Just to throw the thread in another direction, I remember that we discussed before the underlying theme of AOA, one that suggested Prince might be looking in another direction and disillusioned with what he may previously have believed in. The soul searching lyrics on "Way Back Home" combined with some of the more new age philosophy of "Clouds", "Time" etc.

Maybe he's trying to hold on to something in the face of a personal struggle where he's failing to identify as much with whatever faith he had before, and this is showing in the people he is choosing to surround himself with the most.

Just a thought. I'll be interested to see if the kind of themes he was exploring on AOA are present on HITANDRUN.

filthyrichyuppie said:

KingSausage said:

Astrology! Hahahahahahaha. What a joke. Anyway, I love it when Prince expressed his own unique spiritual thoughts. I don't like it as much when he's spouting out garbage thoughts that he absorbed from some crazy source. "Stauros," anyone? Yeah.

That's your right. You either like something or you don't.

I don't like lobster....doesn't mean the world is gonna stop eating it.

KingSausage said:

If only Prince believed what he wanted to believe and let others live in peace, instead of preaching and judging.

If he called you up on the phone that might be the case but nope.

lovepotion said:

babynoz said:

So since the Welton bashing thread in the associated artists forum was an epic fail you decided to try your luck with a similar thread in this forum?

People tend to express from their own perspective/life experience and anybody is free to disagree with it. But to believe that an artist should be stifled because his worldview does not conform to what you believe is just silly.

If an artist only expresses what others think they should talk about instead of what is in their own mind and heart then what kind of art is that?

I want to know where Prince is at, not where somebody else thinks he should be.

[/quote God does not believe in atheists. Therefore atheists do not exist.

I have no idea what your point is.

KingSausage said:

If only Prince believed what he wanted to believe and let others live in peace, instead of preaching and judging.

laurarichardson said:

filthyrichyuppie said:

I thought it was an accurate response actually. The first poster missed the point. Your "get a life" point is a complete non-sequitor as well. There's no use getting uptight about it. Religious people and ideas need to be mocked--didn't your buddy Jesus say you should espect this?

-- My get a life comment is on point. To many people on this rooting for Prince to step away from Christianity because they think it will make his music better. Some fans are selfish buttheads who are only thinking about themselves and trying to some hedonistic lifestyle via P's music. It is absurd as you have no idea what comfort his relationship with his savior gives him and you do not have a right to a have say. Believe what you want to believe and leave others in peace.

I'll just have to restate what I said earlier and hope it goes through this time. I make the broader point that arguments without evidence deserve to be mocked. Surely you agree? If I claimed Elvis was alive, wouldn't you want confirmation of this? Would you not hold judgement until I supplied evidence? Or would you just accept what I said? It's the same with religion. By all means, believe what you want but don't assume it demands respect. In any other walk of life, believing in things that aren't there is termed as a mental illness. If you do respond, can you keep to this issue? Be constructive. Is that ok?

babynoz said:

Noodled24 said:

I disagree with the part in bold.

I think there is certainly an argument to be had that once an artist truly embraces a religion, their work then becomes censored to a degree, based on their religion. We all know there are now topics Prince won't discuss. There are words he won't say (on record). This isn't inherently a bad thing, sometimes it leads to better writing, other times it leads to shortcuts.

I can understand how an atheist wouldn't get much from songs about god. What I don't understand is how someone can fail to see the trend in Princes music...

You missed my point which was that the OP and others seem to think that Prince/Josh should not express what THEY believe as THEY see fit.

Of course they should.

I did not say anything about topics that Prince no longer covers or words he no longer says. It you want my opinion of people still being butt-hurt because he no longer says bitch, fuck, pussy, dick anymore, that's pretty stupid too.

Yeah they are. If i'm honest I'm one of them. As we all now know, when Prince recorded SexyMF he actually wanted to include imperial walkers in the background but his shitty deal with WB...

He has killer material which isn't played anymore, that's the bummer. It's not because he can't remember how.

babynoz said:

laurarichardson said:

lovepotion said:

laurarichardson said:

-- My get a life comment is on point. To many people on this rooting for Prince to step away from Christianity because they think it will make his music better. Some fans are selfish buttheads who are only thinking about themselves and trying to some hedonistic lifestyle via P's music. It is absurd as you have no idea what comfort his relationship with his savior gives him and you do not have a right to a have say. Believe what you want to believe and leave others in peace.

Amen sister! Couldn't have said it better myself. Too many people are solely interested in "when's P gonna to do this or that." As opposed to being interested in his sanctity. We should be nurturing and encouraging his Christianity not mocking it.

Well, you were right about one thing...you couldn't say it better yourself.

filthyrichyuppie said:

lovepotion said:

laurarichardson said: Amen sister! Couldn't have said it better myself. Too many people are solely interested in "when's P gonna to do this or that." As opposed to being interested in his sanctity. We should be nurturing and encouraging his Christianity not mocking it.

Well, you were right about one thing...you couldn't say it better yourself.

..and it was a piss poor comment to begin with.

"religion has no real place in contemporary western life. We don't need to rely on an omnipotent God to explain the world to us anymore."

At least 70% of Americans believe in God while nearly 80% of Europeans claim to believe in "some sort of spirit or life force", with 51% specificially mentioning God. So while YOU may not need to rely on a God, a lot of people do. And Prince has been and probably always will be one of them.

And I agree with OF4S and other posters.. Prince was much more bluntly religious in the 1980s than he he has been in the last few years, especially on record. Lovesexy Tour, anyone? Only difference is less people bitched back then because they liked the music. Now that a lot people haven't dug his recent work, his lyrics about religion are just an extra annoyance. His religion/religious lyrics have no effect on the quality of his work. True, his records in the 21st century are at times laughably bad. But to blame this fall in quality on religion? Nah.

[Edited 9/1/15 15:45pm]

CharismaDove said:

"religion has no real place in contemporary western life. We don't need to rely on an omnipotent God to explain the world to us anymore."

At least 70% of Americans believe in God while nearly 80% of Europeans claim to believe in "some sort of spirit or life force", with 51% specificially mentioning God. So while YOU may not need to rely on a God, a lot of people do. And Prince has been and probably always will be one of them.

And I agree with OF4S and other posters.. Prince was much more bluntly religious in the 1980s than he he has been in the last few years, especially on record. Lovesexy Tour, anyone? Only difference is less people bitched back then because they liked the music. Now that a lot people haven't dug his recent work, his lyrics about religion are just an extra annoyance. His religion/religious lyrics have no effect on the quality of his work. True, his records in the 21st century are at times laughably bad. But to blame this fall in quality on religion? Nah.

[Edited 9/1/15 15:45pm]

Actually, most of those figures are wrong--people make it up most of the time. I can tell you this though, 100% of those poople don't believe in God when they're ill. They'll choose medical science over prayer every time.

lovepotion said:

the Gemini part then...naw
...glad I opened the door of discussion,

Maybe it is male Gemini's because all the Gemini's I know are like that
I know a lot of us I have at least 7 in my family alone

3 in by birth family My Days June 3 Myself June 5 my older brother June 6th

And we are all very passionate about specific directions

Lianachan said:

There's your problem. Prince is of course entirely right to live his life as he chooses and not for our benefit, but the arrival of Larry Graham was a watershed moment in Prince's musical career for me.

The old prophet

klick2me said:

I find it hard to believe that Josh has full control or at least Prince doesn't have the final say so. The fact that Josh and his wife are Christians makes me feel so good. Knowing that P has surrounded himself with true believer's is a good thing. I am a believer. If one is not born of the spirit, how can one really understand? I say Prince is in a good place. We should be happy for him.

Josh doesn't have full control.
Prince definately has the final say.

But AOA is hardly a Christian album and definately not Christian Rock

lovepotion said:

laurarichardson said:

-- My get a life comment is on point. To many people on this rooting for Prince to step away from Christianity because they think it will make his music better. Some fans are selfish buttheads who are only thinking about themselves and trying to some hedonistic lifestyle via P's music. It is absurd as you have no idea what comfort his relationship with his savior gives him and you do not have a right to a have say. Believe what you want to believe and leave others in peace.

Amen sister! Couldn't have said it better myself. Too many people are solely interested in "when's P gonna to do this or that." As opposed to being interested in his sanctity. We should be nurturing and encouraging his Christianity not mocking it.

We cannot nurture it, We don't know him. Naturing is something that can only happed face 2 face.

Life will never be complete without a Julian Cope song.

Jesus you say? Let Us Listen:

god damnit, piracy is winning!

but,

Ahhhh...some of that world famous progressive Tolerance™ on full display up in here.

Anyhoo, no I don't think Josh is a problem. (Despite his offensive Jesusy ways!) If anything he's injected new life into Prince's music, while still (mostly) staying true to the "Prince sound." I would argue Prince was better when he was more spiritual/religious in the 80s/partial 90s. I think it simply comes down to his age. The dude is 57. I mean, c'mon. Age mellows everyone.

I'm just thankful he's still giving us good music -- for the most part. That's all I can ask. Oh, and maybe at some point Purple Rain remaster+. That's all I can ask.

dadeepop said:

Ahhhh...some of that world famous progressive Tolerance™ on full display up in here.

Anyhoo, no I don't think Josh is a problem. (Despite his offensive Jesusy ways!) If anything he's injected new life into Prince's music, while still (mostly) staying true to the "Prince sound." I would argue Prince was better when he was more spiritual/religious in the 80s/partial 90s. I think it simply comes down to his age. The dude is 57. I mean, c'mon. Age mellows everyone.

I'm just thankful he's still giving us good music -- for the most part. That's all I can ask. Oh, and maybe at some point Purple Rain remaster+. That's all I can ask.

I don't think it is age. It's other issues. Maybe he is very much concerned about what people think and being in the public eye in a big way, hits and such.

I think the Rainbow Children (more Egyptology & Princeology than JW beliefs) is very ole Prince subversive naughty purple utopia etc Some of the story line of the album reminds me of the opening story of the Ladder.

People choose to blow up things they think are wrong with that album. But I think that is his best album since the Gold Experience

OldFriends4Sale said:

dadeepop said:

Ahhhh...some of that world famous progressive Tolerance™ on full display up in here.

Anyhoo, no I don't think Josh is a problem. (Despite his offensive Jesusy ways!) If anything he's injected new life into Prince's music, while still (mostly) staying true to the "Prince sound." I would argue Prince was better when he was more spiritual/religious in the 80s/partial 90s. I think it simply comes down to his age. The dude is 57. I mean, c'mon. Age mellows everyone.

I'm just thankful he's still giving us good music -- for the most part. That's all I can ask. Oh, and maybe at some point Purple Rain remaster+. That's all I can ask.

I don't think it is age. It's other issues. Maybe he is very much concerned about what people think and being in the public eye in a big way, hits and such.

I think the Rainbow Children (more Egyptology & Princeology than JW beliefs) is very ole Prince subversive naughty purple utopia etc Some of the story line of the album reminds me of the opening story of the Ladder.

People choose to blow up things they think are wrong with that album. But I think that is his best album since the Gold Experience

while I dont enjoy listening to TRC,I never dissed it because Prince was inspired again

and you could tell in the music which sounds fresh on that album.

I always enjoyed Come more than the Gold experience.to me,TGE is a lot of plastic,

very little emotion.at least Come sounded different and was full of raw emotion.

to this day I find it weird that it's mostly the same sessions.

(Im doublespacing my posts but they come out like this,blocks of text.sorry.)

[Edited 9/1/15 18:13pm]

OldFriends4Sale said:

dadeepop said:

Ahhhh...some of that world famous progressive Tolerance™ on full display up in here.

Anyhoo, no I don't think Josh is a problem. (Despite his offensive Jesusy ways!) If anything he's injected new life into Prince's music, while still (mostly) staying true to the "Prince sound." I would argue Prince was better when he was more spiritual/religious in the 80s/partial 90s. I think it simply comes down to his age. The dude is 57. I mean, c'mon. Age mellows everyone.

I'm just thankful he's still giving us good music -- for the most part. That's all I can ask. Oh, and maybe at some point Purple Rain remaster+. That's all I can ask.

I don't think it is age. It's other issues. Maybe he is very much concerned about what people think and being in the public eye in a big way, hits and such.

I think the Rainbow Children (more Egyptology & Princeology than JW beliefs) is very ole Prince subversive naughty purple utopia etc Some of the story line of the album reminds me of the opening story of the Ladder.

People choose to blow up things they think are wrong with that album. But I think that is his best album since the Gold Experience

I see what you're saying, but I think that may come with age as well. More self-reflection and what not. Who knows. I do agree about TRC.

OldFriends4Sale said:

klick2me said:

I find it hard to believe that Josh has full control or at least Prince doesn't have the final say so. The fact that Josh and his wife are Christians makes me feel so good. Knowing that P has surrounded himself with true believer's is a good thing. I am a believer. If one is not born of the spirit, how can one really understand? I say Prince is in a good place. We should be happy for him.

Josh doesn't have full control.
Prince definately has the final say.

But AOA is hardly a Christian album and definately not Christian Rock

I would agree

SignOthetimes1987 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I don't think it is age. It's other issues. Maybe he is very much concerned about what people think and being in the public eye in a big way, hits and such.

I think the Rainbow Children (more Egyptology & Princeology than JW beliefs) is very ole Prince subversive naughty purple utopia etc Some of the story line of the album reminds me of the opening story of the Ladder.

People choose to blow up things they think are wrong with that album. But I think that is his best album since the Gold Experience

while I dont enjoy listening to TRC,I never dissed it because Prince was inspired again

and you could tell in the music which sounds fresh on that album.

I always enjoyed Come more than the Gold experience.to me,TGE is a lot of plastic,

very little emotion.at least Come sounded different and was full of raw emotion.

to this day I find it weird that it's mostly the same sessions.

(Im doublespacing my posts but they come out like this,blocks of text.sorry.)

[Edited 9/1/15 18:13pm]

Yeah I a lot of that music was from the same sessions and period.
the Gold experience was a very inspired era, not so much the album.
Come did have a more cohesive feel, just enough tracks to not over do it