TrivialPursuit said:

Love Symbol sent me packing. After that I only bought vault albums or cheap/used copies of new albums that I ran across, and they usually didn't measure up. Several years ago I decided to go back to all the stuff I'd skipped in search of the few tracks that might really click for me (and I have found a few). I still have the hardest time with Love Symbol (aside from the singles) and The Rainbow Children, and not much of the NPGMC-era stuff is to my taste, either. I like good chunks of 3121 and Lotusflow3r, and I thought Art Official Age was his best album since the 1980s.

KingSausage said:

PeteSilas said:

thanks for answering my question evryone. personally, I really know so little about rap that I can't really tell the difference between some bum rapping and the best. I guess, unlike you guys, i could block out the rapping and still like the music. I liked P-control and Joint to Joint, tried to sell my hip hop head friend on those but he wouldn't have any of it.

I've always appreciated Prince's incorporation of hip-hop (yes, even Scrappy Dee or whatever) more than that of artists like MJ. Why? Because with people like MJ it was usually just an awkward verse or two dropped in by some guest rapper. It's almost like someone drives by your house playing their own music so loud that it overpowers your system for like 10 seconds. But Prince usually wove hip-hop into his music in a way that was deeper structurally. It was lame sometimes, sure. And he had awkward flow and way too much empty boasting. But it was an actual element of the music, just like he incorporated many other style. It wasn't just dropped on like some shitty condiment that ruins your burger. Fuck, now I'm hungry.

.

This is really true, and I never really thought about it like that. Prince was definitely all-in, for better or worse.

NouveauDance said:

KingSausage said:

The High era. A lot of that stuff just sounds cheap and uninspired, especially considering that TRC was just around the corner. Everything between 3121 and AOA. Although Lotus is pretty cool and 20ten is a guilty pleasure of mine, Planet Earth and MPLSoUND are two of my least favorite Prince albums. The live bootlegs from this era didn't do much for me. The one-off songs and Internet singles aren't his strongest material. And at times it seemed like he was such a trendy thing for other celebrities to squeal about, it just made him seem even more distant to me. Not distant in a good way, like during his heyday. But distant in almost a Mick Jagger way, if you follow.

The High/NPGMC era for me too. I revisit this stuff the least because it's, well you said it perfectly - cheap and uninspired. It sounds like he's bored at PP, just pressing a few buttons and going through the motions. There's a few albums I don't rate much after TRC, but TRC seemed to end that slump, I'd say that album and getting inspired to do something different again directly led to him pushing himself commercially again with Musicology and 3121. I don't regard those as great albums either, but they're a step up from the NPGMC stuff. Even that had it's moments, but overall the sound, the production, the songwriting is his lowest ebb imo.

.

Yeah, you guys are right. The whole thread i've been wrestling with the 1991-96 NPG era, which can get embarassing, but that's a party compared to the "High/NPGMC" era. I barely even consider it an era, only because it's so hard to listen to the songs.

Mintchip said:

scratchtasia said:

Love Symbol sent me packing. After that I only bought vault albums or cheap/used copies of new albums that I ran across, and they usually didn't measure up. Several years ago I decided to go back to all the stuff I'd skipped in search of the few tracks that might really click for me (and I have found a few). I still have the hardest time with Love Symbol (aside from the singles) and The Rainbow Children, and not much of the NPGMC-era stuff is to my taste, either. I like good chunks of 3121 and Lotusflow3r, and I thought Art Official Age was his best album since the 1980s.

but why? there's so many great songs, just ignore the hip hop. 18 songs, many of them first rate. Gotta say, I always considered my name is prince his worst single ever, now that was horrible. I remember first listening to it and thinking "my god, he's just getting better and better". His vocals were perfect, the production was pristine. Now, some people point to those things and say that those things took the edge off of him. But in some ways he was better than ever. I even thought he was gettting better as a guitarist with that blistering solo at the end of three chains o' gold until someone told me it was Levi playing.

TrivialPursuit said:

ChimChimBadass said:

I really don't like the 90 era when he started to put some HipHop elements into his music (raps, scratches, loops), his music really suffered from this. In the 80´s he was creating new trends, in the 90´s he was just following trends.

I agree though I would say for much of the 1990s he still created some wonderful non-hiphop songs on several differnt albums, and that there is always the wonderful TGE. However, it did tarnish things on most of the 1990s albums to have some songs with such generic hiphop on it rather than an innovative Prince song. The late1990-early 2000s seem to be the period that there were significantly fewer good to great songs.

PeteSilas said:

ksgemini63 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

A narrow view. The Revolution did 3 albums out of almost 40 years. That discounts For You, Prince, Dirty Mind, Controversy, and 1999, plus gems like Sign O The Times, Lovesexy, and Batman. To say gems like The Gold Experience, Come, Exodus (sans the segues), & Chaos and Disorder don't measure up makes me question if you've even listened to Prince music at all.

[Edited 7/5/16 18:41pm]

Well Revolution members appear on 1999 and Lisa earlier and sign o the times / Crystal Ball/ dream factory has Revolution fingerprints all over them... I do like trax from some recent Lion of Judah, Guitar, the P E album but taken as an album ... No I think strong women scared him

Bobby Z (94 East-)1977

Dr Fink 1978

Lisa Coleman 1979/80

BrownMark 1981

Wendy Melvoin 1982

Dez Dickerson -1978

there finger prints on Graffiti Bridge good stuff too

OldFriends4Sale said:

RJOrion said:

1995-1996 Prince lost me for a minute with The Gold Experience and Chaos & Disorder...besides, at that time, i was heavily into WuTang Clan, Tribe Called Qwest, DeLaSoul, Nas, JayZ, etc...mid to late 90s was the beginning of the end, for the last golden era in hiphop, and i was all in it...i thought at that time, that the game had passed Prince by...i eventually got back into P's music after Emancipation...

early -mid 90s was a wonderful time for rap that wasn't so mainstream(Gansta rap and a lot of west coast rap) the Roots, Common, Tribe Called Quest Pete Rock & CL Smooth Da Bush Babees, DeLaSoul, etc a lot of stuff heard on the underground or college radio stations

ksgemini63 said:

1999 -2003 and 2007 - 2016...musically awful.....

ksgemini63 said:

If only hip hop was actual music... Alas Hay Z would b s master instead of talentless loser...tone deaf too

are u talking about current stuff?
Let me turn U on to real hip hop please?

2001- 2003 and 2007 on , with exceptions - I think there´s always a hidden gem when it comes to Prince...

malbena said:

The James Brown Revue-esque era (mid-2000s). Mind you, there were great songs here & there, but the majority of that era seemed like a full blown tribute to JB as opposed to Prince being the quirky artist that always kept the surprise element going.

MonsterZeroTwo said:

PeteSilas said:

thanks for answering my question evryone. personally, I really know so little about rap that I can't really tell the difference between some bum rapping and the best. I guess, unlike you guys, i could block out the rapping and still like the music. I liked P-control and Joint to Joint, tried to sell my hip hop head friend on those but he wouldn't have any of it.

You know, I always hear that. But whenever I used to jam out to TGE back in the day, with my hiphop friend in the car, he was loving it. Pussssssay Control. I have another friend too who doesn't mind it either. I've played Love Symbol for him. He's fine with it. Y'all got some hatin ass friends

he was a serious hip hopper, to the point where he did it himself, hip hop was sacred to those kinds of guys. I think the quality of p's rapping maybe was less an issue than the obvious insincerity. He never liked hip hop, or specifically, he never liked it being the preeminent music of the day. It was fine when it was a novelty, he even threw some raps into his classic material and i guess strictly speaking some of the spoken parts on 1999 and controversy were rap.

right now i'm listening to a sheet music site with his songs, just to see the arrangements, I just listened to get on the boat, that basslines was pretty fucking good. to tell you the truth, half the time, i don't know what the criticism is about. a song with or without rap is still a song, some of them were pretty good. I kinda liked the max, not quite rap, prince was heavily influenced by the black psychedelia of the temptations. which were rap like in many ways, it was obvious in sign o' the times. I guess that would be a funk style really.

Yep.

It's called the Post WB Years.

rogifan said:

malbena said:

Hi everybody,

I used to be on this site but took a break for a while thus I apologize if my post, questions, and comments are repetitive. Here is my point to you orgers

Looking back, I really clicked with the 80's and the 2000-2016 period. I am not sure why I can't feel a connection with his material from 1992-2000 (post Get off, Cream, and Sexy MF).

Do you all have a similar experience? If so, can you share!

It's also hard for me to connect with P's music from the 90s (though some songs he played on later tours I really like). He just seemed angry during that era. And I was never a fan of the gun microphone or chain hat. Just too much weird shit. And not in a good way.

I agree with the seemingly angry attitude and weird expression.

He used the gun microphone in later concerts but it blended better with a different era. I think it was more the appearance and aggressivity of his lyrics I was having a disconnection from.

Musicology however revived my senses and that is when I started listening to his music again. Better late than never, right

Since I was a child in the 90's, I don’t have too many problems with that era(until Rave ). I think the Game Boyz concept could’ve worked if they had just stayed dancers. Looking back Prince was really doing some interesting choreography with them. Like Wally, Brooks, and Jerome from before. Tony M is eternally on my s__t list for ruining Love 2 the 9’s though.

I also think he was doing too many things at once. Why was Tony rapping and Mayte belly dancing,doing ballet,rollerskating,the Game Boyz dancing, and Diamond and Pearl dancing and the band doing the most in ONE SHOW? Whereas Lovesexy was over the top in a good way, those 90s tours were just too much sometimes. I was also really into the "fam-dom" so I was listening to everything from the beginning and just started getting exposed to live and unreleased music so I was in bliss.

I took a break during Musicology though. I'm still not that into the album, but I love 3121 for some reason. I always felt like after the way TRC was received he came up with the concept of honoring those who came before as a way forward and never really pushed himself creatively forward again( even though I like Lotus and parts of 2010 and MPLSound...not into Planet Earth though) until AOA. I think he pushed himself with TRC and then people didn't receive it the way he wanted so he thought, "what would everyone else like for me to do?" Then came through with the retro review act.

So from 2004-2012 I was still buying everything but I wasn't super obsessed like I had been. I was focused on my own education. I can even see the gap in my occasional posting here. In retrospect this was the time I should've been trying to finding more ways to go see him live as I was too young most of the other times. Musicology was the last regular show he did in Texas.

[Edited 7/9/16 0:21am]

surprised how many people didn't like rave. It had some great songs on it and was well produced. it had one of my all time favorite loves songs, actually two, manowar and I love you but don't trust you anymore as well as some of his most vulnerable singing on wherever you go whatever you do.

2016-

PeteSilas said:

surprised how many people didn't like rave. It had some great songs on it and was well produced. it had one of my all time favorite loves songs, actually two, manowar and I love you but don't trust you anymore as well as some of his most vulnerable singing on wherever you go whatever you do.

Interesting that you said that. I have been relistening to some of his CDs that I din't play a lot due to thinking they were subpar for him. Rave for me was one of the bottom ones of the 90s but I replayed it yesterday and was surprised of how many good songs were on it. It still isn't a favorite, but now that I don't compare every Cd to his classics I am able to enjoy what they do have to offer. I imagine if there hadn't been a Prince and someone released Rave out of the blue, it would ahve generated a lot of excitement.