My thoughts on the importance of 2004 for Prince. Sorry it's long but you know how talking about Prince can get!

Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit here, for those that remember how it felt to follow Prince's musical adventures in the 80s, it seemed as if there would be no doubt that this man would be established in the halls of rock and roll greatness along with the Beatles and Elvis. The rate at which he was releasing new material was unprecedented, each album of exceptional quality, and respected by peers and critics alike, all proclaiming him to be some sort of a deity. His creativity seemed endless, and he backed this all up with amazing live performances, and legendary after shows which at that time were really for the very very lucky few. At that point in time, it seemed as if he would always be there, on the radios, on MTV, known in whichever country you went to. Signing a $100m contract with Warners just seemed to cement that expectation. I would never have imagined that by the end of the 90s he would mostly be the butt of jokes, and almost completely forgotten except for the occasional damning review, or book documenting his rise and fall.

So things didn't quite go as expected, and in the 90s our man proceeded to make just about every wrong step he could, starting with the "film" Graffiti Bridge, and moving onwards to greater blunders of complaining about being a slave to the $100m he signed up for, changing his name, releasing material that whether he wanted to or not, really damaging to his reputation as a still relevant song writer. He further alienates himself by deciding the way to go is to release through his NPG web site, yet people had to pay in advance without knowing what they were in for and the web site was clumsy and mostly less interesting than countless other artists free access sites.

Personally I don't think this is how Prince would have planned things back in 1990 either. Fortunately he still managed to hold on to a few loyal fans, mostly through his still fantastic live performances which constantly gave us hope of better things to come, usually to our frustration. We'd waited a long time for a decent DVD, and 1999 should have been one of his comeback windows of opportunity, and yes, he did seem to try by signing a deal with Arista who had just got Santana back on to the map after 25 years of not much. The difference was the Supernatural was a great album, whereas Rave was completely out of touch, and the DVD year 2000 performance was just about the worst I've ever seen Prince live.

I think Prince had an extremely difficult time throughout the 1993-2000 period. More so than may appear on the surface. We all know he is married to his music, and the break up of his relationship with Warners was probably much more traumatic than people may think, and the subsequent release of material could be considered material "on the re-bound". His once endless creativity seemed to be replaced with some formula to release as much bland material as possible. Add to this the break-up of his marriage, the death of his son, and more recently the deaths of his parents, and I'd say it's a miracle and a testament to his determination and strength of character that he's managed to continue and support his career at all. Never have we seen headlines relating him to bouts of alcoholism or drugs, or abuse of any kind that perhaps lesser men would have succumbed to. How many times have we seen "mug shots" of once great stars arrested for this and that? He seems to have gone through all this stuff, and took a shit load of criticism for his music at the same time. You may disagree but you know what? That says a lot about Prince and I think he deserves a lot of respect from all of us.

Now, especially since the Rainbow Children, and subsequent ONA performances, I think we've seen a Prince that has come back from the other side. He seems genuinely happier, he seems to have a strong relationship, and he is performing as well as I ever remember. The ONA shows were fabulous. I've been rambling for a while but I just want to put one more point across - 2004 is probably his last show to restore himself to his rightful place in music history along side other greats. He's worked hard for 25 years, and if he has to perform Purple Rain from time to time and seem commercial, so be it. He deserves all the attention that Grammy performance has given him. We should be patient and expect him to make use of some of that stuff, but we also know that Prince will never conform, and will always want to play his stuff when the time is right like at concerts and after shows. And now that he's got peoples attention, he can enjoy it even the more so.

So for 2004, I hope seizes the opportunity, and signs the big deal and gets his music back out there. I'm sure I'm not the only one that misses hearing his music outside of my PC! Who knows, it may even fund a web site that all fans around the world can access and enjoy!

If you’ve read this far - wow thanks for taking the time! You have every right to flame me! or tell me never to post again! But now that's off my chest, I can go to sleep...

faboulous !!! hail 2 machinegun i couldnt have put it any better myself !

Thoughtful, objective, knowledgable commentary from a true fan. I think you're right on the money!

Yes !

I can go to sleep...


Well you should go to sleep happy. That was an excellent post. I hope to God that Prince has a BIG BIG comeback this year.

Very well put, thanks for sharing with us.

thnx 4 writing this...it's so true

If One Must Like The Music,He Has To Have Paitence With The Artist(Prince).Frankly I Think He Is Doing A Great Job!He Hasn't Changed Since Day One.Still Cutting Songs,Riffs.Doing His Thing,And Just Like In The Beginning Of His Career,He Continues To Move Foward And Play,Write,Compose,And Arrange His Music.That's What Makes Prince, Prince And Now Matter How You Look At It Like It Or Not He Will Keep Making Music.And People Will Keep Buying ,Listening,And Sharing Their Opions. O+> 1,2.The Evolution Will Be Colorized,This Is The WAR O+>
[This message was edited Tue Feb 17 4:05:47 2004 by boston3]

I Just Can't Beleive All The Things People Say :Controversy O+>

I completely agree witn that :

I find it funny that the themes of his movies (which I find embarassing and absolutely aweful--except for the live performances) is that of a person who is completely misunderstood, goes through some traumatic experiences, only to gain the respect and recognition he deserves in the end.

It's almost like, he's manefesting that now.

Good essay, machinegun. You make some terrific points. People seem to forget, in the light of the fact that prince is a genius, that he is also human. He makes mistakes, has bad days and can be a dick just like eveyone. Its okay to criticise him for these things, but folks should really be more constructive about it. Prince has given us way more good music than bad, and even his bad stuff is usually better than most of the stuf clogging the airwaves. He's loopy and weird, but that's part of his charm and mystique.

Hopefully this year will be one that Prince utilizes the momentum he has and really regains the respect he once had.