funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

HNR2 is def going for a more retro organic thing. He was doing that inna big way on TRC too, but yes, HNR2 def feels in step with a lot of modern artists doing it. Whether d'angelo, Jack white, sharon Jones etc. He never got minimal with that though like Jack white (or white stripes at least) or example. He always made it polished.

Yes, The Rainbow Children has an organic sound too, maybe at the time the influence of 'Voodoo'

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

In fairness I dont think whether he was doing rnb or rock mattered in the later years. The standard was about the same for both. The one diff I'd say is he tried to sound more current on his rnb compared to rock which is where it got cringey. But his rnb ranged from old school Otis Redding or al green style things like when she comes (musically gorgeous but tried n tested) to more modern sounding stuff. Wasnt all just one thing.

I agree that most (not all, but most) of his rock got a bit cheesy towards the end (Pletctrum Electrum sounded like dated '90s grunge) while his R&B got better.

tab32792 said:

RODSERLING said:

tab32792 said: This is an objective reply

It's really not. You preferring a certain kind of music is one thing but saying his r&b music sounds like shit is not only a wild and bullshit take but also sounds like some other shit going on. Then downing american's and their taste as a whole as if yours is somehow superior is mind also something else. Insatiable and Revelation are great songs. Just because YOU don't like it doesn't make it crap. Do you like r&b at all? Do you like Prince at all? or just the part of Prince that you see yourself in? The easily accessible pop/rock for the white masses version?

My earlier point (which seemed to go ignored) wasn't dependent on the merits of R&B music or how anyone feels about it...

My point was that most non-fans think of Prince as simply an R&B artist (be that a good thing or a bad thing, depending on their perpsective).

So playing for them any of Prince's later R&B songs would merely fulfill their preconceptions. They say, "Yeah, that's basically what I expected."

If you want to impress them, you need to surprise them. Play a song that's a genre (or combination of genres) Joe Public wouldn't associate with or expect from Prince. Make they say, "That's Prince? Really? I never knew he made that kind of music."

Granted, whatever surprising song you pick may not even be to their personaly taste, but they usually gain repect for him simply due to the fact that he was a musical chameleon.

lurker316 said:

tab32792 said:

It's really not. You preferring a certain kind of music is one thing but saying his r&b music sounds like shit is not only a wild and bullshit take but also sounds like some other shit going on. Then downing american's and their taste as a whole as if yours is somehow superior is mind also something else. Insatiable and Revelation are great songs. Just because YOU don't like it doesn't make it crap. Do you like r&b at all? Do you like Prince at all? or just the part of Prince that you see yourself in? The easily accessible pop/rock for the white masses version?

My earlier point (which seemed to go ignored) wasn't dependent on the merits of R&B music or how anyone feels about it...

My point was that most non-fans think of Prince as simply an R&B artist (be that a good thing or a bad thing, depending on their perpsective).

So playing for them any of Prince's later R&B songs would merely fulfill their preconceptions. They say, "Yeah, that's basically what I expected."

If you want to impress them, you need to surprise them. Play a song that's a genre (or combination of genres) Joe Public wouldn't associate with or expect from Prince. Make they say, "That's Prince? Really? I never knew he made that kind of music."

Granted, whatever surprising song you pick may not even be to their personaly taste, but they usually gain repect for him simply due to the fact that he was a musical chameleon.

Excuse me edging in on your response to tab, but I think one of the main issues was upthread disparaging remarks about Prince's post-80's R&B.

I do appreciate your point. It just seems like tab's concern, if I understood tab's words correctly, wasn't about objecting to a showcase including non-R&B songs. It seemed more about the disparaging remarks, and suggested approach to music in general, that happened upthread. But I've already been too presumptuous, so I'll let others speak.

Surely that superbowl performance proved prince wasnt 'just'an rnb artist for anyone thinking that in the last 10 or 15 years.

Then theres the soloing on while my guitar gently weps.

I wonder if ppl just associate a stigma with rnb rather than it be about prince being seen as 'just'an rnb artist.

My taste in modern rmb tends towards dangelo, Bilal, erykah badu more than mainstream artists, but I'm ok with him being seen as rnb. It was basically his main point of reference whatever he was doing I'd say for most of his career, if only cos of his singing style, if nothing else. Doesnt mean I was pleased he became a purist, more or less,or a funk keeper of the flame as he aged, or that his traditional sounding stuff was all great,cos it def wasnt. Even a lot of his slow jams started to suck post 2001.

No reason to prove anything his biggest album pr was funk rock not rnb.

SexyMuthaF said:

No reason to prove anything his biggest album pr was funk rock not rnb.

True, but for whatever reason most non-fans still think of him as R&B.

Have you ever looked at the metadata for any digital versions of his songs? The genre is invariably listed as R&B. Bambi, the Cross, Venus de Milo, Christopher Tracy's Parade, the Rainbow Children, etc. They just slap the R&B label on anything and everything he did, even if the songs are not remotely R&B.

genre tagging is often done poorly.

i think purple rain won an award for best black music album in 84/85, when its really more of a pop-rock album. it beat out MJ and lionel richie too whose albums were much closer to R&B.

[Edited 11/28/20 7:49am]

AOL...classic album

Aint Gonna Miss U When Ure Gone

Chapter and Verse

Da Bourgeoisie

i think this decade sucked for his songwriting, barring about 15% of what he released.

live, it was a diff story.

piano and mic tour was one of the best things he did.

3eg tour was kinda corny as a rock trio, but hey, his guitar playing was good and some of the rockier versions of songs were brilliant.

June
Everybody Loves Me
Lavaux
FunknRoll
2Y2D
U Know
Gold Standard
Another Love
Fix Ur Life Up