I was thinking about it, and it's probably been said before by others so forgive me if I rehash, but I was wondering if the general perception of Prince's alleged artistic decline, in which u know I never believed, wasn't just the consequence of a career that started with an extraordinarily amazing, absurdly in fact, creative period.

.

What I mean is that when you come to think of it, Prince's 8 years run between the release of Dirty Mind and the release of Lovesexy was something pretty unparalleled in the history of pop music. In the course of 8 years Prince released 8 studio albums (including TBA that, though unreleased, was widely circulating) and 11 side projects, that's 19 studio albums altogether that were all instant classics, critically acclaimed, daring moves. With almost each new album he reinvented his own sound, explored new musical territories. The first few years (80-84) were an unprecedented extravaganza of wild, luscious sensuality that pushed the boundaries of both new wave and funk. The next few years (85-88) saw him enriching his sound palette and creating a lot of sublte, complex idiosyncracies without losing any of the wilderness of his early years. Not to mention that by 25 Prince had shaped the sound of pop music for a whole decade and had a long lasting impact on dance music that was nearly as historically significant as James Brown's earlier influence on the genre and can still be felt to this day. And there's also Prince the hitswriter, adding to that impressive list of achievement hits such as Stand Back, Sugar Walls or Manic Monday. I mean for chrissakes, even Prince's maxi single versions and b-sides had become cult classics by the end of the 80's, not to mention the incredible catalogue of unreleased music released at the time and, for a part of it, leaked on bootlegs!

.

Basically, when Prince celebrated his 30th anniversary he had already done all of the above, achieved at the same time both a considerable popular success and a long-lasting popularity among hipsters, his peers and media people and contributed to break many taboos regarding the way sexuality was addressed in mainstream medias. And on top of it all his live performances were unforgettable!

.

When, retroactively, I think of those years, I realize how mind blowing it was for the world to witness this so very young, growing genius accumulating masterpieces at such a fast pace and exploring such a diverse range of subgenres. I really can't think of any other artist releasing so much astounding music in such a small time, while maintaining both mainstream popularity and critical acclaim. Honestly, I know that some will call me names for saying this but when I listen to Stevie Wonder's classic period for example, I find it nearly anecdotic by comparison to the hystery that was Prince's classic period. And that goes for any other artist I can think of. Some have released a good series of visionary masterpiece, from The Beatles to Kate Bush to Björk, but that was always 4 or 5 albums at most, not 19 in the course of 8 years!

.

So of course, it just couldn't last forever. You can maintain a certain level of quality at a certain pace for a long time but not such an ABSURD level of quality as such an ABSURD pace. I remember reading articles and reviews talking of a decline in Prince's music as early as 1990, when critics complained that Batman and GB weren't up to the standards previously established. Of course they weren't! And ever since, despite each album enjying a fair amount of positive reviews, this notion of decline has been a constant when either critics or fans talk about Prince's music. Virtually everything he's released ever since 1989 has been judged not for its own merits but by comparison to this ridiculously brilliant era from 80 to 88. I can't help wondering how the world would have reacted if D'Angelo had released Emancipation in 96, or Maxwell Newpower Soul in 98, or the Soulquarians TRC in 01, or if Mplsound had been the work of Chromeo in 09 instead of yet another Prince record. I'm pretty sure fan reviews would have been hysterically positive in most cases. But it wasn't some new act releasing a brilliant album, it was Prince releasing a Nth album, that was -again- not as good as Purple Rain and Sign 'O' The Times.

.

Honestly, by its own standards, Prince's post 1988 music, even in more recent years, has never been nearly as bad as some say. There have been hits and misses, but overall Prince's albums have always been as good as any other good album from their respective contemporary R&B scene. But yeah, sure, none was as mindblowing as the 80-88 albums were in their time and even worse, none was as mindblowing as the 19 visionary albums marathon of these years, retroactively taken as a whole.

.

I know some poeple will reply to this thread by saying "everything released by Prince after 19XX is shit" or possibly even "everything ever released by Prince was a masterpiece". I'm not interested in that kinda feedback. What I'd like to know is whether other people share this idea that Prince's classic years, when taken as a whole, were so extreme, and in that sense so above any other era in any other mainstream pop artist's discography ever or since in terms of so much, so fast, in such wilderness, that we have lost all sense of proportion when evaluating Prince's later output? I'd like to know if other people think that if Prince's 80-88 period had not been so absurdly brilliant, his later output would have been much more appreciated than it has? You can disagree, but let's keep those questions at the centre of the discussion

[Edited 6/30/15 10:57am]

warning2all said:

LOL!!!!!!!! Oh gawd, this thread title made me laugh for over 5 minutes! XD

Scarfo said:

LOL!!!!!!!! Oh gawd, this thread title made me laugh for over 5 minutes! XD

Agreed.

would u rather be listerning to output by other artists ..this late in THEIR career??? not shut up already and be happy

luvsexy4all said:

KingSausage said:

luvsexy4all said:

would u rather be listerning to output by other artists ..this late in THEIR career??? not shut up already and be happy

Got any Bob Dylan? Cool!

so u 'd rather hear latter day dylan than latter day prince??

nyse said:

Im a huge fan of planet earth and mplsound. I think his 2000s music is better than his music from 85-95. Well everything is based on personal opinion. . . Not popular opinion - I think his so called mainstream downfall started when he refused to make a purple rain 2 in 1985 and put out around the world...

... Well than thank God ur not a music critic...

Very good read. I think all of your points are valid. I think Prince's early output was so prolific because when people are young everything is exciting. Everything is inspirational. As people get older, it's harder to find motivation and inspiration. When we find our muse we can climb mountains but they aren't always that easy to find. I do wonder where Prince looks for inspiration these days. I think people are too quick to judge. People don't listen. People don't think. People are in a rush. Everything is disposable. Even now I find CDs sealed I haven't played as music is too accessible. As a kid I lived with an album. I breathed that album. I knew every word. I had to save up all of my money to buy that album. It was personal. It was everything. These days when I buy a new album, I already have another five stacked up waiting for my attention. We have to slow down. Assimilate the music. Live with it. In five years ask me what I think about Art Official Age, maybe ten. By then I would have got to know the album and can pass a judgement - If I have the right to. I think some people prejudice certain musical eras just because that is where their heart is anchored. That's fine. Without any doubt there has never been any loss of quality in any Prince music. Over the last few weeks, during my gym workouts, I have been listening to about 600 Prince tracks on random. This was an incredible experiment. Take all of the tracks out of context and just give each track the respect it deserves. I was shocked to hear tracks I had totally forgotten. There were tracks I just didn't know. I discovered musical gems. Sticky Like Glue comes to mind. Where the hell did that come from. 20Ten. I'd forgotten all about that one! Peace had me laughing so much - Prince has such a great sense of humour. I don't need Prince to have hits. I don't need Prince to have record deals with majors. Prince is connected to his music and as such I am connected with him. Prince will release music for as long as he can and I will continue to enjoy it. Prince and his music have been a part of the majority of my life. He has become family to me. No matter what Prince does you don't turn your back on family. We need to show respect to someone who has provided a lifetime of positivity and love.

luvsexy4all said:

KingSausage said:

luvsexy4all said: Got any Bob Dylan? Cool!

so u 'd rather hear latter day dylan than latter day prince??

Fuck yeah. Time Out of Mind and Love & Theft in particular are better than what Prince has released since TRC.

V10LETBLUES said:

KingSausage said:

I agree. But MPLSound still sucks hard.

I love that album

databank said:

I was thinking about it, and it's probably been said before by others so forgive me if I rehash, but I was wondering if the general perception of Prince's alleged artistic decline, in which u know I never believed, wasn't just the consequence of a career that started with an extraordinarily amazing, absurdly in fact, creative period.

.

What I mean is that when you come to think of it, Prince's 8 years run between the release of Dirty Mind and the release of Lovesexy was something pretty unparalleled in the history of pop music. In the course of 8 years Prince released 8 studio albums (including TBA that, though unreleased, was widely circulating) and 11 side projects, that's 19 studio albums altogether that were all instant classics, critically acclaimed, daring moves. With almost each new album he reinvented his own sound, explored new musical territories. The first few years (80-84) were an unprecedented extravaganza of wild, luscious sensuality that pushed the boundaries of both new wave and funk. The next few years (85-88) saw him enriching his sound palette and creating a lot of sublte, complex idiosyncracies without losing any of the wilderness of his early years. Not to mention that by 25 Prince had shaped the sound of pop music for a whole decade and had a long lasting impact on dance music that was nearly as historically significant as James Brown's earlier influence on the genre and can still be felt to this day. And there's also Prince the hitswriter, adding to that impressive list of achievement hits such as Stand Back, Sugar Walls or Manic Monday. I mean for chrissakes, even Prince's maxi single versions and b-sides had become cult classics by the end of the 80's, not to mention the incredible catalogue of unreleased music released at the time and, for a part of it, leaked on bootlegs!

.

Basically, when Prince celebrated his 30th anniversary he had already done all of the above, achieved at the same time both a considerable popular success and a long-lasting popularity among hipsters, his peers and media people and contributed to break many taboos regarding the way sexuality was addressed in mainstream medias. And on top of it all his live performances were unforgettable!

.

When, retroactively, I think of those years, I realize how mind blowing it was for the world to witness this so very young, growing genius accumulating masterpieces at such a fast pace and exploring such a diverse range of subgenres. I really can't think of any other artist releasing so much astounding music in such a small time, while maintaining both mainstream popularity and critical acclaim. Honestly, I know that some will call me names for saying this but when I listen to Stevie Wonder's classic period for example, I find it nearly anecdotic by comparison to the hystery that was Prince's classic period. And that goes for any other artist I can think of. Some have released a good series of visionary masterpiece, from The Beatles to Kate Bush to Björk, but that was always 4 or 5 albums at most, not 19 in the course of 8 years!

.

So of course, it just couldn't last forever. You can maintain a certain level of quality at a certain pace for a long time but not such an ABSURD level of quality as such an ABSURD pace. I remember reading articles and reviews talking of a decline in Prince's music as early as 1990, when critics complained that Batman and GB weren't up to the standards previously established. Of course they weren't! And ever since, despite each album enjying a fair amount of positive reviews, this notion of decline has been a constant when either critics or fans talk about Prince's music. Virtually everything he's released ever since 1989 has been judged not for its own merits but by comparison to this ridiculously brilliant era from 80 to 88. I can't help wondering how the world would have reacted if D'Angelo had released Emancipation in 96, or Maxwell Newpower Soul in 98, or the Soulquarians TRC in 01, or if Mplsound had been the work of Chromeo in 09 instead of yet another Prince record. I'm pretty sure fan reviews would have been hysterically positive in most cases. But it wasn't some new act releasing a brilliant album, it was Prince releasing a Nth album, that was -again- not as good as Purple Rain and Sign 'O' The Times.

.

Honestly, by its own standards, Prince's post 1988 music, even in more recent years, has never been nearly as bad as some say. There have been hits and misses, but overall Prince's albums have always been as good as any other good album from their respective contemporary R&B scene. But yeah, sure, none was as mindblowing as the 80-88 albums were in their time and even worse, none was as mindblowing as the 19 visionary albums marathon of these years, retroactively taken as a whole.

.

I know some poeple will reply to this thread by saying "everything released by Prince after 19XX is shit" or possibly even "everything ever released by Prince was a masterpiece". I'm not interested in that kinda feedback. What I'd like to know is whether other people share this idea that Prince's classic years, when taken as a whole, were so extreme, and in that sense so above any other era in any other mainstream pop artist's discography ever or since in terms of so much, so fast, in such wilderness, that we have lost all sense of proportion when evaluating Prince's later output? I'd like to know if other people think that if Prince's 80-88 period had not been so absurdly brilliant, his later output would have been much more appreciated than it has? You can disagree, but let's keep those questions at the centre of the discussion

[Edited 6/30/15 10:57am]

I appreciate all of his albums. They are not all a masterpiece but i can play them without skipping songs. I have never picked up a Prnce album and only liked 1 or 2 songs. There might be 1 or 2 i DONT like on the album. He's done that consistently for nearly 40 years! I cant think of anybody ele who does that. My Top 10 Prince albums come from every era. The Rainbow Children is my VERY favorite. I consider it a masterpiece. SOTT is a masterpiece. Come is a masterpiece. thaose come from 3 different decades. Who does that? PRINCE

V10LETBLUES said:

Most all of his post 80's work is just really bad. That such a great artist has been releasing it, makes it difficult to understand. It has always baffled me how almost at a flick of a switch it all suddenly went off the rails. From not having peers at his level of greatness, to being beneath most every recording artist. Something major happened for him not to batt an eye and think it was OK to deliver album after album of dreck.

wow. A little harsh, don't you think? were his '90s albums really THAT bad?

[Edited 6/30/15 22:05pm]

all artists have a downfall i think Bob Dylan got it in the 80´s

Back in the 80's i thought Prince didnt speak, sleep, or eat...

I thought all he needed was his music round the clock!

It sounds to me like he's getting plenty of rest these days.

I don't think he was flying too high, as the level of quality is what is most endearing of Prince's golden era. I think he was flying too fast. A one album-per-year pace is/was insane.

Ego101 said:

Back in the 80's i thought Prince didnt speak, sleep, or eat...

I thought all he needed was his music round the clock!

It sounds to me like he's getting plenty of rest these days.

He had a constant stream of new women, which probably helped keep the mojo up.

Se7en said: