bonatoc said:

mbdtyler said:

There is so much wrong with some of the comments in here, I don't even know where to begin. First of all, every decade and era of music has had its share of forgettable pop music. As time goes on, people continue holding up the best artists of each period, and the rest are forgotten or seen as novelties. Just because you don't like the artists on the charts today doesn't mean there isn't a plethora of fantastic music out there waiting to be heard (and thanks to the internet, it's easier to find and listen to than ever before, so there are no excuses). Secondly, you're putting down pop performers for using their sexuality while you're on a Prince message board The dude had undeniable talent but he certainly wasn't above writhing around on a bed himself. Also, did you forget about Vanity 6? Carmen Electra? Prince wasn't above female performers using their sexuality to complement their music, nor is there anything wrong with that. Of course, the objectification & marketing of women is a whole complex issue for another day, but I don't think women should be treated with contempt for embracing their sexuality on their terms.

I love Prince as much as anyone else here, but I think some of his fans (and even the artist himself at times) have very elitist and antiquated views when it comes to music. Let people perform how they want to perform, and let listeners enjoy what they want to enjoy. You and me ain't better than anyone just because we listen to Prince.

Democracy : The sempiternal alibi to justify the megatons of shit the entertainment industry pours on people non-stop,
flattering intellectual lazyness, absence of curiosity, and crass lack of culture.

Oh yeah, we're so fucking better because of it.
I'll shout it from the rooftop, All Day, All Night.
Enlightened despotism is the only way left to go.
But you can proceed with your gratuitous benevolence all you like.
As someone used to say, may you live to see the dawn.

I totally agree, except that I can't agree on despotism.

It's exactly like, for example, my deep conviction that people should need a permit to have babies and that whomever is proven incapable of being a proper parent should be sterilized.

Except I can't agree on forcibly strilizing people.

In both cases, my mind tells me we would have a solution but that either despotism or forced sterilization eventually causes more problems than it solves, not to mention that it's incompatible with certain moral values I hold dear.

So in the end the only valid solution left is to improve education, and hopefully soon augment people's intelligence as well thanks to implantsd or genetic modification, so that idiots become extinct.

Data, you scare me, or are you second degree?

Idiocy is fought with cleverness, not barbary. Tell me you're joking.
Would you let someone approach your nuts?
I would die for an imbecile's freedom. I believe that's the price to pay for mine.
Now, I would not exactly give my life for the imbecile, but the metaphor stands.

This fucking malthusian trend these days, honestly.
It's not a problem of resources, it's a problem of resource allocation.
Everbody know feeding the world costs a tenth of the military budget. Annually.

And so is education and distribution of education.
Once the kid's an adult imbecile, good luck to bring him back to pondering and arbitrating.

[Edited 3/3/18 6:27am]

*googles "malthusian"*

So the last great Prince album is democracy versus despotism ?

Malthusian

[mal-thoo-zhuh n, -zee-uh n] /mælˈθu ʒən, -zi ən/

adjective1.of or relating to the theories of T. R. Malthus, which state that population tends to increase faster, at a geometrical ratio, than the means of subsistence, which increases at an arithmetical ratio, and that this will result in an inadequate supply of the goods supporting life unless war, famine, or disease reduces the population or the increase of population is checked.

noun2.a follower of Malthus.

gandorb said:

So the last great Prince album is democracy versus despotism ?

Let's not, that's a terrible title.
Besides, I'm more for despotic democracy, or democratic despotism,
I keep forgetting which sub-branch, though.

bonatoc said:

Data, you scare me, or are you second degree?

Idiocy is fought with cleverness, not barbary. Tell me you're joking.
Would you let someone approach your nuts?
I would die for an imbecile's freedom. I believe that's the price to pay for mine.
Now, I would not exactly give my life for the imbecile, but the metaphor stands.

This fucking malthusian trend these days, honestly.
It's not a problem of resources, it's a problem of resource allocation.
Everbody know feeding the world costs a tenth of the military budget. Annually.

And so is education and distribution of education.
Once the kid's an adult imbecile, good luck to bring him back to pondering and arbitrating.

[Edited 3/3/18 6:27am]

I'm joking seriously.

I am being "quantum" here, as a physicist recently said in an interview, in the sense that I can agree with 2 opposite ideas.

In the end, I always tend to choose individual freedom, so no, I won't advocate forcibly doing anything on anyone. That doesn't mean that I don't, at the same time, think doing it would solve a lot of problems. Maybe one has to have been abused as a child to know that many a parent shouldn't have been allowed to be a parent, IDK. No one would have to go anywhere near my nuts because I chose to be childless and had a vasectomy, BTW, so I did it to myself

But as I said, doing any such thing would create too many other problems and I don't believe in solving problems by creating more problems. And as I also said, the idea goes against too many values I hold dear.

So in the end I believe we agree on education being the solution.

That, and possible enhancement, but it's too early too know for sure what will be possible and what the consequences of such actions would be. Let's just say that, on principle, I'm in favor of it, but not blindly.

So let's settle on education for the time being

bonatoc said:

jdcxc said:

Nasalhair said:

Sign O The Times. Nothing really "wow" after that for me. The occasional flash of greatness, but no consietently good albums in my opinion, and some truly bad ones.

What bad ones? None IMO

All down to personal opinion of course, but I truly can't abide Emancipation, Art Official Age, the two Hit & Run albums, 20Ten, MPLSound, and Come. There will be others too. But again, it's all down to personal opinion, and I'm sure you and others will scream at me that these are classics, but to me they're terrible.

lonelyalien said:

I know some prince fans who dont like anything much he did after his "80s peak" I also know there are fans who love everything he did up till his death. Which album is it for you and why?

.

Last great album: Grafitti Bridge

dance4me3121 said:

Art official age.it's perfect.

.

As others have said, all down to personal opinion. One person's trash is another person's treasure.

.

That said, it seems many fans have a peculiarly loose standard for "greatness."

.

I happen to find 'Art official Age' to be overwhelmingly ho-hum. Powerfully average latter-era Prince output at best. "More of the same," when compared to the rest of his post-WB output.

.

So, big deal right? That's one schmuck's personal take. I'd never argue otherwise. In fact, I'm willing to concede that there's perhaps more to AOA than I have yet discovered, simply because the album is so often cited as being exceptional.

.

But even given that, I would still continue to argue that the album is merely GOOD when compared to the standard of greatness previously established. Few would argue that "Sign" or "1999" or "Purple Rain" are not GREAT albums. So if we can agree to those high-water marks as objective standards for GREATNESS... does "Art Official Age" really deserve to be held in such high esteem? Even if you really, really, really like it on a personal level? Isn't elevating "Art Official Age" to the rarified air of Prince's masterworks a stretch, to say the very least?

.

But then again, maybe there is no way to objectively measure greatness. Maybe the scale is different for every single listener. I LOVE "LotusFlower." I also LOVE "The Truth." They mean a lot to mean personally and I never tire of listening to them. But I couldn't in good conscience add them to the shortlist of GREAT Prince albums. Not because I don't think they contain greatness (I think ALMOST every Prince album contains some greatness, even dross like "Musicology"). But because it does a disservice to his most awe-inspiring works.

CAL3 said:

rusty1 said: