feeluupp said:

Of course everyone has its own opinion, but I can argument mine.
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Insatiable is slow, repetitive, not catchy, without a real chorus departing from the " melody", without even a bridge to grow in power and create a climax.It also sounds too much like an emotionless Scandalous, which was a flop too the year before, making this release highly questionable from the start.
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History give me reason, since Insatiable peaked only at #42 and is today forgotten, and could only appeal to sub American charts. Outside this country, nobody is interested by this musical genre (slow jam).
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There was no way Insatiable could seduce the general audience who loved Cream, hence it killed some of the commercial potential of the album at its release.
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It s also obvious Get Off released 4 months before the album was a mistake. It s like MJ released Black Or White 3 months before the album, losing millions of copies worldwide of the promotion created by this single. Instead it was released less than a month before the album, to benefit from the hype,which was what everyone did in the musical industry.
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MJ too released too many singles for Dangerous, but that s another story.
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As I explained, Cream only, should have logically triggered 5 million s sales if it was the lead single. Then the 2nd single another Pop//rock oriented song, and maybe a 3rd single for the cherry on the cake ; to make a good impression without hearing stinker such as Insatiable (I m sorry) or even good songs they couldn t understand (Get Off).
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It s like Nirvana would have released an hip hop song as the lead single for Nevermind, then Smell like teen spirit, then a rnb song...It wouldn't have sold 20 or 30 million s WW, because most people wants to hear an album of one musical genre. It s hard to love both hip hop and rock, especially at the time ! That s what I learned from most people tastes.
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And I think objectively it explains why the general audience has difficulty to connect with his music, why Batman, SOTT and D&P didn't t sell 15 millions copies WW, despite containing so many hits and iconic songs and benefitting from a huge promotion. There was obviously something fishy with the single choices and the timing of their releases.
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Purple Rain singles and the entire album were more Pop rock oriented, and it sold 3 times more than the eclectic D&P. IWD4U wasn't, and it was a flop outside the USA.
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I think Prince understood it in the end, with AOA. I don t like it especially in its entirety, but it s by far his most coherent release with only rnb songs. No pop, no rock, no hip hop, no jazz, just one musical genre. It was the smarter way to sell an album, sadly.
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He also tried this with the 3 CD of Lotus Flower, each one supposed to express one lead musical genre ( apart from Elixir it is highly discutable) and of course 3rd eyed girl, separated from AOA released the same day, which was supposed to be more rock oriented. Highly debatable too, but the intention was clearly there.

Chas said:

I think Prince could've had as many hits as he wanted.

I don't think he cared about the charts. If he did, he would get behind the promotion of it. If he cared about the charts, he'd remake "Purple Rain" every few years.

I think once he was free of WB, it was just "I'll release it, my fans will buy it, anyone else can buy it or not." Then he'd do the promotion that *he* was comfortable with.

I think during the WB years, there were people "gently pushing" him for a hit, or at least a single, then back that up with its promotion machine.

Of course, this is just my opinion, judging from his output, etc. over the last 3 decades.

I disagree with your thinking, because if you go back and really dig into the promotion that Prince did for each or most of his albums in the 1990's - print interviews, TV performances, TV interviews, videos, etc...these indicate that the success and mass appeal of his music was very important to him - regardless of what he publicly stated.

*

When he did the promotional stunt of faxing a letter "written by Mayte" (NOT!) to Controversy magazine in 1993 - just after he changed his name to - he wrote that he would not have to perform the song Purple Rain again, because his song Gold was going to be even bigger than Purple Rain. He really thought the Gold album would be as big or bigger than Purple Rain. He wanted that level of success again.

*

Same with Emancipation - he promoted the shit out of that album. The Oprah interview, Chris Rock interview, several videos and many TV and print interviews. He wanted hits and huge success with that album. More importantly, he needed high sales to maintain PP. He was struggling financially by this point.

*

The biggest issue with Prince sustaining hits - starting with SOTT forward - is that the musical tastes were changing. SOTT was/is hailed as his best album by many critics, and it was nominated for album of the year. However, U2's Joshua Tree won that award in '87. Many of Prince's fan base had begun moving into either the alternative/progressive music scene, or the rap/hiphop scene - both of which were taking off during this time. So, by the early 90's Prince's fan base had shrunk considerably. His success with Batman in '89 had a lot to do with its association with the movie, and the elaborate video he did for Batdance. MTV played that video constantly.

*

Prince's unsuccessful attempt to add the rap/hiphop element to his music, the battle with WB over owning his songs, and the name change - all contributed to the lack of "hits" through the 90's. However, I do agree that he may have had a bit more success with certain albums had he first released certain songs over others - 7 instead of My Name Is Prince - for example.

violetcrush said:

Chas said:

I think Prince could've had as many hits as he wanted.

I don't think he cared about the charts. If he did, he would get behind the promotion of it. If he cared about the charts, he'd remake "Purple Rain" every few years.

I think once he was free of WB, it was just "I'll release it, my fans will buy it, anyone else can buy it or not." Then he'd do the promotion that *he* was comfortable with.

I think during the WB years, there were people "gently pushing" him for a hit, or at least a single, then back that up with its promotion machine.

Of course, this is just my opinion, judging from his output, etc. over the last 3 decades.

I disagree with your thinking, because if you go back and really dig into the promotion that Prince did for each or most of his albums in the 1990's - print interviews, TV performances, TV interviews, videos, etc...these indicate that the success and mass appeal of his music was very important to him - regardless of what he publicly stated.

*

When he did the promotional stunt of faxing a letter "written by Mayte" (NOT!) to Controversy magazine in 1993 - just after he changed his name to - he wrote that he would not have to perform the song Purple Rain again, because his song Gold was going to be even bigger than Purple Rain. He really thought the Gold album would be as big or bigger than Purple Rain. He wanted that level of success again.

*

Same with Emancipation - he promoted the shit out of that album. The Oprah interview, Chris Rock interview, several videos and many TV and print interviews. He wanted hits and huge success with that album. More importantly, he needed high sales to maintain PP. He was struggling financially by this point.

*

The biggest issue with Prince sustaining hits - starting with SOTT forward - is that the musical tastes were changing. SOTT was/is hailed as his best album by many critics, and it was nominated for album of the year. However, U2's Joshua Tree won that award in '87. Many of Prince's fan base had begun moving into either the alternative/progressive music scene, or the rap/hiphop scene - both of which were taking off during this time. So, by the early 90's Prince's fan base had shrunk considerably. His success with Batman in '89 had a lot to do with its association with the movie, and the elaborate video he did for Batdance. MTV played that video constantly.

*

Prince's unsuccessful attempt to add the rap/hiphop element to his music, the battle with WB over owning his songs, and the name change - all contributed to the lack of "hits" through the 90's. However, I do agree that he may have had a bit more success with certain albums had he first released certain songs over others - 7 instead of My Name Is Prince - for example.

Prince's letter to Controversy magazine in 1993:

*

violetcrush said:

7 Was a flop outside the USA... What would have been the point in releasing it as a first single? I read that many times here on the org, but I never read someone argumenting why?
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His attempt at hip/hop rnb was successful I think. Who would have thought in 1984 that only 7 years later he would be gold with hip hop/ rnb singles? That was a crazy U turn.
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[Edited 12/16/18 17:07pm]

RODSERLING said:

violetcrush said:

I disagree with your thinking, because if you go back and really dig into the promotion that Prince did for each or most of his albums in the 1990's - print interviews, TV performances, TV interviews, videos, etc...these indicate that the success and mass appeal of his music was very important to him - regardless of what he publicly stated.

*

When he did the promotional stunt of faxing a letter "written by Mayte" (NOT!) to Controversy magazine in 1993 - just after he changed his name to - he wrote that he would not have to perform the song Purple Rain again, because his song Gold was going to be even bigger than Purple Rain. He really thought the Gold album would be as big or bigger than Purple Rain. He wanted that level of success again.

*

Same with Emancipation - he promoted the shit out of that album. The Oprah interview, Chris Rock interview, several videos and many TV and print interviews. He wanted hits and huge success with that album. More importantly, he needed high sales to maintain PP. He was struggling financially by this point.

*

The biggest issue with Prince sustaining hits - starting with SOTT forward - is that the musical tastes were changing. SOTT was/is hailed as his best album by many critics, and it was nominated for album of the year. However, U2's Joshua Tree won that award in '87. Many of Prince's fan base had begun moving into either the alternative/progressive music scene, or the rap/hiphop scene - both of which were taking off during this time. So, by the early 90's Prince's fan base had shrunk considerably. His success with Batman in '89 had a lot to do with its association with the movie, and the elaborate video he did for Batdance. MTV played that video constantly.

*

Prince's unsuccessful attempt to add the rap/hiphop element to his music, the battle with WB over owning his songs, and the name change - all contributed to the lack of "hits" through the 90's. However, I do agree that he may have had a bit more success with certain albums had he first released certain songs over others - 7 instead of My Name Is Prince - for example.

7 Was a flop outside the USA... What would have been the point in releasing it as a first single? I read that many times here on the org, but I never read someone argumenting why? . His attempt at hip/hop rnb was successful I think. Who would have thought in 1984 that only 7 years later he would be gold with hip hop/ rnb singles? That was a crazy U turn. . [Edited 12/16/18 17:07pm]

What rap/hiphop song was majorly successful - as successful as he was with PR?