I miss Prince. Where has he gone?

When "The Man" got released from his contract with WB, and Emancipation was released, the future seemed unbelievably bright. Here was an album full of song after song after song of killer material, the Prince we all know in love, that could move us like no other musician on the planet. At his absolute best.

Since then, it's been a slow trip downhill, to the point to where he's basically dead in my eyes. I never hear anything about him, because I refuse to shill out the insanely extravagant price he wants for the limited material you get with the NPGMC. His music has become either a parody of itself (most tracks on RUTJF) or just non-Prince like (Rainbow Children). Ugh

Where's the Prince of Cream? Gett Off? Dolphin? Now? 319? E-Male? Sign? Purple Rain? Elephants & Flowers? The Morning Papers? Don't Play Me?

Oh, man, the more I think about it the more I get depressed.
[This message was edited Mon Aug 18 1:42:46 PDT 2003 by bleutuna]

bleutuna said:

Yeah $10 for NEWS is outrageous.
So is $14 for a DVD...
What about 5 whole dollars for 3 live songs!


Maybe you don't like what he is doing right now, but the songs on NEWS are far superior to Cream, E-Male & The Morning Papers.
And so are those on TRC...

IMO Prince is getting better and better, and especially more mature.
I like Prince making the music he likes, and not the more commercial songs he did in the past, like a lot of those you listed.

Thankfully there's a great option for filling your gap: bootlegs!
Don't like the news albums? Don't buy them, instead invest your money in some great boots with songs and shows you DO like.

ChocolateInvasion said:

Good assesment.
I like the fact he ventures out; N.E.W.S. is one of themost natural albums he ever recorded. Music for music's sake.

gooeythehamster said:

Gooey!
I must admit I like NEWS a whole big lot much
Always liked his live work with Maceo, and this album comes pretty close to that...I like it...screw the others!

btw. Gooey. You in A'dam right now?

i agree with u bleutuna

tafnap said:

You also think 'e-male' is a better song then North, East, South or West?

ok, so im a new fan.so i wasnt around during the good ol days so cant really miss them and i also thus dont have that whole prince experince thing going.

but i gotta say that TRC is my favrouite prince album so far.

i love his old stuff to bits too, SOTT is my second fav album. im still falling in love with it, but i adore the fact that hes experimenting and going down different paths rather to sticking to 'what he knows'. i think TRC is pretty much perfect (barring the wedding feast...blah!) its just so funky.

I started a very similar thread a few months ago. I'm still waiting for his return.

From TRC to NEWS I think Prince is finally challenging himself again. I hear a freshness in the music. I think from Symbol to Rave (with Gold & Emancipation being minor exceptions) he lost the urge to expand his art. I think he thought he had learned all that there was to learn and was totally coasting. He also was chasing trends instead of ignoring them and just doing his own thing. Blaming everyone (especially record labels) but himself on lackluster releases.

Pagey said:

I think The Truth was quite radical compared to most of his 90's albums. It was the only one that stood out as being different.

Cloudbuster said:

I always forget about The Truth...U're totally correct though...its one of the few in the 90s that had some uniquness to it.

I haven't picked up News, didn't even know it was out until last night, actually. Once again, you can't even view npgmusicclub.com without logging in now

And yes, I think E-Male is an amazing song, and in no way can it be labeled as "commercial". That's simply looking at the past with the intention of painting the present in a more attractive light. The Gold Experience ("Damn U" anyone?) is a marvelous album. So is Emancipation. So is Love Symbol. The Truth is just unbelievable in every way, and I truly thought *this* was going to be the direction for Prince in the future.

But then we got Rave and RC

I'll pick up News, but I have a feeling that it's going to be more of the same proselytizing I was forced to deal with on RC.

ChocolateInvasion said:

YES!
Or