Listened to "The Gold Standard" today, and I can't believe that Prince has lost his funk. Bruno's "Uptown Funk" is more Prince than Prince these days!

donnyenglish said:

Uptown Funk sounds like some recycled parody. Cannot begin to compare it with Gold Standard. Old people at weddings groove to Uptown Funk. Nothing funky about that song.

The Gold Standard is one of the least funkiest songs hes ever recorded. It doesn't even sound like hes playing guitar. Its so generic and no funk there at all. And since that's the only real "funk" song on that album, it's a damn shame!

DMSR said:

Listened to "The Gold Standard" today, and I can't believe that Prince has lost his funk. Bruno's "Uptown Funk" is more Prince than Prince these days!

Disagree, my problem with Uptown Funk, is that every sound in there is borrowed & spliced into a 'funk' groove. It's completely non-original, but they're taking all the credit as their own. I'm also not a bruno mars fan, so I'm the wrong person to even talk about him.

.

ANyways, I'm somewhat of an easy sell on Prince tunes but I love the gold standard although it does drag for a bit at the end, but my guess is he had fun putting it together so he let it go a little longer, I also enjoy the bit of humor at the end,

DMSR said:

donnyenglish said:

Uptown Funk sounds like some recycled parody. Cannot begin to compare it with Gold Standard. Old people at weddings groove to Uptown Funk. Nothing funky about that song.

The Gold Standard is one of the least funkiest songs hes ever recorded. It doesn't even sound like hes playing guitar. Its so generic and no funk there at all. And since that's the only real "funk" song on that album, it's a damn shame!

You are probably right that it is not a true funk song. It is more of an upbeat R&B song. But, it is not wedding band music like Uptown Funk. Gold Standard is a very good song and among the best on AOA.

"Uptown Funk" definitely stomps the hell out of the "Fart Official Age" album which is one of the worst albums of Prince's entire career. However, the track "The Gold Standard" is one of Prince's best jams in years and is definitely better than "Uptown Funk"..... See.... I can give Prince praise when he deserves it. Unfortunately though, "The Gold Standard" is the only good track on an album that is a sellout disgrace and judging by the brand new track that came out over the weekend, Prince is still in his sellout mindset. ..... See, I can shit on Prince when he deserves it too. I ain't nobody's "fam".

If Uptown Funk hadnt been played on the radio incessantly I would never have listened to it more than once. Doesn't do anything for me. It sounds too much like a parody of real funk music from back in the day as opposed to being a genuinely inspired funk track. There's really no comparison between the two songs.

DMSR said:

donnyenglish said:

Uptown Funk sounds like some recycled parody. Cannot begin to compare it with Gold Standard. Old people at weddings groove to Uptown Funk. Nothing funky about that song.

The Gold Standard is one of the least funkiest songs hes ever recorded. It doesn't even sound like hes playing guitar. Its so generic and no funk there at all. And since that's the only real "funk" song on that album, it's a damn shame!

There is a definite groove, or funkiness, to several of the slower-tempo songs on AOA, especially U Know, This is What it Feels Like and Time...Incidentally, Uptown Funk is crap.

vainandy said:

donnyenglish said:

DMSR said:

The Gold Standard is one of the least funkiest songs hes ever recorded. It doesn't even sound like hes playing guitar. Its so generic and no funk there at all. And since that's the only real "funk" song on that album, it's a damn shame!

i dunno...pearls before the swine ain't too funky.

DMSR said:

Listened to "The Gold Standard" today, and I can't believe that Prince has lost his funk. Bruno's "Uptown Funk" is more Prince than Prince these days!

Uptown funk is 100% garbage 2 my ears.

I like The Gold Standard.

Uptown Funk is better, though.

Even though I absolutely abhor the fact that the track Uptown funk is a cheap rip off of several funk artists, I'm not going to lie, I was at a party last month and I absolutely tore up the dancefloor when that track came on. I thought, well you know what? They won't play Prince so I might as well dance to the next best thing I'm gonna get tonight.

Uptown Funk is a great song. It would even sound contemporary if it was still 1981.

It's a valid comparison for sure because the songs have many similarities. I actually thought perhaps with the popularity of UF that maybe GS would be released with an accompanying video. I would say both songs are great. GS is more sophisticated, nuanced & complex which maybe not everybody is able to appreciate. I noticed that Mark Ronson wears purple socks in that video I'm guessing because UF is so Prince-influenced.

Completely agree - clear shout outs to princes legacy (incl the Time), and it really does nail it! love it...

jaawwnn said:

Uptown Funk is a great song. It would even sound contemporary if it was still 1981.

I like them both. TGS more, though.

duh..why do u think its called the "gold standard"?

Uptown Funk is a welcomed slice of pop funk, it's niftly put together and I listen to it about once every two weeks right now. However it's a standard issue piece of funk, and that stops it from being a song I'll remember fondly years from now.

The Gold Standard is one of the few songs I've had issues with on AOA, namely the chorus. But months after the fact, it's a favorite song in my household, I know my partner is thrilled when it plays loud, not just "pleased". It's a brilliant production and somehow the chorus sounds right now. This is one song I won't forget about anytime soon.

Uptown Funk is what Prince used to could do do on sonic steroids.
Gold Standard drops promise with 30 seconds.

DMSR said:

donnyenglish said:

Uptown Funk sounds like some recycled parody. Cannot begin to compare it with Gold Standard. Old people at weddings groove to Uptown Funk. Nothing funky about that song.

The Gold Standard is one of the least funkiest songs hes ever recorded. It doesn't even sound like hes playing guitar. Its so generic and no funk there at all. And since that's the only real "funk" song on that album, it's a damn shame!

Ridiculous - no one alive can out funk Prince - especially not that rip-off punk Mars

Just a point of clarification, its a Mark Ronson song, co-"written/copied" in collaboration with Jeff Bhasker and the guy who helps Bruno write all his music Phillip Lawrence, with Bruno adding a portion of the lyrics. Bruno has never written songs on his own, he's more a performer than song-writer.

DMSR said:

Bruno's "Uptown Funk"

lezama said:

"Uptown Funk" is a collection of fairly random, beginner-level funk ideas glued together with contemporary production gimmicks. It's made a hit by a popular young singer singing a melody that's not really fitting for a funk song as it's so sprawling and his accentuation is a bit off. It's just okay in the end and I support the idea of trying to make funk popular again, but the whole thing sounds like the first successful effort at coming up with something funky for that production team. They use ridiculous EDM-style "build-ups" and quick section changes in a way that's not a sign of a group of musicians working with a style of music they are comfortable with. When I listen to it I hear a bunch of guys who do not have much of an idea how to naturally progress from one section to another.

"The Gold Standard" is a veteran musician doing the style he himself was always the undisputed king of, minimalistic 80s funk. It's not fully satisfying as a listener experience as sometimes when I listen to it I might get a feeling that it "drags" a bit, but the same applies even to many SOTT era tracks when I'm just not in the mood for them ("It" and "Cindy C", for example, come to mind).

TGS seems to lack something for me. Not enough oomph in the bass and it is too clean and polished. But an ok song. What I am really getting my funk to at the moment is the best Prince album that Prince didnt make. Condensate.... Now that has some funky grooves of the likes Prince hasnt managed to achieve on record in a long time.

Perhaps comparing something like Toast to the Party Girl to Uptown Funk would be more appropriate considering the creators of that song name drop the Time as inspiration.

DMSR said:

Listened to "The Gold Standard" today, and I can't believe that Prince has lost his funk. Bruno's "Uptown Funk" is more Prince than Prince these days!

It's as much Mark's song as Bruno's, and I suspect most of the funk it it is Mark not Bruno.

Uptown Funk is commercial garbage. Mark Ronson is a great artist but he decided he needs to get paid. Bruno sounded better when he was with BoB. When I want to listen to real Uptown funk I'll listen to The Bird