I often see here in the Org how certain members talk about the decades after his peak in the 80s as commercial flops. But that's a bit unfair.

It's true. He didn't repeat Purple Rain after two decades, but it's not like he even tried. And most artists don't have 3, 4 or 5 classic albums in a lifetime.

Check Michael Jackson, he had 3 or 4 classics (Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad and Dangerous).

Check Madonna, she had Like A Virgin, Like A Prayer, True Blue, Ray of Light.

Prince did too much, too fast.

His first decade in the business was a big bang (Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, Sign O The Times).

That's 4 big influential albums.

But after that he had the Batman soundtrack, Diamonds and Pearls (that album has hits!), Symbol (Sexy MF, My Name Is Prince, 7).

Then the iconic change name, and his comeback in the 00s with Musicology and another #1 album 3121.

Finally his last decade, the 10s. The man who debuted in late 70s achieved TWO albums in Billboard Top 10 at the same time with Art Official Age and Plectrum Electrum.

Yes, maybe these albums weren't selling millions, but who else was doing it? Paul McCartney? Stevie Wonder? No.

Everybody fades or has ups and downs. But i would say his career after 80s golden days DESERVE so much more respect from her fans and the media in general.

Most recording 'artists' have a career life span of about 7 years. After that the public moves on. Prince's career lasted decades. Even after the Purple Rainers disappeared and he lost a lot of fans with his weird antics such as the 'slave' era, etc. His music changed with each album (mostly). By doing this I think his core audience never became bored. I was always anticipating what he would do next and how he would surprise his true fans. He was never boring.

kingricefan said:

It just wasn't the same. He had hits but they weren't culture shifting hits where people had a fever for them.

Plus Diamons and Pearls and some of the others you named were really record company hits manufactured by the marketing departments. They sounded a bit dated even at the time. It also felt like he'd abandoned US audiences and was purposely making music that appealed overseas instead.

He had some great periods after the 80's that I think we're going to learn to appreciate over time but the 80's were just on another level, both with his artistry, and really where the culture was at.

Timing is everything. Whether Prince's albums were "hits" or not largely had to do with timing and promotion....not quality of the work.

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Was Purple Rain a genius album? Yes. It was also the followup to 1999. Purple Rain had a perfectly pitched commercial songs coupled with a juggernaut marketing campaign behind it. This is because, while WB took a risk with the film, they were extremely confidant in Prince because he had earned their trust with 1999's success. So, they poured money into the project.

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Now, contrast this with Sign O' The Times. By all accounts this is a better album than Purple Rain. Yet, it was following Parade....an album that was (although genius in it's won right) still tied to the flop movie Under The Cherry Moon. Sure, WB promoted Sign O' The Times, but not nearly to the extent that they could have. Their confidence in their genius was shaken. WB likes surefire money, not creative and artistic risks. Prince always took risks artistically, and this was ( a lot of the time) a detriment to his commercial success.

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Lastly, just as people get used to the wonders of our natural world and universe, people got used to Prince being a creative genius. He was, despite being one of the most famous musicians ever, largely underrated. While this will actually help his legacy in the long run, it did not help his commercial appeal.

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It was often said that if anyone but Prince would have released one of his "lesser" albums, like Come, they'd be hailed as a genius.

[Edited 4/13/20 7:23am]

lavendardrummachine said:

It just wasn't the same. He had hits but they weren't culture shifting hits where people had a fever for them.

Plus Diamons and Pearls and some of the others you named were really record company hits manufactured by the marketing departments. They sounded a bit dated even at the time. It also felt like he'd abandoned US audiences and was purposely making music that appealed overseas instead.

He had some great periods after the 80's that I think we're going to learn to appreciate over time but the 80's were just on another level, both with his artistry, and really where the culture was at.

I disagree and think it was the other way around. I quite like Diamonds and Pearls except for the rap parts but it absolutely didn´t appeal to overseas countries. On the contrary, it sounded very much like an album that was pandering to the US market , with its rap parts and glamour and Prince´s braggadocio that was not very typical for him before D&P and the Symbol album. I don´t mind because I still found a lot of great songs on those albums but his casual fans in Europe were not part of the demographic that likes rap and bragging, he was too slick to be accepted by the rock and grunge crowds in the early 90s and utilizing too much rapping to be accepted by the 35 plus crowd of European pop and rock audiences. Albums such as Purple Rain, Parade, SOTT and ATWIAD had a much bigger appeal as far as overseas listeners are concerned. The music was more relatable and more accessible.

Don´t get me wrong, I find greatness in most of his output, including the 90s and 00s, but Diamonds and Pearls was by no means an album that had a lot of overseas appeal. This doesn´t mean that it didn´t sell well, because it did, but it did so despite the new elements, not because of them.

Dalia11 said:

kingricefan said:

Most recording 'artists' have a career life span of about 7 years. After that the public moves on. Prince's career lasted decades. Even after the Purple Rainers disappeared and he lost a lot of fans with his weird antics such as the 'slave' era, etc. His music changed with each album (mostly). By doing this I think his core audience never became bored. I was always anticipating what he would do next and how he would surprise his true fans. He was never boring.

I agree!

Prince made for good television, even when he wasn't "performing." Michael spent so much time and energy being weird then going on tv and trying to clear up that he was "normal." Normal is boring. Prince showed up for interviews and you didn't know if you were going to get four fingers in your face or chains over his face, rants about Jehovah or jokes at Will.i.am's expense. Maybe the Game Boyz would be humping his exposed ass or he'd have an entourage of muppets. Maybe that wasn't Prince at all but Mayte in disguise. Maybe his new video had him suggesting he's a modern day Mozart or crawling between Vicki Vale's legs dressed as Batman and Joker at the same time. For a while nobody even knew what the fuck to call him. All bets were off.

mtlfan said:

Dalia11 said:

kingricefan said: I agree!

Prince made for good television, even when he wasn't "performing." Michael spent so much time and energy being weird then going on tv and trying to clear up that he was "normal." Normal is boring. Prince showed up for interviews and you didn't know if you were going to get four fingers in your face or chains over his face, rants about Jehovah or jokes at Will.i.am's expense. Maybe the Game Boyz would be humping his exposed ass or he'd have an entourage of muppets. Maybe that wasn't Prince at all but Mayte in disguise. Maybe his new video had him suggesting he's a modern day Mozart or crawling between Vicki Vale's legs dressed as Batman and Joker at the same time. For a while nobody even knew what the fuck to call him. All bets were off.

Yes, he was always interesting.