pureTsexy said:

No, because if his career would have began in 2000, there wouldn't have been any albums after The Rainbow Children. That would have been the beginning and end of his career. No record label would have backed him after that

I strongly disagree. If a newcomer had made that album, he would have got rave reviews and been hailed as a genius. That album is too musically and thematically complex and grand for a newcomer to make. It's still Prince's greatest post WB work. Just because you (or me, or him) don't like the darth vader voice or the proselytising doesn't make it a bad album. And, of course, 'The Last December' coming from a newcomer would have been a huge hit if it was backed by a big record company at that time. More likely, though, if a newcomer Prince had released that record, he would have been a critic's fave. There is no question of him not getting a record deal after a record like that.

Yes

Aerogram said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

He would sound like THIS:

2001	The Rainbow Children Released: November 20, 2001 Label: NPG, Redline Entertainment
2002
2003	Xpectation Released: January 1, 2003 Label: NPG
	N.E.W.S Released: July 29, 2003 Label: NPG, MP Media
2004	Musicology Released: March 29, 2004 Label: NPG, Columbia
	The Chocolate Invasion Released: March 29, 2004 Label: NPG
	The Slaughterhouse Released: March 29, 2004 Label: NPG
2006	3121 Released: March 21, 2006 Label: NPG, Universal
2007	Planet Earth Released: July 24, 2007 Label: NPG, Columbia
2009	Lotusflow3r / MPLSound (released as a 3-CD set together with Elixer by Bria Valente) Released: March 29, 2009 Label: NPG
2010	20Ten Released: July 10, 2010 Label: NPG
2014	Plectrumelectrum [C] Released: September 30, 2014 Label: NPG, Warner Bros.
	Art Official Age Released: September 30, 2014 Label: NPG, Warner Bros.
2015	HITnRUN phase one Released: September 7, 2015 Label: NPG

The OP specifically asked if we'd still be a Prince fan based purely off the albums he's done from 2000 - 2015?

I posted my answer back several posts and I completey agree with pureTsexy, that there wouldn't have been any albums after The Rainbow Children, had that been his very first album.

Ok now, let's play if MJ, Madonna, U2, Dylan, etc. would start their career in 2000.

MJ's first and only album would have been 2001's Invincible, which sold 13 million worldwide. Heaven Can Wait, Butterflies and You Rock My World would have made me a fan. That's not too shabby for a one-hit wonder.

thedance said:

NorthC said:

thedance said:

no.. I really don't think I would have bought any of his albums then...

Prince has been under the radar for a very long time to non-fans, I doubt I would catch on in 2000 or later.

I am still a fan because of the WB years 1978-1995. And that's also the music I usually play.. still..

I played my purple vinyl of Purple Rain earlier today... still so fresh & amazing..

But... To answer this question, we will have to pretend those albums don't exist. You can't say Purple Rain is better than Musicology because in this hypothetical world, there is no Purple Rain! Looking at it like that, Musicology is a fine album. I think that's the problem with us old fans anyway: we always compare his new albums to the old ones and we've already made up our minds that the old ones are the best anyway. [Edited 11/7/15 0:34am]

I think that (bolded) is definitely the case in many old fans' mind.

I am positive I would still be a fan because his live performances set the bar so high - maybe not as high now versus when he was young, but still adequately higher than most other artists currently on the scene, or on the scene since 2000. His live performances are revered, whether the old fans like it or not.

Secondly, there's still all of the bootleg and soundboard and collaboration activity that Prince has had since 2000. He has brought too much to the table, even since 2000, to suggest he wouldn't have successfully created a fan base.

And my response is based on him starting at whatever age he was at 2000. If you are asking if he started his career in 2000 at 18 - 20 years old, he would be as big as any of the others, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, various boy bands and girl groups, etc. He would have very few equals, in addition to an legendary work ethic and nearly unrivaled skillset.

^^ all I no is that Rave In2 + TRC + Musicology wouldn't make me a fan "for life" like 1999 + Purple Rain did.

Those albums mentioned (first) simply aren't that good......

Definately no.

Because mostly our musical tastes are grounded in our teenage years, for me, anyway, this is the case. I would miss out on listening to some great funk, but would likely listen mostly to rock of one kind or another.

No. There would have been a better chance of me becoming a fan had he started in 2010, but only a slight one.

Dilan said:

Would you be a Prince fan still if his career began in 2000 and the only albums he had were those from then until 2015?

IDK because my musical tastes have literally been shaped by listening to P since I was 12. I'd probably have those records same way I have D'Angelo's or Janelles's or Macy's etc., I'd certainly like them a lot, but if my appreciation of 'em hadn't been built on a legacy and a passion for P's music they may not have had such a strong impact on me as they did, IDK.

+ there's the question of Prince paying homage to himself in certain records such as TCI, TS, Mpslound or 20ten. How would I perceive those albums if there hadn't been a Prince in the 80's? Hell I listen to a lot of things influenced by the Mpls sound: would I if it wasn't for Prince creating it?

What I'm certain of, though, is that if TRC had been the first album of a rookie, after said rookie feeding us with dozens of tracks on his website in 2001, then followed by every album in exact order until now, Prince would be have been hailed as an absolute musical genius and received the same kind of praise from critics D'Angelo and the whole Soulquarians posse, or Janelle for example, did.

P's work, since about 1988-89 (pretty early in fact when u think of it!), has always been judged by comparison to his genius 80-88 overproductive and seminal musical marathon. If only it had been judged for what it is instead of being compared to earlier works, it would certainly have been way more appreciated: every one would have tripped

From this perspective Prince is the most important musican of 20&21 century.Talent is a talent...it's a gift.It's all about time and perspective.In Prince case it's a masterful possiblity to absorb music from generations back in a new form (and i can't name an artist that can to that in a way Prince does) and express something that smoldering in you (which is not always clear & profound it is almost something personal and patological deep inside) but also permeating with a zeitgeist in which you are born...smoldrering like a star far away in a sky at night.And with a star of that kind, every new coming generation will stand and look into it, trying to reach and reflect themselves through that...like today we are standing beside one Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Maler, Shostakovich..etc.

So question would I be a fan it's not predictable, because we are taliking about ART with a big A, which always creates a new world - "To create a work of art is to create the world." Wassily Kandinsky.Just look at Prince...he lives what he is doing a 100%, a true Artist.So no matter what time, a talent like this will be recognizable to a lot of people.

[Edited 11/7/15 5:46am]

stpaisios said:

From this perspective Prince is the most important musican of 20&21 century.Talent is a talent...it's a gift.It's all about time and perspective.In Prince case it's a masterful possiblity to absorb music from generations back in a new form (and i can't name an artist that can to that in a way Prince does) and express something that smoldering in you (which is not always clear & profound it is almost something personal and patological deep inside) but also permeating with a zeitgeist in which you are born...smoldrering like a star far away in a sky at night.And with a star of that kind, every new coming generation will stand and look into it, trying to reach and reflect themselves through that...like today we are standing beside one Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Maler, Shostakovich..etc.

So question would I be a fan it's not predictable, because we are taliking about ART with a big A, which always creates a new world - "To create a work of art is to create the world." Wassily Kandinsky.Just look at Prince...he lives what he is doing a 100%, a true Artist.So no matter what time, a talent like this will be recognizable to a lot of people.

[Edited 11/7/15 5:46am]

There are many other musicians from the last 40 years that I consider as significant and/or talented as Prince, few of them being as popular as he is, though. Some also have a catalogue that's as, if not more impressive than his in terms of quantity.

Obviously (I wouldn't be here) I consider Prince to be among the greatest of the greatest in contemporary popular music, and he's by far my favorite, but my point is just that he's not as uniquely talented as I used to think when I was a teen, and that some people sometimes say he is here.

Don't get me wrong, though: I think at some point after Prince passes (the later the better) there'll be a rediscovery of the immensity of his catalogue and I'm not even talking what's in the vault but anything he'll have released in his lifetime (if the vault is opened either before or after his death, then it'll be even more massive). I really try to appreciate his work as a whole and not mostly/only in light of the first decade, and everytime I think of the colossal amount of quality, inspired material that he's been accumulating for nearly 40 years, I'm like wow!

But some others such as Björk or Kate Bush have a similarly unique "voice" (style) that have been extremely influencial, and yet others such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono, Bill Laswell, Frank Zappa, the P-Funk All-Stars (as a collective), John Zorn, Herbie Hancock or Chick Corea will also leave an stunningly massive legacy behind them in terms of both quality and quantity.

No.

Probably not even if he began in 1990, to be honest.

(Although adding in live stuff mightmake a difference...)

[Edited 11/7/15 6:24am]

"Black Sweat" would have made me get 3121 which would lead to checking out other albums like The Rainbow Children and LOtUSFLOW3R, but beyond those, I don't see me being a big fan if his entire output was post-2000.

Ask that question 2 any musician breathing..........

databank said:

stpaisios said:

From this perspective Prince is the most important musican of 20&21 century.Talent is a talent...it's a gift.It's all about time and perspective.In Prince case it's a masterful possiblity to absorb music from generations back in a new form (and i can't name an artist that can to that in a way Prince does) and express something that smoldering in you (which is not always clear & profound it is almost something personal and patological deep inside) but also permeating with a zeitgeist in which you are born...smoldrering like a star far away in a sky at night.And with a star of that kind, every new coming generation will stand and look into it, trying to reach and reflect themselves through that...like today we are standing beside one Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Maler, Shostakovich..etc.

So question would I be a fan it's not predictable, because we are taliking about ART with a big A, which always creates a new world - "To create a work of art is to create the world." Wassily Kandinsky.Just look at Prince...he lives what he is doing a 100%, a true Artist.So no matter what time, a talent like this will be recognizable to a lot of people.

[Edited 11/7/15 5:46am]

There are many other musicians from the last 40 years that I consider as significant and/or talented as Prince, few of them being as popular as he is, though. Some also have a catalogue that's as, if not more impressive than his in terms of quantity.

Obviously (I wouldn't be here) I consider Prince to be among the greatest of the greatest in contemporary popular music, and he's by far my favorite, but my point is just that he's not as uniquely talented as I used to think when I was a teen, and that some people sometimes say he is here.

Don't get me wrong, though: I think at some point after Prince passes (the later the better) there'll be a rediscovery of the immensity of his catalogue and I'm not even talking what's in the vault but anything he'll have released in his lifetime (if the vault is opened either before or after his death, then it'll be even more massive). I really try to appreciate his work as a whole and not mostly/only in light of the first decade, and everytime I think of the colossal amount of quality, inspired material that he's been accumulating for nearly 40 years, I'm like wow!

But some others such as Björk or Kate Bush have a similarly unique "voice" (style) that have been extremely influencial, and yet others such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono, Bill Laswell, Frank Zappa, the P-Funk All-Stars (as a collective), John Zorn, Herbie Hancock or Chick Corea will also leave an stunningly massive legacy behind them in terms of both quality and quantity.

Of course.My post is probably to much pro-Prince orientated, but i don't have intention to idealize him in order to underestimate other big names in music, especially when i know what influenced him in a musical way.But somehow in Prince things have crystallized and get new higher levels of artistic approach to life, music, freedom.Those are that rare moments in one century or decade, where someone just appears on earth from nowhere and make big things.For example, from your list above i appreciate every name mentioned...but lets look at Frank Zappa and John Zorn, because they are close to my taste.Talented, very productive musicans, you can listen to them, enrich your musical taste and life...but there is something missing in their work, some magical link that would let them being a reflective stars of their generations in a way and level Prince is.I don't tell they are not reflective and good to people that take them serious in artistic way or that they are not good because they dont have Hits as massive as Prince has, but you just step aside and listen one Purple Rain, Sign of O' times, 1999, Parade...and take some notable work of other artist...and when U interpret them in correlation with a time they appeared, personal reflections and they way thier affect people...U can easily make a diffrence.

Blixical said:

The Arsenio appearance was just absolutely useless. The question thrown his way were idiotic, and his dissengenous answers reveal little to nothing about him, and came off as arrogant and self-concious...FROM man in his mid 50s!

Yeah...i think that show could be much, much, much better if you didn't have one Arsenio on other side, who worship Prince in some exaggerated way that makes me cringe...Ok, dude just relax, he is also a human being, not an alien.

Nope. I doubt many of us would have even heard of him if that was the case. The Rainbow Children would have been seen as culty and unsettling if we weren't familiar with the eccentric personality behind it. Musicology would go unnoticed by the press and 3121 would be seen as a one-album-wonder.

Anyone who has ever seen Prince live post 2000 would laugh at this question.

kapo74 said:

Imagine Purple Rain being released in 2006... No idea if anyone would have noticed. I mean, if his carreer started in 2000 with For You... [Edited 11/7/15 9:23am]

Well, the whole point is that something like that would not happen...diffrent times, context, society, etc.

NorthC said:

thedance said:

no.. I really don't think I would have bought any of his albums then...

Prince has been under the radar for a very long time to non-fans, I doubt I would catch on in 2000 or later.

I am still a fan because of the WB years 1978-1995. And that's also the music I usually play.. still..

I played my purple vinyl of Purple Rain earlier today... still so fresh & amazing..

But... To answer this question, we will have to pretend those albums don't exist. You can't say Purple Rain is better than Musicology because in this hypothetical world, there is no Purple Rain! Looking at it like that, Musicology is a fine album. I think that's the problem with us old fans anyway: we always compare his new albums to the old ones and we've already made up our minds that the old ones are the best anyway. [Edited 11/7/15 0:34am]

Well the old ones are better, they just are. But I do try to take each album for what it is. Being a HUGE fan of 1978-1989 Prince Rainbow Children I listen to just as much all the way through as I do the older albums.
.
I think there is a lot of reason why, but the biggest is he SOLD it, you got a complete package that had flow connection cohesive the music the style the band the proteges the performances etc

.

If 2000 Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic was Princes first we would not have gotten any of that.
If 2001 Rainbow Children for me musically and lyrically I would have been very much interested(being someone who hears music first, who lyrics are sung 2nd, who it all connects 3rd, what the actuall lyrics are 4th) I would have been a fan even if it was that one album, because as we know the style totally changed after this.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Aerogram said:

Ok now, let's play if MJ, Madonna, U2, Dylan, etc. would start their career in 2000.

MJ's first and only album would have been 2001's Invincible, which sold 13 million worldwide. Heaven Can Wait, Butterflies and You Rock My World would have made me a fan. That's not too shabby for a one-hit wonder.

In addition several of Bob Dylan's post-2000 albums are extremely well regarded critically, with some, like Love And Theft and Modern Times being considered among his best, so he's not a great example to use in this regard.

he wouldnt release THOSE types of albums so early in a career

stpaisios said:

databank said:

There are many other musicians from the last 40 years that I consider as significant and/or talented as Prince, few of them being as popular as he is, though. Some also have a catalogue that's as, if not more impressive than his in terms of quantity.

Obviously (I wouldn't be here) I consider Prince to be among the greatest of the greatest in contemporary popular music, and he's by far my favorite, but my point is just that he's not as uniquely talented as I used to think when I was a teen, and that some people sometimes say he is here.

Don't get me wrong, though: I think at some point after Prince passes (the later the better) there'll be a rediscovery of the immensity of his catalogue and I'm not even talking what's in the vault but anything he'll have released in his lifetime (if the vault is opened either before or after his death, then it'll be even more massive). I really try to appreciate his work as a whole and not mostly/only in light of the first decade, and everytime I think of the colossal amount of quality, inspired material that he's been accumulating for nearly 40 years, I'm like wow!

But some others such as Björk or Kate Bush have a similarly unique "voice" (style) that have been extremely influencial, and yet others such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono, Bill Laswell, Frank Zappa, the P-Funk All-Stars (as a collective), John Zorn, Herbie Hancock or Chick Corea will also leave an stunningly massive legacy behind them in terms of both quality and quantity.

Of course.My post is probably to much pro-Prince orientated, but i don't have intention to idealize him in order to underestimate other big names in music, especially when i know what influenced him in a musical way.But somehow in Prince things have crystallized and get new higher levels of artistic approach to life, music, freedom.Those are that rare moments in one century or decade, where someone just appears on earth from nowhere and make big things.For example, from your list above i appreciate every name mentioned...but lets look at Frank Zappa and John Zorn, because they are close to my taste.Talented, very productive musicans, you can listen to them, enrich your musical taste and life...but there is something missing in their work, some magical link that would let them being a reflective stars of their generations in a way and level Prince is.I don't tell they are not reflective and good to people that take them serious in artistic way or that they are not good because they dont have Hits as massive as Prince has, but you just step aside and listen one Purple Rain, Sign of O' times, 1999, Parade...and take some notable work of other artist...and when U interpret them in correlation with a time they appeared, personal reflections and they way thier affect people...U can easily make a diffrence.

I agree. Regardless of commercial success and accessibility of the music to mainstream audiences, Zappa and Zorn and all of the prolific ones named above had/have a much more intellectual approach, more experimental but more distanced from their work while P's music is often like a diary and has a much stronger, more intimate emotional approach. Bush or Björk or other songwriters could compete in that domain but none that I know of offer such extensive discographies (by far).

Prince in that sense managed to bridge the gap between quantity and diversity on one hand, emotional strength and intimacy on the other. I wish he would have recorded (or released, we don't know what's in the vault after 95) more experimental works a la Crystal Ball (the song), The Flesh, 16, Kamasutra, The War or N.E.W.S.: had he allowed himself to be a little more of an experimental artist, and to explore more genres beyond american R&B/pop/rock, his legacy would have blown everyone away

Yes. definitely.

I've been a fan since 1981-82? and I'm really happy with the direction his music has taken.