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My 2 cents worth on Prince now and N.E.W.S. TRC was, for me, a massive leap in the right direction following the largely shit RUTJF. The combination of live drums and an altogether funkier sound was generally well-received and it's arguably his best album since TGE. Admittedly the lyrics are heavy and the Bob George voice becomes annoying very quickly, but all in all the Prince on TRC was a return to form.
Now we have instumental Prince, something we've had before with Madhouse, but it was always as a side-project. And that's what Xenophobia and N.E.W.S. sound like to me - a side project. I think N.E.W.S. is ok (better than Xenophobia), but it's hardly gonna set the world alight. It looks like all it will do is alienate yet more fans without winning any new ones. Couple this with the fact that, IMO, he has one of the greatest voices of all time - the falsetto of Al Green combined with the soul grit of James Brown - and yet he's not using it?!?!?! Why oh why? I'm glad that at long last he's bringing his guitar playing to the front in his studio albums (before TRC, C&D was probably his best guitar album), but why has his singing taken a back seat? A lot of people say that critical and public opinion of what he does doesn't matter. I agree to an extent, but in pop music right now, Prince has never been more relevant. U only have to look at the impact that the Neptunes, Outkast, Missy Elliot, Basement Jaxx, D'Angelo etc. have made/are making to see that Prince is starting to get the respect he deserves. So he has a whole new audience who are potentially interested in his work, but if he continues to release loose and tuneless instrumentals, then there's nothing to involve these potential new fans. In short, keep the jazz/fusion/loose jams as a side project and deliver the album that we all know he's capable of. | |
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Well...I really like NEWS. It's classic "Prince doing what he wants to do, and not giving a shit what anyone else thinks"...In essence, that IS Prince...He plays music for himself, and you'll be a fan, or damn him. That is WHY I like Prince.
I say, DEAL WITH IT! I find it interesting listening, and keep playing it over and over. That's my 2 cents Later phunkymunky said: TRC was, for me, a massive leap in the right direction following the largely shit RUTJF. The combination of live drums and an altogether funkier sound was generally well-received and it's arguably his best album since TGE. Admittedly the lyrics are heavy and the Bob George voice becomes annoying very quickly, but all in all the Prince on TRC was a return to form.
Now we have instumental Prince, something we've had before with Madhouse, but it was always as a side-project. And that's what Xenophobia and N.E.W.S. sound like to me - a side project. I think N.E.W.S. is ok (better than Xenophobia), but it's hardly gonna set the world alight. It looks like all it will do is alienate yet more fans without winning any new ones. Couple this with the fact that, IMO, he has one of the greatest voices of all time - the falsetto of Al Green combined with the soul grit of James Brown - and yet he's not using it?!?!?! Why oh why? I'm glad that at long last he's bringing his guitar playing to the front in his studio albums (before TRC, C&D was probably his best guitar album), but why has his singing taken a back seat? A lot of people say that critical and public opinion of what he does doesn't matter. I agree to an extent, but in pop music right now, Prince has never been more relevant. U only have to look at the impact that the Neptunes, Outkast, Missy Elliot, Basement Jaxx, D'Angelo etc. have made/are making to see that Prince is starting to get the respect he deserves. So he has a whole new audience who are potentially interested in his work, but if he continues to release loose and tuneless instrumentals, then there's nothing to involve these potential new fans. In short, keep the jazz/fusion/loose jams as a side project and deliver the album that we all know he's capable of. | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |