His lead playing takes inspiration from Hendrix and Carlos Santana in the main. He could rock out like the metal guys for sure but to me his playing has more depth. He remains one of funk musics best ever rhythm guitarists too

i seriously doubt he was inspired by metal. its just that most guitarists from rock, funk, metal.... all can be traced back to hendrix in some degree, so theres going to be similarities and connections.

Depends what he's playing and how one defines heavy metal. Are we taking about music that decended from Zeppelin or Sabbath? I would argue any of Prince's hard rock sensibilities came from the former not the latter. I've heard Prince covers of Whole Lotta Love that rock as hard as anybody. Endorphinmachine live at Montreux 2013 rocks as hard as anything Aerosmith ever did. I Like It There live in Portland 2013 has a real grunge feel to it. But I'm probably one of the weird Prince fans who preferred when he really rocked out. I'll take Bambi over Adore any day.

savagedreams said:

i seriously doubt he was inspired by metal. its just that most guitarists from rock, funk, metal.... all can be traced back to hendrix in some degree, so theres going to be similarities and connections.

"The best players used to play rock and roll. The first time you heard Boston, it was this huge, amazing sound with all that guitar doubling. Same with Brian May—nobody sounded like him. I still think of Return to Forever as a rock band. Those guys could really play, but there ain’t nobody doing that in rock these days.”

https://sites.google.com/...-july-2004

rogifan said:

what show did he do in europe with 3rd eye....real heavy show thats bootlegged on video...i think amsterdam ..shot from balcony..??

is it wrong that I've always heard more Eddie Hazel and Ernie Isley instead of Hendrix?

rogifan said:

Depends what he's playing and how one defines heavy metal. Are we taking about music that decended from Zeppelin or Sabbath? I would argue any of Prince's hard rock sensibilities came from the former not the latter. I've heard Prince covers of Whole Lotta Love that rock as hard as anybody. Endorphinmachine live at Montreux 2013 rocks as hard as anything Aerosmith ever did. I Like It There live in Portland 2013 has a real grunge feel to it. But I'm probably one of the weird Prince fans who preferred when he really rocked out. I'll take Bambi over Adore any day.

I feel like the majority of fans on the org prefer "rock" Prince, honestly. This is how TGE fans manage to cut through (or ignore) the cheese.

When I was one of them it used to irritate me to no end that the guitar solos on his records are by and large pretty low in volume in the mix, especially in comparison to how central and loud in the mix they were live. He pretty much fixed this by TGE but man, I still find them too quiet on those 80s records.

[Edited 8/28/19 13:04pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

is it wrong that I've always heard more Eddie Hazel and Ernie Isley instead of Hendrix?

Nope, not at all. Of course he was influenced by Hendrix but Carlos Santana is his biggest inspiration and I bet 4 sure that he loved him some Eddie and Ernie too! I get annoyed when some people just want to constantly compare him to ONLY Hendrix though, but us true fans see the differences in the style and sound. I too love my guitar hard rocking Prince because he has spoiled us, but I also love the ballads too.

luv2tha99s said:

rogifan said:

Depends what he's playing and how one defines heavy metal. Are we taking about music that decended from Zeppelin or Sabbath? I would argue any of Prince's hard rock sensibilities came from the former not the latter. I've heard Prince covers of Whole Lotta Love that rock as hard as anybody. Endorphinmachine live at Montreux 2013 rocks as hard as anything Aerosmith ever did. I Like It There live in Portland 2013 has a real grunge feel to it. But I'm probably one of the weird Prince fans who preferred when he really rocked out. I'll take Bambi over Adore any day.

You're not the only one. Used to be so disappointed when he would bury the guitar on albums after Purple Rain. He'd bring it out again live and I would think "Oh there it is! Why does he do that? Especially when he achieved his highest level of Fame with that harder guitar sound style of pop music?" It took me a while to understand that he was catering to different audiences with different albums at different times.

It's a shame that so many don't think of him as a rocker because it wasn't front and center on records and so much live stuff has been removed from YouTube. Stratus at Montreux 2009 isn't metal but it's amazing and probably one reason guys like Steve Vai were fans.

when i was very young and didnt know metal, i though With You sounded a bit like heavy metal.
But then I grew up and learned to know more than just Prince, and recognized metal was nothing to do with it, even seen from very far away by a blind man.

rogifan said:

luv2tha99s said:

rogifan said: You're not the only one. Used to be so disappointed when he would bury the guitar on albums after Purple Rain. He'd bring it out again live and I would think "Oh there it is! Why does he do that? Especially when he achieved his highest level of Fame with that harder guitar sound style of pop music?" It took me a while to understand that he was catering to different audiences with different albums at different times.

It's a shame that so many don't think of him as a rocker because it wasn't front and center on records and so much live stuff has been removed from YouTube. Stratus at Montreux 2009 isn't metal but it's amazing and probably one reason guys like Steve Vai were fans.

Exactly! There is WAY more to his phenomenal guitar playing than the Super Bowl performance and the RRHOF in 2004. That just seems like that is all the mainstream wants to focus on though. Man are they missing out!

The "Bambi" solo from "The Undertaker" is pure metal.

MIInsane said:

The "Bambi" solo from "The Undertaker" is pure metal.

Yes that it smokin' and you should also hear the same solo from the 1990 Nude Tour, it is also pure fire! I would definetly say many of his solos do sound like heavy metal.

Missmusicluver72 said:

MIInsane said:

The "Bambi" solo from "The Undertaker" is pure metal.

Yes that it smokin' and you should also hear the same solo from the 1990 Nude Tour, it is also pure fire! I would definetly say many of his solos do sound like heavy metal.

This is pretty good too.

https://vimeo.com/254237430

This kicks ass.

https://www.youtube.com/w...5Hhpr8wq_g

https://www.youtube.com/w...qL8Uj4WcH4

[Edited 8/28/19 20:00pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

So you wouldn't consider Prince's guitar solos in songs like Computer Blue, Thunder, Live 4 Love, Call The Law somewhat metal? The way his fingers went nuts on the strings, dissorting them?

I always considered Prince's 90's music dark rock/ pop.

His guitar playing sounds exactly like a guy who grew up in the 70's listening to popular 70's rock. I don't see any direct lines from any specific player to his playing, he kind of absorbed it all. So yes, there is obviously heavy metal in there.

Having said that, Eddie Hazel is the one player I don't hear in his playing, at least not in the 80's, maybe in stuff like the Undertaker.

rogifan said:

This kicks ass.

https://www.youtube.com/w...5Hhpr8wq_g

https://www.youtube.com/w...qL8Uj4WcH4

[Edited 8/28/19 20:00pm]

Thanks for these links and the one when he was on Jimmy Fallon! Rockin hard

Prince was quite influenced in his early years by Dez. Dez is much more of a rocker than Prince was. Personally, I love how the pre-revolution could rock out. Case in point, this version of Bambi. Kind of like Thin Lizzy on speed.

.

And yes, Jimi, Eddie, Ernie, Carlos... he had a lot of influences. (also Grand Funk Railroad, for instance) It's quite natural for someone that was all about the music to be influenced by many around him, wether on record or in person.