I've grown up with Prince, as I'm sure many of you have.

.

There is not a stage of my life, a relationship, a birth, a death, or a significant event that I cannot associate with a particular Prince album or song!

.

I'm not a newbie but also not one of the elder statesmen on here. I got hooked at the age of 16 in 1991 when I first heard "Cream" and my life changed forever.

.

Some 10 years later I started listening and appreciating Springsteen to almost the same level - although he always registered a close second to Prince.

.

I still love Prince's output now, I don't hanker for the 80s sound but just appreciate the talent and the direction his new music takes us.

.

That said, at my ripe old age (40), I find Springsteens recent and current work more in line with my maturity - the song writing, the lyrical subjects, the reflections on life etc......

.

I still like to party but I struggle listening to "Like a Mack" from a man who is also capable of writing "Stare".

.

Does anyone share a similar experience, as they age with Prince?

Prince never wrote from a place of normalcy. He isn't going to start now. He may have dropped the '' as his brandname and gone back to the more valuable and better regarded 'Prince' brand, but The Artist Formerly Known As Prince is still his creative mantra and self-identity, so there is little point in expecting anything more than fakeness and fluff, as the true Prince is still being held captive by TAFKAP.

I have been a Prince fan a lot longer than you, but I could not care any less when I don't get into Prince's newer works, not when there are tons of older Prince works I love. For the simple fact, there is TONS OF PRINCE MATERIAL. And to me, none of it ages... negatively. The sound from that time is just what it is, and that's fine by me. Prince has supplied me with more than enough music, so I don't mind him releasing "basic" or "trivial" songs if that's his prerogative. It's not like I don't have 1,000 other Prince songs to choose from. Why restrict his creativity? The more music from Prince, the better. It goes without saying that you never know what you're going to get from him musically, and I actually think that's a good thing.

pdiddy2011 said:

I have been a Prince fan a lot longer than you, but I could not care any less when I don't get into Prince's newer works, not when there are tons of older Prince works I love. For the simple fact, there is TONS OF PRINCE MATERIAL. And to me, none of it ages... negatively. The sound from that time is just what it is, and that's fine by me. Prince has supplied me with more than enough music, so I don't mind him releasing "basic" or "trivial" songs if that's his prerogative. It's not like I don't have 1,000 other Prince songs to choose from. Why restrict his creativity? The more music from Prince, the better. It goes without saying that you never know what you're going to get from him musically, and I actually think that's a good thing.

I agree completely. I find a lot of his music doesn't age, I thnk it's more about me aging and my taste developing / changing as a result. I listen to his back catalogue all the time and still look forward to his new work.

I would never want to restrict his creativity but would ask the question if songs like "Ain't about to Stop" and "Boytrouble" to name but 2 are stretching or even challenging his creativity???

Now look, you young 'un's - let a 56-year-old who's been a fan since "Soft and Wet" weigh in!

I love the comparison between Prince and Bruce, because those are my two favorite artists. They are exceptional musicians and incredible people. But they are completely different artists.

They come from different places - not just physically and racially, but emotionally. Their drives and muses aren't the same. So it's no surprise that in different periods of their careers, a fan of both might prefer one over the other.

They are just different.

pdiddy2011 said:

I have been a Prince fan a lot longer than you, but I could not care any less when I don't get into Prince's newer works, not when there are tons of older Prince works I love. For the simple fact, there is TONS OF PRINCE MATERIAL. And to me, none of it ages... negatively. The sound from that time is just what it is, and that's fine by me.

Prince has supplied me with more than enough music, so I don't mind him releasing "basic" or "trivial" songs if that's his prerogative.

It's not like I don't have 1,000 other Prince songs to choose from. Why restrict his creativity? The more music from Prince, the better. It goes without saying that you never know what you're going to get from him musically, and I actually think that's a good thing.

I'm with you, but dubbing H'n'R creative... Come on!

The more music from Prince, the better.

Ow no. That's exactly what his inner circle must agree to, daily.
It's this nodding-to-all attitude that gives us crappy Skipper "music".

You're not logical. On one side you're happy to have tons of past creative stuff to listen to, and then you're saying that unloading crap on top of sugar doesn't hurt.

It does, and as a result no one digs his music but himself and his lazy yaysayers fans.
The rest of us deleted him from their musical panorama.
Like you, we have the ghost of Prince Rogers Nelson to keep us company.
We're sticking around in case something happens, and, like Bruce would say,
we're just "countin' on a miracle".

It's this state of mind that is turning him into his own Madame Tussaud statue.
I can't stand this "let him do what he wants" attitude.
Because as a result, we get the shit out, we yawn, the public yawns,
and the good stuff stays in The Vault,
when it should be the opposite.

The more he waits, the more senseless it's going be when he release it (if ever).
It's just pop music, it ain't that eternal.

[Edited 11/10/15 6:51am]

Harps said:

I've grown up with Prince, as I'm sure many of you have.

.

There is not a stage of my life, a relationship, a birth, a death, or a significant event that I cannot associate with a particular Prince album or song!

.

I'm not a newbie but also not one of the elder statesmen on here. I got hooked at the age of 16 in 1991 when I first heard "Cream" and my life changed forever.

.

Some 10 years later I started listening and appreciating Springsteen to almost the same level - although he always registered a close second to Prince.

.

I still love Prince's output now, I don't hanker for the 80s sound but just appreciate the talent and the direction his new music takes us.

.

That said, at my ripe old age (40), I find Springsteens recent and current work more in line with my maturity - the song writing, the lyrical subjects, the reflections on life etc......

.

I still like to party but I struggle listening to "Like a Mack" from a man who is also capable of writing "Stare".

.

Does anyone share a similar experience, as they age with Prince?

Nah, for me it's always been either I like something or I don't regardless of the year or era. Prince is only a couple of years older than I am and I've been a fan since '82

For example, I thought that AOA was excellent and I love it but I don't much care for HitNRun at all.


Oops, I forgot....

I think that Bruce is cool beans too but it never occurs to me to compare the two. They are so different.

[Edited 11/10/15 6:55am]

bonatoc said:

pdiddy2011 said:

I have been a Prince fan a lot longer than you, but I could not care any less when I don't get into Prince's newer works, not when there are tons of older Prince works I love. For the simple fact, there is TONS OF PRINCE MATERIAL. And to me, none of it ages... negatively. The sound from that time is just what it is, and that's fine by me.

Prince has supplied me with more than enough music, so I don't mind him releasing "basic" or "trivial" songs if that's his prerogative.

It's not like I don't have 1,000 other Prince songs to choose from. Why restrict his creativity? The more music from Prince, the better. It goes without saying that you never know what you're going to get from him musically, and I actually think that's a good thing.

I'm with you, but dubbing H'n'R creative... Come on!

The more music from Prince, the better.

Ow no. That's exactly what his inner circle must agree to, daily.
It's this nodding-to-all attitude that gives us crappy Skipper "music".

You're not logical. On one side you're happy to have tons of past creative stuff to listen to, and then you're saying that unloading crap on top of sugar doesn't hurt.

It does, and as a result no one digs his music but himself and his lazy yaysayers fans.
The rest of us deleted him from their musical panorama.
Like you, we have the ghost of Prince Rogers Nelson to keep us company.
We're sticking around in case something happens, and, like Bruce would say,
we're just "countin' on a miracle".

It's this state of mind that is turning him into his own Madame Tussaud statue.
I can't stand this "let him do what he wants" attitude.
Because as a result, we get the shit out, we yawn, the public yawns,
and the good stuff stays in The Vault,
when it should be the opposite.

The more he waits, the more senseless it's going be when he release it (if ever).
It's just pop music, it ain't that eternal.

[Edited 11/10/15 6:51am]

Give me a break.

Just because you don't like something doesn't make it not creative. I have no problem with a musician putting out all kinds of music based on his feeling at the time.

Everyone that likes the music you don't like is lazy since your approval is what makes something good or bad?

I'll never let you tell me what I should like or shouldn't like. You can throw out all the big words you want and type out these long soliloquies ad naseum.

How is it hurting anyone if he feels something and goes with it. Does he have all of your credit cards or bank cards or something? If you don't like what he's selling, buy something else. Turn the station. Don't go to the concerts. For someone who thinks so highly of himself, that's a pretty basic concept you don't seem to grasp.

If you enlightened one have deleted him from your musical panorama, what the heck are you hanging around here in the slums for? It's been 20 years since the ghost of Prince has been flying around.

Some people don't feel like they've contributed unless they're complaining. (By some people, I mean you.)

And before you retort with "you people who praise everything Prince does...", I don't. Some of his music is not my cup of tea. Some of his methods are not what I would have done. It has been that way for the 30+ years I've been a fan. But, I'm a Prince fan, not a Prince fan/manager/life coach, which a bunch of people on here get confused about. (Again, I'm including you.)

^ It's not about liking or not something.

When you have musical experience, whether you play an instrument or you have listened to a many great deal of music in your life (I did both), you can tell when a composition is lazy or not.

That's the problem with this tremendous access to music the internet gave us.
You suddenly realize that this or that song has, well... already been made.

Prince is too talented to put out low-fi, low quality versions of himself.

Soliloquies. Ooooh...

I don't know why we pollute the org's servers with yet another discussion about "if you don't like, go somewhere else". I don't know, and I have no hard feelings, but it is kind of dummy.

Forums are exactly what you're complaining about. About expressing our opinions.
I'm sorry if you take it personnally, me using the word "you" in my replies is hust a figure of speech. I'm not going to use impersonal rethoric to make my point, sorry.

I have italian blood and I like to argue.
If it sounds harsh, gimme the electric chair for all my future posts, y'all.

bonatoc said:

^ It's not about liking or not something.

When you have musical experience, whether you play an instrument or you have listened to a many great deal of music in your life (I did both), you can tell when a composition is lazy or not.

That's the problem with this tremendous access to music the internet gave us.
You suddenly realize that this or that song has, well... already been made.

Prince is too talented to put out low-fi, low quality versions of himself.

Soliloquies. Ooooh...

I don't know why we pollute the org's servers with yet another discussion about "if you don't like, go somewhere else". I don't know, and I have no hard feelings, but it is kind of dummy.

Forums are exactly what you're complaining about. About expressing our opinions.
I'm sorry if you take it personnally, me using the word "you" in my replies is hust a figure of speech. I'm not going to use impersonal rethoric to make my point, sorry.

I have italian blood and I like to argue.
If it sounds harsh, gimme the electric chair for all my future posts, y'all.

You have your right to your opinion just like I do.

As usual, my problem with some of the opinions on here is when you insult other people for enjoying something you don't like. Whether you play an instrument or have taken an advanced music theory course or you have listened to a great deal of music doesn't necessarily make your ear any better than the next persons. And even if it does, that doesn't mean you have to insult other people to give your critique of the music.

I don't even have a problem with you enjoying the art of the argument. I'd say you lose though, when you resort to namecalling and insults. Vomiting out a lot of words doesn't make your argument any more convincing, either.

[Edited 11/11/15 13:20pm]

If I offended someone, I am sorry, that was not the goal.

I'd rather have you punch me back, throw some valid arguments at me, with, again, guts.

Yes, I'm quite often in attack mode, but I am expecting to be proven otherwise.
Mine are caricatures, I thought it was obvious that I'm inflating things to get a reaction.
But your and other orgers reaction to some healthy provocation always seems to be :
"Oh, bonatoc is so mean, so disrespectful".
I didn't know, I was posting, in a cathedral.

Maybe it's cultural, I don't know.
I really don't know what makes you think mine are personal attacks.
It's ridiculous, here I am justifying myself to express myself.

I feel entitled to open my big mouth because yes, I know what performing in front of a public is, I know how demanding the study of an instrument is, I know how hard recording and mixing is, I know what working in a record company means, and lastly I feel entitled to open my big big mouth because I bought almost anything there was to buy from Skipper, at a time when you had to spit out your bucks, and the internet was still a military thing.

I do not blabber, my friend.
Don't tell me I have an high opinion of myself, when Prince is clearly the ultimate champion at it.
Our hero is the alpha and the omega of being full of oneself.

"Oh, but he sold a zillion record, he's a legend, he has any right".
No, he doesn't have the right to treat his public the way he does. It's been years now.
I'm one of the many who made the guy rich.
Prince probably owes me only a door knob of his mansion,
but that door would not open without my money.
"Can you relate?"

About the practicing of music having nothing to do with the ability to enjoy it, OK.
But last time I checked, people seemed to enjoy Susan Boyle.
People do need an education in art, there's a strong lack of it, and tremendous amounts of disrespect for people trying out new things.

It's not the public's fault, they've been trained that way. For most people, music is fast food.
Don't come selling me your "musical democracy" when listening to Prince is de facto considered to be an elitist act (ask around you).
You, my friend, are a fan of the least democratic guy there is in show-business, an arrogant prick who thinks he can litteraly steal $77 from people who are just supporting him, in every sense of the word, and never make an apology about it.

The more information you have, the greater the number of elements at your disposal to articulate a judgement. And so it is with music, I'm sorry.
I'm not going to forgive people ignorance under the alibi of "democracy", especially not in times where every record that has ever been made is just a torrent away.
You're justifying laziness in taste, and poor culture.

Just because you lend an ear to some "100 greatest albums of all time" doesn't mean you're a music lover.
It just mean you know your ABC.
We live in a world that treats art as tapestry.
It's slowly becoming totally practical.
Playlist are the ultimate syndrome. A playlist to do your jogging with, a playlist to get laid.
But to take an hour to sit in the dark and listen to an album without distractions is no more.

You know what? Yes, my ear is better than the next person.

But hey,

"I can't help it if I'm lucky"
— Bob Dylan
Idiot Wind - Blood On The Tracks (1975)

bonatoc said:

If I offended someone, I am sorry, that was not the goal.

I'd rather have you punch me back, throw some valid arguments at me, with, again, guts.

Yes, I'm quite often in attack mode, but I am expecting to be proven otherwise.
Mine are caricatures, I thought it was obvious that I'm inflating things to get a reaction.
But your and other orgers reaction to some healthy provocation always seems to be :
"Oh, bonatoc is so mean, so disrespectful".
I didn't know, I was posting, in a cathedral.

Maybe it's cultural, I don't know.
I really don't know what makes you think mine are personal attacks.
It's ridiculous, here I am justifying myself to express myself.

I feel entitled to open my big mouth because yes, I know what performing in front of a public is, I know how demanding the study of an instrument is, I know how hard recording and mixing is, I know what working in a record company means, and lastly I feel entitled to open my big big mouth because I bought almost anything there was to buy from Skipper, at a time when you had to spit out your bucks, and the internet was still a military thing.

I do not blabber, my friend.
Don't tell me I have an high opinion of myself, when Prince is clearly the ultimate champion at it.
Our hero is the alpha and the omega of being full of oneself.

"Oh, but he sold a zillion record, he's a legend, he has any right".
No, he doesn't have the right to treat his public the way he does. It's been years now.
I'm one of the many who made the guy rich.
Prince probably owes me only a door knob of his mansion,
but that door would not open without my money.
"Can you relate?"

About the practicing of music having nothing to do with the ability to enjoy it, OK.
But last time I checked, people seemed to enjoy Susan Boyle.
People do need an education in art, there's a strong lack of it, and tremendous amounts of disrespect for people trying out new things.

It's not the public's fault, they've been trained that way. For most people, music is fast food.
Don't come selling me your "musical democracy" when listening to Prince is de facto considered to be an elitist act (ask around you).
You, my friend, are a fan of the least democratic guy there is in show-business, an arrogant prick who thinks he can litteraly steal $77 from people who are just supporting him, in every sense of the word, and never make an apology about it.

The more information you have, the greater the number of elements at your disposal to articulate a judgement. And so it is with music, I'm sorry.
I'm not going to forgive people ignorance under the alibi of "democracy", especially not in times where every record that has ever been made is just a torrent away.
You're justifying laziness in taste, and poor culture.

Just because you lend an ear to some "100 greatest albums of all time" doesn't mean you're a music lover.
It just mean you know your ABC.
We live in a world that treats art as tapestry.
It's slowly becoming totally practical.
Playlist are the ultimate syndrome. A playlist to do your jogging with, a playlist to get laid.
But to take an hour to sit in the dark and listen to an album without distractions is no more.

You know what? Yes, my ear is better than the next person.

But hey,

"I can't help it if I'm lucky"
— Bob Dylan
Idiot Wind - Blood On The Tracks (1975)

There you go, (How can I say something with the most words possible?), bomatoc.

So, your goal is to just throw out a myriad of topics and hope that a couple stick? You say you like arguing, but I don't think you're very good at it. Every time you respond you add a half dozen more topics to the issue at hand. Consistently, my issue with you is that you don't have to insult other people to make your critiques of Prince.

I do accept your apology, since you offered it, though for the sake of the next person you apologize to, you should know that a 1,000 word explanation as to why you were right in the first place effectively negates the apology. If you want to be mean and disrespectful, own it. But, don't act as though people are misrepresenting your callous behavior when you're called on it. You have many times called people lazy and/or hero worshipers and/or unenlightened and/or "tin-eared" for enjoying music you find (so utterly) beneath you and your highly trained ears.

We know this isn't a cathedral. Simply because people haven't taken as many music/art appreciation courses as you doesn't make them ineligible to have a valid opinion on music. You think you're the only one who has sat in the dark for an hour and listened to music without distraction? For 2 hours? For 4 hours? So you know how demanding studying an instrument is; so you've spent good money on Prince-related products over the years? Awesome. So that gives you cause to insult me if I like an album you don't? Maybe when you took all those music theory courses, you should have taken a couple of courses on humility. Note to you: just because you think it, it doesn't make it right. I suppose everyone's opinion is right to them. How amusing it must be to look down from your mountaintop at the stupid little opinions of the simple-minded sheep.

By the way, it is telling that you admit that you inflate things to get a reaction. You're just rabble-rousing? OK. Good to know. I can just chalk some of your posts up to you just like to talk and you have found a place where you can do so freely. "We live in a world that treats art as tapestry?" Really? Bloviat much?

Harps said:

I've grown up with Prince, as I'm sure many of you have.

.

There is not a stage of my life, a relationship, a birth, a death, or a significant event that I cannot associate with a particular Prince album or song!

.

I'm not a newbie but also not one of the elder statesmen on here. I got hooked at the age of 16 in 1991 when I first heard "Cream" and my life changed forever.

.

Some 10 years later I started listening and appreciating Springsteen to almost the same level - although he always registered a close second to Prince.

.

I still love Prince's output now, I don't hanker for the 80s sound but just appreciate the talent and the direction his new music takes us.

.

That said, at my ripe old age (40), I find Springsteens recent and current work more in line with my maturity - the song writing, the lyrical subjects, the reflections on life etc......

.

I still like to party but I struggle listening to "Like a Mack" from a man who is also capable of writing "Stare".

.

Does anyone share a similar experience, as they age with Prince?

ODK much about Springsteen, only have and love his first album.

I'm 38 and I still like to party too. I'm not too much into HitnRun Part One but I listen to a LOT of (much better) silly party songs by contemporary artists (no commercial stuff, more this synthpop/nu house/nu disco underground scene) so it's not that. I totally relate to what u r sayin about growing up alongside P's music, I feel that way too, his music has been the soundtrack of my life, not just his but his a lot. So far so good, I found us to grow up on a similar path. In a way u could even say that even though I don't dig HnR so much it corresponds a feeling I have after being in Asia for more than 5 years, a clear nostalgia of my 24 hours party people life back in Europe and a desire to live it again.

databank said:

I feel exactly like you and I love both artists. I see similiarties between the two like their work ethic feels the same to me, longeveity, their dedicated fan base, etc.

But Bruce Springsteen is coming from some place real. He's noticing things around him and writing about it. So is Prince but it feels like he's still trying to prove he can hang with some young cats - which if you think about it, they can't really can't hang with him so he's not coming from a place of truth. Personally, I'm not interested in hearing about record companies or missed sales or whatever. Prince is too preachy and I wish he's tone that down.

I also wish he worked with ppl who weren't so easily star struck - meaning "newbies".

[Edited 11/12/15 7:37am]

KingSausage said:

databank said:

ODK much about Springsteen, only have and love his first album.

I'm 38 and I still like to party too. I'm not too much into HitnRun Part One but I listen to a LOT of (much better) silly party songs by contemporary artists (no commercial stuff, more this synthpop/nu house/nu disco underground scene) so it's not that. I totally relate to what u r sayin about growing up alongside P's music, I feel that way too, his music has been the soundtrack of my life, not just his but his a lot. So far so good, I found us to grow up on a similar path. In a way u could even say that even though I don't dig HnR so much it corresponds a feeling I have after being in Asia for more than 5 years, a clear nostalgia of my 24 hours party people life back in Europe and a desire to live it again.

Databank, I thought your head was gonna explode with another Springsteen comparison thread. Prince's lyrical content has never been particularly sophisticated. He has some gems, no doubt, but he's never been a top notch lyricist. But I don't listen to Prince for lyrics. Or at least not in the same way as I do Dylan and some Springsteen. Artists I love all bring different things to the table: Prince, D'Angelo, Bowie, Dylan, D'Angelo, Van Hunt, St. Vincent, D'Angelo. I hear what the OP is saying though. Sometimes if I want something I can connect to as a guy who's reaching 40, I'm often more drawn to artists with albums that are introspective about age.

As someone with a literary background (though not in English) I do believe Prince is a top-notch lyricist

databank said:

[img:$uid]http://i497.pho.../img:$uid]

Nursey sexy at 43...have no idea what the hell you're talking about

KingSausage said:

databank said:

As someone with a literary background (though not in English) I do believe Prince is a top-notch lyricist

Top notch = Dylan. Prince is at least a few notches below. And I say that as someone with a literary background.

If it was French lyricists we could maybe have an argument but given that it's English I'll take ur word for it

While Prince can write a catchy hook & has written a number of astoninishingly amazing songs, I think Bruce Springsteen is just a superior songwriter & a better observer of the human condition. Prince could never have written an album as cohesive as The Rising. He could barely maintain a consistent theme through "Baltimore."

That's been the case since the start of their careers, just as it has that Springsteen has been more open & willing to talk about his craft, or throw his support behind causes he believes in.

(If we're doing a literary background pissing contest, I have 2 MA's, including one in English Literature from one of the most prestigous Jesuit universities in the U.S. & a home library of just shy of 800 books. Granted, no small number of them are Star Wars related, but there are some classics in there, too!)

KingSausage said:

databank said:

ODK much about Springsteen, only have and love his first album.

I'm 38 and I still like to party too. I'm not too much into HitnRun Part One but I listen to a LOT of (much better) silly party songs by contemporary artists (no commercial stuff, more this synthpop/nu house/nu disco underground scene) so it's not that. I totally relate to what u r sayin about growing up alongside P's music, I feel that way too, his music has been the soundtrack of my life, not just his but his a lot. So far so good, I found us to grow up on a similar path. In a way u could even say that even though I don't dig HnR so much it corresponds a feeling I have after being in Asia for more than 5 years, a clear nostalgia of my 24 hours party people life back in Europe and a desire to live it again.

Databank, I thought your head was gonna explode with another Springsteen comparison thread. Prince's lyrical content has never been particularly sophisticated. He has some gems, no doubt, but he's never been a top notch lyricist. But I don't listen to Prince for lyrics. Or at least not in the same way as I do Dylan and some Springsteen. Artists I love all bring different things to the table: Prince, D'Angelo, Bowie, Dylan, D'Angelo, Van Hunt, St. Vincent, D'Angelo. I hear what the OP is saying though. Sometimes if I want something I can connect to as a guy who's reaching 40, I'm often more drawn to artists with albums that are introspective about age.

I've tried hard not to compare Prince with Springsteen (although clearly I have failed) with this thread. It is more about me reflecting on my musical tastes as I have aged alongside my 2 favourite artists. Wrecking Ball is an outstanding album that I can really relate to and feel the passion - I genuinely feel that Springsteen is getting better whilst Prince is deteriorating. Please don't misunderstand, I am not comparing one against the other - it is how I feel and relate to the recent output from 2 artists who I still consider to be the best there is!

And now ...

In the purple corner, hailing from the Twin Cities, we have ... Prince!

And in the red, white and blue corner, from New Jersey ... Bruce Springsteen!

Fight!!

More seriously and imo, I find Springsteen worthy but dull, trying too hard to be the missing link between Dylan, Elvis and Phil Spector, in the 80s at least. Don't like his voice either, too much bellowing, not enough subtlety.

Prince may be partly the missing link between Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown, and he may be more 'superficial' than Springsteen, but at least he's entertaining to me most of the time . In fact, he's as real in his tradition of entertainment as Bruce, as the flashy but subversive black entertainer a la Duke Ellington, Little Richard etc.

At his best, Prince imo is at least as good a lyricist as Springsteen.

Apples and oranges though.

Harps said:

KingSausage said:

databank said: Databank, I thought your head was gonna explode with another Springsteen comparison thread. Prince's lyrical content has never been particularly sophisticated. He has some gems, no doubt, but he's never been a top notch lyricist. But I don't listen to Prince for lyrics. Or at least not in the same way as I do Dylan and some Springsteen. Artists I love all bring different things to the table: Prince, D'Angelo, Bowie, Dylan, D'Angelo, Van Hunt, St. Vincent, D'Angelo. I hear what the OP is saying though. Sometimes if I want something I can connect to as a guy who's reaching 40, I'm often more drawn to artists with albums that are introspective about age.

I've tried hard not to compare Prince with Springsteen (although clearly I have failed) with this thread. It is more about me reflecting on my musical tastes as I have aged alongside my 2 favourite artists. Wrecking Ball is an outstanding album that I can really relate to and feel the passion - I genuinely feel that Springsteen is getting better whilst Prince is deteriorating. Please don't misunderstand, I am not comparing one against the other - it is how I feel and relate to the recent output from 2 artists who I still consider to be the best there is!

Well then basically to reply your OP more appropriately my tastes have expanded significantly over the years but my fundamentals have never changed. I listen to a much larger variety of things than 20 years ago, I have other needs for more intellectual, experimental or atmospheric music now, but the core of what I listen is still electrofunk and synthpop, and my love for Prince's music has always been motivated in great parts by the funk and synth elements of his music and the fact that it is for the most part joyful, energetic, romantic and dynamic. In that sense, Prince's music still fulfils its mission in my book and that's why I don't feel disconnected from it.

Of course the 3 albums we got this year are a perfect counterexample: Back In time is very "traditional/pre-electrofunk" soul; Hitnrun is filled with commercial electronic sounds that are far-removed from the underground dance music and synthpop scene I dig nowadays; and Oui Can Luv is an acoustic guitar folk album. But Prince going through a phase for a few months isn't going to make me feel disconnected from his music. Of course if he kept releasing records in the vein of those 3 for the next decade maybe then I'd feel that way on the long run, but so far so good, I just trip more on other stuff and I'm pretty confident that soon enough he'll release an electrofunk killer album. In fact the album that could have been made out of those single tracks we got in 2013 (Xtraloveable, Breakfast Can Wait, Boyfriend, Same Page Different Book, Chapter N Verse, Ain't Gonna Miss U, Screwdriver, Groovy Potential...) could have made a perfect Prince album in my book

KingSausage said:

Wrecking Ball is great, isn't it? I can't wait for The River's box set next month.

Isn't it great to have an artist who is still producing quality new music, but at the same time regularly releasing such rich archival & live material?