I agree that Prince's sound and music can't really be compared to more clearly defined musicians / bands. But I also agree that his rock / lead tone wasn't the greatest - IMO. Too processed, too many effects. I guess my taste changed a bit. Nothing better than an old Stratocaster straight into a Fender Deluxe or Vibrolux amp.

Phishanga said:

"Chaos And Disorder" is one of my favorite "guitar rock" (if you want to call it that) albums by him. As the OP said, "The Undertaker" has some cool guitar/power trio stuff by him. Many of the rehearsal bootlegs from the "PR" era has come nice electric guitar solos too.

SPYZFAN1 said:

"Chaos And Disorder" is one of my favorite "guitar rock" (if you want to call it that) albums by him. As the OP said, "The Undertaker" has some cool guitar/power trio stuff by him. Many of the rehearsal bootlegs from the "PR" era has come nice electric guitar solos too.

Agree. Out of his 'guitar' albums like Lotus, TRC, Plectrum I'd put C&D top. Been listening to it a lot lately

Something that I always felt disappointed about his guitar playing in studio is that it´s usually low in the mix. ´When doves cry´ is an example. Almost hidden.

need to check out When Doves Scream lol

LoveGalore said:

TwiliteMan said:

TrevorAyer said:

P pioneered the drum heavy mix most rap n rnb adopted and srill use ... so the guitar is usually buried in the mix ... plus his rawk guitar sound was strait trash .. everything from the pedals nothing from the amps .. 3Rd eye girl kinda rocked at times .. p has great funk guitar tones and can wank out a great guitar solo every once in a while .. but yeah he aint bad brains or megadeth .. and i'm ok wth that [Edited 11/21/22 10:52am]

James Brown was the first to put drums upfront in the mix. Then Barry White and Al Green did the same. That inspired Barry Mraz to put drums upfront for the Ohio Players. Then George Clinton copied that then Prince copied them

This was my #1 complaint getting into Prince as a teenage rawk fan. Now it's whatever... 80s still mixed a bit low, though. He did start cranking it up a bit in the 90s. His 80s production in general has a lot of questionable decisions, but it was unique and gave him his own stamp on the decade, so ehhh.

WhisperingDandelions said:

This was my #1 complaint getting into Prince as a teenage rawk fan. Now it's whatever... 80s still mixed a bit low, though. He did start cranking it up a bit in the 90s. His 80s production in general has a lot of questionable decisions, but it was unique and gave him his own stamp on the decade, so ehhh.

.

It´s the exact way I feel about it...hehe

SanDiegoFunkDaddy said:

TrevorAyer said:

P pioneered the drum heavy mix most rap n rnb adopted and srill use ... so the guitar is usually buried in the mix ... plus his rawk guitar sound was strait trash .. everything from the pedals nothing from the amps .. 3Rd eye girl kinda rocked at times .. p has great funk guitar tones and can wank out a great guitar solo every once in a while .. but yeah he aint bad brains or megadeth .. and i'm ok wth that [Edited 11/21/22 10:52am]

James Brown was the first to put drums upfront in the mix. Then Barry White and Al Green did the same. That inspired Barry Mraz to put drums upfront for the Ohio Players. Then George Clinton copied that then Prince copied them

agreed .. i just think 90's hip hop funk n rnb emulated prince sound not james brown sound .. especially the electronic drums infused aspects but also the general mix which was minimialist with the instrumentation compared to the drum n vocals .. even not so long ago beyonce sounds like they are going for the prince sound more than the others you mentioned ..

TrevorAyer said:

SanDiegoFunkDaddy said:

James Brown was the first to put drums upfront in the mix. Then Barry White and Al Green did the same. That inspired Barry Mraz to put drums upfront for the Ohio Players. Then George Clinton copied that then Prince copied them

agreed .. i just think 90's hip hop funk n rnb emulated prince sound not james brown sound .. especially the electronic drums infused aspects but also the general mix which was minimialist with the instrumentation compared to the drum n vocals .. even not so long ago beyonce sounds like they are going for the prince sound more than the others you mentioned ..

I never thought 90s hip and R&B sounded anything like Prince's music because they were buitl exclusively around the drum machine or bass. When I think of Prince's '80s music, of course they have drum machines and bass, but what made many of his songs unique were that they were built around the chicken scratch rhythm guitar.

[Edited 12/9/22 6:18am]

isnt it also just that he didnt have total confidence in his guitar solos?

rhythm guitar parts, yes.

soloing, no.

he left it for the live show as then its not recorded for posterity.

he didnt wanna be compared to guys like hendrix, santana, etc etc

I feel Purple Rain was his rock moment, and being as he rarely wanted to repeat himself he just didn't continue with that style, at least not with any consistency.