rogifan said:

v10letblues said:

When biopics or documentaries get made, I really think the 2000's era would make a spectacular movie.

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So many AMAZING high profile performances. It was the triumphant return of Prince as the quintessential ROCK STAR.

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How many artists come back a decade later and leave at the top of their game. He was the epitome of badass all the way to the end.

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In a three arc story, with the 80's being it's own arc, the 90's being the fall from grace, and the 2000's as a spectacular an artistic comeback anyone could imagine. Especially as a live music performer. He was at once the rock star, and also the serious jazz/fusion musician.

[Edited 4/8/20 16:03pm]

It is interesting that some of his music that rocked the hardest was recorded in the 90s.

Also the absolute cheesiest!

jaawwnn said:

Fair enough, I can see that happening in the right circles.

I wasn't into Prince at the time but I was aware of Musicology as a song and the general "comeback" thing that was happening at the time, and it wasn't a comeback based on his guitar playing.

It was certainly more based on his guitar playing than "Musicology" the song.... nobody cared about that song. The tour and by-proxy through inventing the forced-bundle: the album Musicology, sure, but everyone I knew who went to those shows gave me their shrinkwrapped copies of Musicology the album because they had zero interest in his new material...

v10letblues said:

rogifan said:

It is interesting that some of his music that rocked the hardest was recorded in the 90s.

Also the absolute cheesiest!

No, not at all.

WhisperingDandelions said:

jaawwnn said:

Fair enough, I can see that happening in the right circles.

I wasn't into Prince at the time but I was aware of Musicology as a song and the general "comeback" thing that was happening at the time, and it wasn't a comeback based on his guitar playing.

It was certainly more based on his guitar playing than "Musicology" the song.... nobody cared about that song. The tour and by-proxy through inventing the forced-bundle: the album Musicology, sure, but everyone I knew who went to those shows gave me their shrinkwrapped copies of Musicology the album because they had zero interest in his new material...

Musicology was a great song. And great live. Everyone you knew missed out on good music.

WhisperingDandelions said:

jaawwnn said:

Fair enough, I can see that happening in the right circles.

I wasn't into Prince at the time but I was aware of Musicology as a song and the general "comeback" thing that was happening at the time, and it wasn't a comeback based on his guitar playing.

It was certainly more based on his guitar playing than "Musicology" the song.... nobody cared about that song. The tour and by-proxy through inventing the forced-bundle: the album Musicology, sure, but everyone I knew who went to those shows gave me their shrinkwrapped copies of Musicology the album because they had zero interest in his new material...

Interesting. That wasn't the case around here, people liked the song and a few bought the album off the back of it and didn't think much of it. It kind of arrested the whole comeback thing, but then the 21 nights in London thing came along a few years later.

rogifan said:

Farfunknugin said:

Mikado said:

The reason why the RRHOF performance is so "well remembered" is because it was the only Prince related thing on YouTube for years. When he died and people went to search him that's all they found and accordingly what was posted on social media and included in the immediate tributes.

I certainly don't remember it being a career defining moment or anything at the time - the Superbowl performance that happened a few years later was far, far more of a milestone for his life and career. The 2004 renaissance was just the effect of him finally becoming more accessible and not thumbing his nose at the mainstream. It didn't take long for people to re-remember his genius once he cracked open the door.

[Edited 4/6/20 0:07am]

I remember people raving about it at the time, including some of the artists on stage with him.

It was a big moment, no question - if not Superbowl level.

I'd also add Prince's performance on SNL in 2014. I remember reading comments on social media with people blown away by the performance. I always loved the nod to Zeppelin in Plectrumelectrum.

^

The SNL after party video with all the A list celebrities also gets a lot talk

In the 2000's the man was looking sharp as hell while effortlessly tearing it up on the guitar at the most high profile events.

He NEVER coasted on his image, he was burnishing it. Always showing everyone how much of a badass he was.

I think the general public were just tired of Prince overall and needed a nice, long break. 2004 (coincidentally the 20th anniversary of Purple Rain) was a perfect year to be inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. His TV appearances to support the Musicology album didn't hurt either.

I think Prince knew this was a perfect storm of a comeback opportunity, and took full advantage of it.

Musikogy?

That's my jam!

Prince was always a badass on guitar. Since, the beginning...

If you don't stay in the "public" eye...they tend to forget you. We hadn't forgot cause we're the ones constantly listening to his stuff.

I'm pissed because we never got an all guitar album from him. Maybe, the Estate has found one in the vault by now?

rogifan said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

It was certainly more based on his guitar playing than "Musicology" the song.... nobody cared about that song. The tour and by-proxy through inventing the forced-bundle: the album Musicology, sure, but everyone I knew who went to those shows gave me their shrinkwrapped copies of Musicology the album because they had zero interest in his new material...

Musicology was a great song. And great live. Everyone you knew missed out on good music.

It's an all right song. I love the live versions though. That Leno rendition where he tosses the guitar, dances over to the couch and then proceeds to give an interview directly after with no cuts or rest break other than the sip of his mug is maybe the most badass, most underrated moment in live talk show performance history.

smooth as silk

But I know people missed out on good music; we all know that. Just because I'm relaying views doesn't mean I necessarily share them... that being said, I did get many to become Prince fans after I learned they didn't think he was that great, but it certaily wasn't based off burning them high school mixes with "Musicology" on them... and I'm willing to bet most of you intro-ing new fans might omit that track off a mix yourselves.

[Edited 4/17/20 13:42pm]

It was a very planned year, and it all went well. Its really that simple, though it may not look like it now or prior to it because Prince was in and out of deals (Emi and Arista) and seemed to lose interest in those projects too, and he was also testing the waters of what he could do, striking a deal with Best Buys Redline company and selling a good amount of albums with Rainbow Children considering it had no press videos or singles i had select promo shows and then doing the online club and NEWS so Prince was all over coming into 2004 but he is smarter than we give him credit for, we may think he screws business up, but he knew this was 20 years to Purple Rain, he knew he had a new album, he also KNEW how to tap into that "final tour thing" that everyone was doing and still doing now, my god the Eagles are almost out of living members and they still are on the last tours. But the whole "Im playing just hits for the last time" then going on the Grammys with Beyonce who at the time it was genius to do like it or not it was smart and to open the show even better because thats when people watch those shows the ratings fall off on award shows after the first half hour so GENIUS, then he does the Hall Of Fame big honor of course but he knows they focus on the first and the BIG JAM at the end, so what does he do, pops up at the end and steals the show, literally says this is mine, sorry gotta go. And then you had the tour, last time playing hits, also PRINCE was doing Leno and other shows too, so it all worked, the tour was HUGE and the fact he also used the whole ticket deal to get a huge chart position caused controversy and brought more attention it should be noted that he did sell 1.3 million of this record not counting tickets so for todays standards thats almost the biggest selling album of a year. So it was a perfect storm but calculated i mean look at the following year 2005, who had this miracle comeback? Mariah from the depths of the asylum she became the hottest thing one more time, played the game and won.

It really is flat out wrong to say it was merely marketing. If the performances, his showmanship, his arrangements were not mind blowing then there would be nothing to talk about. The entire 2000's shows a man at the peak of his live act prowess. Also the absolute best backing band.

callimnate said:

v10letblues said:

It really is flat out wrong to say it was merely marketing. If the performances, his showmanship, his arrangements were not mind blowing then there would be nothing to talk about. The entire 2000's shows a man at the peak of his live act prowess. Also the absolute best backing band.

it is a combination but also a calculated combination let's be honest. Prince was always a great musician and this band evolved out of the Rainbow Children era but if Prince had gone on the Grammies by himself and played an amazing jazz rock track that no one knew except loyal fans this would not have gone that way, also the HITS tour was a move that had to be made, he had some tours and shows where he played all new stuff, I was at the rainbow children shows and the casual prince fans were not impressed by the band and the playing they wanted hits and didn't get them. So it took a combo but had to be calculated and planned out, because knowing he was great didn't cut it and even showing his greatness didn't cut it he literally had to get up there and remind people he was still actually recording music.

We see a lot of artists. Many have tried to recapture the force they were in their heyday. Some get by on nostalgia or other like David Lee Roth recently just made himself look bad. But Prince never really went that way. He didn't just blow away people who we're not familiar with him, he made old diehards take notice. Not just on guitars, but the whole package. And not just rediscovery as a guitar player, but as the greatest live performer of our generation. That's what these shows showed us more than anything.

v10letblues said:

We see a lot of artists. Many have tried to recapture the force they were in their heyday. Some get by on nostalgia or other like David Lee Roth recently just made himself look bad. But Prince never really went that way. He didn't just blow away people who we're not familiar with him, he made old diehards take notice. Not just on guitars, but the whole package. And not just rediscovery as a guitar player, but as the greatest live performer of our generation. That's what these shows showed us more than anything.

Yes!! In terms of pure musicianship, the Musicology Tour is heads above anything I've ever seen. Then throw in Montreux, a completely different type of show, and yet Prince took it to a different level. I've never heard or seen a better guitar player than Prince. I wish I have because I would like to be in awe of a different musician, but no one compares to Prince live!

FanAllMyLife said:

v10letblues said:

We see a lot of artists. Many have tried to recapture the force they were in their heyday. Some get by on nostalgia or other like David Lee Roth recently just made himself look bad. But Prince never really went that way. He didn't just blow away people who we're not familiar with him, he made old diehards take notice. Not just on guitars, but the whole package. And not just rediscovery as a guitar player, but as the greatest live performer of our generation. That's what these shows showed us more than anything.

Yes!! In terms of pure musicianship, the Musicology Tour is heads above anything I've ever seen. Then throw in Montreux, a completely different type of show, and yet Prince took it to a different level. I've never heard or seen a better guitar player than Prince. I wish I have because I would like to be in awe of a different musician, but no one compares to Prince live!

As a long time fan i started being blown away on an entirely different level with the ONA tour.

Jaw dropping amazing! He took that band with him on the Musicology tour to show himself and the band off to a wider audience.

Everyone, do yourselves a favor and check out the April 20002 show at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood

[Edited 4/19/20 21:21pm]

On a side note, as much as I love nostalgia and The Revolution, his band for the ONA and Musicology tour shows why he needed to get rid of them and get top notch musicians. It added soooooo much to his live shows. They not only took his live shows to another level, but another dimension.

[Edited 4/19/20 21:54pm]

v10letblues said:

thebanishedone said:

v10letblues said:

On a side note, as much as I love nostalgia and The Revolution, his band for the ONA and Musicology tour shows why he needed to get rid of them and get top notch musicians. It added soooooo much to his live shows. They not only took his live shows to another level, but another dimension.

[Edited 4/19/20 21:54pm]

Sorry but The Revolution was not worse than Musicogy NpG.in fact Matt is a much better keyboard player than Renato.Bobby Z was not flashy but his pocket was great.you cant say that Blackwell was a good in the pocket drummer.You know how many times Prince find John 4 not being able to play in the pocket.Brown Mark is funkier bass player yhan Rhonda.and ok Mike Scott kills Wendy on guitar.listen to Parade live tour.they didnt even sound like 1985 Revolution.he fired THE Revolution cause they started thinking they are the E Street band

Yeah none of that is true.
Go out and listen to any of the ONA shows, and there is no way in hell the Revolution could pull that off. It's like comparing refrigerator magnet art to something by professionals.

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Like I said, I love nostalgia and i like the personnel, but we're talking about a whole other level.

v10letblues said:

On a side note, as much as I love nostalgia and The Revolution, his band for the ONA and Musicology tour shows why he needed to get rid of them and get top notch musicians. It added soooooo much to his live shows. They not only took his live shows to another level, but another dimension.

[Edited 4/19/20 21:54pm]

That all depends on your taste in Prince's music and showmanship.

Sure the bands he had in the 00's were probably made up with better musicians than the ones he had in the 80's abd 90's. But I hated his shows, where he was part of the band, and not the leader I grew to love (with his "simpler" bands).

I never wanted to see or hear 20 musicians up on stage, with Prince hidden amongst them.
Didnt care for Blackwell's helicopter drumming, half a dozen brass section, and dont get me started on Shelby towards the end.

I sometimes questioned where the hec he was amongst all the noise (or fusion for the try-hards).
And not only that, the 00's started the Greatest Hits Medley Tour which continued till the end. No more Album tours, which also proves the quality of songs/lp's he was producing at the time.

In the 80's it was the PRINCE show, with quality musicians behind him.

Hec. Even in the 90's he produced the greatest live version of Bambi with just a 3 piece band!

Give me THAT any day.

callimnate said:

v10letblues said:

On a side note, as much as I love nostalgia and The Revolution, his band for the ONA and Musicology tour shows why he needed to get rid of them and get top notch musicians. It added soooooo much to his live shows. They not only took his live shows to another level, but another dimension.

[Edited 4/19/20 21:54pm]

That all depends on your taste in Prince's music and showmanship.

Sure the bands he had in the 00's were probably made up with better musicians than the ones he had in the 80's abd 90's. But I hated his shows, where he was part of the band, and not the leader I grew to love (with his "simpler" bands).

I never wanted to see or hear 20 musicians up on stage, with Prince hidden amongst them.
Didnt care for Blackwell's helicopter drumming, half a dozen brass section, and dont get me started on Shelby towards the end.

I sometimes questioned where the hec he was amongst all the noise (or fusion for the try-hards).
And not only that, the 00's started the Greatest Hits Medley Tour which continued till the end. No more Album tours, which also proves the quality of songs/lp's he was producing at the time.

In the 80's it was the PRINCE show, with quality musicians behind him.

Hec. Even in the 90's he produced the greatest live version of Bambi with just a 3 piece band!

Give me THAT any day.

well I am glad you agree that the musicians were better, but i challenge you to go to watch the Hollywood Kodak theatre show from 2002 and tell me this wasnt an amazing show in every level including showmanship.. His interactions with the audience is charming and funny too

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Nostalgia tends to cloud peoples opinions tool

They were the right band for what he was doing at the time, as pretty all his bands were.

We can argue all day about what makes a "good" musician but I know that a lot of my favourite musicians couldn't hold a candle technically to the average anonymous juilliard graduate.

jaawwnn said:

They were the right band for what he was doing at the time, as pretty all his bands were.

We can argue all day about what makes a "good" musician but I know that a lot of my favourite musicians couldn't hold a candle technically to the average anonymous juilliard graduate.

There is a charm with working with amateur musicians in a rock band with the revolution, but man the difference with pro musicians on the ONA tour is AMAZING. In all honesty there is no way. No way he could have pulled that off with the Revolution. Those shows were spectacular in every way. And they will be the first to admit this.

[Edited 4/20/20 8:19am]

Oh I agree, the slick polish of those shows (even if you were just to base it on the Leno Musicology performance) is a wholly different thing to what the Revolution could do. It goes both ways though, these pros can't pull off the magic alchemy of the Revolution. S'all good, i'm glad both existed.