Aerogram said:

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I would be perfectly happy if Prince released a rock album along the lines of Lotusflower. The problem I have with 3rdEyeGirl is that on the PlecElec album, there was far too much of Hannah singing on it. She can't sing. Her voice is boring and has no personality at all. The only thing she has going for her is her looks. Which are wasted on that joker she's married to. I don't know if Josh is fully to blame for Hitnrun, but his presence in the Prince camp has surely been a factor in that albums creation. I know it has its fans, but for me, it's awful. Too much electronic nonsense. The Weltons will not be missed by me.
I think the reason some fans want a return to the horns based funk is because it would make a refreshing change from the last few albums.
Personally, I don't care what the theme is for the next album, be it rock, jazz, funk. Whatever. I just want it to be Prince. And if he feels the need to have someone else play or feature on the record, then how about someone with proven talent. Andre Cymone, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis or even Questlove. As long as he doesn't find his next collaborator on YouTube, then that's a step in the right direction.

wickyb said:

I always thought he was pretty good. He doesn't inject a huge amount of personality into his playing but he's got a light touch and is absolutely bang on the one, no sloppiness at all. I think a lot of the stick he got was for his machine beats which were pretty wack at the time and have dated badly. As prince fans we were used to really inventive programming prior to that.

I think you've hit the nail on the head.

JediMaster said:

I personally think he gets a lot of grief because he isn't on the same level as Sheila E, John Blackwell or Michael B. That doesn't make him a bad drummer though, and I think it's really a matter of an unfavorable comparison. People get used to Prince having superhuman musicians in his band, and thus the bar gets raised way too high. When someone comes along who is merely "great", then folks tend to think they are crap.

Kirky is also one of those guys who got SO much better as time went on. I saw him play on the "Jam of the Year" tour about six or seven times, and over the course of those shows his playing got better and better. In any other band, people would be praising his abilities. I think P saw his potential, and wanted to make him into the musician he knew he could be. I doubt Prince would be bringing him back if he didn't feel that he was going to bring something to the table.

Brilliant post. Really interesting that you saw Kirky play so often and could gauge the change in his playing, will be fascinating to see how this develops.

Aerogram said:

Empress said:

I hope this is true. I saw him with 3rdEyeGirl this past spring and it was a great concert, but I believe he can find a much better, more interesting band. I'd like to see him make an amazing funk and rock cd without all the Mr Nelson crap and techno sounds. I want real music with meaningful lyrics that will stand the test of time. We need some horns too!! Maeco??

If there's one reason the 'fro could be a wig, it's because he must have tore his own hair away reading comments like that as just a few years ago, it seemed 80% of Orgers wanted a more "rock" sound and 3EG was most likely him taking the advice, then... the pendulum swung right back - now it's "please mo' horns!".

Yep, I remember all the "we're tired of horns and funk" posts from a few years ago. Also, although people keep forgetting to mention it on this thread, Adrian Crutchfield is a member of the new band too so Prince already has his horn player.

Graycap23 said:

One can only hope.

djfine said:

JediMaster said:

I personally think he gets a lot of grief because he isn't on the same level as Sheila E, John Blackwell or Michael B. That doesn't make him a bad drummer though, and I think it's really a matter of an unfavorable comparison. People get used to Prince having superhuman musicians in his band, and thus the bar gets raised way too high. When someone comes along who is merely "great", then folks tend to think they are crap.

Kirky is also one of those guys who got SO much better as time went on. I saw him play on the "Jam of the Year" tour about six or seven times, and over the course of those shows his playing got better and better. In any other band, people would be praising his abilities. I think P saw his potential, and wanted to make him into the musician he knew he could be. I doubt Prince would be bringing him back if he didn't feel that he was going to bring something to the table.

Brilliant post. Really interesting that you saw Kirky play so often and could gauge the change in his playing, will be fascinating to see how this develops.

Thank you!