or so I believe. Someone prove me right-

nope, he lost it somewhere between '89 and the whole name change fiasco.

nah 96' things became a little shakey

skywalker said:

Act1 preview show at Glam Slam L.A. he tore it up that night with old and new material. He did Peach live. He came out with My Name Is Prince.

1998 JOTY Irving Meadowsa..he wrecked the city if industry with Face down and that melody slow jams

2001 Hollywood Palladium show. he was a bantam weight boxer flexin hios musical muscle.

2002 Hollywood Kodak Theater. Pre and post 1988 he put it all together without one speaker being humped

I hear a lot of people saying he lost it after SOTT/Lovesexy, but I never saw it that way. I thought GB, Batman, D&P, , Come & Gold were all good, each w/ a standout track or 2 (not amazing top to bottom, but good).

My interest began to drift some time before The Hits/B-Sides & Come. I remember seeing an ad for The Hits in a magazine & getting all excited, that's when I realized I'd lost touch w/ what was going on w/ him (I think it was already out & I had no idea! ).

Then when Come dropped a friend bought it before I had even heard of it that was unheard of

Gold was cool, 2 amazing songs, but didn't do a whole lot to hold me down. I think I was most absent w/ the whole C&D phase, he became a bit of an afterthought. And though NPS & Emancipation were supported by hoopla & pub he was doing (which got me interested again), the material just didn't hit it out the park. I was back on strong for Crystal Ball onward though. So I'd say '96 - '00 were the weak/"fall off" years IMO & TRC was the comeback artistically...

When he came out with "Gett Off", did the promos, did the cool video, did the MTV music awards show, got the headlines with the assless pants...and STILL couldn't make that kick-ass single get airplay...I knew that the golden era of Prince was over.

Prince didn't loose anything in '88

*In '96 he fell off commercially

*In '99 he fell off artstically

*In 2000 he came back artistically

...Now whether he'll make a comeback commercially remains to be seen...

PurpleJedi said:

That had probably more to do with the radio programmers than Prince. Gett Off was all over the radio in the UK.

lovebizzare said:

Prince STARTED to lose it AFTER 1988.

Batman was an artistical fall.
Graffiti Bridge was a commercial fall.
D&P and were a fall from his roots.

From Come untill Rave he tried... sometimes, but all of the albums that came after 1988 NEVER reached the levels of artistry and commercial succes he had before 88.

I didn't care for ATWIAD when it came out. But when he played live with the Parade tour...I loved it.

Same with Lovesexy, wasn't too fond of the album but loved the live tour.

Wasn't crazy about Chaos & Disorder until a couple of years ago and now I really like it.

Like all of Princes music. If it's not a hit with me at first, then it takes awhile to get used to it and then I really appreciate it.

I think everytime he plays something live I end up loving the tune that much more.

Thanks,


.

I think he really took a bad turn by hanging with Larry Graham. After that, the funk was kind of drained. I hope he is coming back with some more soon.


.

I think he lost it when he employed the Game Boyz and actually thought they were 'street'!

Prince lost it as an artist in late '87/early '88.

Prince lost it as a commercially viable property during the whole SLAVE crap.

lovebizzare said:

I don't mean any disrespect, but you're kidding yourself.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Wrong. He didn't lose it in '89. He lost it around '93, or '94.

FirstAvenue said:

nope between those two points...

Lost what? I never thought he lost anything. He only got better with time in my opinion and still going strong.

No way, he got it back in 93/94! Only to lose it again in 96/97.

To me, Prince has great phases and not so great phases. It has never been a question to me that he just "lost" it back then (88) because he has had five or six artistic comeback albums since that time (Symbol, Come, Gold, Emancipation, The Truth, TRC). But people thought he lost it in '85 after Purple Rain.

If you're talking commercial success, then he only really lost that around '95 or '96. Keep in mind that Purple Rain had ten times the amount of success that any other album did. And Diamonds and Pearls and Batman were his next biggest sellers (besides 1999). Hell, in '94 he put out his most popular single ever this side of Kiss. Just like any other artist, Prince can ebb and flow. He didn't just lose it all at once, never to get it back.

People drive me crazy saying crap like that.

VelvetSplash said:

How am I kidding myself? Please explain

rdhull said:

He played The City of Industry...damn I missed that show and didn't even know he played there ...oh well I made it to the Hollywood & Irvine shows that year...

By the way he hasn't lost it IMO...he's still stackin that paper...

Spot on, VelvetSplash.

nitab said:

i totally agree. damn you people are critical

While he has lost nothing I don't believe any subsequent work has bettered Emancipation as yet. The Rainbow Children is a great sign of things to come hopefully...

i think he has had 3 major peaks in his career.

84 & Purple Rain album/film/tour,

87-88 with SOTT film & album & then the amazing aftershows,per4mances & album of Lovesexy.

(92 was a high too commercially & as far as being the most popular artist in the world,he was there with MJ back in those dayz)

& now with the ONA tour & TRC.
his playing,per4mance is 2nd to none.
say what u will about his religion,this,that,npgmc,larry,whoever...
but when it comes 2 musicianship,he is the man!

was in 88 & is in 2003.

CHAOSMAN87 said:

its called having an opinion.

oh,& your cheap shot on Mj in another 4rum isnt critical if not just lame & mean?



get it 2gether FFS!

VelvetSplash said:

...Have faith now...faith and patience...anything is possible.

pejman said:

Irvine is city of industry because it seems all there is around Irvine Meadows are industrial buildings etc. Not the "real" City of Industry though heh.

I don't think that he's lost a shred of musical ability or talent. That being said, I firmly believe that Prince's Golden Age was 1980-88. I think the commercial disappointment, critical barbs and public derision of Lovesexy changed the course of his career. He lost full confidence in his "stroke."

Had Lovesexy sold better, the course of his career would have been completely different.

That being said, he has had some great moments since 1988:

1989: Batman's commercial success.

1990: He drops Graffiti Bridge, a very good LP, and embarks on the classic Nude Tour

1991: Diamonds and Pearls yielded some great songs and a string of chart toppers.

1992: Symbol sells fairly well, Results in a top-ten hit, 7.

1993: Small-venue US tour plays very well. The Hits/B-Sides is well received.


1994: He drops his last top-5 hit, "TMBGITW"

1995: He releases his best LP of the 1990's, the Gold Experience.

1996: Emancipation is dropped and sells very well (2 million by some accounts).

From 1988 to the present, he has pioneered the concept of Internet sales/downloads (albeit with decidedly mixed results), toured Europe and the US, played to fantastic reviews, and has spawned a virtual army of imiitators and would-be successors to his legacy.

YET AND STILL . ,. ,

nothing compares 2 the Golden Age.

namepeace said:

it was his only #1 in Australia.
it blew up here as did GettOff & Cream.