scififilmnerd said:

EllisDee said:

Agreed.

NuPwrSoul said:

I'm sorry but Lisa was with Prince at the time of Dirty Mind being put together and Wendy was "hanging around" them both as early as the 1999 album. She sings on a track on 1999 but I can't remember which one...

I think a few people here are basing their opinion on the Revolution's influence on Prince's music solely on their musical ability or songwriting skills - it wasn't just that!

That quote from Susan Rogers always sticks in my head... Its something along the lines of: "He would record with a jug and blowing through a hair comb if that's all he had". I don't CARE about his current band's musical ability. If all popular music was based on the ability to sing or play an instrument well, nobody would have been interested in Bjork or the Sex Pistols or Massive Attack... all massively influential in their field.

Nobody here can tell me that New Position, It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night, America, Girls & Boys and Anotherloverholenyohead aren't funky.

I stopped being interested in his band after Dr. Fink left. The New Power Generation was a joke except for Rosie Gaines. He doesn't have a band - its session musicians. Maybe they're top-class, gifted performers but they are not a band with a band mentality.

BinaryJustin said:

It is this mentality(yours and others) that I don't understand.And I LOVED Prince & The Revolution!How is it
that the Sonny/Michael/Morris line up or the current Rhonda/Renato/Blackwell line up cannot be considered a band with a band mentality?Is it because there has been no FICTIONAL movie filmed and released about them?Or because they havent had any Top 40 hits?I can understand if someone states The Revolution as their favorite of his bands ,but many here dont seem to even want to acknowledge the other very talented people he has performed with and write them off without even listening to them.

MrTation said:

The Lovesexy band had a vibe and they never featured in a movie. The N.P.G. has had Top 40 hits in the U.K... So it ain't about that!

I have listened to them! I like (most of) the music... I just don't see them as a band.

EverlastingNow said:

That's cool make fun of me why don't U.

I like those songs, U know some people like "In This Bed I Scream", but not me.

BinaryJustin said:

Because you don't see them that way doesn't mean they aren't.

MrTation said:

I think that happens with the NPG band because there has been so different line-ups with the band. There was only one Revolution and they actually made the movies, the videos, the albums, two were on the cover of Rolling Stone and they toured the new albums together. They were on stage accepting awards together and it was actually news when they broke up. I think people just don't get attached to the band members anymore even though many of the those line-ups were brilliant live bands, especially the 94 line-up. And before someone argues that the Dez was in the Revolution he really wasn't. Bobby Z has even said that no one used the name for the BAND until Wendy joined because that was the first time they actually felt like a band.

EverlastingNow said:

Actually Prince first used the name "Revolution" to refer to his band in 1982 during the "1999" era, prior to Wendy joining and while Dez was still with the group. In fact on the cover art for the album the words "and the Revolution" are written backwards on the football shaped drawing on the "I" in "Prince."

Bobby said Purple Rain was the first album credited to Prince and the Revolution, not the first time he called the band that.
.
[This message was edited Tue Oct 7 21:24:23 PDT 2003 by NuPwrSoul]

I said it before and I'll say it again. The Revolution was like a family. They had their style and it was a hell of alot better than this NPG shit. When you saw the Revolution, you saw a family unit. It wasn't like just anyone off the street as it is nowadays. I don't care who he works with now (Maceo, Larry, or the crackhead down the street), it will never be the same again. Some say it's growth. Some say it's selfishness on his part. It may be some of both, but the music is really suffering for it.

It's said that a true artist makes music for themselves 1st. The audience comes 2nd. In this case, it's not such a good idea. I'm also not saying Purple Rain should be re-hashed over and over again. I'm saying the Revolution made incredible music and the NPG makes mediocre music, if that.

And I've tried on many occasions to "accept" NPG by playing it in my CD player. I can hardly stand Rainbow Children.

So who knows? I still wish there would be a reunion, but with his supposedly massive ego (I don't know him, so I can't make that call), it probably won't happen.
[This message was edited Wed Oct 8 9:55:12 PDT 2003 by Mcwatson68]

rdhull said:

oh,dear lord, i luv when doves cry,specially the guitar intro,just awesome.
that's what got me into prince in the 1st place

Mcwatson68 said:

I'm not sure why you are responding to me with that. I was only pointing out that the "Revolution" existed prior to Purple Rain and prior to Wendy joining the group.

The Rev existed BEFORE Wendy was a full fledged memeber..just because she was a hanger-on with Lisa and Prince let her sing background doesn't mean that she formed ANY sngs on 1999 cd etc..you can tell there is NO full involvmemnet etc besides background voice.

I know it's late but I do haft to add my 50 cents
I am an 80's baby so yes I love The revolution!

However, I'm also a Prince fan so I still love him because I can understand him - I understand his sense of humor and I understand his thinking process.

Bottom line is he deserves a break from all the negativity the man has written well over 100's of songs and has had enough hits to make him an ICON and able to stand alone as o+> !
So, if his creativity has ran out a little bit how can he be blamed for that?

I guess you're right. It's just that many people here, including myself, yearn for the glorious days of Prince & the Revolution.

NWF said:

I can understand that too!- I haft to admit those days rocked. But, I can't be mad at the playa!

Not me. But I do yearn for Gold-era NPG sometimes. That was a band that had every bit as much personality as the Revolution. And what they lacked in influence on Prince's music, they more than made up for it by being such badass musicians.

jtgillia said:

MrTation said:

Maybe, but they weren't as outstanding as the Revolution. I mean, Wendy, Lisa, Matt, Bobby & the Dr. had it. They had star power. I might be exaggerating a bit, but the look the style and the musicianship. They had it!

NWF said:

The only reason the had star power is because they were in the major motion picture and pushed commerically..any other band, especially one previously, would have had (and did) have star power just as well.

NWF said:

Star power? Pull the other one !

How many films have they been in since then?In fact if THE
REVOLUTION was so powerful ,talented and creative, How come they didnt just soldier on after Prince told them to go?If it is true that Wendy & Lisa were the secret behind Princes success then surely they couldve kept the band going without him, no?