WhisperingDandelions said:

rudeboy4711 said:

ShellyMcG said:

My journey has officially begun. I started with For You. I don't know if I'll stick to a purely chronological order but I figure it's a decent starting point. I've listened to the whole album and my feeling towards it is kind of mixed. That first track scared the shit out of me. I won't lie. I thought my speakers were haunted . So year, I'll be skipping that track on my next listen. The standout tracks for me are "In Love", "Soft & Wet", "Crazy You" and "Just As Long As We're Together". After that, it's mostly downhill. There's nothing on there I'd say is bad, per se, but nothing really grabbed me after the 5th track. Overall, a good start I would say. I'll give it a second listen tonight when I go to bed but I'm pretty satisfied with how my Prince journey is going. And as an added bonus for myself, I hadn't heard any of these songs before so they were all brand new to me.

Here’s the thing about Prince’s music- songs that you may not have liked at the first listen eventually grow on you! In my experience it’s happened after I hear the songs with good headphones. Another thing about unreleased tracks is for example, the song “My Love is Forever” may not have grabbed you at 1st but once you hear the alternate 1977 mix you’ll definitely appreciate it more because you get to hear the evolution of the song. I really like the earlier mix because it’s not as bogged down with synths like the album mix.

GustavoRibas said:

rudeboy4711 said:

ShellyMcG said:

Graffiti Bridge (movie & album)

I watched the movie last night. Before that, I watched the trailer for it and I thought it looked like a fun movie. Having now seen it... yeah, nah. But I don't think it's as bad as I've heard it described. I mean, they clearly made this movie with very little money. So I can't be too hard on Prince for this one. It's really bad but I don't know. It was almost fun in a way. Morris Day is actually the best thing about it. I'm surprised he hasn't acted more. Good soundtrack too.

Which brings me to this morning, when I decided to listen to the Graffiti Bridge album for the first time. It's definitely a mixed bag but most of the Prince songs here are good. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got reminds me of Play In The Sunshine. The Question Of U and We Can Funk are by far the best two songs here though.

The songs from other artists though, I'm not overly fond of to be honest. The Time songs are very disappointing compared to their older work. The Latest Fashion is interesting though. As far as I know, this is the first song where Prince is featured on a Time song, right?

I didn't like the Tevin Campbell song either. I had never even heard of him but I just googled him and seen that he played Powerline in A Goofy Movie. So he's gone up in my estimation.

So, I've got my first taste of Prince in the 90s and overall, I'm pretty happy with it. He's a better musician than he is an actor though

ShellyMcG said:

The Time songs are very disappointing compared to their older work. The Latest Fashion is interesting though. As far as I know, this is the first song where Prince is featured on a Time song, right? I didn't like the Tevin Campbell song either. I had never even heard of him but I just googled him and seen that he played Powerline in A Goofy Movie. So he's gone up in my estimation. So, I've got my first taste of Prince in the 90s and overall, I'm pretty happy with it. He's a better musician than he is an actor though

Tevin had some R&B hits in the US like "Can We Talk?" and "I'm Ready" on his next album as a teen. It also features some more Prince tracks, one of which will be one of the few protege tracks he later decided to "reclaim" in a studio version on one of his own later Prince albums. Amazing slow jam, any version.

The Time first feature Prince on "Tricky", the B-Side to "Ice Cream Castles", Morris does drums and backing vocals with Prince on lead, but Prince is uncredited. Crystal Ball has a "full" version, but it's better edited on the B-side.

Ingrid Chavez album comin' up in 1991, one of his most unique proteges, inimitable style but Madonna tried her best.


Did a woman by the name of "Carmen Electra" have any international fame, btw? Same/similar goes for "Pamela Anderson".

jazzz said:

ShellyMcG said:

Graffiti Bridge (movie & album) I watched the movie last night. Before that, I watched the trailer for it and I thought it looked like a fun movie. Having now seen it... yeah, nah. But I don't think it's as bad as I've heard it described. I mean, they clearly made this movie with very little money. So I can't be too hard on Prince for this one. It's really bad but I don't know. It was almost fun in a way. Morris Day is actually the best thing about it. I'm surprised he hasn't acted more. Good soundtrack too. Which brings me to this morning, when I decided to listen to the Graffiti Bridge album for the first time. It's definitely a mixed bag but most of the Prince songs here are good. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got reminds me of Play In The Sunshine. The Question Of U and We Can Funk are by far the best two songs here though. The songs from other artists though, I'm not overly fond of to be honest. The Time songs are very disappointing compared to their older work. The Latest Fashion is interesting though. As far as I know, this is the first song where Prince is featured on a Time song, right? I didn't like the Tevin Campbell song either. I had never even heard of him but I just googled him and seen that he played Powerline in A Goofy Movie. So he's gone up in my estimation. So, I've got my first taste of Prince in the 90s and overall, I'm pretty happy with it. He's a better musician than he is an actor though

In a way, I think of the Graffiti Bridge album/project as Prince's closing piece of his "classic era". Not quality-wise, since the album cannot touch the real classics, but more regarding sound and overall feel. Some of the songs were also recorded years earlier, so this may explain their mid-80s vibe. Also, the album still has that atmosphere of a magical Purple world, just like 1999, Purple Rain, Parade and SOTT. When going further on your listening trip, into the 90s, you'll probably notice the much more polished, "commercial" and generic sound, starting with the Diamonds & Pearls and the O+> albums. When I heard those for the first time, I was really struck with the new sound (but not per se in a positive way). But after repeated plays, these albums grew on me. Some of the songwriting really shows that Prince was looking for a wider audience, and that kind of work is of interest in the context of his entire output. I guess we all here look forward to your listening experience of these.

Similar feelings on Graffiti Bridge (although "The Question of U", "Joy in Repetition" and "Thieves in the Temple" absolutely rank with the "real classics"), but the "80's vibe" is perhaps more pronounced over time with expanded information on tracking dates and the like...

Notice how once the org widely believed "New Power Generation" to be the scorn of by-the-numbers quintessential 90s New Jack Swing trend-chasing, but after 1999 deluxe the majority now slobber all over "Bold Generation", like they're not the same exact track with different dressing.

and your 90s primer sounds so passive aggressive shady, ha... Valid or not valid. The polish is probably going to be less egregious for someone coming from a pop background/more modern context anyway... or will it? And the whole 90s isn't always like that, "wider audience" etc... D&P most so, but hey. she loved the Batman OST...

[Edited 10/20/22 5:46am]

WhisperingDandelions said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

ShellyMcG said:

Diamonds And Pearls Ok. Before I get into it I know I'm about to express some very unpopular opinions here. So I'm sorry. But I have to be honest. The female singer (I think it's Rosie Gaines?) and the rapper (I'm sure it's Tony M) completely ruin this album for me. Rosie Gaines has a very powerful voice. She's an extremely talented singer, no doubt. That being said, I don't like her voice. I never liked any of those "shouty" singing styles. Whether it's Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera (and I love Christina) or Rosie Gaines here, I just find that style of singing slightly... annoying. And the Tony M stuff makes the songs in which he features sound really dated. And I have to apologize to my cousin on this one because she's given me countless speeches about how no music is dated and that it's either good or bad and all that. But I disagree. This sounds extremely dated.

It's not an unpopular opinion at all. Nobody likes Tony M and I happen to think Rosie Gaine's is too much.

I get that Prince was trying to help other artists by giving them a platform however it ruined it for him because most people are here for Prince, not Tony M, Rosie Gaines, etc...

[Edited 10/20/22 9:00am]

So, now that you have heard "Gett Off" with fresh ears, who do you think does the opening scream?

ShellyMcG said:

Diamonds And Pearls Ok. Before I get into it I know I'm about to express some very unpopular opinions here. So I'm sorry. But I have to be honest. The female singer (I think it's Rosie Gaines?) and the rapper (I'm sure it's Tony M) completely ruin this album for me. Rosie Gaines has a very powerful voice. She's an extremely talented singer, no doubt. That being said, I don't like her voice. I never liked any of those "shouty" singing styles. Whether it's Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera (and I love Christina) or Rosie Gaines here, I just find that style of singing slightly... annoying. And the Tony M stuff makes the songs in which he features sound really dated. And I have to apologize to my cousin on this one because she's given me countless speeches about how no music is dated and that it's either good or bad and all that. But I disagree. This sounds extremely dated. Sorry Em. But despite all of that, there are moments of pure magic here. Insatiable has secured it's place in my top 5 Prince songs and Cream, Money Don't Matter and Live 4 Love are all excellent songs. Thunder and Gett Off are also nice songs. So it's not all bad. In fact, it's actually pretty good overall. Next up is The Love Symbol album. Looking at the tracklist on Wikipedia I don't see any titles I recognize so this should be interesting. Although it's my cousin's least favourite Prince album. But I haven't come across any album so far that I would say is really bad from start to finish so I'm sure I'll find something to like. Well, fingers crossed anyway

Worth noting that D&P was Prince's biggest post-Purple Rain commercial success. Some big hot singles and some excellent (for Prince) music videos. The video for Gett Off, the summer we first got cable, was a seminal moment for me!

I think the general opinion is that the Symbol was better overall (I certainly much prefer it) - and there's a 'movie' of sorts to go with it. The Sacrific of Victor is more like a bunch of music videos linked together, but there is an attempt at some kind of narrative, and there was money spent on parts of it.

nayroo2002 said:

ShellyMcG said:

LoveGalore said:

ShellyMcG said:

Diamonds And Pearls Ok. Before I get into it I know I'm about to express some very unpopular opinions here. So I'm sorry. But I have to be honest. The female singer (I think it's Rosie Gaines?) and the rapper (I'm sure it's Tony M) completely ruin this album for me. Rosie Gaines has a very powerful voice. She's an extremely talented singer, no doubt. That being said, I don't like her voice. I never liked any of those "shouty" singing styles. Whether it's Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera (and I love Christina) or Rosie Gaines here, I just find that style of singing slightly... annoying. And the Tony M stuff makes the songs in which he features sound really dated. And I have to apologize to my cousin on this one because she's given me countless speeches about how no music is dated and that it's either good or bad and all that. But I disagree. This sounds extremely dated. Sorry Em. But despite all of that, there are moments of pure magic here. Insatiable has secured it's place in my top 5 Prince songs and Cream, Money Don't Matter and Live 4 Love are all excellent songs. Thunder and Gett Off are also nice songs. So it's not all bad. In fact, it's actually pretty good overall. Next up is The Love Symbol album. Looking at the tracklist on Wikipedia I don't see any titles I recognize so this should be interesting. Although it's my cousin's least favourite Prince album. But I haven't come across any album so far that I would say is really bad from start to finish so I'm sure I'll find something to like. Well, fingers crossed anyway

Quite the opposite actually, your opinion on Tony M. might very well be the most popular opinion in all of org history.

Literally wish we had a 20-years-of-the-org past highlight reel of the thousands of threads/posts not only saying he ruins the album, but go a step further and say he ruins the entirety of Prince in the 90s. Tony M. might be the most unfavored collaborator in all of Prince history.

People here have even gone far enough to create "de-Tony'd" versions of the albums he's on where they edit out his every appearance. It's actually pretty common to do around here...

Rosie, eh. I take more umbridge with including Mariah in your list. Mariah can belt it out with the best, but as the 90s went on she how to smooth it out and do a nice whispery R&B lowkey build before the bombast. Her early stuff was too much, but she got better. She's definitely not in the Beyonce/Christina/Rosie category where it's all nonstop screaming even on the sultry, moody, slow ballads.


ha, Emma did have that "nothing is dated" take. She was probably just overwhelmed with the endless Tony M. bashing turning into a bashing of all of 90s Prince. A good counterpoint one of the other org'ers used to have was "Everything is dated," which seems more apt, or my twist on this take: "All Prince albums are dated." Really out of all the artists, Prince's stuff tends to permeate with exactly the date they came out, 80s, 90s, 00s. Exactly like the release date.

Love Symbol wayyyy better than D&P btw, now the opposite is an unpopular opinion.... looking forward to you setting the record straight in the battle of McGs.

ShellyMcG said:

I knew who Carmen Electra was before I knew who Prince was. In fact, it's only within the last two years or so that I even found out they were connected.

Not just "connected," he discovered her and named her. Then decided she was destined to be the next great rapper and wrote/produced an entire rap album for her. After Tony M., there was Carmen Electra.

ShellyMcG said:

I also stumbled on my first ever George Clinton song. I had heard the name through my cousin and a friend of ours but I don't think I ever heard any of his music prior to We Can Funk on the Graffiti Bridge album. But he has a cover of Erotic City that I think is every bit as good as Prince's original. Well, maybe not quite as good but it's close. I think the next album is called Come. I can honestly say that I've never heard anyone even mention this album. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I suppose it's good because I can go in with no preconceived notions. We'll see.

Once regarded by the org / general fanbase as the unquestioned "worst" of the 90s, contemporary re-analysis might indeed have it closer to the best of the 90s... Interested where you land.

And you've probably heard George Clinton sampled in 90s music a lot. "Atomic Dog" was turned into a massive hit for Snoop Dogg, for instance... almost every 90s rap song sampled Funkadelic (one of George's original bands) "(Not Just) Knee Deep".


Interesting factoid is Prince said in his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction speech for George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic that he made "Erotic City" immediately after seeing P-Funk at a live concert and getting inspired. Prince in his own words how important George Clinton was to him:

https://www.youtube.com/w...bS2dIADcsg

[Edited 10/22/22 5:01am]

WhisperingDandelions said:

But, Shelly, my Dear...

You must take a step back and first listen to 'Goldnigga' from '93.

This is the first NPG album

nayroo2002 said:

also check out Powerline aka Tevin Campbell's original 1993 recording of "Shhh" that Prince reclaims on The Gold Experience and many, many, many, essential, peak (and varied) live performances after.

"You say you want a slow jam,"

[Edited 10/22/22 21:19pm]