have singled out Hannah's vocals as bad. Just a few old fans who moan every time Prince does anything. Is she the worlds best vocalist? No. But she's pretty good. I think the way she harmonises with Prince is very reminiscent of the harmonies with W&L. As a vocalist Hannah is definitely in the same league as Wendy/Lisa.

[Edited 1/25/15 12:50pm]

'i wonder u; came b 4 'a place in heaven' and most really dig that tune .. it is one of my faves .. 'place in heaven' is great too .. i really like 'stop this train' and think hannah is fine on it but wish it was sung by prince only because it is the most pop friendly tune on both projects and could have helped prince to suck less in the public eye .. and there aren't any stupid prince lyrics to ruin it like he does on a lot of songs these days .. reminds me of 'starfish and coffee' and 'let it go' and 'train' ...

the worst part about 'a place in heaven' is the drum machine sound .. real drums and that one would be perfect .. lisa is about the best thing to ever happen to prince .. hannah cant even play drums .. her singing is ok in a very mediocre way .. the songs were mostly horrible so that didn't help much ..

CharismaDove said:

It would be a decision 10x worse than releasing an Under the Cherry Moon sequel

I would love it, the fans would love it... but it would most likely fail and help Prince fall into obscurity. I find it even harder to get into than ATWIAD+Parade.

How do you reconcile "I would love it" with "I find it even harder to get into than..."?

You're Paisley-impaired if you had a problem "getting into" Parade. Yeah, it's quirky on purpose.

Prince is for people who don't mind quirky.

Aerogram said:

Lisa is too shy to be a proper lead vocalist.

On W&L first album, I cringe on "This Is The Life".

Wendy would have gotten through OK with critics on "Teacher, Teacher". She does the trick.

The harmonies on "4 The Tears In Your Eyes" are par with the ones in "Sometimes It Snows In April".
The 3 together, ahh, it was a threesome made in heaven.

Add Susannah, Sheila E., and Jill and you had an orgy.

[Edited 1/25/15 17:02pm]

I don't subscribe to this notion that its better to have Prince on every vocal. He creates scenes and themes. No doubt Plectrum would get better reviews on here if P did all the vocal, but it is what it is, a band project. It's Prince sharing the platform.

I think there is a good chance that P is setting the girls up for a career without him in the future, and more fans are likely to buy it if they see it as a progression rather than a new project.

When it comes to tracks like I Wonder U and A Place in Heaven, they only cement that Prince respects the talent he is working with, otherwise he wouldn't give them the platform.

SquirrelMeat said:

I don't subscribe to this notion that its better to have Prince on every vocal. He creates scenes and themes. No doubt Plectrum would get better reviews on here if P did all the vocal, but it is what it is, a band project. It's Prince sharing the platform.

I think there is a good chance that P is setting the girls up for a career without him in the future, and more fans are likely to buy it if they see it as a progression rather than a new project.

When it comes to tracks like I Wonder U and A Place in Heaven, they only cement that Prince respects the talent he is working with, otherwise he wouldn't give them the platform.

What with Plectrum selling millions of copies, and "Boy Trouble" being the new anthem for all young girls around the world, it's no wonder Prince was setting them up for their own careers. The girls can't go out in public without being mobbed.

bonatoc said:

Lisa is too shy to be a proper lead vocalist.

On W&L first album, I cringe on "This Is The Life".

Wendy would have gotten through OK with critics on "Teacher, Teacher". She does the trick.

The harmonies on "4 The Tears In Your Eyes" are par with the ones in "Sometimes It Snows In April".
The 3 together, ahh, it was a threesome made in heaven.

Add Susannah, Sheila E., and Jill and you had an orgy.

[Edited 1/25/15 17:02pm]

stillwaiting said:

SquirrelMeat said:

I don't subscribe to this notion that its better to have Prince on every vocal. He creates scenes and themes. No doubt Plectrum would get better reviews on here if P did all the vocal, but it is what it is, a band project. It's Prince sharing the platform.

I think there is a good chance that P is setting the girls up for a career without him in the future, and more fans are likely to buy it if they see it as a progression rather than a new project.

When it comes to tracks like I Wonder U and A Place in Heaven, they only cement that Prince respects the talent he is working with, otherwise he wouldn't give them the platform.

What with Plectrum selling millions of copies, and "Boy Trouble" being the new anthem for all young girls around the world, it's no wonder Prince was setting them up for their own careers. The girls can't go out in public without being mobbed.

I'll give you 'boy trouble'. terrible song!

I for one would have loved it if Prince had released Dream Factory as THE REAL final album for Prince & The Revolution. I would also loved it if Wendy & Lisa was finally acknowledge as co-producers too!

bonatoc said:

Lisa is too shy to be a proper lead vocalist.

On W&L first album, I cringe on "This Is The Life".

Wendy would have gotten through OK with critics on "Teacher, Teacher". She does the trick.

The harmonies on "4 The Tears In Your Eyes" are par with the ones in "Sometimes It Snows In April".
The 3 together, ahh, it was a threesome made in heaven.

Add Susannah, Sheila E., and Jill and you had an orgy.

[Edited 1/25/15 17:02pm]

He vocals work extremely well as backup, like on 1999 and well every songs she sings back up on
I like her 'timid' solo sound though. I actually love how 'innocent' she sounds on Our Destiny(the studio version) almost 60s feeling
.
I agree, the threesome was heaven
and adding Susannah (a strong vocalist as well as Jill) and Sheila and Wendy, that was perfect

I always prefered those vocals that somehow mirrored Prince's but had their unique touch

Taking my personal opinion out of it (wherein Lisa's voice makes me smile and Hannah's voice makes me want to find something - anything - to kill), here's my perspective on it:

I've played "A Place in Heaven" for non-Prince fans, and not once have any of them mentioned that Lisa's vocals were bad. I've also played the Hannah tracks for some of those same non-Prince fans, and without fail every one of them has laughed and asked me what the fuck I was playing for them, along with comments like, "She must give good head, I guess, because that bitch sure can't sing."

Lisa doesn't do those corny Jack Black school of rock vocals so no. She does, however, arguably do some old-school corny 50's musical vocals, I just happen to like that.

theblueangel said:

I've played "A Place in Heaven" for non-Prince fans, and not once have any of them mentioned that Lisa's vocals were bad. I've also played the Hannah tracks for some of those same non-Prince fans, and without fail every one of them has laughed and asked me what the fuck I was playing for them, along with comments like, "She must give good head, I guess, because that bitch sure can't sing."

Well, Lisa does a good job on head too.
I mean background-vocals-wise.

bonatoc said:

theblueangel said:

I've played "A Place in Heaven" for non-Prince fans, and not once have any of them mentioned that Lisa's vocals were bad. I've also played the Hannah tracks for some of those same non-Prince fans, and without fail every one of them has laughed and asked me what the fuck I was playing for them, along with comments like, "She must give good head, I guess, because that bitch sure can't sing."

Well, Lisa does a good job on head too.
I mean background-vocals-wise.

Yep, very demure yet very steamy with a touch of innocence

The real bottom line here, is that we all know Prince's material from 1985-1988 was on another level. But it was released wtih the care and elegance of walking on broken glass with honey on your feet near a beehive with 40,000 bees. The DF, SOTT, CB songs were all awesome in just about any configuration possible. But with the market being flooded, there was no chance any of the albums would really sell anything. Chilling out after Purple Rain, and not releasing anything would have been the right career move: Artistically, and for image, sales, etc. MTV and multiple album releases, and the dawn of a new media made the most successful acts of that era sit back, and take time between projects.

I could go on about U2, and how Rattle And Hum backfired a bit, and they waited, and waited, and Achtung Baby proved to be worth the wait. The dreaded MJ comparison: MJ went through over 100 songs to make Bad. With all the material he had, he could have done an album a year...but he and his management were too smart to play the overexposure game.

In no fair world should Lovesexy have not sold 5 million on quality alone....but it is what it is.