I know this sounds off,on papper having Prince in a hard rock band

with ladies sounds great

but i cant help myself feeling that Prince either lost passion

for guitar or he didnt practice guitar anymore.During 3rd Eye era gone was all the

excitment from his guitar playing.

Prince played very basic very unlike Prince.

he sounded like Keith Richards version of Prince.its rocknroll,but very basic ,

eliminated from any extra details.

Nothing he played during this period comes even close to for example

Whole Lotta Love Indigo Nights

or Bambi Undertaker version.

Prince is my number 1 guitar player and he delivered during whole his career

except during Rave era and imo 3rdeye era.

During Rave era Prince played so bad compared to his previous standards.

But he start to recover with 2000 2001 Hit N Run period.

He added whammy bar to his playing and while at the early stages

of using it he wasnt sure what to do with it,he made it his own in the following

years ,using it not to replace his trademark vibrato like some orgers like to say,

but to add effects like dive bombs and some angry passages .

But in 2012 his playing changed.it wasnt uplifting anymore it become sluggish,droned,grungy.

Maybe after a decade exploration of guitar sonics he got bored

and he was already thing about piano porojects?

Am i the only one thinking like this?

[Edited 9/7/20 6:31am]

No. I enjoyed his guitar playing during the 3rd Eye Girl era. His SNL performance with them was great....almost bought a P-90'd Vox guitar just because of that.

thebanishedone said:

I know this sounds off,on papper having Prince in a hard rock band

with ladies sounds great

but i cant help myself feeling that Prince either lost passion

for guitar or he didnt practice guitar anymore.During 3rd Eye era gone was all the

excitment from his guitar playing.

Prince played very basic very unlike Prince.

he sounded like Keith Richards version of Prince.its rocknroll,but very basic ,

eliminated from any extra details.

Nothing he played during this period comes even close to for example

Whole Lotta Love Indigo Nights

or Bambi Undertaker version.

Prince is my number 1 guitar player and he delivered during whole his career

except during Rave era and imo 3rdeye era.

During Rave era Prince played so bad compared to his previous standards.

But he start to recover with 2000 2001 Hit N Run period.

He added whammy bar to his playing and while at the early stages

of using it he wasnt sure what to do with it,he made it his own in the following

years ,using it not to replace his trademark vibrato like some orgers like to say,

but to add effects like dive bombs and some angry passages .

But in 2012 his playing changed.it wasnt uplifting anymore it become sluggish,droned,grungy.

Maybe after a decade exploration of guitar sonics he got bored

and he was already thing about piano porojects?

Am i the only one thinking like this?

[Edited 9/7/20 6:31am]

I lost interest in him as a guitar player from 3EG onwards. I just didn't like the sound of those Vox guitars, when you compare it to the beautiful tones of the Fender (and Madcat) it just didn't compare. I'm not saying he was a worse musician at all, just my opinion.

-

That whole ThirdEyeGirl thing was... weird, forgettable even, at least to me.

OK, they jammed a lot, playing the internet with it instantly.

Not recording an album (I believe) for what, nearly 4/5 years ?

Than coming back with a statement that 'Albums Matter, Like Black Lives''.

He was right though. Although it went lost in between... these new albums.

Susan Rodgers sayd in an interview that Prince is a real Album kind of artist, and she's right.

-

But what happend in 2010 that made him stop making albums ?

You're right somehow, and from that point on I follow your comment on his guitar playing too.

Although I have to relisten to these 'trax' again.

To say that his playing kind of 'changed' to put it gently, might be true. There's nothing that I can remeber that is stunning or outstanding.

-

I listened to "The War" again esterday, my god ! That guitar !!!

-

Donna Grantis, tbh, is a very goodlooking and nice girl and an interesting guitarplayer.

But I can't seem to 'feel' what she brought or added of any value in his style or music.

"Screwdriver" ? The slowed down "Let's Go Crazy" idea? It was fun, but that was about it.

I barely listen to those jams they did between 2010 and 2015.

-

Clearly Prince wanted a pause from albums. But whay ?

I dare to say that not only his guitar playing, but also his inventiveness on 'sound' was somewhat gone too.

-

His mobbing with religion was over it's peak it seemed.

It did not make him more susccesful or accepted for sure, spreading the word of Larry & bunch.

Joshua and Mrs Welton, did not get him on a higher, new, interesting level either.

What made him decide to not make albums anymore ?

Did he got tired of it all ? The addiction maybe ?

I jsut wonder... sure someone here will know.

I kinda lost Prince during that era.

-

He was aging and hands are fragile things. I do think he knew he could not play like he used to... I made that quip on April 16th (or so) about it being a shame he can not play guitar anymore...(which many took as meaning because he was focused on the Piano).

But there is more: he said something before that about the book about him coming to terms with his own mortality.

I think maybe his age and the miles (years of playing) were wearing on him and making it harder to play. Which is to be expected.

They weren't the most subtle of bands, doing dumb iron-man rip-offs and hamfisted punk and alt-rock attempts. I mean, I enjoyed it for what it was but I don't think it lent itself to his best playing. You can't discount his age holding him back either, hard to gauge how much it was or was not affecting him at that point. The one show I managed to see was fantastic though so if they were compensating for him at points, they did the job.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

He was aging and hands are fragile things. I do think he knew he could not play like he used to... I made that quip on April 16th (or so) about it being a shame he can not play guitar anymore...(which many took as meaning because he was focused on the Piano).

But there is more: he said something before that about the book about him coming to terms with his own mortality.

I think maybe his age and the miles (years of playing) were wearing on him and making it harder to play. Which is to be expected.

^^^^^ THIS

"Take this bass, I can't play it
It only makes me wish for the way it used to be"

idk i haven't heard anything that i wouldn't describe as "pretty banging"

maybe i just have low standards

antonb said:

No.

Maybe I've not listened to enough 3rd Eye Era shows, but I think he was still pretty great

RJOrion said:

of course he "regressed"... the man was almost 60 years old... playing guitar is rough on the hands, wrists and fingers of a young healthy man much less a man approaching 60, with alleged physical ailments...every human being alive "regresses" physically. [Edited 9/7/20 9:46am]

You know 60 is not that old for a guitar player.i would like to think that neck on vox didnt suit him but he kept playing it because it fit the image of late 60s hard rock band.

About 8 years earlier he was crowned the greatest guitar player alive.

Being 60 doesn't make you pick boring guitar parts. Even if the agility was gone, how does that explain the lack of creativity?

I think he was just dumbing it down for the level of the band, and the concept, but mostly the band.

lavendardrummachine said:

About 8 years earlier he was crowned the greatest guitar player alive.

Being 60 doesn't make you pick boring guitar parts. Even if the agility was gone, how does that explain the lack of creativity?

I think he was just dumbing it down for the level of the band, and the concept, but mostly the band.

maybe you are right. Donna was supposed to have jazz training but all i ever heard from her was boring pentatonic same old same old solo.Prince maybe didnt want to outclass her

so he played ppretty basic.

Vannormal said:

-

That whole ThirdEyeGirl thing was... weird, forgettable even, at least to me.

OK, they jammed a lot, playing the internet with it instantly.

Not recording an album (I believe) for what, nearly 4/5 years ?

Than coming back with a statement that 'Albums Matter, Like Black Lives''.

He was right though. Although it went lost in between... these new albums.

Susan Rodgers sayd in an interview that Prince is a real Album kind of artist, and she's right.

-

But what happend in 2010 that made him stop making albums ?

You're right somehow, and from that point on I follow your comment on his guitar playing too.

Although I have to relisten to these 'trax' again.

To say that his playing kind of 'changed' to put it gently, might be true. There's nothing that I can remeber that is stunning or outstanding.

-

I listened to "The War" again esterday, my god ! That guitar !!!

-

Donna Grantis, tbh, is a very goodlooking and nice girl and an interesting guitarplayer.

But I can't seem to 'feel' what she brought or added of any value in his style or music.

"Screwdriver" ? The slowed down "Let's Go Crazy" idea? It was fun, but that was about it.

I barely listen to those jams they did between 2010 and 2015.

-

Clearly Prince wanted a pause from albums. But whay ?

I dare to say that not only his guitar playing, but also his inventiveness on 'sound' was somewhat gone too.

-

His mobbing with religion was over it's peak it seemed.

It did not make him more susccesful or accepted for sure, spreading the word of Larry & bunch.

Joshua and Mrs Welton, did not get him on a higher, new, interesting level either.

What made him decide to not make albums anymore ?

Did he got tired of it all ? The addiction maybe ?

I jsut wonder... sure someone here will know.

I kinda lost Prince during that era.

-

He didn't stop making albums - he stopped releasing them. Welcome 2 America was made in 2011. Plectrumelectrum started recording in 2012 and probably could have been released in 2013 (although the final version likely contained some early 2014 recordings).

At some point in this period there was the acoustic album, The L/C, with Andy Allo.

Can't say that I saw evidence of this "regression" when I saw him at the Electric Ballroom show in London.

[Edited 9/7/20 18:48pm]

I'm no musician but I couldn't see any regression when I saw him up close at Manchester Academy in 2014. He put the lauded clip of Something In The Water on Youtube from this show.

I don't think he regressed in his playing ability. I think the music itself that he was performing wiht 3EG became a little more . . . generic? I do feel that he was re-energized with them but I don't think the material reflected that.

As for Donna . . . beautiful girl and has great skills on the guitar BUT one very annoying trait is that when she plays guitar she is looking at her hand placement almost all the time.

Farfunknugin said:

Have you heard the DNA lounge sets with 3rd eye? Yes the tones were different but the technique was as sharp as ever.

yes i have.

it was his On night.it was a norm for 3rd eye gig.

You know when Prince starts guitar solo and all the focus shift to his solos that were full of energy bursts,passion,fire,uplifting

well only on a rare ocassions did he play like that with 3rd Eye.

Take a listen to Bambi from the Undertaker and compare it to Bambi live Montreux 2013

and you will hear what i mean...maybe

Not at all. I didn't love the 3rd Eye era but what I did like was his focus on guitar playing. I heard more passion and emotion in his solos. The clip posted from Something In the Water from Mohegan Sun is one of my favorite guitar solos from him.

idk what you guys are talking about lol plus it's veering off into a dislike about his later music and band more so than the original question.

I saw him at the mohegan sun in 2013 and it was a great show and he played great guitar. I have plenty of shows from 2010-2015. stand outs include: something in the water manchester 2014, the dakota shows in 2013 and stratus live in 2015 at paisley. he played awesome guitar in those moments.

I guess if anything it would come down to preference in the music he was playing and the band that he had. i personally prefer the tone he had from 85-89 with those mesa boogie amps and the pedal setup he preferred at the time. but no i do not think he regressed at all

leecaldon said:

Vannormal said:

-

That whole ThirdEyeGirl thing was... weird, forgettable even, at least to me.

OK, they jammed a lot, playing the internet with it instantly.

Not recording an album (I believe) for what, nearly 4/5 years ?

Than coming back with a statement that 'Albums Matter, Like Black Lives''.

He was right though. Although it went lost in between... these new albums.

Susan Rodgers sayd in an interview that Prince is a real Album kind of artist, and she's right.

-

But what happend in 2010 that made him stop making albums ?

You're right somehow, and from that point on I follow your comment on his guitar playing too.

Although I have to relisten to these 'trax' again.

To say that his playing kind of 'changed' to put it gently, might be true. There's nothing that I can remeber that is stunning or outstanding.

-

I listened to "The War" again esterday, my god ! That guitar !!!

-

Donna Grantis, tbh, is a very goodlooking and nice girl and an interesting guitarplayer.

But I can't seem to 'feel' what she brought or added of any value in his style or music.

"Screwdriver" ? The slowed down "Let's Go Crazy" idea? It was fun, but that was about it.

I barely listen to those jams they did between 2010 and 2015.

-

Clearly Prince wanted a pause from albums. But whay ?

I dare to say that not only his guitar playing, but also his inventiveness on 'sound' was somewhat gone too.

-

His mobbing with religion was over it's peak it seemed.

It did not make him more susccesful or accepted for sure, spreading the word of Larry & bunch.

Joshua and Mrs Welton, did not get him on a higher, new, interesting level either.

What made him decide to not make albums anymore ?

Did he got tired of it all ? The addiction maybe ?

I jsut wonder... sure someone here will know.

I kinda lost Prince during that era.

-

He didn't stop making albums - he stopped releasing them. Welcome 2 America was made in 2011. Plectrumelectrum started recording in 2012 and probably could have been released in 2013 (although the final version likely contained some early 2014 recordings).

At some point in this period there was the acoustic album, The L/C, with Andy Allo.

-

I also think that he recorded (several) albums in that period we.

"Welcome 2 America"... gonna look for more info about that on Princevault

-

Wasn't there talk about a new album called;

"Black is the new Black" ?

Wonder what that was about ... black lives matter maybe ?

The Estate should release that album in springtime next year, why not.

-

And the "Piano & A Microphone" available as a download, all shows.

Again, I can dream...

-

The last time Prince played guitar at Paisley Park.

https://youtu.be/auhwiBo68_k