This thought has occurred to me over and over, but the recent threads about AOA and how long you've been a Prince fan made me want to ask the question.

I like a great variety of Prince's musical styles, but I first started with 1999. I can say with an absolute fact that it has influenced my opinions of more recent albums. There are many albums that I like, or even love, but the first time I heard 3121 I just broke out in a huge grin. The same thing happened with Art Official Cage on AOA. There is a lot of "weirdness" (for lack of a better musical term!) that I love on the opening track of each of these albums, and I think it tends to carry through the rest of the albums as well. It's not simply that "it sounds like Prince to me"; it's more like it evokes the same feelings of enjoyment that I got when I first started listening to his music. Kind of like falling in love with someone all over again, if that makes sense?

That said, I wonder if part of the reason for the polarization of opinions about albums is tied tightly not just to your personal musical tastes, but also to when you started listening. I can imagine a world where the Prince fans who started with For You/Purple Rain/Lovesexy (fill in your choice of the first album that grabbed you here) have tastes similar to each other and have later "favorite" albums in common as well. Kind of like musical graduating classes, maybe?

Does this make any sense?

I think the earliest memories of music I have is hearing everything and almost every type of music because my parents have an eclectic taste in music, and they are fans of Prince. But my earliest memories of hearing Prince growing up was as early as "Diamonds and Pearls," (I was born in 1985), but growing up I heard a lot of Prince's music, and many others, but when I started high school in 1999, I suddenly did not like the music that my parents listened to, but now as an adult, I can understand why they listen to the music they listen to; but I have always loved Prince.

Recent tastes? I don't want to sound like an old saddo, but i honestly listen to my favourite artists inspirations more than any new stuff. It's a fact history contains all the best music anyway. It's all been done and can't be bettered, that fair enough?

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[Edited 10/23/16 15:45pm]

Marrk said:[quote]

Recent tastes? I don't want to sound like an old saddo, but i honestly listen to my favourite artists inspirations more than any new stuff. It's a fact history contains all the best music anyway. It's all been done and can't be bettered, that fair enough?

Yes, I get what you're saying, especially since my parents has no use for the music of the 70s and early 80s; I grew up knowing 50s and 60s stuff inside out, but none of the contemporary music until I was old enough to care about it for myself. I still love that stuff, and I still hear it in music today. Generally speaking, a lot of music is inspired by previous artists, and certainly there is stuff that is purely derivative. (And if you get far enough away, then it just sounds like a cool throwback... ). That could probably be a thread of its own.

But mostly I was trying to make sense of people's tastes in Prince's albums specifically, and if there was any correlation between "likes" in his repertoire of albums. Not that I wanted this to take a negative turn, but I'm assuming that you got to a point where you just didn't like anything new?

Im Sorry I don't understand the question . All I listen to is Prince. I like most all his styles and listen to all his albums. If I turn on the radio, I only only listen to Christian stations .

oliviacamron said:

Im Sorry I don't understand the question . All I listen to is Prince. I like most all his styles and listen to all his albums. If I turn on the radio, I only only listen to Christian stations .