TheEnglishGent said:

Different owners for the music.

I used to wonder the same thing until I learned this.. Shame really since part of what makes him such a legend is that he never stopped making new music, and I think a lot of casual fans would recognize several post-1992 songs, even though they weren't big hits (especially songs he played on arena tours like Shhh, The One, and Musicology).

This is what I meant to say earlier (what I bolded below). If you look at his output objectively, I do think you could pare it down to a really wonderful album every 3-4 years that probably, most of the time, rivals what he did in the 80s or any other artist at the top of their game at any time. Bono was right.

I love the way you just listened to the songs without being tied to the memories of him in the 80s...and of us, actually, as we lived life. It's a different window into his work.

Comeback is just beautiful. And devastating. Truly.

purplerabbithole said:

Oversimplification of 30 years of work and on over-glorification of his past work. I mean "feel u up", 'jack u up' etc are more profound and creative than "Future Soul Song" or "Comeback"?--you really believe that? Come on. these oversimplications of his later work sound like personal issues with the change in his career. I came into his music as a later fan who just listened to individual songs online until I had listened to 100's of them. I didn't glorify the past or care who his bandmates were or the WB symbol bullshit. I wish people would just listen to the music. Don't get me wrong--the 90's has some crappy overproduced songs (as well as some truely good songs). His later career was eratic but it was constant and even varied. Yeah, maybe he would have two albums in a row in which only half the songs are good to me. But it takes Adele three years to make a halfway decent album. You put the good songs together from those two albums of his I just mentioned and you have enough songs for one good album within a two year period. He was hit and miss but the gems were constantly coming regardless. And even some of the overproduced songs when performed live or in the demo versionswere quite impressive in the melodic structure etc. I prefer the Diamond and Pearls song without Rosie (she is a spectuclar singer but the stripped down version was more genuine.)

LIke Bono once said, Prince needed a good editor but there is so much output that it is almost disrespectful and unkind to dismiss it all. He lost some of his coolness factor and edge in some respects, but so what. I would take Same December over Walk in the Sunshine any day of the week.

BTW, I agree that Guitar ain't that good of a song. But I love Black Sweat and I don't care what anyone thinks. If he had released that song in the 80's, you'll would have loved it

TrevorAyer said:

He was bitter AND on his own with the bizness of music ... his focus became proving he didn't need WB instead of just making good music ... the music became his job instead of his muse ... there was indeed a huge drop in quality but more importantly a drop in intimacy .. p became reserved in his content and often his songs sounded more like a shallow arguement to prove his own relevancy than a true honest artistic expression ... occassional gems do exist but they are not named "guitar" or "black sweat" ... and none of them sound as alive as prince sounded when he had real friends in his band and was not at war with the music industry

[Edited 12/20/16 9:47am]

[Edited 12/20/16 10:06am]

[Edited 12/20/16 10:11am]

[Edited 12/20/16 10:16am]

[Edited 12/20/16 16:17pm]

Ingela said:

Germanegro said:

I enjoy the breadth of Prince's songs, from the serious musical tour de force to the throwaway pop/dance jam. Some folk are more specific on what they like among Prince's ouveure and trash all the rest that plenty of other folks will appreciate. It just cheeses me and my heart breaks at their near-sightedness. But whatever floats your boat, and I will othewise not wield judgement. Compilations can be tricky in that regard.

>

I can't say I'm with you in accordance of taste on "June."

I'm surprised that so many were into that HitnRun Vol. 1 ditty and would not rate it among his others as "amazing" by any stretch! It is a quite derivative sound--ever hear The Art of Noise? It's in there--and while imitation is a form of flattery for that band, the stream-of-conscious lyrical content could be more interesting (your burning pasta and girlfriend not telling you about her midday meal-- ).

>

I loved Prince's expansion of sound and style experimentation of the nineties (Cornball? I'm gonna say no to that) that would be well to frame in a compilation set for the babyfans of Prince.

Love the Art of Noise. And I love June because it's breezy and simple and overall charming. It doesn't try to be anything, it just is. And I love that about it. Prince just chilling. . I love pure fun pop songs too. I have a lot of guiltily pleasures including some of prince's. But for that to work I think it has to be fun and charming. A lot of Prince's 90's throw-always were neither fun or charming. . Cornball usually misses the mark on fun and charming. And in the 90's it sounds like Prince was not in a fun or charming place in his life. And you could hear it in his music. It's sounds forced and contrived. [Edited 12/20/16 17:24pm]

June was a derivative snooze; a throwaway that he gave to Josh for some engineering practice, I'd guess. I'm glad that some people enjoyed it however, because that's the idea after all--I just don't get with that particular soft lob. Of that brand of tune, I prefer "Reflections" from Musicology. that'll be my meta-criticism of the hour. Both of those could go together on a post-symbol compilation.

I agree with you that a collection of music from the 90s would seem contrived when you're creating a load of great songs and end up playing a tug-of-war with a record company to determine which songs will go on an album and at what time any of it will be presented to the public. In that regard, the stuff in the given context could be deemed "contrived," but your statement of "90s throwaways being cornball" is so generalized as to be ambivalent to me, meant merely to can an era of the guy's work because you don't like it! That is simple enough, but it doesn't mean that the stuff is totally unlikeable! That darn Prince was just so audacious to want to battle the businessmen and mess with the moneymakers. It was a brilliant period throughout. If you never heard much of the brilliant part of that phase of his productivity you just didn't want to hear it, in my lil' ole opinion; you may have just been into the other sounds of the Nineties. Put some of Prince's works of that era on a compilation, though, and one could be amazed at how it hits the tastemakers.

[Edited 12/20/16 19:39pm]

Germanegro said:

I've gone back and revisited the 90's many times. And like I've said there are gems in there, but you have to have the patience to sift through it all. But so cheesy. It's a real chore to go through so much music that just so cornball and seemingly second guessing what he thinks people will like. As if he dumbed his sound down to the lowest common denominator to see if he could get "kids" to listen to his music as a businessmen, a stressed out businessman instead of just an artist for the sake of art.

Ingela said:

I've gone back and revisited the 90's many times. And like I've said there are gems in there, but you have to have the patience to sift through it all. But so cheesy. It's a real chore to go through so much music that just so cornball and seemingly second guessing what he thinks people will like. As if he dumbed his sound down to the lowest common denominator to see if he could get "kids" to listen to his music as a businessmen, a stressed out businessman instead of just an artist for the sake of art.

I've much enjoyed the 90s Prince and plenty of the post-symbol stuff--same difference is that I actually enjoy more of that stuff. You can call it cheese until the cows come home--I don't feel the need to do a lot of sifting. But sift away if you must! A compilation of such tunes would do that for you and bring attention to this music that some haven't checked out due to their younger age, or were too discouraged toward due Prince's pissy behavior, pandering, or whatever distractions one can claim.

>

When you feel you've nothing to prove to anyone per your capabilities besides getting the music out that you want to get out there, you have the freedom to stretch in any direction you like as a artist--for the sake of a whim and to earn enough change to do it again! Start the compiliations ASAP. I'd be happy enough to see a straight reissue of those albums, actually, and certainly any collection among the plethora of live gems that everybody is just drooling to have in good quality.

Germanegro said:

Well It's cheesy and what it is. Well most of the 90's stuff. There is no other word to describe it.
It is what it is.

Such a critic! I'm blown away--not! You're the king of claiming what you don't like in broad, generic terms, I'll give you that.

>

It'll be interesting to see what kind of compilations these companies can dream up to present to new consumers.

Germanegro said:

Damn right! Me and everyone else that skipped his 90's output. I'm just with the majority of people with ears.

The public skipping his 90's work is only because of the sounds he was conjuring? It wasn't partly because he was not a kid anymore, stopped using WB's support for promotion and distribution and alienated people by changing his name to an unpronouncable symbol? That had nothing to do with it all? You probably should not ignore all the variables.

Ingela said:

Germanegro said:

Such a critic! I'm blown away--not! You're the king of claiming what you don't like in broad, generic terms, I'll give you that.

>

Damn right! Me and everyone else that skipped his 90's output. I'm just with the majority of people with ears.

purplerabbithole said:

The only variable that mattered to people was that it was cheesy. It's not like he was an unknown indie act that needed massive promotion. Every new album received reviews and mention from every outlet.

Ultimately the work always speaks for itself.

Prince was cheesy in the 80's too. And we loved him for it. But of course, he did it with a wink in his eye so maybe that helped.

I do agree that songs like "My Name is Prince" are cheesy but in the same album there are "Damn You" and "God Created Woman" so I am unable to be dismissive of all of his output because he had his head up his ass at times..

BTW, "My Name is Prince" (a song I absolutely detest) I realized for the first time was meant to be ironic and humorous (after all, he wasn't using his name anymore when he did that song on an album in which the love symbol signified the title of both himself and the album) but boy did he not release that song like he was dead serious.

Also, I keep in mind that the environment while recording these songs wasn't necessarily the same vibe he was giving off publically. Yes, I know his control freak reputation during those years was at all time high but he was still surrounded by extremely capable musicans and he still liked to jam for long hours.

Ingela said:

purplerabbithole said:

The public skipping his 90's work is only because of the sounds he was conjuring? It wasn't partly because he was not a kid anymore, stopped using WB's support for promotion and distribution and alienated people by changing his name to an unpronouncable symbol? That had nothing to do with it all? You probably should not ignore all the variables.

The only variable that mattered to people was that it was cheesy. It's not like he was an unknown indie act that needed massive promotion. Every new album received reviews and mention from every outlet. Ultimately the work always speaks for itself.

Some people *cough--Ingela--cough* would rather attempt to make a name for themselves as a critic than enjoy the music and let others identify for themselves what they like. This effort toward a critique of the 90s--post-symbol era of Prince's career gets a failing grade by me!

>

All it takes to make a review is a pen, paper, keyboard, and an opinion.

>

Let the music do the talking and put it on a compilation, already.

A lot of the 90's R&B just has a dated sound and subject matter, which makes it hard to be accessible to the new listener. "Now" is fun, but it's hard for someone new to get into - especially if they've heard the Fresh Prince's "Boom Shake The Room" from the year before. "Emale" and "My Computer" are catchy, but SOOOO dated.

Come was interesting, but not very friendly to the uninitiated as a body of work.

The Gold Experience has great songs on it, but the segues kill it for every single person i have played it for.

Emancipation just has soooo much to wade through. For every "The Holy River" on it, there's a "White Mansion." Which isn't a bad tune, it just isn't anywhere near his best work.

Newpower Soul is nice to chill to, but mostly as BGM. There's not a high energy track that pops.

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic should have done better, but WB killed it's moment with The Vault and with The Very Best of.

The albums also weren't as strong front to back as they were pre-.

NO arguments (especially your statement about the inconsistent nature of his 90's albums)

But what about these songs?

Strolling

Willing and Able

Blue Light

Damn U

Shhh

Endorphmachine

MOney don't matter tonight

The entirety of the Truth album

ANd God Created Women

I hate U

Same December

Shy

Dolphin

Days of Wild (dated? I don't know but I also don't care.)

Radical Man 2045

7 (yes, I love 7)

Chaos and Disorder

The Ride

Dinner with Delores

Rippopgodazippa

I love you but I don't trust you anymore

the greatest Romance that has ever been sold

In this bed we scream

Holy River

The Love we Make

Empty Room (later version)

1000 hugs and kisses (early version)

Calhoun Square

There is lonely

Get off's use of flute impressed

Sexy MF's use of funky horns impressed me as well.

Sarah

Dark

All--highly enjoyable songs.

InwardJim said:

A lot of the 90's R&B just has a dated sound and subject matter, which makes it hard to be accessible to the new listener. "Now" is fun, but it's hard for someone new to get into - especially if they've heard the Fresh Prince's "Boom Shake The Room" from the year before. "Emale" and "My Computer" are catchy, but SOOOO dated.

Come was interesting, but not very friendly to the uninitiated as a body of work.

The Gold Experience has great songs on it, but the segues kill it for every single person i have played it for.

Emancipation just has soooo much to wade through. For every "The Holy River" on it, there's a "White Mansion." Which isn't a bad tune, it just isn't anywhere near his best work.

Newpower Soul is nice to chill to, but mostly as BGM. There's not a high energy track that pops.

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic should have done better, but WB killed it's moment with The Vault and with The Very Best of.

The albums also weren't as strong front to back as they were pre-.

InwardJim said:

A lot of the 90's R&B just has a dated sound and subject matter, which makes it hard to be accessible to the new listener. "Now" is fun, but it's hard for someone new to get into - especially if they've heard the Fresh Prince's "Boom Shake The Room" from the year before. "Emale" and "My Computer" are catchy, but SOOOO dated.

Come was interesting, but not very friendly to the uninitiated as a body of work.

The Gold Experience has great songs on it, but the segues kill it for every single person i have played it for.

Emancipation just has soooo much to wade through. For every "The Holy River" on it, there's a "White Mansion." Which isn't a bad tune, it just isn't anywhere near his best work.

Newpower Soul is nice to chill to, but mostly as BGM. There's not a high energy track that pops.

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic should have done better, but WB killed it's moment with The Vault and with The Very Best of.

The albums also weren't as strong front to back as they were pre-.

Thanks for your comment, InwardJim! I'm inspired to share my take on some of these collections. I've heard others say that Gold is a dated album to a degree and the segues can distract, but omit those and I think that some of those songs could be known as Prince classics, some that could be called "cheesy" too, like "P-Control" and "Dolphin." "Shh" is a nice, powerful jam. "Shy" is a concise narrative on LA gang life with a tender ending that's kind of endearing--I think of it often. "I Hate U" is a pretty wild lil' tune.

>

Emancipation, IMO is a big treasure chest, but some just don't like its expansiveness, the production values of the thing, or its R&B focus. "Style" is classic cool, laid-back P-R-I-N-C-E! I feel that Prince' s singing on this collection overall is as on-point as ever.

>

NewPowerSoul is a minor effort I'll concede, but it jams in a funky way that he's rarely achieved otherwise, IMO, and I like it for that! "Mad Sex" is pretty punchy and rollicking; "Come On" leaves an impression that folks like to tune in to over again, and "I Like Funky Music" has a nice kick, to it. The love ballads" Untill Ure In My Arms Again" and "I Am the One" are just as saccharine and syrupy as you want to have them.

>

Come, well, I think the title informs the content. just explore it and ride the pleasure wave through all the aural slap-and-tickling that it delivers. You might be dissappointed in spots, but not all the way through--LOL!

I agree with all of those (except The Truth album could've done without Animal Kingdom and Man In A Uniform, which are the two low points IMHO but the rest is so good!).

When Emancipation came out, my first thought was this needs to be pared down to at least a double album. There's just too much for the casual fam.

It was the same with the post- years as well. 2004: Musicology / Chocolate Invasion / Slaughterhouse, 2009: LotusFlow3r / MPLsOUND, 2014: Plectrumelectrum / Art Official Age. If they had been combined to form truly knockout punch albums or at least had their releases staggered more (and in the case of Chocolate and Slaughter done to the public), they might be better known for their gems.

Prince would have benefitted from having a true producer post-Emancipation to help focus his output (not censor it). I love a lot of those songs, but some are truly more B-Side than album cut

purplerabbithole said:

NO arguments (especially your statement about the inconsistent nature of his 90's albums)

But what about these songs?

Strolling

Willing and Able

Blue Light

Damn U

Shhh

Endorphmachine

MOney don't matter tonight

The entirety of the Truth album

ANd God Created Women

I hate U

Same December

Shy

Dolphin

Days of Wild (dated? I don't know but I also don't care.)

Radical Man 2045

7 (yes, I love 7)

Chaos and Disorder

The Ride

Dinner with Delores

Rippopgodazippa

I love you but I don't trust you anymore

the greatest Romance that has ever been sold

In this bed we scream

Holy River

The Love we Make

Empty Room (later version)

1000 hugs and kisses (early version)

Calhoun Square

There is lonely

Get off's use of flute impressed

Sexy MF's use of funky horns impressed me as well.

Sarah

Dark

All--highly enjoyable songs.

InwardJim said:

A lot of the 90's R&B just has a dated sound and subject matter, which makes it hard to be accessible to the new listener. "Now" is fun, but it's hard for someone new to get into - especially if they've heard the Fresh Prince's "Boom Shake The Room" from the year before. "Emale" and "My Computer" are catchy, but SOOOO dated.

Come was interesting, but not very friendly to the uninitiated as a body of work.

The Gold Experience has great songs on it, but the segues kill it for every single person i have played it for.

Emancipation just has soooo much to wade through. For every "The Holy River" on it, there's a "White Mansion." Which isn't a bad tune, it just isn't anywhere near his best work.

Newpower Soul is nice to chill to, but mostly as BGM. There's not a high energy track that pops.

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic should have done better, but WB killed it's moment with The Vault and with The Very Best of.

The albums also weren't as strong front to back as they were pre-.

purplerabbithole said:

For me, I edited your list a little and I would also a few more tracks from Come

NorthC said:

databank said:

I guess nerds and geeks are now fully accepted members of the hipdom indeed, at least ever since John Hugues movies made them cool, but I prefer to think of myself as a hipster though

In case you didn't get the newsflash: hipsters love their vinyl records! But... If you post a picture of yourself sporting a big beard, I'll believe you.

I'm very baffled as to how medias have been able, in a few years, to reduce the word "hipster" to a single brand of people. The term exists since at least the 50's and was always meant to define anyone who's trendy, sophisticated and hip. There are many ways of being hip, and many associated lifestyles and dress codes. I cannot accept the word to be reduced like this. I been a hipster since the mid 90's and back then it had nothing to do with beards, squared shirts, organic food and vinyl records.

If there was to be a 1994/2016 compilation, it should have this tracklist :

THE HITS 3 :

1. PARTYMAN (#18 US, #14 Uk, not in any other compilations)

2. LOVE THY WILL B DONE prince version ( worldwide top 10)

3. TMBGITW (#1 worldwide)

4. LET IT GO (top 40 worldwide)

5. I HATE U (#12 US, #20 uk)

6. GOLD (#10 uk)

7. GET WILD (#19 uk)

8. BETCHA BY GOLLY WOW (#11 uk, #31 US)

9. THE HOLY RIVER (#19 uk, #58 US)

10. TGRES ( #63 US, #65 UK)

11. MUSICOLOGY ( top 40 in numerous markets, 1 grammy)

12. CALL MY NAME (#75 US, 27 weeks on charts ! and 1 grammy too !!)

13. CINAMMON GIRL (#43 Uk)

14. SST (#8 US single sales)

12. TE AMO CORAZON (#2 spain, #7 italy)

13. BLACKSWEAT (#1 US single sales, #2 Canada, #43 UK))

15. SONG OF THE HEART (won the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song)

16. FUTURE BABY MAMA (# 39 rnb charts, 20 weeks, 1 grammy)

17. BREAKFAST CAN WAIT

18. THIS COULD B US (#13 rnb adult charts)

19. FALL IN LOVE 2NITE with Zooey Deschanell (top 50 airplay US)

20. Xs and Qs (#12 rb adult)

Not a bad list, Rod, although I'd throw out Future Baby Mama and Breakfast Can Wait and replace them with Guitar and FunkNRoll to spice things up a little!

NorthC said:

Not a bad list, Rod, although I'd throw out Future Baby Mama and Breakfast Can Wait and replace them with Guitar and FunkNRoll to spice things up a little!

I agree that this tracklist is too flooded with low tempos.

But Future baby mama had a grammy,

BREAKFAST CAN WAIT charted in many countries, and was a moderate hit on youtube.

GUITAR was a flop (#80 in UK)

and FUNKNROLL never charted anywhere. But why not, because it's a uptempo track showing what Prince was able to do in 2014.

Okay, we'd lose #s 18 & 20 then and close your compilation witha bang!

RODSERLING said:

If there was to be a 1994/2016 compilation, it should have this tracklist :

THE HITS 3 :

1. PARTYMAN (#18 US, #14 Uk, not in any other compilations)

2. LOVE THY WILL B DONE prince version ( worldwide top 10)

3. TMBGITW (#1 worldwide)

4. LET IT GO (top 40 worldwide)

5. I HATE U (#12 US, #20 uk)

6. GOLD (#10 uk)

7. GET WILD (#19 uk)

8. BETCHA BY GOLLY WOW (#11 uk, #31 US)

9. THE HOLY RIVER (#19 uk, #58 US)

10. TGRES ( #63 US, #65 UK)

11. MUSICOLOGY ( top 40 in numerous markets, 1 grammy)

12. CALL MY NAME (#75 US, 27 weeks on charts ! and 1 grammy too !!)

13. CINAMMON GIRL (#43 Uk)

14. SST (#8 US single sales)

12. TE AMO CORAZON (#2 spain, #7 italy)

13. BLACKSWEAT (#1 US single sales, #2 Canada, #43 UK))

15. SONG OF THE HEART (won the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song)

16. FUTURE BABY MAMA (# 39 rnb charts, 20 weeks, 1 grammy)

17. BREAKFAST CAN WAIT

18. THIS COULD B US (#13 rnb adult charts)

19. FALL IN LOVE 2NITE with Zooey Deschanell (top 50 airplay US)

20. Xs and Qs (#12 rb adult)

Great work and a very good list, thank u

My list still contains 45 songs and I didn't take into account any chart positions. So I am not sure if I should post it

RODSERLING said:

If there was to be a 1994/2016 compilation, it should have this tracklist :

THE HITS 3 :

1. PARTYMAN (#18 US, #14 Uk, not in any other compilations)

2. LOVE THY WILL B DONE prince version ( worldwide top 10)

3. TMBGITW (#1 worldwide)

4. LET IT GO (top 40 worldwide)

5. I HATE U (#12 US, #20 uk)

6. GOLD (#10 uk)

7. GET WILD (#19 uk)

8. BETCHA BY GOLLY WOW (#11 uk, #31 US)

9. THE HOLY RIVER (#19 uk, #58 US)

10. TGRES ( #63 US, #65 UK)

11. MUSICOLOGY ( top 40 in numerous markets, 1 grammy)

12. CALL MY NAME (#75 US, 27 weeks on charts ! and 1 grammy too !!)

13. CINAMMON GIRL (#43 Uk)

14. SST (#8 US single sales)

12. TE AMO CORAZON (#2 spain, #7 italy)

13. BLACKSWEAT (#1 US single sales, #2 Canada, #43 UK))

15. SONG OF THE HEART (won the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song)

16. FUTURE BABY MAMA (# 39 rnb charts, 20 weeks, 1 grammy)

17. BREAKFAST CAN WAIT

18. THIS COULD B US (#13 rnb adult charts)

19. FALL IN LOVE 2NITE with Zooey Deschanell (top 50 airplay US)

20. Xs and Qs (#12 rb adult)

Spot on! Gawd, I alwats forget about SST

Loved Emancipation!!! Agree with what many have said, seems WB only wants Prince to shine while he was under them. I loved a lot of his later music and was the reason I joined NPGMC. It was like getting a present a week.

PurpleDiamonds1 said:

Loved Emancipation!!! Agree with what many have said, seems WB only wants Prince to shine while he was under them. I loved a lot of his later music and was the reason I joined NPGMC. It was like getting a present a week.

It will take a lot to convince me otherwise. Having been an engineer, I've seen how petty execs can be first-hand. Prince calling WB slave-owners in the very public way he did certainly gained the ire of the business-decision makers. The narrative turned to Prince just being weird, crazy, and desperate in nearly any mass-publication story written at the time of that messy divorce. Prince should have been more vocal about the genesis of the name change being so that he could get around WB's ownership of the output of anything under the name "Prince." He did said it, but it wasn't the narrative that those who needed to remain on good terms with WB picked up on. They absolutely were controlling the narrative that anything the amazing "Prince" did was done under WB, anything after he left them was generally not worth notice - hence "The Very Best Of." Rolling Stone, Mtv, and Vh1 certainly didn't need to cow to WB, but in the 90's they WERE the exceptions.

By the time Ultimate came out, just about everything post- was largely ignored by the masses so it made sense what was on that package. The Very Best Of should have contained at least TMBGITW (and if it could have been worked out: Betcha By Golly Wow, The Holy River, The One, Come On and maybe Face Down).

In this age of exceptional indie artists appearing all the time, it's hard for the new generation to realize how hard it actually was to do that in the 90's. Even more so in the early 2000's (when my three bands met their fates). Garageband really was the game changer, not because of its quality (there was none) but it's inspiration to be able to do it without needing the label. Prince's successful break from WB scared the industry. His career being largely ignored was commercially until the R&R Hall Of Fame induction and Musicology in 2004 was damage control. He still made waves and was the ground-breaking innovator he always was, it just didn't get the attention it deserved.

We know what he did, because we are the Purple Fams. No one needed to tell us that he pioneered internet music, or that he was still putting gems out. The casual listener, who is where marketing and advertising direct their efforts, is who missed out.

InwardJim said:

PurpleDiamonds1 said:

Loved Emancipation!!! Agree with what many have said, seems WB only wants Prince to shine while he was under them. I loved a lot of his later music and was the reason I joined NPGMC. It was like getting a present a week.

It will take a lot to convince me otherwise. Having been an engineer, I've seen how petty execs can be first-hand. Prince calling WB slave-owners in the very public way he did certainly gained the ire of the business-decision makers. The narrative turned to Prince just being weird, crazy, and desperate in nearly any mass-publication story written at the time of that messy divorce. Prince should have been more vocal about the genesis of the name change being so that he could get around WB's ownership of the output of anything under the name "Prince." He did said it, but it wasn't the narrative that those who needed to remain on good terms with WB picked up on. They absolutely were controlling the narrative that anything the amazing "Prince" did was done under WB, anything after he left them was generally not worth notice - hence "The Very Best Of." Rolling Stone, Mtv, and Vh1 certainly didn't need to cow to WB, but in the 90's they WERE the exceptions.

By the time Ultimate came out, just about everything post- was largely ignored by the masses so it made sense what was on that package. The Very Best Of should have contained at least TMBGITW (and if it could have been worked out: Betcha By Golly Wow, The Holy River, The One, Come On and maybe Face Down).

In this age of exceptional indie artists appearing all the time, it's hard for the new generation to realize how hard it actually was to do that in the 90's. Even more so in the early 2000's (when my three bands met their fates). Garageband really was the game changer, not because of its quality (there was none) but it's inspiration to be able to do it without needing the label. Prince's successful break from WB scared the industry. His career being largely ignored was commercially until the R&R Hall Of Fame induction and Musicology in 2004 was damage control. He still made waves and was the ground-breaking innovator he always was, it just didn't get the attention it deserved.

We know what he did, because we are the Purple Fams. No one needed to tell us that he pioneered internet music, or that he was still putting gems out. The casual listener, who is where marketing and advertising direct their efforts, is who missed out.

Amen.