No not at all. I was in awe for all of Prince's career. Even his misteps and failures fascinated me. And his successes blew me away. And I am not just saying that from a fan's point of view. I mean just from another person watching another person from afar try so many new things. Here was one individual who came onto the scene in the late 70's and turned the 80's and 90's upside down. His musical accomplishments are well known for his 80's stuff but that was only the beginning for me. His fight for artists rights and 2 b paid and for his control of his masters inspired me in many ways, both personally and professionally.

As he went into the 2000's and beyond he settled into his new position in the musical world. I am sure 2004 cemented that for him. After that he was on another level. Getting standing ovations wherever he went. The superbowl performance sent him to new heights that were atmospheric and I was so happy for him. Coachella was the nail on his next level status. From 2008 to 2016 he was just experimenting and trying different things and I loved it all.

People seem to forget how busy this guy was. His videos, concerts, side projects, movies and his flirting with the hollywood world was alot for anyone to enjoy. Even when he wasn't doing anything he just seemed to exert some influence on modern culture in some way. And this post doesn't even touch on him becoming more spiritual and I don't mean the Witness stuff. I am just referring to him maturing and becoming more chill and accepting of his new place in the musical world. I like him on Arsenio Hall show in 2014. He seems very chill and seems to revel in this new level of comfort.

In the end I never put any expectations on him and his career. I just wanted him to do what he wanted whenever and however he wanted. Just liked he sang on so many songs. He just wanted to be free and I couldn't have agreed more, even free from my expectaions of what I wanted him to be!

[Edited 5/23/20 10:36am]

[Edited 5/23/20 11:04am]

He tempered expectations and did things to alienate fans that had expectations of him pretty quickly after his biggest successes, so you got over it quickly and either lost interest for a while or just rolled with it and tried to appreciate whatever direction he was going.

masaba said:

I really dug the instrumental laid-back jazzy direction he was going into in the early 00s, I feel like that might be somewhat similar to the "orchestra" conductor comment, but I do understand what you mean... most people probably prefer the pop-funk/rock type approach over the more esoteric: see how people regularly rank N.E.W.S.... I liked the idea of him to going more insular/alienating like he was doing in '03, then he brought back the hits for "one last time" in 2004 and kind of maintained that "classic Prince" approach within that paradigm for the rest of his career.

thebanishedone said:

masaba said:

Orchestra conductor? Can't imagine why you expect or even want to see PRINCE in that role lol. Movie composer? He did the score for many movies... or are you saying you hoped he would writing songs and putting together albums and touring so that he could write scores for...movies? Why would you want that? How would that be an evolution?

Prince did songs for movies ,never did scores.Being an orchestra conductor was an example of growing gracefully in the music world.playing rock music at 50 something is laughable.

With all due respect to orchestra conductors, which part were you laughing at: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance where he upstaged his peers and delivered what is arguably the most famous guitar solo of the new millennium, the Superbowl halftime show he put on in front of millions that ESPN called the best ever, or his sold-out twenty-one night stand at the O2 arena? On which of these occasions was Prince not graceful enough?

mtlfan said:

He did everything that I imagined he could be capable of, and then some as I've had time to reflect on the breadth of his talents and his particular vision. Yet still it remains interesting to see what is in store in his archive of unpublished material!

>

Expectations I would have toward his productions were fed to me by what the man had actually produced, and by that token he was a master of shifting one's expectations, LOL!.

>

One thing that you can certainly say about Prince handling his career is that he was true to himself. I didn't let his changes disappoint; a place for appreciation by me usually existed, probably because he did a lot more than many other singular performer/artists typically do.

I've always been surprised about the direction he took in 2004 with Musicology. When you compare what was doing between 2001-2003 with TRC/ONA/N.E.W.S/C-NOTE, Musicology was such a complete 180. It's not that I was expecting another Lovesexy quality album or anything, but I just wasn't expecting such a safe sounding album. I also know many of you like the Musicology tour, but for me it felt like big stepback from ONA.

.

While it wasn't really a major expectation, after his 2009 Montreux shows I thought his next album would pack more of a punch. Even though I really like a few tracks from 20Ten, the album feels pretty weak compared to what he did in those Montreux shows.

thebanishedone said:

callimnate said:

PurpleColossus said:

Wait, am I right in thinking that Prince could not read or write music?

I believe that's true, yes?

In which case, the limitations on his musical development were set right there.

Rimshottbob said:

SantanaMaitreya said:

PurpleColossus said:

I've always been surprised about the direction he took in 2004 with Musicology. When you compare what was doing between 2001-2003 with TRC/ONA/N.E.W.S/C-NOTE, Musicology was such a complete 180. It's not that I was expecting another Lovesexy quality album or anything, but I just wasn't expecting such a safe sounding album. I also know many of you like the Musicology tour, but for me it felt like big stepback from ONA.

.

While it wasn't really a major expectation, after his 2009 Montreux shows I thought his next album would pack more of a punch. Even though I really like a few tracks from 20Ten, the album feels pretty weak compared to what he did in those Montreux shows.

Nothing surprising about it. He was moving away from the mainstream with the albums you mention, but Prince doing jazzy instrumentals will cost him fans without gaining new fans from the jazz/fusion crowd because in that genre, there's no way Prince could compete with the likes of Herbie Hancock and Marcus Miller etc. And of course, Prince also wanted to be a rock star and make money if only because running your own studio is expensive. So it really was not surprising that he would go back into the world of pop music. That's the thing with Prince: he could never make up his mind whether he wanted to be a cult star or a pop star. In other words: he was never going to be a Frank Zappa and he was never going to be a Michael Jackson. And that's what made him unique.

You make some interesting points...I suppose its not that surprising he went the Musicology route. Even though I loved Prince doing jazz, it's certaintly not going to appeal to everyone. For me though, he was on such a creative roll between 2001-2003, and when Musicology came out I was like... Regardless of whatever direction he chose to go, I was just expecting something more musically adventurous at that point.