james said:

homesquid said:

How the fuck did Prince go from that unique, challenging, delicious genius album to Emancipation????!! Was a lobotomy performed on Prince we aren't aware of?

.

I've always had a theory about this...

.

He was at a creative peak after SOTT, The Black Album and then Lovesexy... although Lovesexy was quite a different album!

.

Then, Batman came along, and Tim Burton, and Princes entire outlook changed. Overnight he seemed to go from being happy to be creative to chasing a Top 10 hit... and that's the mode he's been in ever since (pretty much).

More like Lovesexy was a huge commercial flop. The sounds most of this board cherishes, the Prince we nearly all adore -- found himself with dismall chart numbers and half empty arenas. Should he have doubled down and release more Lovesexy-esque records, to dwindling returns?

He made the right decision to evolve. So many of us idealize the 80s -- it was super-cool to be into Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain and SOTT -- the other album were considered lacklustre and Lovesexy was seen as a misguided self-indulgent move.

So he did Batman and returned to commercial viability -- thank god because so many great songs were written and distributed some way or the other. If Prince had just stayed on the carousel we all fantasize about, maybe the sound would have fossilized, just him aping the things we all like (almost) forever.

So Prince evolved and hopefully so did you. If you're sitting at home in the same size pants you wore back in the eighties, are still full of sexy creative whimsy and revolutionize your wardrobe or life on a yearly basis, congratulations but pix or it didn't happen.

The nude album cover and the choice of singles is what prevented Lovesexy from becoming a big-selling album.

I remember when the album came out reading reviews saying Prince was showing signs of repeating himself. I didn't at the time, nor do I now, understand this. I think Lovesexy is one of the most unique Prince albums. Plus, I don't hear how any of it is a retread of what he has done previously. Musically, to me, Prince sounds libertated as if he the music flowed easily from him. I could care less that it didn't chart well - it's still an amazing artistic achievement.

SoulAlive said:

Aerogram said:

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

LMAO!!!

I wouldn't say that about Emancipation.

But, I would reapeat your question and replace Emancipation with Hit N Run Phase One.

If you find this mediocre thread super hilarious, then That says something about you because the no life post Lovesexy school is about as original laser guns in sci-if.

What's being original got to do with it? Search your heart. You know it's true.

databank said:

This is a "Prince is over and done" thread in disguise.

There is now a sticky for this discussion.

Bait + mistitle + troll =

It makes me laugh how random people call for threads to be locked. What makes you think anyone should listen? Who made you the arbiter of what people read? Jeez. For those of us that don't spend every waking hour on here, stuff like this isn't so old.

[Edited 11/26/15 21:15pm]

filthyrichyuppie said:

databank said:

This is a "Prince is over and done" thread in disguise.

There is now a sticky for this discussion.

Bait + mistitle + troll =

It makes me laugh how random people call for threads to be locked. I'm a member of this community, why shouldn't I when I feel it's violating the rules we all agreed on? What makes you think anyone should listen? The mods are not "anyone" and they are making the call. Who made you the arbiter of what people read? I'm just making use of my freedom of speech to condemn intellectual dishonesty the same way certain people use theirs to condone it. Jeez. For those of us that don't spend every waking hour on here, stuff like this isn't so old. It doesn't make it any more smarter or less dishonest a thread.

[Edited 11/26/15 21:15pm]

filthyrichyuppie said:

databank said:

This is a "Prince is over and done" thread in disguise.

There is now a sticky for this discussion.

Bait + mistitle + troll =

It makes me laugh how random people call for threads to be locked. What makes you think anyone should listen? Who made you the arbiter of what people read? Jeez. For those of us that don't spend every waking hour on here, stuff like this isn't so old.

[Edited 11/26/15 21:15pm]

To make myself clearer: I read the thread title and opened it thinking I was going to read something about Lovesexy. Then I realized it was, in fact, a thread about Emancipation! Then I realized talking about Emancipation was just an excuse to create another thread about Prince being over and done. That's not even ONE misleading and attempt at manipulating me as a reader but TWO! How lower can one sink? Am I the one with a problem?

"Prince is over and done" is topic than a moderator (not me, a mod!) has recently, finally, decided should be a sticky because we get a xerox copy of it under various banners twice a week at least. I therefore do not see why I shouldn't call for locks.

[Edited 11/27/15 6:55am]

databank said:

filthyrichyuppie said:

It makes me laugh how random people call for threads to be locked. What makes you think anyone should listen? Who made you the arbiter of what people read? Jeez. For those of us that don't spend every waking hour on here, stuff like this isn't so old.

[Edited 11/26/15 21:15pm]

To make myself clearer: I read the thread title and opened it thinking I was going to read something about Lovesexy. Then I realized it was, in fact, a thread about Emancipation! Then I realized talking about Emancipation was just an excuse to create another thread about Prince being over and done. That's not even ONE misleading and attempt at manipulating me as a reader but TWO! How lower can one sink? Am I the one with a problem?

"Prince is over and done" is topic than a moderator (not me, a mod!) has recently, finally, decided should be a sticky because we get a xerox copy of it under various banners twice a week at least. I therefore do not see why I shouldn't call for locks.

[Edited 11/27/15 6:55am]

As the starter of this thread I can assure you that was not my intention. I had just listened to Emancipation (skipping thru to tracks I like) and then LoveSexy and was feeling lovey dovey about it. The two albums are like polar opposites. Like a different artist made them. I cannot say for sure "Prince is done" but I will say he is in an epic slump.

[Edited 11/27/15 7:53am]

databank said:

filthyrichyuppie said:

It makes me laugh how random people call for threads to be locked. What makes you think anyone should listen? Who made you the arbiter of what people read? Jeez. For those of us that don't spend every waking hour on here, stuff like this isn't so old.

[Edited 11/26/15 21:15pm]

To make myself clearer: I read the thread title and opened it thinking I was going to read something about Lovesexy. Then I realized it was, in fact, a thread about Emancipation! Then I realized talking about Emancipation was just an excuse to create another thread about Prince being over and done. That's not even ONE misleading and attempt at manipulating me as a reader but TWO! How lower can one sink? Am I the one with a problem?

"Prince is over and done" is topic than a moderator (not me, a mod!) has recently, finally, decided should be a sticky because we get a xerox copy of it under various banners twice a week at least. I therefore do not see why I shouldn't call for locks.

[Edited 11/27/15 6:55am]

By all means express yourself but who cares, really? Wading through all your verbiage, I can only assume you have way too much time on your hands. Which, let's face it, often prompts people to things like--calling for forum threads to be locked.

homesquid said:

databank said:

To make myself clearer: I read the thread title and opened it thinking I was going to read something about Lovesexy. Then I realized it was, in fact, a thread about Emancipation! Then I realized talking about Emancipation was just an excuse to create another thread about Prince being over and done. That's not even ONE misleading and attempt at manipulating me as a reader but TWO! How lower can one sink? Am I the one with a problem?

"Prince is over and done" is topic than a moderator (not me, a mod!) has recently, finally, decided should be a sticky because we get a xerox copy of it under various banners twice a week at least. I therefore do not see why I shouldn't call for locks.

[Edited 11/27/15 6:55am]

As the starter of this thread I can assure you that was not my intention. I had just listened to Emancipation (skipping thru to tracks I like) and then LoveSexy and was feeling lovey dovey about it. The two albums are like polar opposites. Like a different artist made them. I cannot say for sure "Prince is done" but I will say he is in an epic slump.

[Edited 11/27/15 7:53am]

Fair enough but then express yourself clearly, for example title ur thread "Lovesexy vs. Emancipation". Then we could address the real topic, in which case I would tell you that I actually find extreme parallels, between all possible parallels between Prince albums, between those 2. Both express a feeling of epiphany, both are extremely emotional and ridiculously romantic AND religious, both highlight the same themes, both contain some very personal statements, both feature very complex layers of arrangements. To me, Emancipation is just a more mature, less impulsive but nevertheless thematic continuation of the same preoccupations. I can respect people disagreeing and I actually wish we could and would have a thread having deep and passionate discussions about this, but un4tunately this is not the thread u have created in the first place. This is the problem over here: intellectual approximation in order to express personal feelings leads to phoney/superficial debates. State your point clearly and let's have a fascinating thread that goes beyond personal appreciation: I do believe comparing those 2 albums and what they say about Prince's evolution as an artist and as a person could lead to fascinating debates.

[Edited 11/27/15 11:51am]

filthyrichyuppie said:

databank said:

To make myself clearer: I read the thread title and opened it thinking I was going to read something about Lovesexy. Then I realized it was, in fact, a thread about Emancipation! Then I realized talking about Emancipation was just an excuse to create another thread about Prince being over and done. That's not even ONE misleading and attempt at manipulating me as a reader but TWO! How lower can one sink? Am I the one with a problem?

"Prince is over and done" is topic than a moderator (not me, a mod!) has recently, finally, decided should be a sticky because we get a xerox copy of it under various banners twice a week at least. I therefore do not see why I shouldn't call for locks.

[Edited 11/27/15 6:55am]

By all means express yourself but who cares, really? Wading through all your verbiage, I can only assume you have way too much time on your hands. Which, let's face it, often prompts people to things like--calling for forum threads to be locked.

"Let's face it"

This sentence is the anthem of the uneducated

Why think? Let's just "face it".

databank said:

filthyrichyuppie said:

By all means express yourself but who cares, really? Wading through all your verbiage, I can only assume you have way too much time on your hands. Which, let's face it, often prompts people to things like--calling for forum threads to be locked.

"Let's face it"

This sentence is the anthem of the uneducated

Why think? Let's just "face it".

"Let's face it"--the expression--refers to a statement of the obvious not to a closed mind. Do you even know what you're talking about? Also: "the anthem of the uneducated". Is that one of yours? Das poh tree, dat is.

filthyrichyuppie said:

databank said:

"Let's face it"

This sentence is the anthem of the uneducated

Why think? Let's just "face it".

"Let's face it"--the expression--refers to a statement of the obvious not to a closed mind. Do you even know what you're talking about? Also: "the anthem of the uneducated". Is that one of yours? Das poh tree, dat is.

filthyrichyuppie said:

Aerogram said:

LovesexyIsThe1 said: If you find this mediocre thread super hilarious, then That says something about you because the no life post Lovesexy school is about as original laser guns in sci-if.

What's being original got to do with it? Search your heart. You know it's true.

I've searched and searched and found that I enjoyed AOA at least as much as I enjoyed Lovesexy back in the day and that, my friend, is more than enough for me to reject this very conventional idea that suddenly after Lovesexy, it was no more...

He became more concerned with commercial viability after that record because his fanbase of arty funk soldiers was dwindling dramatically. Lovesexy nearly bankrupted him, continuing on that uncommercial path would have pleased the Princesteligentsia like you or I but probably cemented his fate as one decade wonder.

Thank god he did Batman because it was time for the sake of his longterm legacy to reclaim his commercial viability so he could continue and give us all those great songs he's done since.

mikeyaddict said:

Lovesex is my jam.

Never Dug Lovesexy...

I was a DIEHARD fan ie: camping out overnight with fans to get Parade & Sign...

When Lovesexy hit my local shop i didnt even buy it...

feeluupp said:

Prince's last GENIUS album? Or as Alex Han said, an album wiht a few excellent tracks, but LOVESEXY was the first PRINCE album that nothing new was invented... Every Prince album his sound evolved musically, and with Lovesexy it was if we had heard everything before already...

Real mixed reactions for me...

There are legitimate criticisms to be leveled at the album, but the idea that Prince was repeating himself doesn't seem like a fair one. If anything, it was rather the opposite. I can't think of any tracks on it that sounded redundant or repetitive except for "When 2 R in Love", but that's every Prince ballad. I'm having a hard time drawing immediate comaprisons to "Eye Know", "Anna Stesia", "Dance On", "Positivity", "Glam Slam", "I Wish U Heaven" or even the title track from his prior catalog to that point.

If anything, I remember the general reaction being that the sound was, in fact, too far out there, overproduced, orchestral and ethereal to the point where people weren't sure exactly what the fuck to make out of it. I guess Parade would be the closest comparison.

databank said:

This is a "Prince is over and done" thread in disguise.

There is now a sticky for this discussion.

Bait + mistitle + troll =

.

I must say I have grown to really dislike this idea. To put this discussion in the same thread as discussions about other discussions with a similar topic would make it close to impossible to follow each argument. For me this is the equivalent of thought police. I don't like it here on the org - I enjoyed the anarchy of the forums, until this idea surfaced. Now everywhere I see you calling out for a lock.

Lovesexy was my realisation that sometimes Prince just released stuff to be releasing 'Stuff" ..

It felt like Overload when it came out.. Although i saw the tour 4 times and it was the BOMB!

SoulAlive said:

I think most of us would agree that the years 1980-1988 were Prince's creative peak.That's when he made the strongest,most inspired music of his career.

I listened to 'Condition of the Heart' tonight and just briefly thought about his last album. That thought consisted of WTF?!

[Edited 11/29/15 16:22pm]

ConsciousContact said:

BoraBora said:

Lovesexy is underrated.

It's overrated and underrated.

Everything is. All the time.

feeluupp said:

novabrkr said:

Nothing new? As if you had heard everything on it already?

Stop exaggerating. The album uses completely different synth and drum sounds as the previous ones. He literally changed his electronic instruments for that record. The way the songs are constructed is quite different from the earlier records, especially the way he started writing melodies.

Don't think you READ the post correctly. That is what Alex Han said about Lovesexy, in his book Posessed... He said even though there were some great standout tracks it was a sound that we already heard from in terms of Prince's own music.

Conclusion. Alex Hahn had an opinion, and so do i. I didn't buy his book because... well, he's just a dick with an opinion looking for money... And he got some from other dicks.

Marrk said:

ConsciousContact said:

It's overrated and underrated.

Everything is. All the time.

What do you mean

irreverence said:

databank said:

This is a "Prince is over and done" thread in disguise.

There is now a sticky for this discussion.

Bait + mistitle + troll =

.

I must say I have grown to really dislike this idea. To put this discussion in the same thread as discussions about other discussions with a similar topic would make it close to impossible to follow each argument. For me this is the equivalent of thought police. I don't like it here on the org - I enjoyed the anarchy of the forums, until this idea surfaced. Now everywhere I see you calling out for a lock.

My idea was to get a sticky for variations of "Prince is over and done" or "Prince has sabotaged his career", since once to twice a week a reformulation of this concept is an excuse for a new thread, and it's been going on without interruption (once or twice a week, I ain't shitting you, sad as it is) for YEARS.

Merging this with the gossip and nonsense thread was OldFriend4Sale's idea and I agree that maybe TWO different stickies should be created, because discussing P's make-up and haircut or theories about him foreseeing the future, being gay or being an illuminati isn't the same as moaning about how lame an artist he has supposedly become. However it's not my call to make and I do believe that allowing the same topic to be recreated week after week without anything new to say from its various OP's is little less than visual pollution on this forum. I would say the same if threads saying "Prince is the greatest musician of all times" were created every week, BTW: it's ridiculous to allow this to happen regardless of the topic or opinion it defends.

Since forum rules do not allow duplicates, I do not think creating a sticky for this is any more thought police than creating a sticky for a new album in order to avoid having 35 different threads about the new album coexisting on a chaotic front page. Impoirtant news and interesting threads about P's music or career just get lost in the chaos and it's a pity.

homesquid said:

How the fuck did Prince go from that unique, challenging, delicious genius album to Emancipation????!! Was a lobotomy performed on Prince we aren't aware of?

Ok! Lovesexy is, beside SOTT, the real top of his 80's material, at least for me...but

ConsciousContact said:

BoraBora said:

Lovesexy is underrated.

It's overrated and underrated.

Lovesexy is perfectly rated.

jdcxc said:

SoulAlive said:

The nude album cover and the choice of singles is what prevented Lovesexy from becoming a big-selling album.

The album cover definitely kept it out of the Top Five. At that time, Walmart controlled a large market share and wouldn't carry the album due to the cover. Also, the one track sequencing didn't help.

The one track sequencing killed it, IMO. I appreciate the thought behind it, but not being able to find your favorite track even kept me from listening to it in the car.

herb4 said:

There are legitimate criticisms to be leveled at the album, but the idea that Prince was repeating himself doesn't seem like a fair one. If anything, it was rather the opposite. I can't think of any tracks on it that sounded redundant or repetitive except for "When 2 R in Love", but that's every Prince ballad. I'm having a hard time drawing immediate comaprisons to "Eye Know", "Anna Stesia", "Dance On", "Positivity", "Glam Slam", "I Wish U Heaven" or even the title track from his prior catalog to that point.

If anything, I remember the general reaction being that the sound was, in fact, too far out there, overproduced, orchestral and ethereal to the point where people weren't sure exactly what the fuck to make out of it. I guess Parade would be the closest comparison.

I totally agree here, except that I would also include "When 2 R in love".

Lovesexy is certainly not my favorite album, but it was definately different than the albums he had done before.